not only to acknowledge the new Charter, but submit in all respects to the severe conditions of the Port Bill, before they can be released from their hardships; since these are the terms, and the only terms, upon which this proscription is to cease, and the Colonies must therefore submit to be the slaves instead of the subjects of Great Britain; this Bill, in its principle, is both arbitrary and unjust. And as we do not conceive any ground of expectation that the Provinces will yield to such hard conditions, a civil war, which may probably end in the total separation of the Colonies from the mother country, will too naturally be the consequence of this Bill; in respect of which, as well as for the other reasons hereby assigned, we do most solemnly and heartily protest against the same.

A Message was sent to the House of Commons, to re turn the said Bill, and acquaint them, that the Lords have agreed to the same, with some amendments, to which their Lordships desire their concurrence.

An Act to Restrain the Trade and Commerce of the Provinces of 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 hanks of NEWFOUNDLAND, or other places therein mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations.

Whereas, by an Act, made in the twelfth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, entituled. "An Act for the Encouraging and Increasing of Shipping and Navigation;" and by several subsequent Acts of Parliament which are now in force, it is, amongst other things, enacted, that for every Ship or Vessel that shall load any commodities in those Acts particularly enumerated, at any British Plantation, being the Growth, Product, or Manufacture thereof, Bonds shall be given, with one surety, to the value of one thou sand Pounds, if the Ship be of less burthen than one hundred tons, and of the sum of two thousand Pounds, if the Ship be of greater burthen, that the same commodities shall be brought by such Ship or Vessel to some other British Plantation, or to some Port in Great Britain: And whereas, by several other Acts of Parliament which are now in force, no commodities of the Growth, Product, or Manu facture of Europe, (except Salt for the Fisheries, Wines of the Madeiras and Azores, and Western Islands, and Victual and Linen Cloth from Ireland, under the restrictions in such Acts particularly mentioned) can be imported into any Plantation, Colony, Territory, or place belonging to his Majesty in Asia, Africa, or America, but what shall be bonafide, and without fraud, laden and shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from thence: And whereas, during the continuance of the Combinations and Disorders which at this time prevail within the Provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New-Hampshire, and the Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode-Island, to the obstruction of the Commerce of these Kingdoms and other his Majesty's Dominions, and in breach and violation of the laws of this Realm, it is highly unfit that the inhabitants of the said Provinces and Colonies should enjoy the same privileges of Trade, and the same benefits and advantages to which his Majesty's faithful and obedient subjects are entitled; Be it therefore 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 from and after the first day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and during the continuance of this Act, no Goods, Wares, or Merchandises, which are particularly enumerated in, and by the said Act made in the twelfth year of King Charles the Second, or any other Act, being the Growth, Product or Manufacture of the Provinces of Massachusetts Bay, or New-Hampshire, or Colonies of Connecticut, Rhode-Island, or Providence Plantation, in North America, or any or either of them, are to be brought to some other British Colony, or to Great Britain; or any such enumerated Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, which shall at any time or times have been imported or brought into the said Provinces or Colonies, or any or either of them, shall be shipped, carried, conveyed, or transported from any of the said Provinces or Colonies, respectively, to any Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or Place whatsoever, other than to Great Britain, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies, to be laid on shore there; and that no other Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, whatsoever, of the Growth, Product, or Manufacture of the Provinces or Colonies hereinbefore mentioned, or which shall at any time or times have been imported or brought into the same, shall, from and after the said first day of July, and during the continuance of this Act, be shipped, carried, conveyed, or transported from any of the said Provinces or Colonies, respectively, to any other Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or place whatsoever, except to the Kingdoms of Great Britain, or Ireland, or to some of the British Islands in the West Indies, to be laid on shore there; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of July, before any Ship or Vessel shall lade, or take on board any Goods as aforesaid, in any or either of the Provinces or Colonies before mentioned, sufficient Bond, with one surety, besides the Master of such Ship or Vessel, shall be given to the Collector, or other principal Officer of the Customs at the Port or place where such Goods are intended to be laden, or taken on board, in the penalty of one thousand Pounds, if the Ship be of less burthen than one hundred tons; and of the sum of two thousand Pounds if the Ship shall be of that or any greater burthen, with condition that such enumerated Goods shall not be landed, or put on shore, at or upon any other Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or place whatsoever, except some Port or place within the Kingdom of Great Britain, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies; and that all other Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, so intended to be laden as aforesaid, shall not be landed or put on shore at or upon any Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or place whatsoever, other than, and except, some Port or place within the Kingdoms of Great Britain, or Ireland, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies; and with further condition to bring a Certificate in discharge thereof, within eighteen months from the date of such Bond, for such of the said Goods as shall be entered for, or landed in, Great Britain or Ireland, respectively, and within six months for such of the said Goods as shall be entered for, or landed in, any of the British Islands in the West Indies; which respective Certificates shall be under the hands and seals of office of the Collector and Comptroller, or other principal Officer of the Customs, resident at the Port or place where such Goods shall be landed, testifying the landing thereof; or such Bond or Bonds shall and maybe discharged by proof, upon oath made by credible persons, that the said Goods were taken by enemies, or perished in the Seas.

III. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where any such Bond or Bonds shall be given as aforesaid, in pursuance of this Act, the Collector, or other principal Officer of the Customs, to whom such Bond or Bonds shall have been given, shall deliver, under his hand and seal of office, without fee or reward, to the Master of the Ship or Vessel taking in such Goods, for the security of her Navigation, a Certificate that such Bond or Bonds hath or have been given, expressing therein the quantity and species of the Goods, with the marks and numbers of the Packages, and the Port or place for which they were entered; and if any such Goods shall be laden on board any such Ship or Vessel in any of the Provinces or Colonies in this Act before mentioned, before such Bond or Bonds shall be given, or shall be found on board any Ship or Vessel, without the Certificate hereinbefore directed, that such Bond or Bonds hath or have been given, the Goods so laden, together with the Ship or Vessel, with her Guns, Ammunition, Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture, shall be forfeited: and if any Goods, so laden as aforesaid, shall be landed or discharged at any Port