Mr. Cosmo Gordon was against any compromise or lenient measures with America, until she intirely submitted. Mr. Burke, who was this day much indisposed, laid forth the numerous ill consequences that must inevitably follow called the present moment the true crisis of Britain's fate, painted the dreadful abyss into which the nation was going to be plunged; called upon the commercial part of the House to rouse themselves at the open declaration of their approaching ruin, and pathetically described to the landed interest the fatal effects that must inevitably reach them. The Solicitor General defended the measure. He gave every allowance for, and paid all deference to, the interests of commerce and manufactures; but contended, that in the present case interests were concerned of yet greater consequence; that all the world must acknowledge that when the clearest rights of the legislative power of a country were invaded and denied, and when in consequence the people so denying were in actual and open rebellion, that then there were points of greater importance to be settled and decided than those of commerce and manufacture. An enemy in the bowels of a kingdom was surely to be resisted, opposed, and conquered; notwithstanding the trade that might suffer, and the fabrics that might be ruined. That descriptions of the immense consequence of our American trade were arguments rather against the opposing members than for them; for the greater the consequence of the commerce, the greater the care ought to be, and the firmer the policy that was to preserve it; that the question was not now the importance of the American colonics, but the possession of the colonies at all. The House divided upon the Amendment, Ayes 105, Noes 304. The House divided again, upon lord North's motion; for it 296, against it 106. Feb. 6. The Address being reported to the House, Lord John Cavendish moved that it be recommitted. He strongly recommended the reconsideration of a measure which he deemed fraught with so much mischief: commented on the proposed Address; thought it improper to assert that a rebellion existed: mentioned the insecurity created by the Act for changing the government of Massachuset's Bay; said the inhabitants knew not for a moment under 3 what government they lived. His head and heart combined to deprecate the horrors of civil war, necessarily involving a foreign one also with the combined forces of very powerful nations. He represented the jealousy of our neighbours, from their disgrace and our glory in the last war. If the Americans should hear of our having declared them rebels, and that more force was coming, might they not determine rather to attack a part than wait for the whole? A small rather than a greater number? He stated our domestic situation, our state with the colonies and with foreign powers. He called the attention of the House to the unequal balance of our loss and our gain in the event; in which we might find our revenue destroyed, our trade annihilated, and our empire itself overturned: and if we succeeded in subduing America, we could gain nothing. Lord Lumley seconded the motion. He expressed himself with modesty, handsomely making his youth a personal plea for his wishing the utmost time for re-consideration on a matter so important. The Lord Mayor, Mr. Wilkes, said :* Mr. Speaker; the business before the House, in its full extent, respecting the British colonies in America, is of as great importance as was ever debated in parliament. It comprehends almost every question relative to the common rights of mankind, almost every question of policy and legislation. I do not mean to enter into so vast, so well-trodden a field. I will confine myself to the immediate business of this day. The Address now reported from the Committee of the whole House appears to be unfounded, rash, and sanguinary. It draws the sword unjustly against America; but before administration are suffered to plunge the nation into the horrors of a civil war, before they are permitted to force Englishmen to sheath their swords in the bowels of their fellow sub jects, I hope this House will seriously weigh the original ground and cause of this unhappy dispute, and in time reflect whether justice is on our side, and gives a sanction to the intended hostile proceedings. The assumed right of taxation with out the consent of the subject is plainly the primary cause of the present quarrel. *From the Collection of Mr. Wilkes's Speeches in the House of Commons, printed in 1786. Have we then, Sir, any right to tax the have given the fullest answer to this objecAmericans? That is the great important tion, in a manner not to be controverted, question. The fundamental laws of hu- by their conduct through a long series of man nature, and the principles of the Eng- years, and by the most explicit declaralish constitution, are equally repugnant tions. Equally in words and actions, of to the claim. The very idea of property the most unequivocal nature, they have excludes the right of another's taking any demonstrated their love, their ardour, thing from me without my consent, other- their strong filial piety towards the mother wise I cannot call it my own. No tenure country. They have always appeared can be so precarious as the will of another. ready, not only to contribute towards the What property have I in what another expences of their own government, but person can seize at his pleasure? If any likewise to the wants and necessities of part of my property is subject to the dis- this state, although perhaps they may not cretionary powers of others, the whole be over-fond of all the proud, expensive may be so likewise. If we can tax the trappings of royalty. In the two last wars Americans without their consent, they with France they far exceeded the cold have no property, nothing they can call line of prudence. With the most liberal their own with certainty, for we might by hearts they cheerfully gave you nearly violence take the whole as well as the their all, and they fought gallantly and part. The words liberty and property, so | victoriously by your side, with equal vadear to an Englishman, so pleasing in our lour against our and their enemy, the comears, would become a cruel mockery, an mon enemy of the liberties of Europe and insult to an American. The laws of so- America, the ambitious, faithless French, ciety are professedly calculated to secure whom now we fear and flatter. Our the property of each individual, of every Journals, Sir, will bear witness to the subject of the state. This point is no less grateful sense we had of the important serclearly determined by the great prin- vices of our brethren in America, by the ciples of that happy constitution under great sums we shall find voted to be rewhich we live. All subsidies to the crown paid them for what they expended in the have always been considered, and express- spirited warlike expeditions, which they ly declared, to be grants from the com- carried through with equal courage and mons of the realm, free gifts from the peo- | conduct. The siege and capture of Louisple. Their full consent is stated in the bourg, the various successful operations grant. Much has been said of the palati- against the general foe, without the least nate of Chester, and the principality of knowledge, much less participation, on Wales, and the period of their taxation; our part, are the fullest proofs of the warm but, Sir, there is a more remarkable case affection of their hearts to this country, in point, which alone would determine this and of their readiness to bear more than question. If gentlemen will search the their share of the public expence and burRecords in the Tower, and the Chapel of | then. But, Sir, the whole was the gift of the Rolls, they will find that the town of freemen, our fellow-subjects, who feel that Calais in France, when it belonged to the they are, and know they have a right to imperial crown of this realm, was not tax- be, as free as ourselves. What is their ed till it sent a representative to parlia- language even now, at a moment when ment. A Thomas Fowler actually sat and you are planning their destruction, when voted in this House as a burgess of the you are branding them with the odious town of Calais. From that period, and appellation of rebels? In the late Petinot till then, was Calais taxed. The Writ tion of the Congress to the King, they deout of Chancery, and the Return in the clare, they are ready and willing, as they reign of Edward 6, are still extant. ever have been, when constitutionally refaithfully gave them to the public from at- quired, to demonstrate their loyalty to his tested copies. Majesty, by exerting their most strenuous efforts in granting supplies and raising forces.' This is the unanimous resolution of a Congress, composed of deputies from the several colonies of New Hampshire, Massachuset's Bay, Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on I It will, I foresee, Sir, be objected, is America then to enjoy the protection of Great Britain, and to contribute nothing to the support of that parent state, which has so long afforded it safety and security, which has carefully and tenderly nursed it to this hour of its present strength and greatness? The Americans themselves 6 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Two Carolinas. I have heard, Sir, of a plan of accommodation, which, I believe, would reconcile all differences. But alas! Sir, it does not come from any servant of the crown. It comes from the noble lord, to whom this country has the most essential obligations, to whom it is so highly indebted for its late splendour and glory. The plan is, to assemble another congress in the spring; the parliament of Great-Britain and the deputies of the several colonies to meet together, jointly empowered to regulate the various quotas to be paid by each province to the general treasury of the whole empire. I would in addition to that plan propose, that a regulation, similar to what actually takes place with respect to Scotland, be adopted as to America. The proportion of each colony might be settled according to the land-tax in England, at one, two, or more shillings in the pound. I am not deep politician enough to know what the proportion should be of each province, which will vary greatly in half a century, but I speak of each quota being at all times to be regulated according to the land-tax of this country. The very extensive and flourishing colonies of the Massachuset's Bay, Virginia, and South Carolina, for instance, should contribute more, the smaller and poorer colonies of New Hampshire and New Jersey less; but, Sir, I insist, not a shilling can be taken without their consent. After this day's debate, should the Address now moved for be carried in this House, I greatly fear that not only this wise plan of the noble lord, but every idea of a reconciliation between this country and her colonies, will be utterly impracticable. The Americans, Sir, have of late been treated, both within doors and without, in a manner, which marks no small degree of injustice, and even a wantonness of cruelty. We have been repeatedly told to-day, that they complain of the Navigation Act, and insist on the repeal of it. We have authentic evidence to the contrary. In the resolutions of the congress, they desire only to be put on the footing they were at the close of the late war, "as to the system of statutes and regulations;" nor among the various Acts, of which they solicit the repeal, have they once mentioned either the Navigation or Declaratory Act. It has likewise been asserted, that they are forward and angry enough to wish to throw off the supremacy of the mother country. Many express resolutions, both of the general congress, and the different provincial assemblies, are the fullest evidence of the sense, which the Americans entertain of their obedience and duty to Great Britain. They are too numerous to be quoted. Their full claim, as stated by themselves, is so explicit and clear, that I beg leave to read it to the House from their Petition to the King. It declares "We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety." Surely, Sir, no request was ever more modest and reasonable, no claim better founded. It expressly mentions; "We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor do we solicit a grant of any new right in our favour. Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously endeavour to support and maintain." What a contrast, Sir, does this make with the proceedings of administration at home! They are sedulously endeavouring to tear asunder those powerful ties, which have long and happily knit and bound us together. The Address, Sir, mentions the particular province of the Massachuset's Bay as in a state of actual rebellion. The other provinces are held out to our indignation as aiding and abetting. Many arguments have been employed by some learned gentlemen among us, to involve them in all the consequences of an open, declared rebellion, and to obtain the fullest orders for our officers and troops to act against them as against rebels. Whether their present state is that of rebellion, or of a fit and just resistance to unlawful acts of power, to our attempts to rob them of their property and liberties, as they imagine, I shall not declare. This I know, a successful resistance is a revolution, not a rebellion. Rebellion indeed appears on the back of a flying enemy, but revolution flames on the breast-plate of the victorious warrior. Who can tell, Sir, whether in consequence of this day's violent and mad Address to his Majesty, the scabbard may not be thrown away by them as well as by us; and should success attend them, whether in a few years the independent Americans may not celebrate the glorious æra of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of 1688? The generous efforts, of our forefathers for freedom heaven crowned with success, or their noble blood had dyed our scaffolds, like that of Scottish traitors and rebels; and the period of our history, which does us the most honour, would have been deemed a rebellion against the lawful authority of the prince, not a resistance authorized by all the laws of God and man, not the expulsion of a tyrant. not. The policy, Sir, of this measure I can no more comprehend, than I can acknowledge the justice of it. Is your force adequate to the attempt? I am satisfied it is What are your armies? And how are they to be kept up and recruited? Do you recollect that the single province of Massachuset's Bay has at this moment 30,000 men well trained and disciplined? Do you not know that they can bring near 90,000 men into the field? They will do it, when every thing dear to them is at stake, when they have their liberties to defend against cruel oppressors and invaders. You will not be able to conquer and keep even that single province. The noble lord (North) with the blue ribband proposes only 10,000 of our troops to be there, including the four regiments now going from Ireland; and he acknowledges, with great truth, that the army cannot enforce the late act of parliament. Why then is it sent? Boston, indeed, you may lay in ashes, or it may be made a strong garrison; but the province will be lost to you. Boston will be like Gibraltar. You will hold in the province of Massachuset's Bay, as you do in Spain, a single town, while the whole country remains in the power and possession of the enemy. Your fleets and armies may keep a few towns on the coast, for some time at least, Boston, New York, St. Augustine; but the vast continent of America will be irrecoverably lost. A few fortresses on the coast, and some sea ports only, will remain in your possession. All the back settlements will be independent of you, and will thrive in the rapid progression of your violences and unjust exactions on the towns. A new and amazing landed interest will be created. The ancient story of the philosopher Calanus and the Indian hide will be verified. Where you tread it will be kept down; but it will rise the more in all other parts. Where your fleets and armies are stationed, the possession will be secured, while they continue; but all the rest will be lost. In the great scale of empire, you will decline, I fear, from the decision of this day; and the Americans will rise to independence, to power, to all the greatness of the most renowned states, for they build on the solid basis of general public liberty. I tremble, Sir, at the almost certain consequences of such an Address, founded in cruelty and injustice, equally contrary to the sound maxims of true policy, and the unerring rule of natural right. The Americans will certainly defend their property and their liberties with the spirit of freemen, with the spirit our ancestors did, and I hope we should exert on a like occasion. They will sooner declare themselves independent, and risk every conse quence of such a contest, than submit to the galling yoke, which administration is preparing for them. An Address of this sanguinary nature cannot fail of driving them to despair. They will see that you are preparing not only to draw the sword, but to burn the scabbard. In the most harsh manner you are declaring them rebels. Every idea of a reconciliation will vanish. They will pursue the most vigorous measures in their own defence. The whole continent of North America will be dismembered from Great Britain, and the wide arch of the raised empire fall. But I hope the just vengeance of the people will overtake the authors of these pernicious counsels, and the loss of the first province of the empire be speedily followed by the loss of the heads of those ministers who advised these wicked and fatal measures. Captain Harvey. I shall make no apology for intruding on the time of the House, because I think it a duty incumbent on every man, who has the welfare of his country at heart, to speak out on this occasion, and declare his sentiments on so very important a crisis: a crisis, Sir, in which I believe this country has not been involved in a more intricate one since the Revolution, and for which we are not only indebted to the refractory spirit of some of those ungrateful subjects on the other side of the Atlantic, but to some no less restless ones on this side of it; and which induces me to believe, that as a great minister once boasted in this House, that he had conquered America in Germany, so, I very much fear, we shall now be obliged to conquer it, or at least some part of it, again in England; for, till we put a stop to the sedition that is so constantly, so artfully, and so shamefully blown from hence, and give a check to those incendiaries who dare breathe forth such inflammatory poison as every newspaper conveys, we can never hope, without the last extremities, to bring the wicked leaders of those deluded people to a sense of their duty. To acknowledge, Sir, the supremacy of the legislative power of this country over all its dominions, and dispute the right of that power to exert itself, as it shall judge best for the good of the whole, is, in my humble opinion, too puerile and too trifling to throw away an argument upon; and, in our present situation with the colonies, too criminal not to condemn without hesitation. Either the legislative power of a kingdom has authority over all its dominions, or it has none over any part of them; it cannot be partial; nor do I think any one branch of that legislature can, by any act or charter whatever, exempt any particular set of its subjects from the authority of the whole legislature. Could that be done, Sir, and could a preference be given to any, I am very sure this House would long ago have turned their eyes towards our sister kingdom of Ireland, who has every claim to that preference in our affections and for our assistance, being as remarkable for their loyalty and obedience, as they are for their industry, and (I am sorry to say) for their poverty. That America, by every tie human nature can devise, ought to be subordinate to the authority of Great Britain, is beyond a doubt, more especially when we consider and reflect, at what immense expence of blood and treasure to this country, those very colonies have been brought to that excess of greatness and riches, as that they shall now vainly think themselves able, and insolently declare themselves ready, to shake off their dependence, and become a separate state. That they have long been aiming at it, is evident from all their proceedings, and from all the papers before you; and that they may possibly become so in some future age (long may it be first) is natural to suppose, from what history teaches us of the vicissitude of all nations. But this I am certain of, the more they dare to sound that alarm, and the more they struggle for that period, the more it is our duty, as Englishmen, to watch over them, and not let the evil day be anticipated by any remissness or want of firmness on our part, for that would not only be highly criminal towards our King and country to permit it, but also leave an everlasting stain on the present age, if we meanly shake off the task of preventing it from ourselves, and leave it for posterity to struggle with as they can. Sir, although I am under no kind of apprehensions from the consequences that may ensue from enforcing obedience in [VOL. XVIII.] the colonies, from the good opinion I yet have of some cool, dispassionate, well affected men in the colonies, yet I own, for the sake of tranquillity here, and our manufactures, I wish there were any lenient measures left to pursue; but I know of none that have not been repeatedly tried; and I very much fear, that mildness and lenity with which government has proceeded throughout all their conduct towards the colonies, that tenderness shewn in every step hitherto taken, has been both here and there construed into timidity, and from advantages drawn_from thence, by disaffected and interested people, has produced these disgraceful and fatal effects. For my own part, Sir, if the House will allow me to trespass on their indulgence, and speak of the conduct of so insignificant an individual as myself, I will tell them, that notwithstanding all the threats and menaces, all the harsh censures that were the other night, on this subject, thrown out against all those who had supported the measures of government, and all the crude epithets that were given to every thing that had been done, to every thing that was doing, and every thing that was to be done (without knowing very well what that last was to be,) yet, Sir, I shall, in defiance of all those threats and menaces, still glory in having given my negative to the repeal of the Stamp-Act. I took the liberty on that extraordinary occasion to foretel to the House, the consequences that would ensue from that puerile, pitiful and baneful measure; and I am now no less proud of declaring, that as my education and profession have led me a very different path from that of a politician; so Sir, from the moment I had a seat in this House, I thought it my duty to study the opinions and conduct of those, whose abilities and whose attachment to their country, justly entitled them to a preference, and very early attached myself to that good, wise and able minister, Mr. Grenville, whose loss this country will long feel and lament, and whose memory I shall ever honour and revere; though it is some consolation from what I heard the other night fall from a young noble member, to find the father's virtues and abilities reviving in the son. However, Sir, I will not prove myself undeserving the friendship and confidence that minister honoured me with, by deviating this day in one single iota from what I am confident would have been his conduct, had we been so [R] |