Mr. Alderman Hayley presented the following Petition, which was read:

To the Honourable the Commons of GREAT BRITAIN, in Parliament assembled:

The Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of LONDON, interested in the AMERICAN Commerce, Sheweth,

That your Petitioners are deeply concerned to observe, by the votes of this Honourable House, that a Bill is brought in "to restrain the Trade and Commerce of the Provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New-Hampshire, and the Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode-Island, and Providence Plantation, in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such Provinces and Colonies from carrying on any Fishery on the banks of Newfoundland, or other places therein to be mentioned, under certain restrictions, and for a time to be limited:" Your Petitioners beg leave to represent that the said Bill, should it pass into a law, will, in its operations, deprive thousands of his Majesty's loyal subjects of their actual subsistence, and reduce them to extreme distress, even that of famine, the said Provinces not generally raising Corn sufficient for their support, and by this Bill they will he prevented from receiving any supplies from their sister Colonies, and precluded from their natural resource, the Sea.

That your Petitioners have reason to believe that very great numbers of men bred and employed in the Fisheries, who in hardiness and intrepidity are not exceeded by any in this extensive Empire, will be impelled by the pressing calls of hunger and want, to such a conduct as may be productive of devastation and bloodshed, which may endanger the peace and welfare of that part of his Majesty's American Dominions; or be induced to emigrate to the Islands of Miquelon and St. Pierre, there to fish for the French, and give our rivals the means of supplying the market in Europe, and thereby render it difficult for us to regain that valuable branch of commerce.

Your Petitioners beg leave further to represent, that there is now due from the said Provinces and Colonies to the City of London, very large sums of money; that their remittances are principally made by means of the Fisheries, and consequently the ruin brought on those Colonies will ultimately fall on Great Britain.

That among the other grievances of which our fellow-subjects in America so generally complain, is of their being deprived of Trial by Jury, in particular cases, and the extension of the jurisdiction of Admiralty Courts; which grievances your Petitioners, with much concern, find are not only continued, but extended by the present Bill, and they think it their duty to represent to the Honourable House, that it is their firm opinions that the disquietude which universally prevails in the minds of their fellow-subjects in America will not be removed unless lenient measures be pursued, and their grievances redressed.

Your Petitioners therefore most humbly pray that the said Bill may not pass into a law.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the table until the said Bill be read a second time.

The Order of the Day being read;

Ordered, That the Bill to restrain the Trade and Commerce of the Provinces of the Massachusetts Bay and New-Hampshire, and Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode-Island, and Providence Plantation, in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands In the West Indies; and to prohibit such Provinces and Colonies from carrying on any Fishery on the banks of Newfoundland, or other places therein to be mentioned, under certain conditions, and for a time to be limited, be read a second time tomorrow morning.

FRIDAY, February 24, 1775.

The Lord North, presented to the House, by his Majesty's command, the following extract of a Letter from the Honourable Governour Gage to the Earl of Dartmouth.

"Boston, January 18, 1775.

"MY LORD: It was thought impossible that the phrenzy which had seized the people could be of very long duration, unless constantly supported by new events; and there were hopes, if tranquillity could be for a time preserved, that people would have leisure for reflection, and think seriously of their danger, though the leaders have taken pains to assure them that Great Britain would be deterred from pursuing her measures, through their resolute opposition to them, and the Resolves of the Continental Congress. I find, by accounts from several parts of the country, that those hopes were not without foundation; that the people's minds are greatly cooled, and many begin to want courts of justice, and that the friends of Government have shown themselves openly in many places. I conceive the Press, which has been more open to Government than usual, to have been of very great use, through which channel the conduct of the leaders has been laid open, and the absurdity of the Resolves of the Continental Congress exposed in a masterly manner, which has served to lower that impression of high importance which the Congress had made upon people's minds.

"I hoped to have procured an Association of many considerable people in this Town, but find them more shy of making open declarations, notwithstanding they are protected, than people are in the country, where they depend only on themselves and their friends for security. They give for excuse, that they must first know the resolutions from home on all that has passed in this country, and that it's time to declare when they are assured that the mother country will not relax, but resolve to pursue her measures. If they begin to associate in the Town it's likely they will also fall on means to pay for the Tea, for, as they are mostly traders, it would be very advantageous for them to have the Port opened in the present conjuncture of their commercial affairs.

"We hear from New-Hampshire, that the people who were concerned in the rash action against Fort William and Mary, in that Province, are terrified at what they have done, and only anxious to obtain pardon for their offence."

The Lord North also presented to the House, by his Majesty's command,

No. 2. Extract of a Letter from Governour Wentworth to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated New-Hampshire, 28th December, 1774; received 20th February, 1775.

No. 3. Extract of a Letter from Governour Wentworth to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated 14th January, 1775; received 20th February, enclosing,

No. 4. Copy of a Proclamation.

No. 5. Copy of a Letter from the Lords of the Admiralty to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated 21st February, 1775; received 22d, enclosing,

No. 6. Extract of a Letter from Vice Admiral Graves to Mr. Stephens, dated 8th January, 1775.

if, by God's assistance, and the prudent care and conduct of the then Lieutenant Governour and Council, the mutinaries had not been timely prevented, for which treasons and rebellions against his Majesty, and this his Government, some notorious actors have been indicted, convicted, and some of thorn executed, and suffered such pains and punishments as for their treasons and rebellions they justly deserved. Now to the end and purpose that none of his Majesty's subjects may be at any time hereafter seduced by the specious pretences of any persons, that such tumultuous and mutinous assemblies to cut up or destroy Tobacco Plants or any other the crop or labours of the inhabitants of the said Colony, are but riots and trespasses; and to the end, his Majesty's subjects of this his Dominion may be the better secured in their estates and possessions, the Burgesses of this present General Assembly pray that it may be enacted, And be it enacted by the Governour, Council, and Burgesses of this Assembly, That if any person or persons whatsoever, to the number of eight or above, being assembled together, shall, at any time after the first day of June, now next ensuing, intend, go about, practice, or put in use with force, unlawfully to cut, pull up, or destroy any Tobacco Plants, either in beds or hills, growing within the said Colony, or to destroy the same either curing or cured, either before the same is in hogsheads, or afterwards, or to pull down, burn, or destroy the houses or other places where any such Tobacco shall be, or to pull down the fences or enclosures of any Tobacco Plants, with intent to cut up or destroy the same, (and such person or persons being commanded or required, in his Majesty's name, by the Governour or other Commander-in-Chief, or any one of the Council, or one or more of the Justices of the Peace of the said Colony, commanding and requiring such persons to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations) shall continue together by the space of four hours after such Proclamation made, at or nigh the place where such persons shall be so assembled, that then every such persons so willingly assembled, in forceable manner to do any of the acts before mentioned, and so continuing together as aforesaid, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be deemed, declared, and adjudged to be traitors, and shall suffer pains of death, and also lose and forfeit as in cases of high treason: Provided always, That no person or persons whatsoever shall incur the pains and penalties hereby inflicted, unless he or they be prosecuted and indicted thereupon, within twelve months after the offence committed, any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.