An Humble Address and Earnest Appeal to Those Respectable Personages in Great-Britain and Ireland Part 3

"The _Irish_ submit to parliamentary Restraints in Trade; but then, in return, they are exempted from Taxation. Why then should the _Americans_ be burdened with both, in similar Circ.u.mstances?"

Here the whole Matter of Complaint is reduced to two Heads; First, That the _Americans_ by being restrained in their Trade, are thereby in Effect taxed, and therefore ought not be taxed a second Time:

And 2dly, That this Hardship seems to be the more oppressive, because the _Irish_ under similar Circ.u.mstances, are exempted from Taxation.

With respect to the first Head, it is a mere _Begging of the Question_.

For I have proved beyond Contradiction, that the _Americans_ are not, in _Fact_ and _Reality_, restrained either in their Exports or Imports, except in a very few Articles; and that they now enjoy the very best Market which _Europe_ can afford, see my 4th Tract, Page 202-209. I have proved also, that _Great-Britain_ hath restrained herself in Favour of _America_ in Articles of at least as great Value and Importance, as those in which she hath restrained _America_ in Favour of _Great-Britain_. See more particularly my 3d Tract, Page 119,-121. Surely therefore these Things ought to have been taken into Consideration, and not to have been pa.s.sed over, as if they had never been mentioned: And it is exceedingly unfair and disingenuous to remember every Thing which makes on one Side of a Question, and to forget the rest.

2dly, With respect to the other Head of Complaint, viz. That _Ireland_ is exempted from Taxation, while such extraordinary Efforts are made for taxing _America_, I hope what follows will be as full an Answer to this Complaint, as what has been already given was to the former.

First therefore, I observe, that with Respect to the Claim of the legislative Authority, which the Parent State makes over _Ireland_ as well as _America_, both Countries are exactly on the same Footing: See the 7th and 8th of WM. III. C. 22, -- 9.:--And also Lord ROCKINGHAM's Act itself, respecting the Claims of the Mother-Country over _America_:--See likewise the Declaratory Act of 6. GEO. I. C. 5, respecting _Ireland_.

2dly. The Mother-Country hath not only a.s.serted, but maintained her Claims alike over both Countries, in the Affair of laying a general Post-Tax on all Parts of the _British_ Empire; so that in this Respect likewise both Countries are on a Par.

But here I allow follows a wide Difference, which I will endeavour to account for, viz. The _British_ Parliament never attempted to lay any internal Tax, except the Post-Tax, on _Ireland_; whereas it is well known, that the _British_ Parliament did attempt to lay an internal Tax on _America_.

Now to account for this _seeming_ Partiality, I have the following Points to offer; and I intreat my Readers to attend particularly to them.

1. Ireland never plunged us into any Wars since the Revolution; whereas _America_ hath involved us in two, the most b.l.o.o.d.y and expensive that ever this Nation experienced; the last of which brought on a Debt of 70,000,000l. Sterling, the Interest of which we are now paying.

2. Ireland doth not drain us of any Sums of Money to support and maintain its civil and military Establishments; whereas _America_ drains us for those Purposes of upwards 300,000l. annually.

3. Ireland drains us of no Money, by Way of _Bounty_ on the Importation of her Goods, or natural Produce into this Kingdom; whereas _America_ hath drained us of at least 1,000,000l. Sterling for Bounties on Pitch and Tar, on Lumber, Indigo, &c. &c. within a few Years.

4. Ireland is continually burthened with large Pensions, some to Princes of the Blood, some to other Persons, and some to flaming Patriots: For even Patriots will accept of Pensions if they can get them, and then exclaim most bitterly--O Liberty, O my Country! Whereas _America_ is totally free from this Species of Taxation, as far as I am able to trace the Matter.

Many other Articles might have been enumerated, particularly the Restraint formerly laid upon the _Irish_ fishing on the Banks of _Newfoundland_, and taken off only the last Session. But surely these are full enough; because these, I hope, will sufficiently shew, that there ought to be a wide Difference put on, every Principle of Equity and Justice, between the Case of _Ireland_ and that of _America_; and that the two Countries are by no Means in similar Circ.u.mstances.

What is now to follow, is added at the Request of a foreign n.o.bleman, whose good Sense and Penetration led him to discern, that a Crisis was certainly approaching, in which the Fate of this Country will be determined; and therefore wished to know, what was the Strength of each Party, and the Amount of the Forces on either Side.

A General Muster of the Forces BOTH FOR AND AGAINST The Present Government.

PARTIES _for overturning the present Const.i.tution, and for setting up something in its Stead, for which we have not yet a Name_.

1st. The Idle and Dissolute among the common People are for throwing the present System into Anarchy and Confusion. They have ardently wished these many Years, for some Kind of levelling Scheme whereby they might enrich themselves at the Cost of their Masters, and rob and plunder with Impunity. If Mr. WILKES, or any other modern Patriot can lead them into this Path of Glory, they will joyfully follow such a Leader, and become his devoted Fellow-Labourers, in the same good Work; but if not, they will forsake him with as little Ceremony as they have done some others, and look out for a new Leader.

2dly. That Species among the _Whigs_ which is properly _Republican_, is violently for a Change of Government, suitable to such Principles; and these Men are now become of some Consequence, not so much on the Score of their Numbers, as on Account of their enthusiastic Zeal, and of their breaking through every Tye of Honour, Honesty, and Conscience, for accomplishing such Designs. Moreover, as they put on every Disguise; as they forge, lye, falsify; as they use the Word Liberty merely as a Blind to conceal the Batteries they are erecting against it; and as they pretend to support and uphold the Const.i.tution, at the very Instant they are planning a Scheme to destroy it; their Designs are so much the more dangerous by appearing to fight under the same Banner with ourselves; and the Wounds they give, are the more difficult of Cure, because they stab and a.s.sa.s.sinate under the Mask of Friendship, and therefore take their Aim the better, and strike the deeper. In the former Plots and Conspiracies of the _Jacobites_, their Aim and Intent were to dethrone the reigning Family, and to replace another: The present Views of the Republicans, which they are incessantly pursuing by various Means, and almost contradictory Measures, are, _to have no Throne at all_. Hence, by a Comparison of the two Crimes, the Reader must judge, which is the greatest, and the most repugnant to the _English_ Const.i.tution.

3dly. The Advocates for making _North-America_ independent of the _British_ Parliament must, if consistent with themselves, be for turning the _British_ Const.i.tution into something very different from what it is at present, or ever was; for the very Plea these Men use in regard to _North-America_ is, that Representation and Legislation (a very small Part of which is the Power of raising Taxes) must always go together; therefore as nineteen Parts in twenty of the People of _England_, and upwards of ninety-nine Parts in an Hundred of the People of _Scotland_, are not qualified to be _Voters_, nor ever were, _be their Property ever so great_, that is (according to this new-fashioned Doctrine) are not represented in Parliament; it must inevitably follow, that a vast Majority of the Inhabitants of _Great-Britain_, as well as _British America_, have a right to renounce their Allegiance to the present Government as soon as they please, and to set up for Independence. For in Fact, according to the dangerous Principles now openly avowed, all this Mult.i.tude of Non-Electors owe no Subjection to that Legislature, and to those Powers, in the Choice or Continuance of which they were not consulted. They ought not to be compelled to obey any Laws, which were made without their Consent, or Privity; and more especially where they have no Representation, they ought not to be subject to any Taxation.--So that being thus happily set free from all Coercion of Government, all Restraints of Law, and Burden of Taxes; and having learnt at last to a.s.sert those inherent and unalienable Rights, which have been so long usurped, they are now restored to a State of the most perfect Freedom, and may either chuse another Form of Government, according to their own Fancy; or else live, as they can, without any Government at all. A blessed Specimen this of _patriotic Liberty_! A most comprehensive Bill of Rights! sure of overturning, if carried into Execution, every Government, that either ever was, or ever can be, proposed to the World.

4thly. The honourable Society of the _Outs_ will go as great Lengths to throw Things into Confusion as any Set of Men whatever; for as these Persons have no other End in View than to get into Power, and to share the Emoluments of the State among themselves and their Dependents, they will stick at no Measure, however unjust and unconst.i.tutional, to compa.s.s this End: Nay, they will unsay the Things which they themselves had said in Administration; they will blame those very Measures which they themselves had planned and recommended; and, in short, they will do any Thing, and every Thing, to raise the evil Spirit of Discord and Dissention, to bring themselves in.

_Lastly._ The Inconstant and Disappointed, those who love to fish in troubled Waters, and those who, having spent their Fortunes, have nothing to lose, but may have a Chance to share in the Property of other Men by a general Scramble; also the Desperate and Daring of every Denomination; all these wish for some speedy Change in the Const.i.tution.

PARTIES _for preserving the present Const.i.tution, and for keeping every Thing in a quiet and peaceable Condition_.

1st. The greatest Part of the n.o.bility and Gentry of the Kingdom; that is, almost all those who have the greatest Property at Stake, and have the most to lose.

2dly. A vast Majority of the richest Merchants, and princ.i.p.al Traders and Manufacturers throughout the Kingdom, are the warm Friends of Government: The Exceptions on this Head are few, and very inconsiderable.

3dly. The Clergy of the established Church are zealously attached to the present happy Const.i.tution, wishing to preserve, and to promote Peace on Earth, and Good-Will among Men: And in respect to the dissenting Clergy, the most eminent and respectable (tho' it is to be feared, not the most numerous) act in the same laudable Manner, and endeavour to make their People truly sensible of the many Blessings they enjoy under the Reign of his present Majesty.

4thly. The Proprietors and Stock-Holders in the public Funds will undoubtedly range on the Side of Government; because they can get nothing, but must necessarily lose by the Convulsions of the State, and by the Overthrow of that Const.i.tution, the Preservation of which is their greatest Security.

5thly. The whole Body of the learned Profession in the Law (Men who have acquired their Knowledge of the Const.i.tution from Authors of a Cast very different from bawling, disappointed Patriots, or hungry Pamphleteers;--these Men, I say) in general agree, that each Member of the House of Commons, tho' elected by one particular County, City, or Borough, doth not represent that particular County, City, or Borough, in any _exclusive_ Sense; for he represents the whole Commons of the Realm, one Part, and one Individual as well as another. A Member chosen _by_ the County of _Middles.e.x_ is not chosen _for Middles.e.x_ exclusively, but for all the Subjects of the _British_ Empire; each of whom hath as const.i.tutional a Right to his Services, and may be as much affected by his particular Conduct, and therefore has as much Right to _instruct_ him, as any Freeholder in the County of _Middles.e.x_: And he, on his Part, is bound by his Office to omit the _smaller_ Interest of the County of _Middles.e.x_, or of the _Middles.e.x Electors_, when standing in Compet.i.tion with the _greater_ Interests of his Fellow Subjects in _America_, or other Places:--So that in short, tho' some few only, perhaps not a fortieth Part, of the Inhabitants of the whole Island, have legal Votes for Representatives, all in general, both within the Island, and without it, are _virtually_ represented. That this is Fact and Law, that this ever was the Const.i.tution of the _British_ Empire, from the earliest Times down to the present Day, is such an apparent Truth, that it cannot be denied.

Therefore in this Sense it is true, and in _no other_, that every Member of the common Wealth is supposed to give his previous Consent to the making of those Laws, which he is afterwards bound to obey, and to the imposing of those Taxes which he is obliged to pay. Indeed upon this Footing (viz. of virtual Representation in some Cases, and of actual Election in others) a free and well-poised Government can stand, and be supported; but it can be supported on no other:--Nay, the Government of the _Ma.s.sachusets-Bay_ itself, whenever this Colony shall become independent of the Mother-Country, must then, as well as now, be supported on this very Principle; that is to say, on the very Principle against which they so loudly clamour. And besides all this, the very same Reasons, which induce the non-represented Subjects in _England_ to submit quietly and peaceably to the Payment of those Taxes, to which they have not given their Consent by actual Representation, ought to induce the _Americans_ to acquiesce also; because, if the _American_ Trade is so valuable, as reported, a _British_ Parliament cannot injure this Trade by any Mode of Taxation, without injuring the Merchants, the Manufacturers, and the Traders in general of _Great-Britain_; and thereby sinking the Profits of their own Estates, and the Rents of their own Lands and Houses.

6thly. The whole legislative Power of the Kingdom will certainly support their own Authority, and not commit _Felo de se_ to please their Enemies.

They will not, they never can admit the Parliaments of _North-America_ to be independent of them, or co-ordinate with themselves in the same State or Empire.

7thly. The whole executive Power of the Kingdom is at present in the Hands of his Majesty, and of those who act in his Name, and by his Authority.

There the Const.i.tution has placed it, and in no other Hands; nor is there the least Probability that mobbing, huzzaing, furious Speeches, and inflammatory Libels, without Arms, Artillery, or Ammunition, and without a Treasury, will be able to wrest the executive Power out of the Hands of those who const.i.tutionally enjoy it.

And now upon this General Review and Muster of the Forces on the Malcontent, as well as the Government Side, let every one consider well within himself, what he ought to do at the present Crisis, as a const.i.tutional Patriot, an honest _Englishman_, a loyal Subject, and a prudent Man.

THE END.

ERRATA.

P. 19. l. 10. for _Cacus_ read _Polyphemus_.

P. 62. l. 17. after _Labour_ add _and_.

P. 62. l. 19. dele _and_.

P. 65. l. 8. before _Sailors_ add _and_.

P. 72. l. 21. after _Produce_ add _of the Excise_.

Footnotes:

[1] In the Year of the Rebellion 1745, and for many Years afterwards, the _London Evening Post_ (now a republican) was then a flaming _Jacobite Paper_: During which Period the Author of these Tracts had frequently the Honour of being abused by him, under the Character of a _low-church, fanatical, Oliverian Whig_. Once in particular (above 20 Years ago) he was complimented in the high-flown Strain of _Josiah ben Tucker ben Judas Iscariot_. The Times are now greatly altered; and so is the Tone of the Abuse. But the Author is perfectly resigned to these Vicissitudes of human Affairs: And he has no other Favour to ask of this, and of all his Brother-Scribblers, whether weekly or monthly, in Sheets, or in Pamphlets, than that they would _never praise him_, because that, and that only, he should look upon to be a _real Disgrace_. But it is not the _London Evening Post_ alone, who from a violent Jacobite has commenced a fierce Republican. Many like Instances may be recollected. And indeed the Transition is natural enough; for if a Man can be so absurd as to think that there is an _indefeasible_ Right in any one Family, when that Family becomes _extinct_, he turns a Republican.

[2] The late Dr. BUTLER, Bishop of _Bristol_, and afterwards of _Durham_ had a singular Notion respecting large Communities and public Bodies;--a Notion which perhaps is not altogether unapplicable to the present Case.

His Custom was, when at _Bristol_, to walk for Hours in his Garden in the darkest Night, which the Time of the Year could afford; and I had frequently the Honour to attend him. After walking some Time, he would stop suddenly, and ask the Question, "What Security is there against the _Insanity_ of Individuals? The Physicians know of none: And as to Divines, we have no Data either from Scripture, or Reason to go upon relative to this Affair."--_True, my Lord, no Man has a Lease of his Understanding, any more than of his Life. They are both in the Hands of the Sovereign Disposer of all Things._ He would then take another Turn, and again stop short. "Why might not whole Communities and public Bodies be seized with _Fits of Insanity_, as well as Individuals?" _My Lord, I have never considered the Case, and can give no Opinion concerning it._ "Nothing but this Principle, that they are liable to Insanity, equally at least with private Persons, can account for the major Part of those Transactions, which we read in History." I thought little of this odd Conceit of the Bishop's at that Juncture: But I own I could not avoid thinking of it a great deal since, and applying it to many Cases.

[3] See, for a Proof of this Fact, First, A Message from the General a.s.sembly of _Ma.s.sachusetts Bay_ to GOVERNOR SHIRLEY, 4th of _January_, 1754. Secondly, A Message from the Council and House of Representatives of ditto to ditto. Thirdly, An Address from the Council of Representatives of ditto to ditto. Forthly, An Address of the a.s.sembly of _Virginia_ to the King. Fifthly, A Representation of the Commissioners met at _Albany_. And Sixthly, Extracts from the Proceedings of the CONGRESS at _Albany_, all in the Year 1754. And all of them antecedent to the Arrival of the two Regiments under GENERAL BRADDOCK. I would here recommend the Perusal of _The Controversy between_ Great Britain _and her Colonies_, printed for ALMON, to those who wish for a fuller Information on these interesting Points; particularly from Page 107 to 136.

[4] Were it not for the _British_ Fleets, and for the Fortresses of _Gibraltar_ and _Port-Mahon_,--and in short for the general Terror of the British Name, all the piratical States of _Barbary_ would immediately seize on _American_ Ships, when carrying Fish, or Rice, or any other _American_ Produce South of Cape _Finistere_, as their lawful Prey. And yet _America_ doth not pay a single Shilling towards the Support of our Fleets, or the Maintenance of our Forts and Garrisons in any Part of the World.