תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

and undreffed flax from the AmeNican colonies into Great Britain; and a bill to encourage the whale hery on their coafts: but, unfortunately, the effects of all thefe laws to reftrain the foreign trade of the colonies, and cramp.their domeftic trade, by not only hinder. ing money to flow in upon them for the fupply of their growing calls, or their making any at home, was certain and infiantaneous; whereas the effect of the laws made for their benefit, which might compenfate thefe evils, was, if Bot uncertain, at leaft remote; fo remote as to require, perhaps, maBy years after its coming to compenfate the delay.

We know it has been alledged that the greatest part, if not the whole, of the money arifing from thefe duties, could not fail of returning back into the colonies to pay the troops actually quartered there for their defence. But the colonies had no affurance, that these troops would continue among it them, as, if it was intended by the legislature they fhould, the ac would certainly have directed the money to be paid them at firft hand, without the risk and expence of making fo long a voyage, and paffing through fo many hands, merely to have the honour of vifiting the British exchequer. The tubjecting the colonies unneceffarily to that additional burthen, would have been two wanton and unwife an exercife of power for a British parliament ever to be guilty of. And as to the minifter's giving di rections, that the money fhould be iffaed on the spot, contrary to the plain letter of the act, we refpect him too much to believe it true,

however confidently fome pretended well withers of his have afferted it.

Thus were our North American colonies (for the West India colonies were, upon the whole, much more benefited than hurt by these laws, fo much more, perhaps, as to receive, in fome meafure, aniends for their lofs of trade with the Spaniards, put to the fevereft trial of their love and refpect for the mother country; and it is but doing them juftice to fay, that though fome of them had been very lately quarrelling with their proprietary, and others with their royal governors, moft of them bore this firoke of the fupreme legiflature of Great Britain with all that pa. tience and fubmiflion, which the moft indulgent parent could have expected from the most dutiful children. For, if fome prefumed to call in queftion her authority, they were excited thereto, not fo much by any actual laws or regulations concerning them, as by a vote of the house of commons paffed at the time of laying the new duties upon the foreign trade, "that, towards further defraying the neceflary expences of protecting the colonies, it may be proper to charge certain ftamp duties upon them."

The inhabitants, indeed, of moft of the North American colonies, instead of barely refolving, every man for himself, as they had before done in confequence of the interruption given to their foreign trade by the naval customhoufe officers, not to buy any cloathing they could potible do without, that was not of their own manufacturing, now entered into [6] 4

allo

affociations, not only to abide by their former refolution, but otherwife encourage as much as poffible all kinds of manufacture within themselves. The heavier the burthen, the greater exertion and unanimity feemed requifite to bear it. It could not, furely, be expected, that merely out of a compliment to the mother country, they should fubmit to perifh for thirft, with water in their own wells. They fuffered enough, as it was, by being obliged to make bricks without ftraw; to carry on manufactures and trade, without either metal or paper money to facilitate the courfe of them.

Much, however, as thefe refrictive laws tended to hurt the British North American colonies, they tended still more to hurt Great Eritain herfelf; for, in confequence of the general affociation of all ranks and orders of people in these colonies, not only to confume as few British manufactures as poflible, but to manufacture as much as poffible for themfelves, they might, in fpite of their prefent want of money, bring many commodities, the means and materials of which they enjoy in a much greater plenty than Great Britain, to fuch a degree of perfection and cheapneis, before they could pay her for any, as, by the time they could, to want but little, and defire ftill lefs. And when things once came to this pafs, what should hinder their being, in a little more time, able to ferve their neighbours, the American, Portuguefe and Spaniards, with many articles, now the ftaple commodities of Great Britain, on fo much better terms than Great Britain her

felf, as might tempt both parties to force an intercourfe with each other, and enable them to maintain it, to the irreparable lofs of Great Britain; fince the maritime ftrength fhe requires as a maritime country, and particularly as an ifland, cannot be fupplied in any eminent degree, or at leatt without facrificing to her fecurity fo great a fhare of her fubftance, as hardly to retain enough to be worth fighting for, but by a trade carried on in fhips belonging to, and navigated by her own fub. jects; circumstances the cannot pretend to command in any trade with countries under a different head.

But allowing, that the ill advised measures we have been speaking of were to be attended with no other ill confequence, than a temporary interruption in the commercial intercourfe between Great Britain and her North American colonies, that alone could not fail of being very prejudicial to the former. It is computed, that thefe colonies, not to mention the foreign goods they receive through our hands, take off yearly of our produce and manufactures, to the amount of three millions. Now, almoft all the perfons concerned in the preparation, the buying and the felling, and the tranfportation of thefe manufactures, from the fowing of the feeds of them in the fields of Great Britain to the landing of them on the fhores of North America, muft, during fuch ceffation, be fupported at the expence of the reft of the community, fince they have nothing else but the labour of their hands to live upon, and it is fcarce poffible

they

they fhould in the mean time be able to find any new kind of labour to put them to. The revenue, too, muft proportionably fuffer by the want of the export duties payable on the goods fent to the colonies, and the import duties payable on the goods we receive from foreign countries, in return for what the colonies fend them; which duties, inconfiderable as the firft may be, cannot but amount to a great deal more, than thofe to raife which a ftop was now unhappily put to them.

This laft is the most favourable idea that could poffibly be formed of these measures. It is, therefore, very furprifing, how a miniftry compofed of perfons, one of whom had fo long, and with fuch applaufe, prefided at the board of trade and plantations, and another at that of the treafury, thould well come to think of them. It is ftill more furprifing, that thefe meatures fhould meet with the approbation of a British privy council and parliament. But that, after almost the worst idea that could be well formed of them, had been in a great degree realifed, another measure, the bare propofal of which had given fo much more offence, fhould be approved even with oppofition, inftead of the first being repealed, if not ftigmatized, argues fuch want of reflection, as can fcarcely be paral lelled in the public councils of any country.

Sir Robert Walpole is faid to have had much clearer and jufter notions concerning the means of making the British colonies pay the mother country for their defence, and even contribute to her opulence. A fcheme for taxing them having been mentioned to him during the war with Spain, which broke out in the year 1739. he fmiled and faid, "I will leave that for fome of my fuccetfors, who may have more courage than I have, and be lefs a friend to commerce than I am. It has been a maxim with me, during my adminiftration, to encourage the trade of the American colonics in the utmoft latitude, (nay it has been neceffary to pafs over fome irregularities in their trade with Europe) for by encouraging them to an extenfive growing foreign commerce, if they gain 500,000l. I am convinced that in two years afterwards full 250,00cl of their gains will be in his Majetty's exchequer, by the labour and product of this kingdom; as immenfe quantities of every kind of our manufactures go thither; and as they increase in their foreign American trade, more of our produce will be wanted. This is taxing them more agreeably both to their own conftitution, and to ours."

As to the legality of these laws, if we may be allowed the expreffion, we fhall poftpone the confideration of it to the following chapters, in which it will arife of itfelf out of the fubject.

CHAP.

[blocks in formation]

King's Speech on opening the feffion glances at troubles likely to arife in the American colonies. Original question concerning the legality of general warrants received in the house of commons. Amendments to it carried. Premious question touching the propriety of determining it in its new form, New arguments on the occafon by both parties. Previcus queflion paffes in the negative.

HOUGH

be ftruck at the colonies, another

[ocr errors]

Jan. Icth,

the miniftry inexpediency of these laws, they could, it seems, foresee the oppofition that was likely to be made to measures of the fame kind. The fpeech made from the throne at the opening of the next feffion, 1765. though it recommend ed the establishing of fuch regulations as might beft connect and trengthen every part of his Majefty's dominions, for their mutual benefit and fupport, it mentioned no amendment in any former regulations relating to that fubject; but, on the contrary, a reliance on the firmness and wifdom of parliament in promoting the proper refpect and obedience due to the laws, and the legislative authority of Great Britain; the bringing of which into queftion had been much better avoided, fince fuch a debate could have no iffue, but what must be highly prejudicial to the mother country, efpecially after an unquestioned exercife of fuch authority. Decided in the affirmative, it must tend to alienate the affections of the colonies; in the negative, to increase their prefumption; and left undecided, breed in them a complication of both thefe evils.

But before another blow could

29th of Jan,

original queftion concerning the le gality of general warrants, for apprehend1765. ing and feizing the authors, printers, and publishers of feditious libels, together with their papers, was revived without any qualification, as to the former practice of fecretaries of state, and acquiefcence of the court of king's bench, or rather of the parties fuing in that court for the benefit of the habeas corpus a&t, in the legality of fuch warrants. But, happily for the nation, befides the two parties, one of which feemed determined to fupport the miniftry at any rate, and the other, at any rate, to pull them down, there ftill exifted a third, if it may be called a party, who, wifely confidering, that the ordinary courts of justice, if they had ever been remifs in affairs of this nature, were now fo much the contrary, as by no means to require any refolution of a houfe of commons to quicken them, got the original motion fo amended in the preceding feffion, as to occafion debates, that ended in the difmiffion of it; and now, improving upon themselves, had it altered a fo much more indigeftible form, as rendered it, in fome fort, neceflary

to

neceflary to put the previous queftion, whether it fhould at all be debated; and, when that question came to be put, had weight enough to make it pafs in the negative. The previous queftion, in which the amendment, or rather alterain, is included, food as follows:

[ocr errors]

That, in the particular cafe of libels, it is proper and neceffary to fix, by a vote of the bufe only, what ought to be deemed the law, in respect to general warrants; and, for that purpose, at a time when the determination of the legality of fuch warrants, in the inftance of a most feditious and TREASONABLE libel, is actually depending before the courts at law, for the house to declare that a general warrant, for apprehending the authors, printers, or publishers, of a libel, together with their papers, is not warranted by law, and is an high violation of the liberty of the fubject."

The decifion, however, of this important queftion was not carried without a very long and warm debate concerning the nature of trea fon; the illegality of general warrants in any cafe; the actual pendency, before the ordinary courts of justice, of a cafe fimilar to that upon which it was propofed the houfe fhould now pronounce; and, in fine, the propriety of the boufe's pronouncing, when it had itfelf allowed the exiftence of that circumftance; and as it was impoffible, that it should hold out fo long upon the arguments which before fupported it, and the difference in the alteration was alone fufficient to give room to new ones, many new ones were made ufe of. For, as there was no law,

totidem verbis, to determine any of thefe points, recourfe was had to the spirit of the conftitution. Parliamentary refolutions were brought againft parliamentary refolutions; judicial decrees against judicial decrees; opinions of able lawyers against the opinions of others equally able; parities againft parities; and all of them, refolutions, decrees, opinions, parities, one promifcuoufly against another. The principal arguments made use of on this occafion both within and without doors were as follows:

It was urged, that, in the reign of king Charles the Second, when, if the laws themselves were not fo favourable to the real dignity of the monarch, the minifters of them must be allowed to have been more liable to lean towards his interefts, and in an affair, in which the monarch's caufe was made a common caufe with that of both houfes of parliament, the earl of Briftol having exhibited a charge of treafon against the earl of Clarendon, and alledged, that the faid earl of Clarendon had endeavoured to alienate the affections of his Majesty's fubjects by venting opprobrious fcandals against his Majefty's perfon, and that he had traduced both houfes of parliament; and the judges being ordered to give their opinion whether this be treafon or no, they unanimously agreed, that, if the matters alledged in the charge were admitted to be true, although alledged to be traiteroufly done, yet there was no treafon in it; that, independent of this argument, and only allowing that feditiousness, nay treasonablenefs, is often but mere matter of opinion, and murder a matter of

fact,

« הקודםהמשך »