requires us to love our friends better than ourselves. If the best friends we have should be unfortunately obliged to suffer with us, all that they can ask, or we can grant, consistent with the laws of nature and self-preservation, will only be to sympathize with them in their affliction, and endeavour to obtain their relief by obtaining our own. They must have too much good sense, I presume, to think hard of us for adopting a measure so essential to our preservation. They know, they feel, that self-preservation is the first law of nature, and that it ought to be, above all others, religiously regarded. Their breasts may indeed swell with indignation against the men whose callous and corrupt hearts have compelled us to do things so injurious to them and unpleasant to ourselves.

Whatever the British merchants might lose, however, by a general non-remittance, I am clearly of opinion they would lose far more by a general non-importation. For although non-remittance will operate most speedily, and, with regard to influencing their conduct, probably do us most service; yet, upon a supposition that trade will again revive, and remittance be made, it must do them less dam age; they will then have the satisfaction of receiving their whole original demands, with interest. Whereas, if a non importation takes place, their usual profits on trade thereby withheld, together with the losses on perishable articles, and the interest on the value of goods lying upon their hands, must be dead loss to them forever; which will probably far exceed any loss that could possibly attend their lying out of their money. But then, if matters should be carried so far as to prevent remittances ever being made, their loss must be prodigious; and this is what it will put them upon to prevent: and the fear of this, we may reasonably suppose, will stimulate them to exert every nerve in our favour.

When I consider the importance of what we are con tending for, I own I cannot but think it would betray a great weakness in us to decline adopting any one salutary mea sure, either through fear of loss to our friends or to ourselves. If every means in our power to use will no more than in sure us success, how fatal may prove the disuse of any one? Hath it not been consistent with the wisdom of whole Empires, to spend great part of their wealth, and the purest of their blood, in defence of their liberty? And when their dreadful struggles have been crowned with success, have they not ever thought the enjoyment far superiour to the price it cost them?

If it is Britain collectively that we have to contend with, then in this as in all other national contests, the innocent must unavoidably suffer with the guilty-our friends with our foes. It is impossible for us to point our weapons against our enemies only; or, indeed, in this case, to point them against the principals at all. But it is not impossible for us so to wound a lion in his foot as soon to disorder his whole body, and grievously sicken his head.

We are not now to consider what will affect individuals in Britain; but what will affect Britain in general. We ought not to regard the sentiments and conduct of particular persons there, so as to model our measures to screen them; but we ought to attend to and regard the sentiments of Britain collectively as one great individual; and in like collective capacity ought we to consider ourselves, and also to act.

If, then, Britain has a demand of debt against us, and we a demand of a different nature, but superiour in value, against her; with what propriety or justice can she expect payment, when she refuses to allow us our superiour demand? We must certainly, agreeable to the strictest rules of honesty, and the general practice between neighbour and neighbour, have clearly a right to withhold payment until she condescends to come to a settlement. When this settlement is obtained, and the demands on each side are fully and fairly stated, and the balance struck; this balance, whether it falls in favour of her or of us, will be the sum total that ought to be paid. But as the articles of our demand against her are inconceivably valuable, being no less than liberty, peace, and a free trade, I believe we may venture to anticipate the settlement, and safely conclude that the balance will certainly prove in our favour; and that it will be by much too high for all the wealth in Britain to pay. And if this be the case, as I presume it is, then it will necessarily follow that she can never have a balance in her favour, nor equitable demand of debt against us, until those three articles of our demand are again restored to our possession.

As these articles, however, are seldom if ever met with in books of account, some people may, perhaps, affect to sneer at their being considered as articles of charge, proper to balance the demand of debt the mother country has against us. But whatever ideas, with regard to proper articles of charge, custom may have riveted in these men's heads, I imagine the unprejudiced will conceive with me, that whatsoever is of value to mankind is, with mankind, a proper article of charge. And our lawyers will tell these gentlemen, that whoever illegally deprives another of his liberty, peace, or trade, is not only liable to a charge therefore, but to an action also.

And if Britain denies us the benefit of the law, for the recovery and enjoyment of those invaluable articles of our demand against her; totally refusing to listen to our plea of legal constitutional rights-of solemnly granted Charter privileges, and of her faith plighted and confirmed to our forefathers, she sets us a striking example to deny her merchants the benefit of the law and the assistance of our courts, for the recovery of their demands against us; even though we had no equitable right to withhold them. Such equitable right, however, I suppose really and fairly to exist; and yet am I far from holding it just, that those merchants, if innocent with regard to the malepractices which gave that right existence, should bear the loss; for their rulers, who have so wantonly and wickedly brought the mischief on them, ought, no doubt, upon the purest principles of equity, to make them whole.

And now, before I conclude, let me just observe, that I remember to have seen in some of our papers, a very sounding protest against a resolution of a respectable county, in a neighbouring Colony, in favour of shutting our courts against the British merchants, in order to withhold payment for a time. The protesters might possibly imagine that such high terms of censure as they were pleased to express their disapprobation in, would awe people into a detestation of the measure, without considering the ground on which it was proposed. In this, perhaps, they were not wholly mistaken. It frequently happens that we are misled to condemn an effect, without first comparing it with and weighing it against the cause that produced it. To withhold a just debt without just cause, would certainly be wrong; but then, to withhold a just debt with just cause, would as certainly be right. I have not only endeavoured to show that such just cause may exist, but also that it really does exist, in the case now depending between us and the mother country, and which gave rise to the resolve I just now mentioned. If I have been so happy as to succeed in these two points, then I presume it will follow, that to stop payment agreeable to the spirit and design of that resolve, will neither injure our consciences as Christians, nor our credit as traders.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE HONOURABLE GOVERNOUR GAGE TO THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH, DATED BOSTON, OCTOBER 3, 1774.

MY LORD: Your Lordship's letter of the 3d of August, No. 8, was received on the 27th ultimo, and its duplicate by packet next day. The change that has happened in the affairs of this country, your Lordship will have been made acquainted with, since the date of the above despatch, from various parts, and know with what violence the other Colonies have espoused the cause of the Massachusetts Bay, though some more moderate than others. The Congress is still sitting, and from some previous re solves they have published, particularly one transmitted your Lordship, approving the resolves of Suffolk County, and another recommending non-importation, we do not expect much good from their deliberations.

I mentioned to your Lordship my intention to postpone meeting the Assembly, and you will see the Proclamation to that end in the enclosed papers, together with the re solves of Worcester, and some publications against supplying the King's troops with necessaries; so that I was pre mature in telling your Lordship that the Boston artificers would work for us. This refusal of till assistance has thrown us into difficulties, but I hope to get through them,