ought to be observed by the whole Colony, as acts of a most solemn nature; and that it is the declared intention of this meeting, faithfully to adopt such Association as may then be agreed on.

Resolved, That the above Resolutions be printed for the inspection of all the freeholders of the county.

WILLIAM DAVIES, Clerk

THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH OF DEPUTY GOVERNOUR PENN.

Whitehall, July 6, 1774.

SIR: I have received your letters of the 3d and 31st of May, and have laid them before the King, and I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that his Majesty is graciously pleased to acquiesce in the apology you make for having omitted to transmit to me an account of the proceedings at Philadelphia upon the arrival of the tea ship.

By the account contained in your letter of the 31st of May, of the reception given to the proposal that came from the town of Boston, there did not appear then to be any strong inclination to adopt it. What has since passed in Virginia may perhaps, as in other like instances, become an example to the neighbouring Colonies, and should this be the case it will Be your duty to exert every power which the Constitution has placed into your hands to defeat any attempt to trample upon and insult the authority of this Kingdom. I am, sir, your most obedient and humble servant,

DARTMOUTH.

Deputy Governour Venn.

THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOUR GOLDEN.

Whitehall, July 6, 1774.

SIR: I have received your letters No. 1 and 2, and have laid them before the King.

As there is nothing in these letters which requires any particular instruction, I have only to express my wishes that his Majesty's subjects of New-York may not be led into any further rash and hasty proceedings, that may expose them to the just resentment of Parliament, and that persons of credit and character in the Colony will exert their influence to put a stop to that licentious spirit which has led to measures so disgraceful to the City of New-York.

Sir William Johnson having acquainted me that two Seneca Indians have been committed to the jail in Tryon County, as accomplices in the murder of four Frenchmen in the last year, his Majesty is graciously pleased, upon report to him of the circumstances of their case, to signify his pleasure that they be both set at liberty forthwith, and you will not fail to take the proper steps for that purpose.

It being under consideration to re-establish the Military Posts, either at Crown Point or Ticonderoga, or at both, it is the King's pleasure that "the land's reserved by Sir Jeffery Amherst for the convenience and accommodation of these posts, be execpted out of any future sales or grants of lands whatsoever. I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant,

DARTMOUTH.

Lieutenant Governour Colden.

THE BRITISH AMERICAN, NO. VI.

Williamsburg Va., July 7, 1774.

Friends, Fellow-citizens, and Countrymen:

It is the general opinion, that the great defect in the present Constitution of Britain is the enormous power of the Crown. However singular I may be thought in so doing I consider this as It vulgar error; for the first stab given to the Constitution was the Crown's losing its independence on the other two branches of the Legislature. Queen Elizabeth transmitted the English Constitution, in its highest purity, to her successor, James the First; but lie, equally a stranger to its true principles, his own interest, and the arts of Government, in his first "Speeches to his Parliament, arrogated to himself powers he was not entitled to, and soon after indiscreetly lavished away those which would, have rendered a great part of the ancient revenues of the Crown in ill-placed, unnecessary, and extravagant grants to its favourites, tools and parasites, he made himself dependent, in some measure, for the very support of his household, upon the other two branches of the Legislature, at the very time he alarmed them to unite against him, by arbitrary and impotent threats of governing absolutely; and then, to increase that weight his own folly had lessened, and to replenish his coffers, he had recourse to the last expedient of weakened majesty, that of creating a number of Peers, which, though it put off the evil day, increased the disorder of the state. His successor, Charles the First, nurtured in the principles of his father, pursued the same plan of lessening his hereditary revenues, and of provoking those upon whom he was dependent, till they would no longer support him; and then, by endeavouring to carry into execution those measures his father had threatened only, he fell a sacrifice to the errours of education. Monarchy, and nobility its attendant, being thus extinguished, when it was restored in the person of Charles the Second, was it surprising that the Nation, still bleeding at the wounds it had received from the usurpations of the Crown, contented itself with restoring it to those prerogatives only it possessed at its fall, without adding the independent hereditary revenue, which its two preceding Kings had indiscreetly alienated? Untaught by his own misfortunes, and the fate of his father, Charles the Second adopted the plan of Government pursued by his House; only, as he was sagacious enough to see he could not force, he endeavoured to corrupt the Nation to submit to despotick sway; and in so doing dissipated so great a part of what few ancient demesnes of the Crown his ancestors had left, that his brother James was reduced to the necessity of giving up the hereditary despotick notions of his family, or of recurring to force. He chose the latter, and by that means was obliged to abandon his Crown, but left the Constitution with a stab in its vitals, which has been festering ever since; for, at the accession of his glorious successor, though the Nation recurred to many of its first principles, it had suffered too much from its four preceding Kings to think of restoring the ancient independence of the Crown. Succeeding Monarchs, therefore, in order to preserve any kind of weight in the state, were reduced to the necessity of corrupting the people, by creating lucrative offices, granting pensions, and increasing the number of Peers; this, though it increased the power of the Minister, really weakened that of his master.

The great increase of manufactures, arising from the settlement of America, by drawing the inhabitants to the sea ports and other towns more conveniently situated for carrying them on, in a great measure depopulated the ancient boroughs of the Kingdom, so that the entire property of many of them were purchased up by the nobility, who, by that means, acquired a right of naming their Representatives in Parliament; the electors of others were so reduced in their numbers and circumstances, that it became easy for the wealthy, with a majority of their voices, to purchase seats in the House of Commons, and, by treating with the Prime Minister for some of the newly created lucrative offices, they were generally reimbursed the purchase money.

Thus the spirit of traffick extended itself to all ranks of people, and, as it too often happens in commercial nations, all those things which ought to have been the reward of merit were given only for money, and the people universally corrupted by the dint of it, grew indifferent to publick concerns; the electors and elected, passionately fond of lucre, grew careless of the Government, and every thing belonging to it, and waited, quietly for their salaries. As soon as it became obvious that wealth would purchase a majority of the seats of the Representatives of the people, Sir Robert Walpole endeavoured to apply the national wealth to that purpose, and succeeded to admiration in it for a long time, but, too open in the practice of corruption, he overshot his mark, and pointed out to the wealthy, that, by uniting together, they could wrest the power, even of appointing his own Minister, and other servants, out of the hands of their Sovereign, and by that means arrogate to themselves not only the persons who shall fill all lucrative offices, but of directing the whole concerns of the Nation,. The nobles who possessed boroughs, and the wealthy Commons who could purchase them, united cordially in this scheme, and, inviting some of their ablest dependants to join them, soon carried all before them, destroyed that