The only benefit which has resulted from our unhappy contest with America is, that by it we have been led to revert to the first principles of civil polity. After numerous struggles between the powers and opinions of contending parties, we all now agree in this fundamental truth, that civil government was instituted to benefit the many who are governed, and not the few who govern; or, in other words, that its proper end is, the preservation of life, freedom, and property; and of these, the latter has, under our Constitution, been the object of peculiar care. Indeed, the very nature of property, as it is constantly defined, requires that the proprietor alone should have a right to dispose of his property; and therefore it is that, by the most solemn provisions of our Government, the consent of those from whom money is wanted for national services is made indispensably necessary. I have, attentively considered the peculiar rights of this House respecting the imposition of taxes, and also, the usual words, forms, and circumstances, of our pecuniary grants, which of themselves sufficiently prove that a right of granting away the property of our constituents is totally distinct and different from a right of making laws to govern them. We are the only branch of the Legislature that represents the people and property of Great Britain, (the Peers sitting by titles derived from the Crown,) and therefore a grant of this House, in its representative capacity, necessarily precedes the imposition of any tax on the people. This appears from the tenour of all the acts for raising supplies, which begin with reciting that “the Commons” alone, separately and distinctly, have first granted the rates, duties, and impositions, intended to be levied, and afterwards proceed to enact, by the joint authority of King, Lords, and Commons, that the sums which have been thus distinctly granted by the latter, shall be collected according to the intention of their several grants. And in the very same manner, the legislative assent of Parliament was always required to authorize a collection of the subsidies formerly granted by the clergy in convocation; though yet, without a previous grant from the clergy, no taxes were collected from them by authority of Parliament, until the reign of Charles II, when they obtained a share in the national representation. And, excepting the perplexity which late sophistical fallacies may have occasioned on this subject, no privilege of our Constitution was ever better ascertained, more generally understood, or more confidently believed, than the privilege which Englishmen, for a long succession of ages, have enjoyed, of being taxed only with their own consent, or that of their representatives. In virtue of this privilege it was, that the unrepresented people of America refused to pay the taxes we have lately imposed on them—a refusal which has been followed by a series of intemperate and violent acts on our part, and by a loss of our former dominion over thirteen of the Colonies on that continent. To recover the affection, the commerce, and the allegiance of the people of these Colonies, should be the end of all our endeavours. The measures which we have hitherto pursued for this end have produced none but the most pernicious consequences; it is time, therefore, to profit by experience, to grow wise by misfortunes, and to try the effects of a different system of conduct. Enough, and I fear too much, has been already attempted by irritation, by menace, and by violence. Let these give way to milder proceedings. Let us seek for peace; not by carrying war and desolation over the countries we would govern; not by destroying the sources of that commerce we would regain; not by exciting irreconcilable hatred in those whose affections we should reconciliate; but by pursuing the dictates of reason, humanity, and justice, which are all repugnant to every part of the bill under consideration.

Mr. Cornwall did not see how the dispute with America would be productive of a war with any European Power. He imagined the reverse; because Spain in particular, feeling a similarity of situation and interest, instead of encouraging America in acts of disobedience to the parent State, would rather contribute everything in her power to suppress a revolt, which, in example, might be fatal to her own interests in the new world. He observed that great stress, he foresaw, would be laid on that part of the bill which subjected all ships, merchandise, &c., which belonged to the people of America, or any persons whatever, found trading to that country, to forfeiture and confiscation; but if the present state of that country were only considered for an instant, the propriety of that part of the bill must be self-evident; for as the non-exportation and non-importation agreement had unconditionally taken place the 10th of September last, the inevitable consequence would be, that all trade being at an end between both countries, a communication would be open between America and the several maritime and commercial nations of Europe—particularly France and the United Provinces. He said, in the present state of things, however great our native strength and resources might be, such was the nature of a land war, to be carried on in that distant part of the world, that we could never expect to succeed: therefore the present bill was necessary, as, by restraining their maritime intercourse with other nations, it would completely cut off all their resources, and give Great Britain the advantage of exerting her strength on that element where she never found an equal. He concluded with asserting, that the government of this empire was placed in the British Parliament; that of course whatever the British Parliament, in its wisdom and justice, decreed, was, to all intents, constructions, and purposes, binding upon every other part of the whole empire.

Mr. Dunning said, that whatever doubts prevailed on the first day of the session, whether the speech from the Throne predicted war or peace, no one could now be at a loss to know its genuine import. He was one who looked upon it, from the very beginning, to be a formal declaration of war against all America. He was every day more and more satisfied that his suspicions were well-founded; but now he had nothing to prevent him from pronouncing with certainty that he was fully justified in his opinion that war, and a war of the most unrelenting and bloody complexion, was meant to be made on those devoted people. He was tolerably versed in history, nor was he ignorant of the laws of his country; but never, within the compass of his reading or knowledge, did he hear of such a rebellion as the present. Who, said he, are the Rebels? What are the principles they controvert? Who is the Prince to whom they profess obedience? But, turning from those matters, which are only a fit subject for ridicule, do not the consequences promise to be serious? Let us think only for a minute of the manner we have been treated. How is it possible we can proceed an inch, with any propriety, without the necessary information? This, it is possible, may be a good bill; it may be the only measure left us to adopt, which may be the means of bringing that country back to a proper sense of her duty; but is there one gentleman in this House, even one honourable member on the Treasury bench, who will rise and tell me that his support to the present bill arises from his information, or will take upon himself to stake his general support of the bill upon information had, but not proper to be communicated to this House? I am certain, bold and enterprising as many of them are, there is not one. The Americans have prayed for redress of grievances. The language of the House is, subdue them first, and then hear and consider their complaints; if they dare to resist, starve them, destroy their trade, seize their shipping, waste their lands, block up their ports, and prohibit their fisheries; let them have no means of subsistence either upon earth or sea. Will men, inheriting the free spirit of ancestors who relinquished the sweets of civil society in their native country, when oppression and tyranny was predominant, to breathe the pure air of freedom in a wilderness, bear all this? Is it not, in so many words, calling upon them, Ye cowards of America, relinquish your claims to the rights of mankind, or we will crush you as a people? Are these the words of a wise, a just, a lenient Administration? or are they not rather the bloody declarations of an exasperated, unrelenting faction, who, disappointed in their views of arbitrary power, are for pouring vengeance on those who have the fortitude to oppose their measures? And who are they that are to crush these cowards? Not Englishmen. Earth and seas are ransacked for foreign mercenaries, to cut the throats of natural-born loyal subjects.

I cannot sit down without saying a word or two relative to the manifest partiality Administration has lately shown to a neighbouring kingdom, (Ireland,) which used not to be in very high esteem. No longer tyrannized over and oppressed, she has suddenly become a favourite; she has been lately told by the Minister there that she might have Hessians