HE rapidity with which a

nefs was carried through, and the earneftness with which matters of great concern were agitated before the recefs of parliament, occafioned our paffing over a petition from the affembly of Nova Scotia, which was prefented to each Houfe at the opening of the feffion. It was fent from that affembly in confequence of Lord North's conciliatory propofition; and was intended, by thofe who promoted it in that colony, as a pattern and precedent for the reft. It was a feparate propofal, and in that light coincided with the general policy, which dictated the conciliatory propofition. It feemed to propofe Tome revenue originating in the colonies, and to be enacted by parliament; and though the probable amount would be inconfiderable, yet the establishment of the doctrine being at that time of more confideration, than the amount of the revenue immediately to be obtained, the petition was more favourably received by adminiftration; and on the very first day of

the feffion, when the Speaker laid

a fhort day was appointed for taking it into confideration, though not without fome animadverfion on the part of oppofition, who treated the whole as one of thofe mean contrivances, by which miniftry, as they faid, were in the practice of mocking the credulity and implicit confidence of parliament; and they predicted, that it would come to the end which was to be expected from its futility, and the impracticable nature of the scheme which it was intended to execute.

The mode of granting a revenue propofed by this affembly, was the payment of fome fpecific duty per cent. upon the importation of all foreign commodities, bay falt only excepted, by which means the amount of the revenue would at all times bear a due relation and proportion to the opulence and confumption of the province. It was intended, that the rate of this duty fhould in the first inftance be fixed by parliament, and afterwards be perpetual and unchangeable, excepting only, that at certain ftated

claufes, it concludes with fome fallacious nugatory provifions, rather talking about, than propofing the attainment of peace. Can it be seriously faid or expected, that offers of pardon will fatisfy men who acknowledge no crime, and who are confcious, not of doing but of fuffering wrong? Or will the profpect of exemption from commercial feizures, without the redrefs of any grievence, difarm thofe who have deliberately refufed all commerce until their grievances fhall be redreffed. It was also contended, that as the Americans would inevitably open their ports to foreigners in confequence of this bill,, fo it would of courfe involve the minifters in that evil, which, notwithtanding their domeftic fanguinary difpofition, they of all others dreaded the moft; it would involve them in a foreign war, which they had fo repeatedly facrificed the national honour to avoid.

It was faid in fupport of the bill, that the Americans were already in a state of warfare with us, and while that war continued, it muft neceffarily be carried on by fea and land, and conducted in every manner and respect, as it would have been against alien enemies. That the nature, fituation, and diftance of that continent, rendered the operations by fea indifpenfable, as thofe by land, withbut that auxiliary, if not infufficient, would at least prove dilatory, and the attainment of their object diftant. That the ftronger, more urgent, and immediate, the coercion was, the fewer would be the mifchiefs, the less the expence, and the fooner would peace and order be reflored. That an ill-judged

appearance of lenity, by ftaying, or rendering languid, the hand of coercion, would be cruelty in the extremest degree, and prove equally ruinous to England and Ame

rica.

That whatever real or apparent hardships or feverities were contained in the bill, they were unavoidable in the prefent ftate of things, and it was in the power of the Americans, either collectively or individually, to prevent their operation. That the commiffioners went out with the fword in one hand, and terms of conciliation in the other. America had the choice. Every colony had it in its power to take the benefit of the latter. It had only to acknowledge the legiflative fupremacy of Great Britain, or if unwilling to accede to fuch a general declaration, to contribute of its own accord towards the fupport of government, and thereby, as one of the parts of the empire, entitle itfelf to the protection of the whole, and the work was done, no feverity or hardship would be known by that colony.

As to the loffes which our mer chants and the Weft India iflands might fuftain, thefe, if real, could only be lamented among the many other evils incident to war. But thefe evils, they faid, were purely imaginary, and only held out to diftrefs government, and impede its operations, by alarming the minds of the people, and exciting a domeftic ferment. Would any one venture to affert, that America, deftitute of refources, with out a fhip of war in her poffeffion, and all her ports and docks open to our fleets, could encounter the naval power of Great Britain, or that the latter was not sufficient to

protect

prote& our islands and commerce from lofs and infult? With refpect to foreign powers, their difpofitions were faid to be friendly towards us; but were it otherwise, none of them who held poffeffions in America, could be fo blind to their own intereft and fecurity, as to encourage or fupport the rebellion of colonies; much lefs to fuffer the establishment of an independent ftate in the new world. The bringing in of this bill was attended with an unusual circumftance. Mr. Fox moved an amendment, to leave out the whole title and body of the bill, excepting only the parts, which related to the repeal of the Bolton Port, the fithery, and the reitraining acts. This motion occafioned very warm debates, and much animadverfion, which continued till after midnight, when the queftion being put, the amendment was rejected upon a divifion, by a majority of 192 to 64 only.

The bill was not lefs debated on the ift of December, when it was brought up for the fecond reading. In this ftage, it was moved to commit it for the 5th, upon which feveral gentlemen requested the minister to poftpone it for a few days, as the Weft India merchants and planters had advertised for a meeting of their body, upon that fubject, on the 6th, thereby to give them an opportunity of laying any evidence or information they should think neceffary before the house. This, though afked as a favour, was also represented as a matter of fairness and juftice, where property was in any degree concerned, much more when fo immense a share of it was at flake as in the prefent inftance. The

request, however, not being complied with, it was moved to amend the former motion, by putting off the commitment of the bill to the 12th. This amendment was loft upon a divifion, of 207 to 55; and the main queftion being put, after fome further debate, was car-, ried.

On the 5th, it again caufed much debate. Several gentlemen, who wished to vote for the conciliatory part, but not for any other, complained that in its prefent form, it was an heterogeneous irreconcilable mixture of war and conciliation; that this mixture of hoftility and conciliation in the fame bill, muft be intended, either to confound the attention by the variety of the objects, and divert it from obferving the incongruity of the various parts, or to preclude debate, by carrying on the fubjectmatter of two bills in one. Lord Folkeftone therefore moved, that the bill might be divided into two feparate ones, that each might be feparately confidered and debated.

On the other hand it was fupported by arguing, that nothing was fo natural as what had been called fo contradictory; war or peace in the fame propofition. That they were the proper alternative in all fuch contefts; war or refiftance; peace or fubmiffion. What would the oppofition have faid if no powers of peace had been left? Though the motion was rejected by a majority of 76 to 34, the debates were continued in the

committee, and carried on to the enfuing day, with great warmth and feverity of obfervation. Another motion was made, that the chairman fhould leave the chair, in order to give time to the Weft

night, the question for commitment being put, was carried upon a divifion, by a majority of 78, including 30 proxies, to 19, including feven proxies,

In this ftate of the bill, a protest of uncommon length, and ftill greater energy, was entered against it, in which feveral of its parts underwent the fevereft fcrutiny, and the feafon of carrying a bill through, fo unprecedented in its nature, and important in its confequences, at a time when, they fay, moft of the independent members of both houfes were called away by their domeftic affairs, and when few but thofe in the immediate pay of the court, and attending on their employments, remained in town, was particularly condemned.

In three days after, upon going into a committee on the bill, the Duke of Manchester moved for deferring the commitment till after the holidays. He founded his motion, befides the importance and novelty of the bill, upon the reports which were then arrived of our loffes in Canada. The motion was fupported by the Marquis of Rockingham, upon the farther ground, of the alarm which the bill had excited among the trading and commercial part of the nation. The motion paffed in the negative without a divifion,

The noble Duke then offered to prefent a petition from the merchants of Bristol, ftating the ruinous confequences of the bill, to themfelves in particular, as well as to the mercantile intereft in general. But as the order of the day had been already moved for, it was faid, that the petition could

not now be received. Some claufes in favour of the British traders, and of the Weft-India iflands, were, however, propofed by the Lords in adminiftration, and received by the committee, which, it was fuppofed, would in fome degree remedy the grievances stated in the petition. zoth,

On the third reading of the bill, an amendment, in favour of the merchants, to one, of the claufes, was propofed by the Marquis of Rockingham, intending to prolong the commencement of the operation of the bill, from the 1st of January to the 1ft of March, and thereby to preferve from confifcation the property of thofe merchants, who under the faith of parliament in the two reftrictive laws, had loaded veffels with lumber in North America for the West-India islands. This was oppofed on two grounds; first, that it was contrary to eftablished practice, to oppofe any particular claufe in a bill at the third reading, the objection must go to the whole, and not to any particular part and fecondly, that the delay required in the operation, would overthrow the principle of the bill, and render it totally inefficacious. The motion was loft without a divifion, and the bill paffed of courfe.

1

The bill being returned on the next day to the Commons, the amendments were agreed to, after an ineffectual attempt to defer the confideration of them for fix months. Thus was a recefs at length obtained, after pushing forward a multiplicity of matter and bufinefs, fcarcely ever known before Christmas,

СНАР.

TH

HE rapidity with which a continued fucceffion of bufinefs was carried through, and the earnestness with which matters of great concern were agitated before the recefs of parliament, occafioned our paffing over a petition from the affembly of Nova Scotia, which was prefented to each House at the opening of the feffion. It was fent from that affembly in confequence of Lord North's conciliatory propofition; and was intended, by thofe who promoted it in that colony, as a pattern and precedent for the reft. It was a feparate propofal, and in that light coincided with the general policy, which dictated the conciliatory propofition. It feemed to propofe fome revenue originating in the colonies, and to be enacted by parliament; and though the probable amount would be inconfiderable, yet the establishment of the doctrine being at that time of more confideration, than the amount of the revenue immediately to be obtained, the petition was more favourably received by adminiftration; and on the very first day of

the feffion, when the Speaker laid it before the Houfe of Commons, a fhort day was appointed for taking it into confideration, though not without fome animadverfion on the part of oppofition, who treated the whole as one of those mean contrivances, by which ministry, as they faid, were in the practice of mocking the credulity and implicit confidence of parliament; and they predicted, that it would come to the end which was to be

expected from its futility, and the impracticable nature of the scheme which it was intended to execute.

The mode of granting a revenue propofed by this affembly, was the payment of fome fpecific duty per cent. upon the importation of all foreign commodities, bay falt only excepted, by which means the amount of the revenue would at all times bear a due relation and proportion to the opulence and confumption of the province. It was intended, that the rate of this duty fhould in the first inftance be fixed by parliament, and afterwards be perpetual and unchangeable, excepting only, that at certain ftated