sons who signed one of the papers presented to the House, by the lord North, upon Thursday last, by his Majesty's command, intituled, " Petition of sundry persons, on behalf of themselves and the inhabitants of several of his Majesty's colonies in America," to procure the said paper to be presented to his Majesty; and praying, that they may be heard at the bar of this House, in support thereof, being offered to be presented to the House.

justly charged the noble lord, with the most unexampled treachery and falshood. -Here Mr. Fox was called to order, and the House grew clamorous. He sat down twice or thrice, and on rising each time, repeated the same words; but at length, assuring the House he would abstain from every thing personal, he was permitted to proceed. He then repeated his former charges of negligence, incapacity, and inconsistency; and added, that though he at one time approved of part of the noble lord's conduct, he never approved of it all; of which a stronger proof could not be given, than that he differed from him. He charged all the present disputes with America, to his negligence and incapacity, and instanced his inconsistency in the case of the Middlesex election. It was true, he said, the noble lord had often confessed his incapacity, and from a consciousness of it, pretended a willingness to resign; but the event had proved that whatever his consciousness might have been, his love of the emoluments of office had completely conquered it.

Lord North replied, that the high post he now occupied was not of his own seeking, but was submitted to, because he thought it his duty to obey the commands laid on him; that whatever interpretation might be put by the honourable gentleman, he well knew, that it was no desire of his to retain his present situation: that that hon. gentleman was no stranger to how he had been tried on many critical occasions, particularly when we were threatened with a Spanish war, in the affairs of the East India Company, &c.

Mr. Burke rose to explain, but the clamour and call to order was so great that he was obliged to sit down unheard: to use his own words, in a "torrent of candour, and a storm of moderation." The House then divided on the motion for the discharge of the order. The Yeas went forth.

The question being put, that the said Petition be brought up; the House divided. Yeas 68, Noes 218.

Petitions from the merchants of Liver pool; manufacturers of Manchester; traders of Wolverhampton, &c. relating to the trade of North America, were presented and referred to the same committee that the petitions from London were.

Jan. 27. The committee appointed to take the Petitions of the merchants into consideration, sat. The committee were informed that Mr. Thomas Wooldridge from the committee of London merchants, who had petitioned, attended. He was called to the bar; and addressed the House in the following words: " I am directed by the committee of merchants, traders, and others, of the city of London, concerned in the commerce of America, to represent to this honourable committee, that merchants revealing at this bar the state of their affairs is a measure which all would wish to avoid, unless upon such great occasions as the present, where the public weal is evidently at stake, when their duty as good subjects requires it of them: but when the mode of examination is such as totally precludes them from answering the great public object, which in their opinion is clearly the case at present; they beg leave humbly to signify, that they wave appearing before the committee which has been appointed; and that the merchants are not under any apprehensions respecting their American debts, unless the means of remittance should be cut off by measures that may be adopted in Great Britain."

The committee broke up, and the Speaker resumed the chair.

Another petition from Birmingham was presented, of the same nature with those from London, Bristol, &c. setting forth the hardships of the petitioners, if the trade to North America is not restored. This petition was a counter-petition to the other from the same place, and said to be [0]

opinion, carried so much more importance with it, he should give his hearty affirmative to the motion.

Sir Gilbert Elliot contended, that the persons who petitioned had not been guilty of the least fraud, for they stiled themselves only the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Birmingham; and certainly no gentleman would deny but the petitioners were inhabitants, if not traders.

Mr. Burke admitted they might be inhabitants, but contended that the counterpetition, delivered on the 27th, of "the principal merchants, traders, manufacturers, and factors of Birmingham," ought to have a preference to that of the inhabitants only.

Sir Edward Astley observed, that had there not been a counter-petition, he should have given a negative to the motion, but as the counter-petition, in his

* The thanks of the merchants, traders, and manufacturers of Birmingham, concerned in the trade to America, were given to Mr. Burke for his conduct in this business. The following is a copy of the letter of thanks :

"To Edmund Burke, Esq. "Sir; Birmingham, Feb. 8, 1775. "The merchants and manufacturers who have had a principal share of the American trade from this town and neighbourhood, beg your acceptance, through our hands, of their

warmest acknowledgments for your liberal support of our petition to the honourable House of Commons, wherein are stated the evils we already feel, and the greater we have yet to apprehend from a continued stagnation of so important a branch of our commerce as that with North America.

"At the same time we also unite in expressing our particular thanks for the motion you was pleased to make for an enquiry into the manner of both the late petitions from the town of Birmingham having been obtained, an enquiry which could scarcely have failed to give some useful intelligence, and to have fully justified our application to parliament at so critical a juncture.

"We cannot wonder, Sir, that defamation should have made its appearance on such an occasion as this, which is the notorious evidence of a weak cause, and whose mischiefs we are persuaded will be as transient as its efforts have been intemperate.

"We only take the liberty, therefore, of adding our sincere wishes, that you may long fill your distinguished place in the British Senate, and that your persevering endeavours to preserve the rights of the subject, to maintain the prosperity of our commerce, and to secure the tranquillity of this extensive empire, may meet with a success adequate to the triotic zeal with which they are animated. Being with the greatest regard,

"Sir, your's, &c."

pa

A Provisional Act for settling the Troubles in America, and for asserting the Supreme Legislative authority and superintending power of Great Britain over the Colonies.

Whereas by an Act 6 Geo. 3, it is declared, that parliament has full power and authority to make laws and statutes to bind the people of the colonies, in all cases whatsoever; and whereas reiterated complaints and most dangerous disorders have grown, touching the right of taxation claimed and exercised over America, to the disturbance of peace and good order there, and to the actual interruption of the due intercourse from Great Britain and Ireland to the colonies, deeply affecting the navigation, trade, and manufactures of this kingdom and of Ireland, and announcing farther an interruption of all exports from the said colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in America: now, for prevention of these ruinous mischiefs, and in order to an equitable, honourable, and lasting settlement of claims not sufficiently ascertained and circumscribed, May it please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be declared, And 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, and by the authority of the same, that the colonies of America have been, are, and of right ought to be dependent upon the imperial crown of

Great Britain, and subordinate unto the British parliament, and that the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons in parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the people of the British colonies in America, in all matters touching the general weal of the whole dominion of the imperial crown of Great Britain, and beyond the competency of the local representative of a distant 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 recognize 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 consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons in this present parliament assembled, that the Declaration of Right, at the everglorious Revolution, namely, "That the raising and keeping a standing army within the kingdom, in time of peace, unless it be by the 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 due care of his subjects, may judge necessary for the security and protection of the same, cannot be rendered dependant 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 for ever all causes of pernicious discord, and in due contemplation of the vast increase of possessions and population in the colonies; and having a heart to render the condition of so great a body of industrious subjects there more and more happy, by the sacred. ness of property and of personal liberty, 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 city of Philadelphia, on the 9th 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 wis dom shall judge fit, to the alleviation of the national debt: no doubt being had but this 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 burdens, 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 farther 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 the proportions 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. John's, 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 recognised the supreme legislative authority and superintending power of the parliament of Great Britain over the colonies aforesaid: always understood, that the free grant of an aid, as heretofore 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 ViceAdmiralty courts in America shall be restrained within their ancient limits, and the trial by jury, in all civil cases, where the same may be 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 by 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 be it hereby declared and enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that all and every the said Acts, or so much thereof as are represented to have been found grievous, namely, the several Acts of the 4th Geo. 3, ch. 15. and ch. 34; 5th Geo. 3, ch. 25; 6th Geo. 3, ch. 52; 7th Geo. 3, ch. 41, and ch. 46; 8th Geo. 3, ch. 22; 12th Geo. 3, ch. 24.-with the three Acts for stopping the port, and blocking up the harbour of Boston; for altering the charter and government of Massachuset's Bay; and that entitled, An Act for the better administration of justice, &c.; also the Act for regulating the government of Quebec, and the Act passed in the same session relating to the quarters of soldiers, shall be, and are hereby suspended, and not to have effect or execution, from the date of this Act. And be it moreover hereby declared and enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that all and every the before-recited Acts, or the parts thereof complained of, shall be and are, in virtue of this present Act, finally repealed and annulled, from the day that the new recognition of the supreme legislative authority and superintending power of parliament over the colonies shall have been made on the part of the said colonies.

And for the better securing due and impartial administration of justice in the colonies, 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, that his Majesty's judges in courts of law in the colonies of America, to be appointed with salaries by the crown, shall hold their offices and salaries as his Majesty's judges in England, quamdiu se bene gesserint. And it is hereby further declared, by the authority aforesaid, that the colonies in America are justly entitled