On the question, that this Bill do Pass:

Mr. Dowdeswell said, he rose to give his dissent to passing the same into a law; that he had not the least degree of timidity in rising to oppose it; that he always thought the proposition totally unjust and unfair. By the Bill, a person is to understand, that the commerce of all his Majesty's subjects is interrupted; and, said he, I cannot give my assent to it, until I hear the complaints from the different manufactures of iron, leather, wool, &c, and the merchants of this country, which complaints, I imagine, the hurry of passing this Bill totally prevents. It is not, says he, that any other goods are interrupted in the port of Boston, but those which are charged with a duty from hence. Look to the consequences of this Bill; you are contending for a matter which the Bostonians will not give up quietly. I remember, said he, when it was held a doctrine in this House, by persons of great and extensive knowledge, that we had no right to tax America. There is now no such opinion; the question was then, "Whether with the profits which we receive from all our manufactures exported hence, it would be a wise measure to tax America?" What is the reason, said he, that you single out Boston for your particular resentment? Have there been no other towns in America which have disobeyed your orders? Has not Philadelphia, New York, and several other Provinces, sent back their tea? Has not the East India Company suffered nearly as much damage from the tea being sent back, as indeed where they have landed it? Charlestown is the only place where they have suffered the tea to be landed; and what have they done? They have put it into a damp cellar, and the whole has become rotten and useless. You find yourselves much at a loss about this Bill, and are hurt, because the innocent are likely to be involved in the same punishment with the guilty. You are now going to censure them, in the same manner as was done in the case of Edinburgh and Glasgow, where the People at large were to suffer for the neglect of their Magistrates. There is a great difference between the Magistrates of Edinburgh, and those of Boston; those at Edinburgh are chosen by the People; those at Boston are not; they are appointed by the Council, and the Council are elected by the Province at large. You are going to appoint a new port, where there are neither sufficient wharfs, quays, or ware-houses for carrying on business. You hereby punish the British merchants much more severely than the People of Boston. The folly and childishness of carrying on such a project is certainly very evident. All that you have effected, is to carry your merchandise seventeen miles further from the town of Boston, so that the Bostonians shall be obliged to be at an additional expense in conveying their merchandise from the port of Salem by land. You ask why the Americans do not pay their debts? If you stop the exports, you will of course stop the payment of those debts. Now, Sir, let us consider how this Bill is founded upon principles of justice; if Parliament continually passes Bills, sometimes to punish the person, at other times the places, you will, by and by, have your hands fully employed; you will soon inflame all America, and stir up a contention you will not be able to pacify. The passing this Bill in a week or so, does not give time to the injured persons in America to petition this House for redress. I rejoice, that you have at least had one petition from the natives of America residing in this country: the language of that petition bears the face of a well written, unanswerable argument; it is no common petition: it is the strong and pathetic language that tells their own feelings, and those of their fellow subjects in America. I wish to hear some arguments offered against what is contained in it, for it will be said, both here and in America, that such reasons and arguments deserve an answer.

Mr. Welbore Ellis said, he did not rise to answer the honorable gentleman to the first part of what he advanced, being arguments which had, in a former debate, been urged and sufficiently replied to. He said this behaviour of the Americans was the most direct opposition to the laws of this country that could possibly be conceived. If this country, said he, has not a right to pass a tax on America, they have no right to pass any law whatsoever relative to it. The present Bill confirms no tax; it enacts none; it imposes none; the tax upon tea was introduced to prevent tea being smuggled into that country. The honorable gentleman (Mr. Dowdeswell) has said, this Bill was unjust and unwise. I differ much from him, and think it both just and wise. This Bill makes it expedient for them to do their duty, and puts the Bostonians upon the inquiry to find out who were the parties that committed this riot; the persons or magistrates in the town, not inquiring into the proceedings, are much to blame, and I cannot think this Bill in the least unwise. Can it, Sir, be unwise, unless it is unwise to maintain the authority of this country, and to punish those who have been the aggressors against its laws? The honorable gentleman, he said, had mentioned that others were guilty, and why were they not punished? There is, said he, a different degree of crime in each of them, and some are more to blame than others. It is treason in the Bostonians, and can only be deemed a high crime and misdemeanor in the others; but, in my mind, it appears to be wise, first to single out Boston as the principal ringleader of the whole disturbance, and begin this punishment there, in order to see what effect the proceedings will have; I therefore think this Bill wise, prudent, and just.

Mr. Edmund Burke. I trouble you, Sir, in the last stage of this Bill, because I would not appear petulant when my objections run to the whole of it. I never knew any thing that has given me a more heart-felt sorrow than the present measure. This Bill is attempted to be hastened through the House in such a manner, that I can by no means assent to it; it is to be carried by force and threats into execution; and you have even refused to hear Mr. Bollan, the agent, declaring him to be no agent for Massachusetts Bay, or not properly authorized by them to present such petition; you have not now one left in England to be heard in behalf of any of the Colonies; the only obstruction that this Bill has had, has been owing to its own vis inertia; but persons who oppose this Bill, are immediately put to the same kind of punishment in the public, Papers which offenders in America are. Look, Sir, into the public Papers, you will see Cinna, and a thousand other Roman names, throwing out their invectives, and tarring and feathering all those who dare oppose the Bill. I suppose I shall reap my share for this opposition: but, Sir, at all events, I will enter my protest against this Bill, and will mount my little palfrey, and speak of the injustice which the Bill contains with the greatest confidence. The grievance which is stated in the Papers before you on the table appears to be an universal resistance from all America against any goods or merchandise that shall be loaded with taxes.—He desired that that part of General Haldiman's letter, declaring the resolution of the Americans not to submit to receive goods with duty upon them, might be read; he read the extract he had made in his place; he said, the whole meeting in the town of Boston consisted of six or seven hundred men of the first rank and opulent fortune in the place; that the proceedings were conducted with the utmost decency. He said, this was not a meeting of mean persons, but that the acts of resistance were all countenanced by universal consent. Observe, said he, that the disturbances are general; shew me one port in all America where the goods have been landed and vended; the distemper is general, but the punishment is local, by way of exchange. Whether it will be effectual or not, I do not know; but, Sir, let me paint to this House the impropriety of a measure like this; it is a remedy of the most uncertain operation; view but the consequence, and you will repent, the measure; give orders at once to your Admirals to bum and destroy the town; that will be both effectual, proper, and moderate, and of a piece with the rest of your proceedings, eventus tristis. One town in proscription, the rest in rebellion, can never be a remedial measure for general disturbances. Have you considered whether you have troops and ships sufficient to enforce, an universal proscription to the trade of the whole Continent of America? If you have not, the attempt is childish, and the operation fruitless. Only, Sir, see the consequence of blocking up one port; for instance, that of Virginia Bay; which, if you do, you will destroy the tobacco trade, and thereby bring, as it were, a certain ruin on your own merchants at Glasgow and Edinburgh. This Bill has been thought a vigorous, but not a rigorous punishment. It is my opinion that you might even punish the individuals who committed the violence, without involving the innocent: I should ap-