The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1774-09-19 00:00:00, page 1

The following, which is a large Pamphlet (price
one Shilling Sterling) was written by the Reve
rend Dr. 'Jonathan Shipley, Lord Bishop of* St.
Afaph ; and intended to have been spoken on the
BILL for altering the Charters of the Colony of
Massachusetts Bay.
. ADVERTISEMENT.
'The author of the following speech might juftify his
manner of publijhtng it by very great authorities, ^ome
of the noblejl pieces of eloquence, the world is in poffe/fion
of, were not spoken on the great occasions they were in
tended to firve, and seem to have been preferred merely
from the high fenft that was entertained of their merit.
1 he present performance appears in public from bumbler
but just er motives : from the great national importance of
the fubjefi \from a very warm desire andfeme faint hope
of fir-ving our country, by faggefting a few of the ufeful
truths which great men are apt to overlook.
The author has abfiained most religiously from personal
refiedions, lie has censured no man, and therefore hopes
he has offendedno man. Hefeels mofifinfibly the misfor
tune of differing from many of those whom he wifits to
hve and act with j andfrom fame of as much virtue and
ability as this kingdom affords. But there are also great
authorities on the other fide ; and the greatest authority
can neverperfuade him, that it is better to extort by force,
what he thinks may be gained more surely by gentle means*
He looks upon power as a coarse and mechanical instru
ment and holds the ufi of it to he particu
lurly dangerous to the relation that subsists between a mo
ther-country and her colonies. In such a case he doubts
whether any point ought to be pursued, which cannot be
carried by persuasion, by the finfe of a common interefi,
and theexercife of a moderate authority.
He thinks it unnecessary to lay down the limits of so
vereignty and obedience, and more unnecessary to fight for
them. If we can but rest ore that mutual regard and con
fidence, which formerly governed our whole intercourfi
with our colonies, particular cases will easily provide for
themselves. He arts the part of the truest patriot in this
dangfrgus crisis, whether he lives at London or at Boston,
who pud) tes sincerely the most lenient and conciliating mea
sures ; and wi/hes to rest ore the public peace byfame better
■method than the /laughter of our fellow-citizens.
The whole SPEECH of Bishop Shiple y*
’ s °*great importance to com-
M^MMj^M P°^ e or even t 0 moderate the diffen-
MM j MM tionsj which subsist at present be-
M.M MM tweel l our unhappy country and her
M^MM^M colonies, that I cannot help endea
^MMMM& vouring, from the faint profpeft I
have of contributing fomethirig to so good an end,
to overcome the inexpreflible reluftance I feel at ut
tering my thoughts before the moll refpcdla'ble of
all audiences.
The true ohjedt of all oiir deliberations on this
adcafipn, which I hope we shall never lose fight of,
is a full and cordial reconciliation with North-Ame
rica. Now, I own, my Lords, I have many doubts
whether the terrors and punishments, we hang out to
them at present, are the surest means of producing
this reconciliation. Let us at lead: do this juilice to
the people of North-America to own, that we can
.all remember a time when they were much better
Triends than at present to their mother country.
They arc neither our natural nor our determined
enemies. Before the flamp-aft, we considered them
in the light of as good fubjetls as the natives of any
County in England.
It is worth while to inquire by what Heps'we firft
gained their affeftion, and preserved it so long J and
by what conduft we have lately loft it. Such ah
enquiry may point out the means pfreftoring peace,-
and make the use of force unnecessary against a peo
ple, whom I cannot yet forbear to connder as cur
brethren.
It has always been a mod arduous talk to govern
distant provinces, with even a tolerable appearance
of justice. The viceroys and governors of other na
tions are usually temporary tyrants, who think them-
Monday, septsmmr , 9> the [number S os.j
CONNECTICUT COURANT.
HARTFORD
™ K b intelligencer.
I I- ■
Containing the Freflieft ADVICES, both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
Open to all PARTIES not under the influence of ANY.
selves obliged to make the noft of their time 5 who
not only plunder the people, but carry away their
spoils, and dry up all the mrces of commerce and
industry. Taxation in tdeir hands, is an imlimited
power of opprelfion ; but in whatever hands the
power of taxation is lodged, it implies and includes
all other powers. Arbitrary taxation is plunder au
thorifed by law ; It is the support and the essence of
tyranny ; and has done more mifehief to mankind $
than those other thre^ scourges from heaven, fa
mine, peftilertce and tlu sword. I need not carry
your lordships mu of your own knowledge, or out
of your own dominions, to make you conceive what
misery this right of taxation is-capable of producing
m a provincial government. We need only recol
lect that our countrymen in India, have in the space
of five or fix years, in vartne of this right, destroyed,
and driven away more inhabitants from Bengal,
titan are to bef.mhd at present in all our American
colonies, more than all those formidable numbers
which we have been nurfmg up for the space of 200
years, with so much care and success, to the afto
nifhmentof all Europe, This is no exaggeration, .
my Lords, but plain matter of faft, collected from
the accounts sent over by Mr. Hastings, whose name
I mention with honour and veneration. And I must
own, such accounts nave very much lessened the
p’ealure I used to feed in thinking, myfelf an En
gliihnmn. We ougl? ‘ rely not to hold oiir colo
nies totally inexcufabte tor wifning to exempt them
ftlves from a grievance, which has caused such un
exampled devaflation ; and, my Lords, it Would be
too difgrnceful to ourlelves, to try so cruel an expe
riment more than once. Let us reflect, that before
these innovations were thought of, by following the
line of good conduft which had been marked out
by our ancestors, we governed North America with
mutual benefit to them and ourselves. It was a hap
py idea, that made us firft confider them rather as
instruments of commerce than as obje&s of govern
ment. It was wife and generous to give them the
form and the i pirit of our constitution ; an assembly
in which a greater equality of representation has
been preserved than at home ; and councils and go
vernors, such as were adapted to their situation, tho’
they must be acknowledged to be very inferior co
pies of the dignity of this house and the majeilyof
the crown.
But what is far more valuable than all the reft,-
we gave them liberty. We allowed them to use
their own judgment in the management of their own
interest. The idea of taxing them never entered
our heads. On the contrary they have experienced
our liberality on many public occasions : we have
given them bounties to encourage their industry;
arid have demanded no return but what every state
excels from its colonies, the advantages of an exclu
sive commerce, and the regulations that are ncceflary
to secure it. We made requisitions to them on great
occasions, in the fame, manner as our princes former
ly a&ed benevolences of their fubje&s 5 and as no
thing was aiked but what was vifib’y for the public
good.it was always gianted ; and they sometimes
did more than we expefled. The matter, of right
was neither disputed, nor even considered. And let
us not forget that t'he people of New-England were
themselves, during the last war, the moll forward of
all in the national cause ; that every year v/e voted
them a considerable sum,- in acknowledgment of
their zeal and services ; that in the preceding war,
they alone enabled sis to make the treaty of Aix la
Chapelle,- by furnilhing us with the only equivalent
for the towns that were taken from our allies inFlan
ders * and that in times of peace, they alone have
taken from us fix times as much of our woollen ma
nufaftures, as the whole kingdom of Ireland. Such
a colony, my Lords, no*only from the justice, but
from the gratitude we ewe them, have a right to be
bear’d in theirdefence ; and if their crimes are not
of the most inexpiable kind, I could almost fay, they
have a right to be forgiven.
But in the times we speak of, oiir public inter
course was carried on with case and fatisfad>ion. We
regarded them as our friends and fellow-citizens,
and relied as much upon their fidelity as on the in
habitants of cur country. They saw our power with
pleasure ; for they considered it only as their pro
tediion. They inherited our laws, our language, *
and our customs; they preferred our manufactures, <
and followed our fafhions with a partiality, that se
cured ourexclufive trade with them, more efteCtuai
ly than all the regulations and vigilance of the cuE
tom-house. Had we fuflered them to enrich us fe
little longer; and to grow a little richer themselves,
their men of fortune like thfe Weft-Indians, woiA4
undoubtedly have made this country their place<)f
education and resort. For they looked upto Eng
land with reverence andaffeClion; as to the country
Of their friends arid aticeftors. They esteemed arid***
they called it their home, and thought of it as the
Jews once thought of the land of Canaari,
Now, my Lords, confid^ ,with yourselves what
were the chains arid ties that United this people to
their mother-country, with so much warmth and af
fc&ion, at so amazing a distance. The colonies cf
other nations have beehdifctJntented with their treat
ment, and not without fuflicient cause p&lways mur
muring at their grievances, and (Bmctiipes breaking
out into, aft? of rebellion. Gur fijbjeCis ar heme^
With all their reasons sos fatisGdidn,' have never
been entirely failsficd. Since the begiilm - ,
century we have had two rebellions*. Several plo.'
and confpiraciesarid we okrfelves have been’wic
nefies to the most dangerous excefles of sedition.- But
the provinces in North-America have engaged in
no party, have excited no bppofition ; they have
been utter ilraiigers even to the name of Whig and
Tory. In all changes, in all revolutions, they have
quietly followed the fortunes and submitted to the
government of England.
Now let me appeal to your Ldrdfliips as to men
of enlarged and liberal minds, who have been led
by your office and rank to theftudy of history. Can
you find in the long fucceflion of ages, in the whole
extent of human affairs, a Angle instance, where
distant provinces have Been preferred in so flourifli
ing a state, and kept at the fame time in such due
fubjetlion to their mother country ? MyLords, there
is no instance ; the case never existed before. It is
perhaps the moil Angular phenomenon in all civil
history ; and the cause of it well deserves your seri
ous confideratioa. The true cause is,' that a mother
country never existed before; who placed her natives
and her colonies on the fame equal footing ; antis
joined with them in fairly carrying on one common
interest.
You ought to ebrfider this, my Lords, not as a
mere hirtorical fad, but as a most important and in
valuable difcoVery. It enlarges our ideas of the
power and energy of good government beyond all
former example’^ ; and ihews that it cap aA like gra
vitation at the greatest distances. It proves to a
demonstration that you may have good febjeds in
the remotest corners of the earth, if you will bat treat
them with kindness and equity. If you have any
doubts of the truth of this kind of reasoning, the ex
perience we have had of a different kind will entire
ly remove them.
The good genius of our country had led us to the
Ample and happy method of governing freemen,
which I have endeavoured to deicribe. Otir minis
ters received it from their predccefibrs; and for feme
time continued toobferveit; but without knowing
its value. At length, prefnming On their own wii
dom, and the quiet difpoAtion of the Americans,
they flattered themselves that we might reap great
advantages from their prosperity by destroying the
cause of it. They chose an unlucky hour to treat
them as other nations have thought fit to treat their
colonies; they threatened and they taxed them.
• Ido not now enquire w-hethcr taxation is matter