the colonies, certainly there is not in the New England ones, that would be deemed worthy of the name of a rich man in Great Britain. There may be here and there a rare instance of one that may have acquired twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty thousand pounds sterling, and this is the most of what can be made of what they may be thought worth,— but for the rest, they are, generally speaking, in a low condition, or, at best, not greatly rising above it; though in different degrees, variously placing them in the enjoyment of the necessities and comforts of life. And such it might naturally be expected would be the true state of the colonists; as the lands they possess in this new country could not have been subdued and fitted for profitable use but by labor too expensive to allow of their being, at present, much increased in wealth. This labor, indeed, may properly be considered as a natural tax, which, though it has made way for an astonishing increase of subjects to the British empire, greatly adding to its dignity and strength, has yet been the occasion of keeping us poor and low.

It ought also to be remembered that the occasions, in a new country, for the grant or purchase of property, with the obligations arising therefrom, and in instances of comparatively small value, are unavoidably more numerous than in those that have been long settled. The occasions, also, for recourse to the law are in like manner vastly multiplied; for which reason the same tax by stamped paper would take vastly more, in proportion, from the people here than in England. And what would have rendered this duty the more hard and severe is, that it must have been paid in addition to the government tax here, which was, I have good reason to think, more heavy on us in the late war, and is so still, on account of the great debt then contracted, at least in this province, in proportion to our numbers and abilities, than that which, in every way,

was laid on the people either of Scotland, Ireland, or England.

This, if mentioned cursorily, was never, that I remember, enlarged upon and set in a striking light in any of the papers written in the late times, as it might easily have been done,

and to good purpose. Besides all which, it is undoubtedly

true that the circulating money in all the colonies would not have been sufficient to have paid the stamp duty only for two years; and an effectual bar was put in the way of the introduction of more by the restraints that were laid upon our trade in those instances wherein it might in some measure have been procured.

It was this grievance that occasioned the bitter complaints all over these lands: "We are denied straw, and yet the full tale of bricks is required of us!" Or, as it was otherwise uttered, we must soon be obliged "to borrow money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of the brethren, our children as their children; and lo! we must bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants."

We should have been stupid had not a spirit been excited in us to apply, in all reasonable ways, for the removal of so insupportable a burden. And such a union in spirit was never before seen in the colonies, nor was there ever such universal joy, as upon the news of our deliverance from that which might have proved a yoke the most grievous that was ever laid upon our necks. It affected in all hearts the lively perceptions of pleasure, filling our mouths with laughter. No man appeared without a smile in his countenance. No one met his friend but he bid him joy. That was our united song of praise, "Thou hast turned for us our mourning into dancing; thou hast put off our sackcloth and girded us with gladness.

Our glory (our tongue) shall sing praise to thee, and not be silent: O Lord our God! we will give thanks to thee forever."

Another thing in this "news," making it "good," is the hopeful prospect it gives us of being continued in the enjoyment of certain liberties and privileges, valued by us next to life itself. Such are those of being "tried by our equals," and of "making grants for the support of government of that which is our own, either in person or by representatives we have chosen for the purpose."

Whether the colonists were invested with a right to these liberties and privileges which ought not to be wrested from them, or whether they were not, 'tis the truth of fact that they really thought they were; all of them, as natural heirs to it by being born subjects to the British crown, and some of them by additional charter grants, the legality of which, instead of being contested, have all along, from the days of our fathers, been assented to and allowed of by the supreme authority at home. And they imagined, whether justly or not I dispute not, that their right to the full and free enjoyment of these privileges was their righteous due, in consequence of what they and their forefathers had done and suffered in subduing and defending these American lands, not only for their own support, but to add extent, strength, and glory to the British crown.

And as it had been early and deeply impressed on their minds that their charter privileges were rights that had been dearly paid for by a vast expense of blood, treasure, and labor, without which this continent must have still remained in a wilderness state and the property of savages only, it could not but strongly put in motion their passion of grief when they were laid under a parliamentary restraint as to the exercise of that liberty they esteemed their greatest glory.

It was eminently this that filled their minds with jealousy, and at length a settled fear lest they should gradually be brought into a state of the most abject slavery. This it was that gave rise to the cry, which became general throughout the colonies, "We shall be made to serve as bond-servants; our lives will be bitter with hard bondage." Nor were the Jews more pleased with the royal provision in their day, which, under God, delivered them from their bondage in Egypt, than were the colonists with the repeal of that act which had so greatly alarmed their fears and troubled their hearts. It was to them as "life from the dead." They "rejoiced and were glad." And it gave strength and vigor to their joy, while they looked upon this repeal not merely as taking off the grievous restraint that had been laid upon their liberties and privileges, but as containing in it an intention of continued indulgence in the free exercise of them. 'Tis in this view of it that they exult as those who are "glad in heart," esteeming themselves happy beyond almost any people now living on the face of the earth. May they ever be this happy people, and ever have "God for their Lord!"

This news is yet further welcome to us, as it has made way for the return of our love, in all its genuine exercises, towards those on the other side of the Atlantic who, in common with ourselves, profess subjection to the same most gracious sovereign. The affectionate regard of the American inhabitants for their mother country was never exceeded by any colonists in any part or age of the world. We esteem ourselves parts of one whole, members of the same collective body. What affected the people of England affected us. We partook of their joys and sorrows" rejoicing when they rejoiced, and weeping when they wept." Adverse things in the conduct of Providence towards them alarmed our fears and gave us

pain, while prosperous events dilated our hearts, and in proportion to their number and greatness.

This tender sympathy with our brethren at home, it is acknowledged, began to languish from the commencement of a late parliamentary act. There arose hereupon a general suspicion whether they esteemed us brethren and treated us with that kindness we might justly expect from them. This jealousy, working in our breasts, cooled the fervor of our love; and had that act been continued in force it might have gradually brought on an alienation of heart that would have been greatly detrimental to them, as it would also have been to ourselves. But the repeal, of which we have authentic accounts, has opened the channels for a full flow of our former affection towards our brethren in Great Britain. Unhappy jealousies, uncomfortable surmisings and heart-burnings are now removed; and we perceive the motion of an affection for the country from whence our forefathers came, which would influence us to the most vigorous exertions, as we might be called, to promote their welfare, looking upon it, in a sense,

our own.

We again feel with them and for them, and are happy or unhappy as they are either in prosperous or adverse circumstances. We can, and do, with all sincerity, "pray for the peace of Great Britain, and that they may prosper that love her;" adopting those words of the devout Psalmist, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For our brethren's sake, we will say, peace be within thee."

In fine, this news is refreshing to us "as cold waters to a thirsty soul," as it has affected an alteration in the state of things among us unspeakably to our advantage. There is no way in which we can so strikingly be made sensible of this as by contrasting the state we were lately in and the much