and beyond the competency of the local representative of a distinct Colony; and most especially an indubitable and indispensable right to make and ordain laws for regulating navigation and trade throughout the complicated system of British Commerce, the deep policy of such prudent acts upholding the guardian Navy of the whole British Empire; and that all subjects in the Colonies are bound in duty and allegiance duly to recognise and obey (and they are hereby required so to do) the supreme Legislative authority and superintending power of the Parliament of Great Britain as aforesaid. And whereas, in a Petition from America to his Majesty, it has been represented that the keeping a Standing Army within any of the Colonies, in time of peace, without consent of the respective Provincial Assembly there, is against law: Be it declared by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, that the Declaration of Right at the ever glorious Revolution, namely, "That the raising and keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom, in time of peace, unless it be by consent of Parliament, is against law," having reference only to the consent of the Parliament of Great Britain, the legal, constitutional, and hitherto unquestioned prerogative of the crown to send any part of such Army, so lawfully kept, to any of the British Dominions and Possessions, whether in America or elsewhere, as his Majesty, in the due care of his subjects, may judge necessary for the security and protection of the same, cannot be rendered dependent upon the consent of a Provincial Assembly in the Colonies, without a most dangerous innovation and derogation from the dignity of the Imperial Crown of Great Britain. Nevertheless, in order to quiet and dispel groundless jealousies and fears, be it hereby declared, that no Military Force, however raised, and kept according to law, can ever be lawfully employed to violate and destroy the just rights of the people. Moreover, in order to remove forever, all causes of pernicious discords, and in due contemplation of the vast increase of possessions and population in the Colonies, and having at heart to render the condition of so great a body of industrious subjects there more and more happy, by the sacredness of property and of personal liberty, and of more extensive and lasting utility to the parent Kingdom, by indissoluble ties of mutual affection, confidence, trade, and reciprocal benefits, be it declared and enacted, by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and it is hereby declared and enacted, by the authority of the same, that no Tallage, Tax, or other charge for his Majesty's Revenue, shall be commanded or levied, from British freemen in America, without common consent, by Act of Provincial Assembly there, duly convened for that purpose. And it is hereby further declared and enacted, by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that it shall and may be lawful for Delegates from the respective Provinces, lately assembled at Philadelphia, to meet in General Congress at the said Philadelphia, on the 9th day of May next ensuing, in order then and there to take into consideration the making due recognition of the supreme Legislative authority and superintending power of Parliament over the Colonies as aforesaid. And moreover, may it please your most excellent Majesty, that the said Delegates to be in Congress assembled, in manner aforesaid, may be required, and the same are hereby required, by the King's Majesty, sitting in his Parliament, to take into consideration (over and above the usual charge for support of Civil Government in the respective Colonies,) the making a free grant to the King, his heirs and successors, of a certain perpetual Revenue, subject to the disposition* of the British Parliament, to be by them appropriated, as they in their wisdom shall judge fit, to the alleviation of the National debt; no doubt being had but the just, free aid, will be in such honourable proportion as may seem meet and becoming from great and flourishing Colonies towards a parent country, labouring under the heaviest burthens, which, in no inconsiderable part, have been willingly taken upon ourselves and posterity, for the defence, extension, and prosperity of the Colonies. And to this great end, be it further hereby declared and enacted, that the General Congress (to meet at Philadelphia as aforesaid,) shall be, and is hereby authorized and empowered (the Delegates composing the same, being first sufficiently furnished with powers from their respective Provinces for this purpose,) to adjust and fix these partitions and quotas of the several charges to be borne by each Province respectively, towards the general contributory supply; and this, in such fair and equitable measure, as may best suit the abilities and due convenience of all. Provided always, That the powers for fixing the said quotas, hereby given to the Delegates from the old Provinces composing the Congress, shall not extend to the new Provinces of East and West Florida, Georgia, Nova-Scotia, St. Johns, and Canada; the circumstances and abilities of the said Provinces being reserved for the wisdom of Parliament in their due time. And in order to afford necessary time for mature deliberation in America, be it hereby declared, that the provisions for ascertaining and fixing the exercise of the right of taxation in the Colonies, as agreed and expressed by this present Act, shall not be in force, or have any operation, until the Delegates to be in Congress assembled, sufficiently authorized and empowered, by their respective Provinces, to this end, shall, as an indispensable condition, have duly recognized the supreme Legislative authority and superintending power of the Parliament of Great Britain, over the Colonies as aforesaid. Always understood, that the free grant of an aid, as here before required and expected from the Colonies, is not to be considered as a condition of redress, but as a just testimony of their affection. And whereas, divers Acts of Parliament have been humbly represented in a Petition to his Majesty from America, to have been found grievous, in whole or in part, to the subjects of the Colonies, be it hereby declared by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the powers of Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty Courts in America, shall be restrained within their ancient limits, and the Trial by Jury, in all civil cases, where the same may have been abolished, restored, and that no subject in America shall, in capital cases, be liable to be indicted and tried for the same, in any place out of the Province, wherein such offence shall be alleged to have been committed, nor be deprived of a trial of his peers of the vicinage: nor shall it be lawful to send persons indicted for murder in any Province of America, to another Colony, or to Great Britain, for trial. And it is hereby declared and enacted, by the authority aforesaid,

* And would not this be an American Land Tax, by the authority of a British Parliament? Would not our enemies, as well as the rest of Europe, ridicule us, for giving into a more pernicious scheme, than we at first opposed? Besides, what can be more insolent, unjust, and cruel, than to tax a people, who are deprived of the means and benefit which Providence intended them, equivalent with their oppressors, who are in the full enjoyment of all their natural rights as a Nation? What think ye, Gentlemen, Farmers, and Landholders, of this honourable scheme? What would the bold and noble assertors of your rights, Lord Camden, Granville Sharpe, and others say, to an acquiescence in such deep laid designs to ruin us?

The above Bill was brought into the House of Lords, the first day of February, and occasioned a long debate, which lasted till ten at night, when, being thought too favourable to the Americans, it was treated with some contempt on that account, and rejected by sixty-eight against thirty-two.

This we have reason to think a happy circumstance for America; for the friendly appearance, and perhaps design of great part of the Bill, would have had a powerful tendency to divide and weaken us, so that if it had passed into a law, we might have been unable to prevent its operation. And yet, I apprehend it would have proved almost as fatal in its consequences, as the Acts against which we have been so long contending.

The very title conveys a servile idea, offensive to freemen, and in itself, both unjust and impolitick, as it makes an odious distinction between them, tending to produce haughtiness and oppression on one side, servility or resentment on the other, and on both a mutual disgust, which will necessarily lessen the power, security, and happiness of each.

It is true the expression in the Declaratory Act of the Parliamentary power "to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever," is changed "to all matters touching the general weal," &c. But since the Parliament are to be the supreme judges of what matters are to come under this description, I see very little security in the distinction, especially as they claim the right of quartering Troops in the Colonies without their consent. Nor would they be secured by the saving clauses in the Bill. But this, in my future remarks upon it, I propose to show, as also, that in many other particulars, it has such an insidious appearance, that I should have thought Lord Bute, Mansfield, North, or Marriot, more likely to be the framers of the Bill, than Lord Chatham.—N. Y. Jour.