duties of Customs, from the town of Boston, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America; and to discontinue the landing and discharging, lading and shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the said town of Boston, or within the harbour thereof: and the same was received; and read the first time.

Resolved, That the Bill be read a second time.

Ordered, That the said Bill be read a second time upon Monday next.

A motion was made, and the question being put, that the said Bill be printed?

It passed in the Negative.

The order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to take into further consideration his Majesty's most gracious Message of Monday, the 7th day of this instant, March, together with the Papers which were presented to the House, by the Lord North, upon the 7th and 11th days of this instant, March, by his Majesty's command;

Resolved, That this House will, upon Wednesday morning next, resolve itself into the said Committee.

MONDAY, March 21, 1774.

The Bill was read a second time, and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

Resolved, That this House will, upon Wednesday morning next, resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the said Bill.

WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1774.

The order of the day, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole, on the Message and Papers, was discharged, and the Message together with the Papers, was referred to the Committee of the whole House, to whom the Bill for the immediate removal of the officers concerned in the collection and management of his Majesty's duties of Customs, from the town of Boston, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America; and to discontinue the landing and discharging, lading and shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the said town of Boston, or within the harbour thereof, is committed.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the whole, on the said Bill.

Sir Charles Whitworth took the Chair of the Committee.

Mr. Fuller said, he intended to make an alteration in the Bill, by first substituting a fine before the blocking up the port; he should therefore propose, that the words "from and after," be left out, in order to insert one of his own. He said, that Boston was a port of the greatest consequence to this country of any existing; that the Bill before them was totally unprecedented; for that the case of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and others, that had been mentioned, was not in the least similar; that the penalty of blocking up their ports was too severe for the first offence; that when the nation came to know the contents of this Bill, he was sure they would be dissatisfied with it; that the Bostonians, upon the first resistence, will tell you they will not remit the money which they owe you; that nothing but confederacies would spring up among them; that he was strongly of opinion, that this Bill could not be carried into execution without a military force; that if we sent over a small number of men, the Boston militia would immediately cut them to pieces; that if we sent over a larger number, six or 7,000, the Americans would debauch them; and that by these means we should only hurt ourselves. I would begin, said he by an amercement; nor would I wish this Bill to take place, until they had refused the payment of it. He should apprehend, that about £15,000 would make amends to the East India Company, and would in some measure be a relief to poor Malcolm (the customhouse officer, who had been tarred and feathered.) It was always a rule in law, he said, where damages are done by unknown persons, that the community should be made to pay; he therefore wished that the House would adopt the proposition he had made.

Mr. Herbert opposed the measure which Mr. Fuller proposed. He said, the proposition would by no means relieve us, but throw us into greater difficulties; the Bostonians would certainly resist the payment of the fine; that we must then have recourse to this method. The measure proposed was still more likely to be resisted than the Bill, because the fine would be laid on all America, which would induce others to join in the opposition, who before were not concerned in it. He said, the Americans were a strange set of People, and that it was in vain to expect any degree of reasoning from them; that instead of making their claim by argument, they always chose to decide the matter by tarring and feathering; that the method now proposed in the Bill would become more a punishment by their refusal than by their compliance; that the Americans alone were the persons by whose behaviour the lenity or severity of the measure was to be proved: he therefore should agree to the Bill, in preference to the amendment proposed.

Lord North opposed the amendment. He said, however great his obligations were to the candour and public spirit of the honorable gentleman who made the motion, yet he differed much from him in the amendment proposed. His lordship observed, that though the honorable gentleman had said it was the first offence, yet upon recollection be was very sure he would not be of that opinion, as the People at Boston had begun many years ago to endeavour to throw of all obedience to this country; that, indeed, this was the first time that Parliament had proceeded to punish them. He said, I am by no means an enemy to lenient measures, but I find that resolutions of censure and warning will avail nothing; we must therefore proceed to some immediate remedy; now is our time to stand out, to defy them—to proceed with firmness, and without fear; they will never reform until we take a measure of this kind. Let this Bill produce a conviction to all America, that we are in earnest, and that we will proceed with firmness and vigour; that conviction will be lost, if they see us hesitating and doubting. It will be enough to shew that Great Britain is in earnest. The merchandise now will be landed at Marble-head, in the port of Salem, which is putting Boston about seventeen miles from the sea with respect to foreign trade. This restriction will be continued as long as they persist in their proceedings; it will operate severely or mildly against them, according to their behaviour; if they are obstinate, the measure will be severe; if not, mild. I believe that Boston will not immediately submit to a fine, nor to the intention of the present Bill, unless it comes attended with a mark of resolution and firmness that we mean to punish them, and assert our right; it is impossible to suppose but some of our own People may in some degree suffer a little, but we must compare those temporary inconveniences with the loss of that country, and its due obedience to us; they bear no comparison; and the preference must certainly be given to the latter. The honorable gentleman tells us, that the Americans will not pay their debts due to this country, unless we comply with their disposition. I believe things will remain much in the same state as they did upon a like occasion; they threatened us with the same thing if we did not repeal the Stamp Act; we repealed that Act, and they did not pay their debts. If this threat is yielded to, we may as well take no remedy at all; their threats will hold equally good to the fine proposed by the honorable gentleman, as to the operation of this Bill. I hope we every one feel, that it is the common cause of us all, and such an unanimity will go half way to their obedience to this Bill. The honorable gentleman tells us, that the Act will be a waste piece of paper, and that an army will be required to put it in execution. The good of this Act is, that four or five frigates will do the business without any military force; but if it is necessary, I should not hesitate a moment to enforce a due obedience to the laws of this country. The situation of the troops in that country has been such, that no magistrate or civil officer of the peace has been willing to call forth their strength on proper occasions; it will become us to find out some method whereby the military force may act with effect, and without bloodshed, in endeavouring to support and maintain the authority of Great Britain; but I hope that this Act will not, in any shape, require a military force to put it in execution: the rest of the Colonies will not take fire at the proper punishment inflicted on those who have disobeyed your authority; we shall then be nearly in a situation, that all lenient measures will be at an end if they do; but if we exert ourselves now with firmness and intrepidity, it is the more likely they will submit to our authority. If the