Chapter III: Part 3

3dly. The Advocates for making _North-America_ independent of the _British_ Parliament must, if consistent with themselves, be for turning the _British_ Constitution into something very different from what it is at present, or ever was; for the very Plea these Men use in regard to _North-America_ is, that Representation and Legislation (a very small Part of which is the Power of raising Taxes) must always go together; therefore as nineteen Parts in twenty of the People of _England_, and upwards of ninety-nine Parts in an Hundred of the People of _Scotland_, are not qualified to be _Voters_, nor ever were, _be their Property ever so great_, that is (according to this new-fashioned Doctrine) are not represented in Parliament; it must inevitably follow, that a vast Majority of the Inhabitants of _Great-Britain_, as well as _British America_, have a right to renounce their Allegiance to the present Government as soon as they please, and to set up for Independence. For in Fact, according to the dangerous Principles now openly avowed, all this Multitude of Non-Electors owe no Subjection to that Legislature, and to those Powers, in the Choice or Continuance of which they were not consulted. They ought not to be compelled to obey any Laws, which were made without their Consent, or Privity; and more especially where they have no Representation, they ought not to be subject to any Taxation.--So that being thus happily set free from all Coercion of Government, all Restraints of Law, and Burden of Taxes; and having learnt at last to assert those inherent and unalienable Rights, which have been so long usurped, they are now restored to a State of the most perfect Freedom, and may either chuse another Form of Government, according to their own Fancy; or else live, as they can, without any Government at all. A blessed Specimen this of _patriotic Liberty_! A most comprehensive Bill of Rights! sure of overturning, if carried into Execution, every Government, that either ever was, or ever can be, proposed to the World.

4thly. The honourable Society of the _Outs_ will go as great Lengths to throw Things into Confusion as any Set of Men whatever; for as these Persons have no other End in View than to get into Power, and to share the Emoluments of the State among themselves and their Dependents, they will stick at no Measure, however unjust and unconstitutional, to compass this End: Nay, they will unsay the Things which they themselves had said in Administration; they will blame those very Measures which they themselves had planned and recommended; and, in short, they will do any Thing, and every Thing, to raise the evil Spirit of Discord and Dissention, to bring themselves in.

_Lastly._ The Inconstant and Disappointed, those who love to fish in troubled Waters, and those who, having spent their Fortunes, have nothing to lose, but may have a Chance to share in the Property of other Men by a general Scramble; also the Desperate and Daring of every Denomination; all these wish for some speedy Change in the Constitution.

PARTIES _for preserving the present Constitution, and for keeping every Thing in a quiet and peaceable Condition_.

1st. The greatest Part of the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom; that is, almost all those who have the greatest Property at Stake, and have the most to lose.

2dly. A vast Majority of the richest Merchants, and principal Traders and Manufacturers throughout the Kingdom, are the warm Friends of Government: The Exceptions on this Head are few, and very inconsiderable.

3dly. The Clergy of the established Church are zealously attached to the present happy Constitution, wishing to preserve, and to promote Peace on Earth, and Good-Will among Men: And in respect to the dissenting Clergy, the most eminent and respectable (tho' it is to be feared, not the most numerous) act in the same laudable Manner, and endeavour to make their People truly sensible of the many Blessings they enjoy under the Reign of his present Majesty.

4thly. The Proprietors and Stock-Holders in the public Funds will undoubtedly range on the Side of Government; because they can get nothing, but must necessarily lose by the Convulsions of the State, and by the Overthrow of that Constitution, the Preservation of which is their greatest Security.

5thly. The whole Body of the learned Profession in the Law (Men who have acquired their Knowledge of the Constitution from Authors of a Cast very different from bawling, disappointed Patriots, or hungry Pamphleteers;--these Men, I say) in general agree, that each Member of the House of Commons, tho' elected by one particular County, City, or Borough, doth not represent that particular County, City, or Borough, in any _exclusive_ Sense; for he represents the whole Commons of the Realm, one Part, and one Individual as well as another. A Member chosen _by_ the County of _Middlesex_ is not chosen _for Middlesex_ exclusively, but for all the Subjects of the _British_ Empire; each of whom hath as constitutional a Right to his Services, and may be as much affected by his particular Conduct, and therefore has as much Right to _instruct_ him, as any Freeholder in the County of _Middlesex_: And he, on his Part, is bound by his Office to omit the _smaller_ Interest of the County of _Middlesex_, or of the _Middlesex Electors_, when standing in Competition with the _greater_ Interests of his Fellow Subjects in _America_, or other Places:--So that in short, tho' some few only, perhaps not a fortieth Part, of the Inhabitants of the whole Island, have legal Votes for Representatives, all in general, both within the Island, and without it, are _virtually_ represented. That this is Fact and Law, that this ever was the Constitution of the _British_ Empire, from the earliest Times down to the present Day, is such an apparent Truth, that it cannot be denied. Therefore in this Sense it is true, and in _no other_, that every Member of the common Wealth is supposed to give his previous Consent to the making of those Laws, which he is afterwards bound to obey, and to the imposing of those Taxes which he is obliged to pay. Indeed upon this Footing (viz. of virtual Representation in some Cases, and of actual Election in others) a free and well-poised Government can stand, and be supported; but it can be supported on no other:--Nay, the Government of the _Massachusets-Bay_ itself, whenever this Colony shall become independent of the Mother-Country, must then, as well as now, be supported on this very Principle; that is to say, on the very Principle against which they so loudly clamour. And besides all this, the very same Reasons, which induce the non-represented Subjects in _England_ to submit quietly and peaceably to the Payment of those Taxes, to which they have not given their Consent by actual Representation, ought to induce the _Americans_ to acquiesce also; because, if the _American_ Trade is so valuable, as reported, a _British_ Parliament cannot injure this Trade by any Mode of Taxation, without injuring the Merchants, the Manufacturers, and the Traders in general of _Great-Britain_; and thereby sinking the Profits of their own Estates, and the Rents of their own Lands and Houses.

6thly. The whole legislative Power of the Kingdom will certainly support their own Authority, and not commit _Felo de se_ to please their Enemies. They will not, they never can admit the Parliaments of _North-America_ to be independent of them, or co-ordinate with themselves in the same State or Empire.

7thly. The whole executive Power of the Kingdom is at present in the Hands of his Majesty, and of those who act in his Name, and by his Authority. There the Constitution has placed it, and in no other Hands; nor is there the least Probability that mobbing, huzzaing, furious Speeches, and inflammatory Libels, without Arms, Artillery, or Ammunition, and without a Treasury, will be able to wrest the executive Power out of the Hands of those who constitutionally enjoy it.

And now upon this General Review and Muster of the Forces on the Malcontent, as well as the Government Side, let every one consider well within himself, what he ought to do at the present Crisis, as a constitutional Patriot, an honest _Englishman_, a loyal Subject, and a prudent Man.

THE END.

ERRATA.

P. 19. l. 10. for _Cacus_ read _Polyphemus_.
P. 62. l. 17. after _Labour_ add _and_.
P. 62. l. 19. dele _and_.
P. 65. l. 8. before _Sailors_ add _and_.
P. 72. l. 21. after _Produce_ add _of the Excise_.

Footnotes:

[1] In the Year of the Rebellion 1745, and for many Years afterwards, the _London Evening Post_ (now a republican) was then a flaming _Jacobite Paper_: During which Period the Author of these Tracts had frequently the Honour of being abused by him, under the Character of a _low-church, fanatical, Oliverian Whig_. Once in particular (above 20 Years ago) he was complimented in the high-flown Strain of _Josiah ben Tucker ben Judas Iscariot_. The Times are now greatly altered; and so is the Tone of the Abuse. But the Author is perfectly resigned to these Vicissitudes of human Affairs: And he has no other Favour to ask of this, and of all his Brother-Scribblers, whether weekly or monthly, in Sheets, or in Pamphlets, than that they would _never praise him_, because that, and that only, he should look upon to be a _real Disgrace_. But it is not the _London Evening Post_ alone, who from a violent Jacobite has commenced a fierce Republican. Many like Instances may be recollected. And indeed the Transition is natural enough; for if a Man can be so absurd as to think that there is an _indefeasible_ Right in any one Family, when that Family becomes _extinct_, he turns a Republican.

[2] The late Dr. BUTLER, Bishop of _Bristol_, and afterwards of _Durham_ had a singular Notion respecting large Communities and public Bodies;--a Notion which perhaps is not altogether unapplicable to the present Case. His Custom was, when at _Bristol_, to walk for Hours in his Garden in the darkest Night, which the Time of the Year could afford; and I had frequently the Honour to attend him. After walking some Time, he would stop suddenly, and ask the Question, "What Security is there against the _Insanity_ of Individuals? The Physicians know of none: And as to Divines, we have no Data either from Scripture, or Reason to go upon relative to this Affair."--_True, my Lord, no Man has a Lease of his Understanding, any more than of his Life. They are both in the Hands of the Sovereign Disposer of all Things._ He would then take another Turn, and again stop short. "Why might not whole Communities and public Bodies be seized with _Fits of Insanity_, as well as Individuals?" _My Lord, I have never considered the Case, and can give no Opinion concerning it._ "Nothing but this Principle, that they are liable to Insanity, equally at least with private Persons, can account for the major Part of those Transactions, which we read in History." I thought little of this odd Conceit of the Bishop's at that Juncture: But I own I could not avoid thinking of it a great deal since, and applying it to many Cases.

[3] See, for a Proof of this Fact, First, A Message from the General Assembly of _Massachusetts Bay_ to GOVERNOR SHIRLEY, 4th of _January_, 1754. Secondly, A Message from the Council and House of Representatives of ditto to ditto. Thirdly, An Address from the Council of Representatives of ditto to ditto. Forthly, An Address of the Assembly of _Virginia_ to the King. Fifthly, A Representation of the Commissioners met at _Albany_. And Sixthly, Extracts from the Proceedings of the CONGRESS at _Albany_, all in the Year 1754. And all of them antecedent to the Arrival of the two Regiments under GENERAL BRADDOCK. I would here recommend the Perusal of _The Controversy between_ Great Britain _and her Colonies_, printed for ALMON, to those who wish for a fuller Information on these interesting Points; particularly from Page 107 to 136.

[4] Were it not for the _British_ Fleets, and for the Fortresses of _Gibraltar_ and _Port-Mahon_,--and in short for the general Terror of the British Name, all the piratical States of _Barbary_ would immediately seize on _American_ Ships, when carrying Fish, or Rice, or any other _American_ Produce South of Cape _Finistere_, as their lawful Prey. And yet _America_ doth not pay a single Shilling towards the Support of our Fleets, or the Maintenance of our Forts and Garrisons in any Part of the World.

[5] See the Resolutions of the grand Continental Congress, in Opposition to the reconciliatory Proposal of Parliament for permitting each Province to tax itself, according to its own Mode. In these Resolutions they expressly declare, that they will be the sole Judges, not only of the _Mode_ of raising, but also of the Sum or Quantum to be raised, and of the Application of it: And that the Parliament of _Great-Britain_ hath no Right to decide as to either of these Points.

[6] The Princes of the House of STUART took it into their Heads to believe, that all Colonies were their private Patrimony; in respect of which the Parliament had no Right to intermeddle. This Notion, so long ago justly exploded, is now revived, (strange to tell!) even by modern Patriots, and _American_ Republicans: For they are the People at present, and not the King's Ministers, who propose to exalt the Prerogatives of the Crown to the Subversion of the Rights, Privileges, and Liberties of the _British_ Parliament, and the _British_ Nation. Indeed so far, it must be owned, is Fact,--that as the Princes of that House had the first modelling of the Colonies, they introduced a Practice, (still most absurdly retained tho' without any Power to enforce it) of bringing all Appeals before themselves and their Privy Councils, instead of before the Court of King's-Bench or the House of Lords; which is the only regular and constitutional Mode of appealing, and the only one now observed in Appeals from _Ireland_. However, notwithstanding this _Impropriety_, as the King can send no armed Forces to _America_, without Consent of Parliament first had for their Maintenance, and afterwards for authorizing the Use of military Law, and military Discipline among them, it may be justly averred, that the King doth in no other exclusive Sense govern _America_, than as the sole executive Power, which is to enforce and put in Motion the Laws and Decrees of the supreme Legislature of _Great-Britain_. See a very candid and impartial Account of this Matter in a Book entituled, "Remarks on the principal Acts of the 13th Parliament of _Great-Britain_," from Page 38 to 45.

[7] See De LOLME's _Constitution of England_, the Note of Page 52. The whole is a most excellent Treatise, and worthy the Perusal of all those _Englishmen_, who wish to understand, and to set a just Value on the distinguishing Excellencies of the _English_ Constitution,--a Constitution, as he justly observes, the only one in its Kind, _ponderibus librata suis_.

[8] See his Speech, _March_ 22, 1775, second Edition Octavo.

[9] Queen ELIZABETH sometimes raised this Duty to 20 and 25 per Cent. by Orders and Warrants issued from her Privy Council; that is, by her own sole and absolute Authority. Yet she was _good Queen_ BESS: And her Days were _golden Days_. See also the shocking Number of Monopolies granted in her Reign, set forth at large in TOWNSHEND's _Collection_; or in Sir SIMON d'EWE's _Journal_ of _Parliament_. See more particularly the Debates which past in the 43d Year of her Reign, after a Struggle of upwards of 20 Years for abolishing these Monopolies.

[10] A few shallow, half-sighted Politicians have objected to the Trade with _Russia_, because the Balance, according to their narrow Ideas, is visibly against us. But what Balance do they mean?--Not the Balance of _Industry_, for that is plainly in our Favour; or, in other Words, we export more _manufactured_ Goods to _Russia_, than we receive from it. And as to the Balance of _Money_, they ought to have known, that it is much more beneficial to an industrious, commercial Country to import Raw-Materials (_if it wants them_) than to import Gold and Silver; because there cannot be so many Hands employed in the manufacturing of these Metals, as in the working up of Timber, Iron, Hemp, Flax, &c. &c. to their respective Uses. It is amazing, how little these self-evident Principles have been understood, or at least attended to by commercial Writers of some Note and Character, and particularly by JOSIAH GEE; according to whose Doctrine of the Balance of Trade, this Nation hath not been worth a single Shilling for almost these 100 Years.

[11] I am told, that this Deficiency of the Excise this Year, on Liquors imported into the Out-Ports, is owing to a new Species of Smuggling lately put in Practice, whereby the Revenue is grossly defrauded. If so, the Balance would have been still greater, had all the Duties on Rum, and other Liquors imported into the Out-Ports, been justly and fairly paid; or at least paid as fairly and justly as usual.

_Lately published by the same Author_,

TRACTS Political and Commercial.

1. _A Solution of the important Question, whether a poor Country, where raw Materials and Provisions are cheap, and Wages low, can supplant the Trade of a rich manufacturing Country, where raw Materials and Provisions are dear, and the Price of Labour high._

2. _The Case of going to War for the Sake of Trade considered in a new Light._

3. _A Letter from a Merchant in_ London _to his Nephew in_ America, _concerning the late and present Disturbances in the Colonies._

4. _The true Interest of_ Great-Britain _set forth in regard to the Colonies; and the only Means of living in Peace and Harmony with them._

5. _The respective Pleas and Arguments of the Mother Country and of the Colonies distinctly set forth; and the Impossibility of a Compromise of Differences, or a mutual Concession of Rights plainly demonstrated; with a prefatory Epistle to the Plenipotentiaries of the Congress._

Printed for RIVINGTON, CADEL, and WALTER.

TRACTS Polemical and Theological.

1. _An Apology for the Church of_ England, _as by Law established, occasioned by a Petition to Parliament for abolishing Subscriptions._

2. _Two Letters to the Rev. Dr._ KIPPIS: _Letter 1st. Concerning the Extent of the Claim of the Church of_ England _to regulate the_ external _Behaviour of her own Members; and also to influence their_ internal _Judgments in Controversies of Faith: Letter 2d. Wherein the Question is discussed, whether the_ English _Reformers in the Reign of_ EDWARD VI. _intended to establish the Doctrines of Predestination, Redemption, Grace, Justification, and Perseverance, in the Calvinistical Sense, as the Doctrines of the Church of_ England.

3. _Religious Intolerance no Part of the General Plan either of the Mosaic or Christian Dispensation._

4. _A brief and dispassionate View of the Difficulties respectively attending the Trinitarian, Arian, and Socinian Systems._

To be published in the Course of the ensuing Winter.

_A Volume of select Sermons on interesting and important Subjects._

All by the same Author.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).

The original text includes two blank spaces. These are represented by ____ in this text version.

Footnote markers are placed as in the original text.

The table facing page 49 was in one piece in the original text.

The following misprints have been corrected:
"memomorable" corrected to "memorable" (page 13)
"for for" corrected to "for" (page 85)

Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have been retained.