Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1774-08-15 00:00:00, page 6

'dcmnefCcverG parts oftie late caaAhtof t^c Avar o
cans, parried My that of the Bed Mam; relative to the
tea, which he :• d was contrary t) all the laws of puti
cy, ciulurJr', and humanity; but though he thus, in
the candour 'of opinion, and on an important question,
when every th:rg Ihodd be laid open end impartially
cx-unim d into, condemned home part of the American
condah, he muff reprobate the Made of governments
aAs idative to fixation; that this • ': s I is former cpi
rA% and he Ihould maintain it bill death. J hat this
ceumty had no tight under Heaven to tax America;
that it was contrary to ail the principles of justice and
civil policy, and that neither the exigencies of the Rate,
tie growth of power, nor even the acquiescence in the
taxes, could juAify it upon any occasion whatever. He
concluded by going into the conduct of the Rockingham
pat 1 ;, which he severely reprehended.
fie spoke for an hour and ten minutes, seemed no
way unpared in his voice, strength, or oratorical abili
ties, and ass likened to with profound attention.
The States General have been repeatedly applied to
bySir J< Lph York, on arc unt of feme encroachments
on Kveraj parts of our trade in the EaR Indies, but
could never obtain any but evasive and indefinite an
swers.
I he following seems a convincing proof that thene
gocia ion between the lurks and Ruffians for a peace,
is now a real one. A young Gentleman who applied
the other dayat the Ruffian AmbaiLdor's, received for
aniwer, that his Excellency had received inftruftioris
not to engage any more perlons either for the navy or
army if het Imperial Majesty.
I'he council held yetterday at St. James's, we are
told, was employed on feme inrerefting advices receiv
ed from America the preceding evening.
juae 6. On Saturday ms Excellency William Try
on, Governor of New-Yc rk, attended at the court for
the EeR time since bis arrival from that province, and
was mod graciously received by his Majesty.
This day came on in a committee of the who'e House
of Commons the further consideration of the bill for
making more efLMual proGiNu for the government of
the province of Quebec in North America.
The following is a copy of the city petition against
the bill:
To the Hon. the Commons cf Great-Britain in Par
liament. +
The humble petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen,
and Commo s of the city of London, in Common-
Council assembled.
“ Sheweth,
“ That your petitioners arc deeply concerned and
much alarmed to find there is now a bill depending be
fore this Hon. House, intituled, " An a& for making
more cßAuul provision for the government of the pro
vince of Quebec in North America,'' which in all civil
cases takes away the exercise cf the English law, and
that sacred part of it, the trial by Jury, and substitutes
in its Read the French law cf Canada, whereby the
freedom of the person, and security of the property
of his Mjdlv's fubje&s, are rendered very precarious.
" That if this bill passes into a law, the Roman Ca
tholic will he the only legal established religion, without
any provision being made for the free exercise of the
Proteftmt religion, which may prove greatly injurious
and opnreflNe to bis Majesty's protestant fubjeds, who
do now, or may hereafter reside in the laid province.
“ That the legislative power is veiled solely in per
funs appointed during pleafur'e by the crown, which is
totally incontinent with the liberty and principles of the
English constitution.
"Your petitioners therefore most humbly
pray, that the laid bill may not pass into
a law."
The real design of the Quebec bill, we hear, is to
make it a military government, by way of check to se
veral provincial aifemblies and proprietary rights of the
other provinces on that continent, and for this purpose
it is certainly very properly Situate, as it lays behind
New England, New-York, Virginia, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania, andon all occasions may be of great use
in keeping up that Superiority of the Mother country
over the colonies, which government has, of late, found
to be very difficult. In the prefect political state of
Quebec, it is Lkewife surprisingly adapted to this pur
pole :—the Canadians, feufible of the freedom they
have hitherto enjoyed under the Bririfh Government,
prefer it much to their former French government; and
at the fame tifne, fungible of the commotions and fqnab
bles between the Governors and assemblies of fevera! pro
vinces around them, look upon afTemblies and civil go
vernment as the means of furring up diffentions between
the King and his fubjeds, which the peaceable Canadi
ans wiLabove all things to avoid, and are therefore very
well content to have a military government established,
having hitherto been io happy under one, and not yet
contaminated with what is called the American spirit of
liberty and independency.
The projector of the Quebec bill that now makes so
much noise, being kept so industriously a secret, causes
many conjectures, and Several persons are talked of as
the father of this despotic bantling, which no one cares
to own; among these are a member of the treasury
bench, a great civilian, and an unpopular Nobleman.
The following has been proposed by a noble Lord
(not in administration) for terminating the disputes
with the Americans: the Tea Act to be repealed, and
a certain Stipulated fam to be railed by the House of as
sembly in each province annually: and an aft of oblivion
to pass for all that has happened Since the palling that aft.
imr^from Genoa, by the Lit Flanders mail ad rife,
that the mLundodarlings between the courts of Lon
don and Morocco, became more serious every day, and
that the Emperor would not permit the English to carry
iron ftwe ary premiers without difehargiog all the
CuiisLid on them.
f^ 8. Governor Johnßone, after Gating his ob
j;Bioj to the principles of the Canada bill, and to the
extension of Canada (which another Member informed
the House was no less than eleven millions four hun
dred thousand acres more than was claimed by France)
read alift cf propositions, which, he said, appeared to
him so be contained in the bill, among which are—
That a state of Slavery is better than a state of free
dom.
That the Fopilh religion i§ better than the Protestant.
That Juries arc unnecessary, and therefore to be
disused.
That monopolies are ufeful to trade.
That French laws and commercial regulations are
preferable to English.
And that th: constitution, which our an^ftors bad
framed, with so much wisdom, and eftabli ed at the
expence of so much blood and treasure, is to be de
stroyed by their wiser sons.
Yesterday Lord North proposed Several blanks in
order to fill up a clause, some of which were objected
to by Mr. Dertipfler, as to the number of fouls in Que
bec, to which objections Lord North agreed. The next
objection was to a p rt of the preamble of a clause
which fays, " it will be highly expedient to grant them
the fame laws by which their lives and property have
been heretofore governed, protested, and ordered."—
Mr. Dempfler and Mr. E. Burke objected to the word
“ protected," as it was, in their opinion, not true, and
was at the fame time paying the French too great a
compliment. Lord North, Lord Beauchamp, and Mr.
Grey Cooper, insisted the word was proper, and that
the law that governed protected. The next objection
was made to the clause which repeals all the ordinances
granted by the King's proclamation in 1763. Avery
strong debate ensued, in which Mr. Dunning spoke for
dear an hour and an half against it; he was supported by
Mr. E. Burke, Capt. Phipps,'Mr. Howard, &c. Lord
North, Mr. Cornwall, Lord Clare, Mr. Rice,&c. &c.
as strongly supported the clause; but about half past
eight o'clock the House divided nearly three to one in
favour of the clause.—The next objection was made to
the clause which fettles, tythes and dues Shall be paid to
the RomiSh Clergy.—A very strong debate here ensued,
in which Mr. E. Burke, Mr. Baker, Mr. Dunning,
Mr. W. Burke, Mr, C. Fox, Capt. Phipps, &c.
strongly opposed not only the whole clause, but parti
cularly an alteration proposed by Lord North, which
was, " that his Majesty Should have power to appro
priate, when he thought proper, the said tythes unto the
eftabliShing a Protestant Clergy."—Lord North, the
Attorney and Solicitor General, &c. &c. as strongly
supported the clause with the amendment and they were
left debating it at 11 o'clock.
June 10. Yesterday there was a.grand levee at St.
James's, and also a privy council, said to be in conse
quence of dispatches received from Boftbn. Sir Jeffe
ry Amherst attended, and had a long conference with
bis Majesty.
All the Officers belonging to the regiments in the
Weft-India islands who are absent upon furlow, are
ordered tojoin their refpe&ive corps immediately.
June 13. The Lords yesterday read a firft time the
bill for redeeming one million of the 3 per c nt.annuities,
and for establishing a lottery, and allo an expiring law
bin-
Read a second time the bill for establishing a fund for
the support of the Government of Quebec.
Summary of Friday's Proceedings in the House of
Commons.
TH E Speaker took the Chair at halfpaft 2 o'clock;
very little private business was done.
At about four o'clock, the order of the day for re
ceiving the report of the Committee on the Quebec Bill
was ordered to be read, when a fhoit conversation pass
ed between Mr. E. Burke and Mr. Jackson, concern
ing fixing the boundary line to be drawn between the
Colonies of Quebec and New-Yoik, which was ami
cably fettled.
The clauses of the bill were then read a firft time,
without any opposition, but upon the second reading
Mr. Mackworth arose, and in a long speech said much
in favour of the petitioning Merchants of London,
against the bill, and likewise in favour of Juries, pro
posed a clause for the eftablifliing an optional Jury in
Canada for civil cases, in order that the English Mer
chants might have some remedy to protest their pro
perty.
The clause was broughtup and read a firft time, but
on the question being put, " that this clause stand a
part of the bill," Lord North in a long speech spoke
much against the measure.
Serjeant Glynn answered all his Lordship's objecti
ons, and spoke of Juries with the highest re/pecl, and
condemned the bill in the most spirited manner polhble.
The Attorney General answered him, and spoke
against the clause being inserted, as it would repeal a
clause that is already in the bill.
Mr. Dunning answered all the objections of the noble
Lord and Attorney General, paSTed many panegyricks
on Juries, and recommended the clause..
The Solicitor General was much against the clause
being inserted, he said he made no doubt but trial by
At ten o'clock the question was put, “ that that clause
should stand 2 part of the bill;" upon which the House
divided; for the clause 40, against it 83. After
which the bill was ordered to be engrossed; the House
then adjourned.
Mr. T. Townfe^d proposed a clause to make it a
temporary bill, and to limit its duration to seven years.
This produced a short debate, but it passed in the nega
tive without a division. +
Mr. DempAer next proposed three clauses, one for
giving notice of all laws to be parcel, and the other two
of the fame tendency; and the question being put on
them, they likewise paflfed in the negative.
Mr. C. Fox proposed a clause to secure to the religi
ous orders their rights and properties, as a corporate
body claiming under the capitulation, which shared the
fame fate with the preceding.
Laflly, when all the clauses were rejected cragreed
to, and the Speaker was reading over the bill, Mr.
Dempfter proposed an amendment for extending the
Habeas Corpus law to that province; and the question
being put, it passed in the negative.
Mr. Dunning, in his speech on the Quebec Bill, a few
days past in the House of Commons, observed, that as
the Noblesse of Canada are the only persons which ob
jed to trials by Jury, be sincerely wished, for the good
of the Colony at large, that the Noblesse, consisting of
150, were all whipped out of the province.
s+.£frfrs+fi-^+^ *
From the St. JA me s's C h ßo n icL e of May 28.
To the P R I N T E R,
SI R,
THAVE perused the intended a& of Parliament
for the government of Quebec, and I think it the
boldest stride of despotism that has been made by any
set of men since the restoration.
It establishes the Roman Catholic religion from the
Freights of Bellifle to the farther end of Lake Superior,
and from the limits of the Hudson's Bay company to the
banks of the the Ohio; containing a trad of land near as
large as what is possessed by all the Roman Catholics in
Europe; and at present, exclusive of the French Roman
Catholic inhabitants that came by conquest, there are
within the intended bounds cf the government ofQuebec
ar lead five and twenty thousand Protestants of his Ma
jesty's natural-born fubjeds, who, for any thing that ap
pears in this ad, may not even enjoy the toleration of
the Protestant religion, and may be hanged or burned
as heretics, if they are proved to perform or attend di
vine service, according to the rites of the Church of
England, or any other Protestant persuasion. * * *
## *****
This large tradtof country is to be governed by the
arbitrary laws of France, executed by a Governor and
Council of seventeen persons appointed by the King;
every one of whom may be Roman Catholics and Jesu
its, if his Majesty pleases: Indeed they must be Roman
Catholics by the laws of France, which are now to be
come the laws of Quebec.
There arc no less than three hundred thousand
pounds due to the Merchants and Traders of Great-
Britain and Ireland from that province; in the course
of such large tranfadions feme part of them must be
litigated; and though these credits were given on the
faith cf the King's proclamation, and other public and
solemn instruments, cftablifhing the laws cfEngland in
all the countries conquered last war, especially inQuebec,
yet this bill makes no provision for the recovery of debts
already costraded under the faith of the English laws by
those laws, but leaves the creditors either here or there
to feck redress in Courts instituted after the French
form, guided by the French laws, and tried by Judges
only without the benefit of a Jury.
It is to be presumed likewise that these Judges for some
time must be either French hirelings sent for from France,
or men both ignorant of the French laws and language;
for in the government of Quebec at present, though the
English Judges are unexceptionable men in the Rations
they hold, yet it has not been in their way to know
any thing of the French laws, and but very little of the
language; and all the men of chara^er of the law that
were in Canada during the French government have long
since removed themselves to France.
I hope this bill will either be thrown out of the House
of Commons, or meet with such amendments as may
secure his Majesty's natural born fubjeds in a full en
joyment of their civil and religious rights in as ample a
manner as their fellow-fubjects in Great-Britain, or in
any of the colonies.
Your's, &c. Q.
Jury was tight, yet this was not the prop^rtime to ef
tablilh it.
Mr. Byng spoke very much in favour of the clause,
faying, it was not so much as be could wifb, yet he
would by all means have that as a protect for the
Biitifh merchants.
Mr. Ambler spoke both for and against about five mi
nutes, but finished with giving bis negativeto the clause.
Mr. E. Burke, in a speech of upwards of an hour,
condemned the bill, and the framers of it, in the highest
manner; he took a rctrofpeftive view of all the evi
dence that had been given, and argument used, during
the whole of the business, and answered all the objecti
ons with great judgment; he finished with faying, the
Canadians undoubtedly were greatly astonished to think,
that people who had such powerful arms to gain their
tolony, Should have such weak heads as not to know
how to govern it.