Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1775-04-17 00:00:00, page 7

I have crawled, my Lords, to this House to-day to
tell you so—l thick it my duty to give the whole of
my experience and council to my country at all times,
but more particularly when (he is in so much need of it;
and having thus entered upon the threshold of this bu
siness, I will knock at your gates of justice, and never
flop, except infirmities should nail me to my bed, until
I have, at least, tried every means in my power to heal
those unhappy divisions.
There is no time to be loft—every hour is big with
danger—perhaps whilst I am now speaking, the deci
sive blow is struck, which may involve millions in the
coofequence; and, believe me, the very firft drop of
blood that is spilled will not be a wound eafilv Tinned
over—it will be irritable vulnus ; a wound of that ran
corous and fefterin? kind, that, in all probability, will
mortify the whole body."
Let us then, my Lords, inftanriv begin wtih this
business, but let us not a 9, as hitherto has been aßed
—taking it up by bits and scraps, as exigencies prerted,
without any regard to general relations and dependen
cies. What lignifies merely repealing this, or that par
ticular a& ? this is but meanlv sneaking out of one dif
ficulty perhaps to get into a werfe, and can never an
swer the purposes of a wife amicable and constitutional
system. The mere annihilation of a few little dirty
Areds of parchment—can never produce any lifting
effea on the happiness and commerce of three millions
of people, hitherto ground down with miseries and
wrongs, and in hourly dread of having them occafion
tally rehearsed.
We must look on this great business in one large con
meaed view, work on it, step by Sep, with caution and
liberality, and never lose fight of it until it is accom
plished; this is the way, not^onlyto obtain confidence
for the present, but solid and lading happiness for the
future : The line thus drawn, the Americans will have
something to trust to —and we (hall be taught not to
transgress that line.—Thus mutual confidence will be
begun, and mutual benefit muff follow. I know that it
b^s been in circulation, that if the flasnh ad had never
been repealed, we should be at this hour in peace and
quietness with America; and from this many people
urge the danger as well as inefficacy of conciliating
measures at present. But though I coull readily re
fute the falfhood and absurdity of this assertion, by ap
pealing to the very official letters from your American
Governors at that period— 1 shall weave this ground,
and only mention to your Lordships a circumstance,
which will let this matter in a still clearer light, and
flew yon the temper, firmnefs and complexion of the
Bostonians on that occasion.
Sometime after the repeal of that a&, I happened to
be in company (at the house of a mutual friend above
100 miles from this town) with one of the most consi
derable and intelligent merchants in this country ; in a
conversation I had with him upon this fubje&, I begged
him to be as explicit as possible in giving me his opini
on of the repeal. Ibis Gentleman then told me, and
confirmed his account by several written and refpedable
evidences, that the people of Boston, previous to the
repeal, waited in sullen flence the deliberations of the
British Parliament, and were pofitivel; determined, if
that day's victory had not been obtained, immediately
to abandon the town, their residence, and all the be
nefits of commerce; to the country they were deter
mined to retire with their families and friends, more
happy to be freemen, tho' tillers of the earth, than
saves under the greatest prosperity. Does this refolu
lution look like tamely submitting to indignities ? Or
-does it shew that it is owing to this just relaxation of
government, that they have been taught to aft with tbat
rirmnefs, and perfcverance, they have since that period
pursued?
I would not, however, wish, my Lords, by this to
encourage America to proceed beyond the line of right
—I reprobate as much as any of you those ads of vio
fnee which a few of her mobility have committed 8
but when her inherent constitutional rights are invaded,
those rights the has an equitable claim to the full enjoy
ment of, by the fundamental laws of the English con
stitution, and ingrafted on that constitution by the un
alterable laws of nature; then 1 own myfelf an Ameri
can ; and feeling myfelf as such, shall, to the verge of
my life, vindicate her rights. If America, however,
tory mulp r rduce to h'nrfeT and country, though often
in his power, avoided blows as much a; possible. After
the affair was ever, the Marshal was thus reprimanded
at Court for not at least taking the Prince; Pourquoi ne
I'avez reus pas pris ? but that great General very sensib
ly replied, Parceque, Sire, Ji je Favois fait tout Paris en
revanche m'auroit feris. " Should I take him, please
your Majesty, I was afraid all Paris would take me.
In this alarming crisis, this diffracted state of affairs,
T come, my Lords, with this paper in my hand (holding
out his motion) to offer you the belt of my experience
and advice, which is, “ to beseech his Majesty that he
would be gracioufl y pleased to give immediate orders
to Gen. Gage to withdraw his troops from before the
town of Boston, in order to open the way for a plan of
concord and reconciliation ;" and this, my Lords, upon
the most mature and deliberate grounds, is the belt
advice I can give you at this juncture —Such a con
du<rtwill convince America that you mean to try her
cau'e in the spirit of feeJ&m and enquiry, and not in
letters of b'ood; it will be a pledge to her, that you mean
nothing more than friendfhip and equity, and she, I trust,
will meet you half way. But how can die truss you
with the bayonet at her breast? nay, how does she
know, but after having submitted to the sword, you
mean to forge for her heavier chains, the general con
sequence of ferocious vidory.
Lord Lyttleton supported Lord Suffolk. He be
gan by paving every refped to the great authority cf
the noble bar! who opened the debate, and was very
sorry to differ from him; but his own candour and
opinion decided him to reprobate highly the conduct
of the Americans, whom he called rebels and insur
gents. In short, he rested the principal part of his
argument on the infallibility cf ads cf Parliament,
which any power that relifted, he said, should be
compelled to Submit to.
Lord Shelburne fpeke ably in defence of the Ame
ricans ; said be flood totally unconnected both with
men and measures, but that the noble Earl's motion
carried with it such a conciliating mode, that he
heartily adopted it.
Lord Camden rose next, and in a very persuasive,
argumentative manner, supported the opinions ofhis
noble friend Lord Chatham. He went into an able
and masterly examination of the original rights of a
free people, which he defined with his usual accura
cy, temper and precision. He observed, in an in
ference from these premises, that arbitrary power
may as well be lodged in a collective body as a single
person; but wherever it was exerted, it was unlaw
ful, and may be refilled ; —that this was no novel
doctrine, but as old as the constitution, and may be
found in all the law books, from Selden down to a
gentleman (meaning judge Blackstone) whose Com
mentaries had been so justly and univerf lly received
in the world ; —that therefore ads of the state were
not always infallible doctrines, but were, and ought
to be, in particular cases, fubjed to the rights and
freedoms of the people at large, who had the origi
nal right veiled in them, of delegating their power
and authority. [To which give me leave to add, ro
people have a right to delegate to others the power
of taking away such right of delegation; 'tis the
birth right of their sons and of their sons sons, and
this can never happen but where tyranny and arbi
trary power destroy the liberty of the people.]
Lord Townsend is said to have quoted several ads
of Parliament, on which the Americans had tram
pled upon legislative authority ; he fhnuld therefore
be for reducing them to obedience by force cf arms.
The Duke of Richmond, in his u'ual masterly
manner, took a large view of the question ; and on
the whole concluded with coinciding w th the opi
nion of Lord Chatham for withdrawing the troops
from Boston, as the only way to open a plan of re
conciliation. He next answered the assertion thrown
out by some of the Lords in office, that the Ameri
cans would not be consent with being excluded in
ternal taxation, but wanted a repeal of the naviga
tion act. This he did by going to the table, and
referring to the petition of the Congress, which he
read in his place, and by which it appeared that they
asked no such matter. He concluded by drawing a
comparison between the timid behaviour of admini
fttation at the surrender of Falkland's Islands, and
their swaggering conduct now used to their own
children.
The Marquis of Rockingham very pathetically la
mented the unhappy situation of the town of Boston,
and asked what good fending the soldiery had al e dy
produced. That they had been there for some time,
incapable of using their arms, or bringing Tout the
purposes of government. From this experience of
your ill concerted measures (continues his Lordship)
you ought to be taught wisdom and prudent legisla
tion; and the only way to recover lability to your
councils, and open a door to reconciliation, will be
to begin by withdrawing the soldiery from the town
of B >fton.
Ihou'd at any rime, lose fight of this line, I shall be an
Englishman, and defend those rights against any power
under Heaven that would oppose them.—
Administration appeared to be startled at this fair,
honest, candid and impartial representation ; but
resuming their former countenance, Lord Suffolk is
said to rife up, and after condemning the con
dud of the Americans with great vehemence,
said that government had tock every gentle measure
that was in their power, but to no tffett ; that things
were at last come to that crisis, that either the Mo
ther Cour.try must assert their authority or resign;
that for his part he was proud to acknowledge him
felf as one of his Majesty's Ministers who firft advifel
coercive measures, and he would abide by such ad
vice at all hazards.
Utrecht, Feb. 16. The letters from Italy just now
received give an account that great divisions subsist in
the Conclave, and that they know not when the elec
tion of a Pope will take place.
Our last letters from Spain advise, that the Moors
had attempted to take Fort Vi&oire, but had failed
with great loss. The Emperor is greatly irritated at the
place defending itfelf so obstinately, and they are in
formed by deserters, that he has determined to make
another general assault, which keeps tl^fcarrifon in
eonftant alarm. The Moors are said to MWe already
loft 10,003 men.
After the Lords Gower, Rochford, and Weymouth
had avowed the fettled resolution of government, to
compel the Americans to submit to what demands
government should think fit to impose upon them,
the question being put whether Lord Chatham's mo
tion to address his Majesty to withdraw his troops
from the town ofßofton, should pass or be set aside,
minillerial influence carried it with a high hand.
77 Not Contents,
Against - - 18 that were Content.
Lifl^n, fan. 17. Claudio Joze de San de Nabo, Re
ceiver General of the customs, has disappeared, and tak
en with him about 40,000 crufadoes. We are not in
formed of the route he has taken.
LONDO N, ffanua, 23.
To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain, in
Parliament afemHed.
The humble Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and
otlaers of the City of London, concerned in the com
merce of North America.
SHEH 7 ETH,
TH AT your petitioners are all essentially ine
refted in the trade to North America, either as
exporters and importers, or as venders of British and
foreign goods for exportation to that country.
That your petitioners have exported or fold for ex
portation to the British colonies in North A merica, ve
ry large quantities of the manufactures of Great-Bri
tain and Ireland ; and in particular the staple articles
of luoolLn, iron and linen, also those of cotton, silk, lea
ther, pewter, tin, copper and brass, with almost every
British manufa&ure: Also large quantities of foreign
linens, and other articles imported into these kingdoms,
from Flanders, Holland, Germany, the East Countries,
Portugal, Spain and Italy, which are generally receiv
ed from those countries, in return for British manufac
tures.
That your petitioners have likewise exported, or
fold for exportation, great quantities of tie various
species of goods imported into this kingdom from rhe
East-Indies, part of which receive additional manufac
ture in Great-Britain.
That your petitioners receive teturns from North
America to this kingdom diredly, pig and bar iron,
timber, slaves, naval stores, tobacco, rice, indigo, deer
and other skins, beaver and furs, tra n oil, whale-bone,
bees wax, pot and pearl ashes, drugs and dying wood%
with some bullion ; and also wheat, flour, Indian corn,
and salted provisions, when (on account of scarcity in
Great-Britain) those articles are permitted to oe im
ported.
That your petitioners receive returns cirewtoufy,
from Ireland (for flax-feed, &rc. exported from North
America) by bills of exchange on the merchants of this
city, trading to 'reland, for the proceeds oflincns im
ported into these kingdoms. Fr r m the Weft- ndies
(inreturn for provisions, lumber and cattle, exported
from North Ameri: a, for the life and f'-pport of the
Welt-India lilands) by bills of exchange on the Wert-
India merchants, for the proceeds of lugar, me'ri! s,
rum, cotton, coffee, or other produce ; m orted from
those islands into these kingdoms. From Italy.Sp rin,
Portugal, rance, Flanders, Germany, Holland, id
the Eart Countries, by bills of exchange or bullion, in
return for wheat, flour, rice, Indian corn, fi h and lum
ber, e ported from the British colonies in North Ame
rica for the use of those countries.
That your petitioners have great reason to believe,
from the best information they can obtain, that on the
balance of this extenfi j e commerce, there is now due from
the colonies in North America, to this city only, two
millions sterling and upwards.
That by the direct commerce with the colonies, and
the circuitous trade thereon depending, some thousand,
of ships and vessels are imployed, and many thousands
of seamen are bred and maintained ; thereby encreafing
the naval ftrehgth and power of Great-Britain.
That in the year 1765, there was a great stagnation
of the commerce between Great- Britain and her Colo
nies, in confcquence of an a& of Parliament of 5 Geo. 3.
c. 12. entituled "An act for granting and applying
" certain stamp duties, and other duties in the British
" colonies and plantations in America, &c." by which
the merchants trading to North America, and the arti
ficers employed in the various manufactures consumed
in those countries, were fubje&ed to many hardships.
That in the following year the said a& was repealed,
under an express declaration of the Legislature (6 G. 3.'
c. II.) that," the continuance of the said ad would
" be attended with many inconveniences, and might be
" produ&ive of con equences greatly detrimental to
" the commercial interests of these kingdoms ; " upon
which repeal the trade to the British colonies immedi
ately resumed its former flourishing state.
That in the year 1767 an ad passed (7 Geo. 3.
c. 46.) entituled '' An ad for granting certain duties
" in the British colonies and plantations in America,&c."
which imposed certain duties to be paid in America on
tea, glass, red and white lead, painters colours, paper,
paste-board, mill-board and scale-board, when the com
merce with the Colonies was again interrupted.
That in the year 1770 such 'parts of the said act as
imposed duties on glass, red and white lead, painters co
lours, paper, paste-board, mill-board and scale-board,
were repealed, (10 Geo. 3. c. 17.) when the trade to
America soo n revived, except in the article of tea, on
which a duty was continued to be demanded on its im
portation into America, whereby that branch of our
commerce was nearly loft.
That in the year 1773, an a& parted, (13 Geo. 3,
c. 44.) entituled, "Anad to allow a drawback of the
" duties of customs on the exportation of tea to his
'' Majesty's colonies or plantations in America, and to
impower the Commissioners of the Treasury to grant
'' licences to the East-India Company, to export tea
" duty free, &c."
By the operation of these and other laws the minds
of his Majesty's fubjefts in the British colonies, have
been greatly disquieted, a total flop is now put to the
export trade with the greatest and most important part
of North America, the public revenue is threatene 1
with a large and ratal diminution, your petitioners with
grievous distress, and thousands of industrious artificers
and manufacturers with utter ruin : Under these alarm
ing circum fiances, your petitioners receive no fm.il
comfort, from a persuasion, that the representatives of
the people, newly delegated to the most important of
all trusts, will take the whole of these weighty matters
into their most serious consideration : And your peti
tioners hum ly pray this Hon. House, that they will
enter into a full and immediate examination of that sys-