abject state of misery and humiliation, or drive to the last resources of despair.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the table.

The order of the day, for the third reading of the Bill, was read;

A motion was made, and the question being put, that the said Bill be now read a third time?

Mr. Dunning. There seems to me to be a system of tyranny adopted throughout the whole of the three Bills which have been brought into this House, one of which is passed, and the other two are now under consideration. While the first proposition stood single, I mean the Boston Port Bill, I did not think it of sufficient magnitude to oppose it, till it was followed by these two others. It now appears to me, that the inhabitants of Boston are much in the same condition as prisoners surrendering at discretion, as it is in the power of the Minister to allow or disallow the restoration of its port and trade. [He then gave a long history to the House of the manner in which the Bills had been moved for and brought in; he animadverted on the contents of the three Bills, and commented on the preamble of the Bill now before the House.] I have not, said he, heard of, nor do I see any overt act of treason stated in the preamble of this Bill, so as to authorize the severe punishments which it enacts: we are now, I find, in possession of the whole of that fatal secret, which was intended as a corrective for all the disturbances in America; but it does not appear to be either peace or the olive-branch—it is war, severe revenge, and hatred, against our own subjects. We are now come to that fatal dilemma, "resist, and we will cut your throats; submit, and we will tax you"—such is the reward of obedience. There appears to me nothing of a system or plan throughout the whole that has been adopted or intended, because the Bills have been so altered, in the Committee, that there is scarce a word remaining of the original plan, if there was any; the preamble of the Bill now before us seems to have a presumption of open resistance, of which no proof has as yet been had, or appeared at your bar, so as to countenance such an assertion; if indeed, that military guard, which was appointed by the town, had been employed in the manner as the preamble mentions, it might then have been deemed an open resistance, but nothing of that kind happened; the whole resistance that was made was by a few of the mob, urged on by the impetuosity of riot and disturbance. Had any thing appeared that bore the least similarity to treason or rebellion, my honorable and learned friends would have told us that it was treason, and I will give them credit for their willingness upon such an occasion; but if there was treason, there were traitors, and they would have been known and punished; and if not known, they would at least have been inquired after; but as no inquiry has yet been set on foot, I will be bold to say, there was neither treason nor traitors. We seem to be in a strange condition, not knowing whom we have to deal with, nor in what manner to act. If gentlemen will look into the charter, it will be seen that the Governor complained without cause of the want of power; it was the ignorance of the Governor; he had power, but did not know it; and I think that the gentlemen who had the planning of these Boston Bills, have made alterations in the Government of Massachusetts Bay, without the previous ceremony of knowing the old one. There must be, and certainly is, a complete legislative power vested in the Assembly of the Province, to have given this power to the Governor, had the charter been deficient, I mean for the preservation of peace and good order. [He spoke a long time to prove that the constitution of Massachusetts Bay, was in no manner defective, but that the defect was owing to some unknown cause; and, said he, to what I profess I do not know.] When I talk of the Minister, I mean to speak with all due respect to the noble Lord, though I do not consider him as the immediate actor of all this. I know not the age, the person, or the sex, but that I may not be wrong. I will use the language of Acts of Parliament, which I imagine will comprehend, and will say, he, she, or they; to that person or persons alone do I mean to address myself. Let me ask, said he, whether these mischiefs arising from the charter, are peculiar to Massachusetts Bay? Are there no deficiencies in others? Yet it is said an alteration is necessary to make the charter con formable to the Royal Government. Now, do you know that when you have altered it, it will not be dissimilar to many of the others, when the ignorance of the Government of one Province appears to me to be as great in those who are to alter it, as in the others. I find great fault, Sir, that the whole of this arrangement is to be under the direction of the Crown; and that the whole civil and military power of that country is to be totally at the disposal of the Ministers of this. I really think the motto of this Bill should have been Tua Casar atas. He then went through the different clauses of the Bill, objecting principally against the prisoners being brought over here, as contained in the last Bill; and that difficulties would arise which would convince gentlemen who had a concern in the management of these affairs, that what they had done had tended to disunite the affections of the American subjects from this country; and, instead of promoting peace, order, and obedience, would produce nothing but clamour, discontent, and rebellion.

Sir William Meredith said, that if necessity gave a right to tax America, the state of our finances at the close of the last war fully justified the Stamp Act. That he acknowledged the supremacy of Great Britain over America; but that the Legislature of a free country must not, in taxation, or any other act of power, deprive the subject of his right to freedom in person and property. The security an Englishman has in property consists in this, that no tax can be imposed upon him but by the very members of Parliament who pay the tax themselves, equally with all those on whom they impose it; that no man had any thing he could call his own, if another could take his property, and use it, either for his advantage, or in order to prevent the diminution of his own fortune; but that such taxes only might be raised as were consequential to regulations of trade—such were port duties. That a tax similar to that upon tea was imposed by the 25th of Charles II., since that time upon molasses, and other articles, which the Americans had acquiesced in. That he (Sir William) never approved the tax upon tea; had opposed it, as he would always oppose the taxation of America. But now, that the Americans had not only resisted the Act of Parliament, but laid violent hands on the merchants' property, it was high time to regulate the course of justice, so that our merchants might trade thither with security. That the present Regulation Bills went no further. That they established the trial by Jury in America the same as in England; whereas the juries were now appointed according to the mere will and pleasure of the Selectmen, some of whom had been forward in committing those excesses that occasioned the present uneasinesses. That the Council was now appointed by the Assembly, and could controul every act of the Governor; the execution therefore of every law enacted by the British Parliament, was at their option; but that all executive power must be subservient to the legislative, otherwise the Legislature itself would be a mere cypher. We must therefore either relinquish at once the right of enacting laws, or take the execution of them out of the hands of those that have denied our authority to make them. That we had better break at once all connections with America, than encourage our merchants to trade thither without the full protection of the laws of their country, both in securing their effects, and in obtaining redress for such injuries as they may sustain.

Mr. Stanley. These Bills certainly affect the interior policy of America, and are intended for the better regulation of its internal Government. Whatever may be the opinion of that propriety of regulation with the American, I know not; but their submission to the laws of some country is necessary, as I cannot conceive the independence of an American Colony to exist, whilst the balance of power remains in Europe, supported and protected by armies and navies. These People must resort to some State, and it must be to a Protestant one; and were they to unite themselves with any other State than this, they would meet with a yoke and burden which they would not wish to bear. It is said by some, that this is driving them to a state of slavery; by others, that this proceeding will be ineffectual. As to the latter, if we do not go far enough, we are certainly on the right side; but I cannot sit still, and see with indifference the authority of this