through whofe hands the acts pass biennially in Ireland, or annually in the colonies, are in an habitual course of committing impeachable offences. What habitual offenders have been all presidents of the council, all secretaries of state, all first lords of trade, all attornies and all folicitors general! However, they are fafe; as no one impeaches them; and there is no ground of charge againft them, except in their own unfounded theories.

The fifth refolution is also a refolution of fact"That the faid general affemblies, general courts, "or other bodies legally qualified as aforefaid, have

at fundry times freely granted feveral large fub"fidies and publick aids for his majesty's fervice, "according to their abilities, when required there"to by letter from one of his majesty's principal "fecretaries of ftate; and that their right to grant "the fame, and their cheerfulness and fufficiency "in the faid grants, have been at fundry times " acknowledged by parliament." To fay nothing of their great expences in the Indian wars; and not to take their exertion in foreign ones, so high as the fupplies in the year 1695; not to go back to their publick contributions in the year 1710; I fhall begin to travel only where the journals give me light; refolving to deal in nothing but fact, authenticated by parliamentary record; and to build myself wholly on that folid basis.

On

On the fourth of April, 1748,* a committee of this house came to the following resolution:

"Refolved,

"That it is the opinion of this committee, That "it is juft and reasonable that the several provinces "and colonies of Maffachufet's Bay, New Hamp"fhire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, be reim"bursed the expences they have been at in taking "and fecuring to the crown of Great Britain, the "ifland of Cape Breton and its dependencies."

These expences were immenfe for fuch colonies. They were above 200,000l. fterling; money first raised and advanced on their publick credit.

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On the 28th of January, 1756,† a meffage from the king came to us, to this effect-" His majesty, being sensible of the zeal and vigour with which "his faithful fubjects of certain colonies in North "America have exerted themselves in defence of "his majesty's just rights and poffeffions, recom"mends it to this house to take the fame into "their confideration, and to enable his majesty to give them such affiftance as may be a proper re"ward and encouragement.

On the 3d of February, 1756, the house came

to a fuitable refolution, expreffed in words nearly the fame as thofe of the meffage: but with the further addition, that the money then voted was as an encouragement to the colonies to exert themfelves with vigour. It will not be neceffary to go through all the teftimonies which your own records have given to the truth of my refolutions. I will only refer you to the places in the journals:

Vol. xxvii.-16th and 19th May, 1757. Vol. xxviii.-June 1ft, 1758-April 26th and 30th, 1759-March 26th and 31ft,

and April 28th, 1760-Jan. 9th and 20th, 1761.

Vol. xxix.-Jan. 22d and 26th, 1762-March 14th and 17th, 1763.

Sir, here is the repeated acknowledgment of parliament, that the colonies not only gave, but gave to fatiety. This nation has formally acknowledged two things; firft, that the colonies had gone beyond their abilities, parliament having thought it neceffary to reimburse them; fecondly, that they had acted legally and laudably in their grants of money, and their maintenance of troops, fince the compenfation is expressly given as reward and encouragement. Reward is not beftowed for acts that are unlawful; and encouragement is not held out to things that deferve reprehenfion.

reprehenfion. My refolution therefore does nothing more than collect into one propofition, what is fcattered through your journals. I give you nothing but your own; and you cannot refuse in the grofs, what you have so often acknowledged in detail. The admiffion of this, which will be fo honourable to them and to you, will, indeed, be' mortal to all the miferable ftories, by which the paffions of the mifguided people have been engaged in an unhappy fyftem. The people heard, indeed, from the beginning of these disputes, one thing continually dinned in their ears, that reafon and justice demanded, that the Americans, who paid no taxes, fhould be compelled to contribute. How did that fact of their paying nothing, stand, when the taxing fyftem began? When Mr. Grenville began to form his fyftem of American revenue, he stated in this house, that the colonies were then in debt two million fix hundred thoufand pounds fterling money; and was of opinion they would discharge that debt in four years. On this ftate, thofe untaxed people were actually fubject to the payment of taxes to the amount of fix hundred and fifty thoufand a year. In fact, however, Mr. Grenville was miftaken. The funds given for finking the debt did not prove quite fo ample as both the colonies and he expected. The calculation was too fanguine: the reduction was not completed till fome years after, and at different

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ferent times in different colonies.

However, the taxes after the war continued too great to bear any addition, with prudence or propriety; and when the burthens impofed in confequence of former requifitions were discharged, our tone became too high to refort again to requifition. No colony, fince that time, ever has had any requifition whatsoever made to it.

We see the sense of the crown, and the sense of parliament, on the productive nature of a revenue by grant. Now search the fame journals for the produce of the revenue by impofition—Where is it? -let us know the volume and the page-what is the grofs, what is the net produce?—to what fervice is it applied?-how have you appropriated its furplus?-What, can none of the many skilful index-makers, that we are now employing, find any trace of it?-Well, let them and that reft together. But are the journals, which say nothing of the revenue, as filent on the difcontent? Oh no! a child may find it. It is the melancholy burthen and blot of every page.

I think then I am, from those journals, justified in the fixth and laft refolution, which is-" That "it hath been found by experience, that the man"ner of granting the faid fupplies and aids, by the "faid general affemblies, hath been more agree"able to the faid colonies, and more beneficial, "and conducive to the publick fervice, than the

"mode