Difference between revisions of "Remonstrance to the House of Commons"

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:The Remonstrance to the House of Commons}}
 
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In the fall of 1764, a specially-appointed committee from the Virginia House of Burgesses &mdash; made up of [[wikipedia:Peyton Randolph|Peyton Randolph]], [[wikipedia:Richard Henry Lee|Richard Henry Lee]], [[wikipedia:Landon Carter|Landon Carter]], [[George Wythe]], [[Edmund Pendleton]], [[wikipedia:Benjamin Harrison|Benjamin Harrison]], [[wikipedia:Archibald Cary|Archibald Cary]], and [[wikipedia:John Fleming (judge)|John Fleming]]<ref>John Pendleton Kennedy, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=4oAbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR257 ''Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1761-1765''] (Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1907), 257.</ref> &mdash; were ordered prepare an Address, Memorial, and Remonstrance to [[wikipedia:George III of the United Kingdom|His Majesty, King George III]], the British House of Lords, and the House of Commons, protesting the impingement of the American colonies' rights due to the impending [[wikipedia:Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] proposed by Parliament, which was to impose a direct tax on the colonies and would require that many printed goods be produced on stamped paper prepared in London.<ref>Kennedy, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=4oAbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR56 ''Journals,''] lvi-lxxvi.</ref>
  
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Richard Henry Lee wrote the address to the King and memorial sections, while George Wythe penned this remonstrance to the House of Commons. Many of his colleagues found Wythe's remonstrance too bold &mdash; even bordering on treason &mdash; and subjected his declarations to substantial amendments. The House accepted this softened version of Wythe's resolution on December 18, 1764.<ref>H.R. McIlwaine, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZ5WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1334 ''Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia,''] vol. 3  (Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1919), 1334.</ref>
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<span style="font-size: 1.5em;">&#9758;</span> The following PETITION, MEMORIAL, and REMONSTRANCE, were ordered by the HOUSE of Burgesses not to be published with the JOURNALS until the 25th of ''December,'' before which Time it was supposed they would be laid before his MAJESTY, and both Houses of Parliament.
 
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G. WYTHE, Cl. H. B.
 
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==Document text, 1769==
 
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[[File:VirginiaGazette2February1769.jpg|thumb|right|500px|"The Remonstrance to the House of Commons," as it appeared in the ''Virginia Gazette'' on February 2, 1769, after it was voted upon in the Virginia General Assembly.]]
 
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THE<br />
 
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REMONSTRANCE<br />
 
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TO THE<br />
 
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HOUSE OF COMMONS
 
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To the Honourable the KNIGHTS, CITIZENS, and BURGESSES of GREAT-BRITAIN, in Parliament assembled,
 
  
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THE Council, and the House of Burgesses, the sole constitutional REPRESENTATIVES of his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the PEOPLE of ''Virginia'', now met in General Assembly, having taken into their most serious Consideration the State of this Colony, with due Deference and Respect to the Wisdom of the Representatives of the Commons of ''Great-Britain'', remonstrate as follows:
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Although the petitions were adopted by the House, and duly given to the Agent of the Virginia Colony, they were most likely never delivered to Parliament. Despite the colonists' muffled protests, the Stamp Act was passed March 22, 1765, to take effect on November 1 of that year.<ref>Kennedy, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=4oAbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR58 ''Journals,''] lviii.</ref> Although the manuscript of the Address, Memorial, and Remonstrance is lost, the text was duly recorded in the ''Journals of the House of Burgesses.''<ref>Kennedy, ed., ''[[Media:RemonstranceToTheHouseOfCommons1764.pdf|Journals]],'' 302-304.</ref>
  
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It is with equal Grief and Amazement that the Remonstrants have learnt, that they have been represented in Great-Britain as disloyal to their Most Gracious Sovereign, and disaffected to his Government, since,  
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An updated version of the remonstrance was sent to Parliament in 1768, as the [https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/library/materials/manuscripts/view/index.cfm?id=memorial5 Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance.]<ref>[https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/library/materials/manuscripts/view/index.cfm?id=MiscPMR Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance from the House of Burgesses] (Williamsburg, VA: Printed by William Rind, Printer to the Colony, 1769).</ref>
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==Document text, 1907==
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by their whole Conduct they have endeavored to approve themselves second to none of their Fellow Subjects, in any Part of his Majesty's Dominions, for Duty and Affection. 
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''To the Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of Great-Britain, in Parliament assembled:''
  
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They are truly sensible of the Happiness and Security they derive from their Connexions with and Dependance upon ''Great-Britain'', their Parent Kingdom; and as they have at all Times exerted their best Endeavours to make such suitable Returns, on their Parts, as might render the Continuance of those Connexions permanent, and equally desirable to both, they cannot but feel the deepest Concern, that nay incidents should have interrupted that pleasing Harmony, which they wish ever to fulfill. 
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''The Remonstrance of the Council and Burgesses of Virginia.''
  
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As members of the ''British'' Empire, they presume not to claim any other than the common, unquestionable Rights of ''British'' Subjects, who, by a fundamental and vital Principle of their Constitution, cannot be subjected to any Kind of Taxation, or have the smallest Portion of their Property taken from them by any Power on Earth, without their Consent given by their Representatives in Parliament; this Pillar of their Constitution, the very Palladium of their Liberties, hath been so zealously preserved by the House of Commons of ''Great-Britain'', that they have never suffered any other Branch of their Legislature to make the smallest Amendment or Alteration in any of their Supply Bills, lest it should be drawn into Precedent, and considered as a Cession of so dear and essential a Right and Privilege.
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It appearing by the printed votes of the House of Commons of ''Great-Britain'' in parliament assembled, that in a committee of the whole House the 17th day of March last, it was resolved, That towards defending, protecting and securing the ''British'' colonies and plantations in America, it may be proper to charge certain stamp duties in the said colonies and plantations; and it being apprehended that the same subject which was then declined, may be resumed and further pursued in a succeeding session, the Council and Burgesses of Virginia met in General Assembly, judge it their indispensable duty in a respectable manner, but with decent sureness, to remonstrate against such a measure; that at least a cession of those rights, which in their opinion must be infringed by that procedure, may not be inferred from their silence at so important a crisis.
  
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If this Principle is ever suffered to decay, the Constitution must pine away and expire with it; as no Man can enjoy even the Shadow of Liberty or Freedom, if his Property, acquired by his own Labour and Industry, can be wrested from him at the Will of another. To attempt demonstrating this to an ''Englishman'' must surely be unnecessary; he feels the Principle within him, and it diffuses through his whole Frame that Complacency and Chearfulness, without which he could not live at Ease. 
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They conceive it is essential to ''British'' liberty that laws imposing taxes on the people ought not to be made without the consent of representatives chosen by themselves; who,
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at the same time that they are acquainted with the circumstances of their constituents, sustain a proportion of the burthen laid on them. This privilege inherent in the persons who discovered and settled these regions, could not be renounced, or forfeited by their removal
  
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Our Ancestors, who, at the Expense of their Blood and Treasure, first explored and settled these new Regions, being entitled to these natural and constitutional Rights, could not forfeit or lose them by their Migration to ''America'', not as Vagabonds and Fugitives, but with the Licence and under the Encouragement of their Sovereigns, being animated with the laudable Desire of enlarging the ''English'' Dominion, and extending its Commerce; but on the contrary they brought these their common Birthrights over with them entire, and transmitted them inviolate to us their Posterity. 
 
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Let not the Remonstrants be misunderstood, as affecting or wishing an Independency of ''Great-Britain''; they rather rejoice in that constitutional Connexion, which they know is essential to the Happiness of both; they have been cherished, they have been kindly protected by her, and cannot but indulge themselves with the Persuasion, that the Benefits which have redounded, and which daily accrue to their Mother Country from her Trade with the Colonies, have hitherto proved, and still continue, an adequate and ample Recompence for such Protection. 
 
 
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They have acquiesced in the Authority of Parliament to make Laws for preserving a necessary dependance, yet they cannot think it essential to this Purpose, or to preserve a proper Relation between a Parent Kingdom and Colonies transplanted from her, that the should raise Money upon them without their Consent.  The Trade of the Colonies, almost as soon as it became an Object worthy the national Attention, was laid under such Restrictions, as were thought necessary to secure their Dependance and promote the Interest of the whole extended Empire.  The natural Rights and first Principles of the ''English'' Constitution were very early ingrafted into the Constitutions of the Colonies; Hence a Legislative Authority, which has always been thought essential in every free State, was derived and assimilated, as nearly as might be, to that established in ''England''; the Crown reserving to itself the executive Authority of Government and the Power of assenting and dissenting to all Laws; but the Privilege of choosing their own Representatives was continued in the People, and confirmed to them by repeated and express Stipulations.  The Constitution and Government of this Colony being thus established and fixed, the Remonstrants and their Ancestors enjoyed the perfect Sweets of Liberty and Freedom.  Upon pressing and emergent Occasions, not within their own Powers of Redress, they have frequently applied to their King and common Father, and often, they own it with Gratitude, have received reasonable Reliefs from their Mother Country.  On the other Hand, when his Majesty has had Occasion for the Assistance of his dutiful Subjects in ''America'', Requisitions have been constantly made from the Crown by the King's Governors to the Representatives of the People, who have complied with them to the utmost of their Abilities.  The ample and adequate Provision made by the Assembly of this Colony, so long ago as the Reign of King ''Charles'' the Second, and upon his Requisition, for Support of the civil Government, by an Impost of two Shillings Sterling ''per'' Hogshead on all Tobacco exported, one Shilling and three Pence Tonnage upon all Ships and Vessels, and fix Pence ''per'' Poll on all Persons imported, except Mariners, with the many and large Supplies, exceeding Half a Million voted during the Corse of the last War, upon Requisitions made to the Assembly of this Colony by his Majesty and his Royal Grandfather, afford both early and recent Instances of the Disposition of the Assemblies of this Colony, to do every Thing that could reasonably be desired or expected of them; and at the same Time are incontestable Proofs that the Commons of ''Great-Britain'' never, until very lately, assumed a Power of imposing Taxes on the People of the Colonies for the Purposes of Raising a Revenue, or supporting the Contingencies of Government.  To say that the Commons of Great-Britain have a constitutional Right and Authority to give and grant, at their Pleasure, the Properties of the People in the Colonies, or to impose an internal Tax of any Kind upon them, who are not, and cannot from the Nature of their Situation, be represented in their House of Commons, is in a Word, to command them to bid Adieu to their natural and civil Liberties, and to prepare for a State of the most abject Slavery.
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hither, not as vagabonds and fugitives, but licensed and encouraged by their Prince, and animated with a laudable desire of enlarging the ''British'' dominion, and extending its commerce; on the contrary it was secured to them and their descendants, with all other rights and immunities of ''British'' subjects, by a royal charter, which hath been invariably recognized and confirmed by his Majesty and his predecessors in their commissions to the several Governors, granting a power, and prescribing a form of legislation: according to which, laws for the administration of justice, and for the welfare and good government of the colony, have been enacted by the Governor, Council, and General Assembly; and to them requisitions and applications for supplies have been directed by the crown. As an instance of the opinion which former sovereigns entertained of these rights and privileges, we beg leave to refer to three acts of the General Assembly, passed in the thirty-second year of the reign of King ''Charles'' the Second (one of which is entitled An Act for raising a public revenue for the better support of the government of His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, imposing several duties for that purpose) which being thought absolutely necessary, were prepared in England, and sent over by their then Governor, the Lord Culpepper, to be passed by the General Assembly, with a full power to give the royal assent thereto; and which were accordingly passed after several amendments were made to them here. Thus tender was His Majesty of the rights of his American subjects: and the remonstrants do not discern by what distinction they can be deprived of that sacred birthright and most valuable inheritance, by their fellow-subjects; nor with what propriety they can be taxed or affected in their estates by the parliament, wherein they are not, and indeed cannot constitutionally be represented.
  
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The Commons of ''Great-Britain'' can impose no Taxes on the People there, without burdening themselves in some Proportion; if the Taxes they impose should be thought grievous or unnecessary, the Constitution
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And if it were proper for the parliament to impose taxes on the colonies at all, which the remonstrants take leave to think would be inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the constitution, the exercise of that power, at this time would be ruinous to Virginia, who exerted herself in the late war it is feared beyond her strength; insomuch that to redeem the money granted for that exigence, her people are taxed for several years to come: this, with the large expenses incurred for defending the frontiers against the restless ''Indians'', who have infested her as much since the peace as before, is so grievous that an increase of the burthen will be intolerable; especially as the people are very greatly distressed already from the scarcity of circulating cash amongst them, and from the little value of their staple at the ''British'' markets.
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Hath not left the People without a proper Remedy.  But what must be the Situation of the Colonists, if the late and new broached Doctrine should prevail? Unrepresented as they are, and for ever must be, they can have no Opportunity of explaining their just Grievances; and if they are to be taxed, of pointing out the least inconvenient and burdensome Mode of doing it; in short, their Doom will generally be pronounced, before they can receive the least Intelligence that a Subject, whereby they or their Interests might be affected, hath been agitated in Parliament.
 
  
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The Notion of a virtual Representation hath been so often and fully refuted, that it surely is unnecessary to multiply Words on that Head; if the Property, the Liberties, the Lives of Millions of his Majesty's most dutiful Subjects are merely ideal, how deplorable must be their Condition!
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And it is presumed, that adding to that load which the colony now labours under, will not be more oppressive to her people than destructive of the interest of ''Great-Britain'': for the plantation trade, confined as it is to the mother-country, hath been a principal means of multiplying and enriching her inhabitants; and if not too much discouraged, may prove an inexhaustible source of treasure to the nation. For satisfaction in this point, let the present state of the ''British'' fleet and trade be compared with what they were before the settlement of the colonies; and let it be considered, that whilst property in land may be acquired on very easy terms, in the vast uncultivated territories of ''North-America'', the colonists will be mostly, if not wholly employed in agriculture; whereby the exportation of their commodities to ''Great-Britain'', and the consumption of their manufactures supplied from thence, will be daily increasing. But this most desirable connection between ''Great-Britain'' and her colonies, supported by such an happy intercourse of reciprocal benefits as is continually advancing the property of both, must be interrupted, if the people of the latter, reduced to extreme poverty, should be compelled to manufacture those articles they have been hitherto furnished with from the former.
  
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The late oppressive Stamp-Act, so often and justly complained of, in repealing which, your Remonstrants have repeatedly acknowledged the Wisdom and Justice of Parliament, did confessedly impose a Tax on the Colonists merely internal; and the Remonstrants cannot but consider several late Acts of the ''British'' Parliament, as tending directly to the fame Point.  That the Parliament may make Laws for regulating the Trade of the Colonies, has been granted: sometimes Duties have been properly enough imposed to restrain the Commerce of one Part of the Empire, that might prove injurious to another; and by this Means, the general Welfare of the whole may have been promoted: but a Tax imposed upon the real Necessaries of Life, for the sole Purpose of raising a Revenue, or in other Words, to compel the Inhabitants of the Colonies to pay large Sums of Money, whether they will or not, and this, not with a View to the general Interests of Commerce, the Remonstrants must ever think a mere internal Tax to all Intents and Purposes.  Of this Sort they cannot but consider a late Act of Parliament “giving and granting certain Duties in the ''British'' Colonies and Plantations in ''America'';” the Preamble plainly speaks of the Design of the Act; and can it be thought just, or reasonable, that the Colonists, restricted as they are in every Branch of their Trade, should be obliged to pay Duties on the Articles enumerated in this Act?  They are, in the first Place, by former Laws prohibited from purchasing these Necessaries of Life at any other than the ''British'' Market; they are confined in their Exports also; by this they are to compelled to pay severe Duties on such Necessaries.  By the Stamp-Act they were forbid, under grievous Penalties, transacting all Sorts of important Business, except upon stampt Paper; by this Act they are inhibited the Use of Paper, in the most common and ordinary Occurrences, unless they will first submit to pay a Duty for it.  The Purposes of Government, which are said to be the chief Objects of this Act, the Remonstrants have shown, were long since provided for by an ample and perpetual Act of Assembly; this is again remarked, not because the Remonstrants would claim any particular exclusive Merit from it, but to show how easily their internal Concerns may be mistaken at the Distance of three Thousand Miles; they being unwilling to believe, that, had this Circumstance been attended to, the Parliament would have imposed Taxes on this Colony for Purposes
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From these considerations it is hoped that the Honourable House of Commons will not prosecute a measure, which those who may suffer it cannot but look upon as fitter for exiles driven from their native country after ignominiously forfeiting her favours and protection, than for the posterity of ''Britons'', who have at all times been forward to demonstrate all due reverence to the mother-kingdom, and are so instrumental in promoting her glory and felicity; and that ''British'' patriots will never consent to the exercise of anticonstitutional power; which even in this remote corner may be dangerous in its example to the interior parts of the ''British'' empire, and will certainly be detrimental to its commerce.
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already provided for.  The Manner in which this Act is to be executed, the Remonstrants cannot but consider as extremely dangerous to the Liberties of the People. 
 
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The Act suspending the Legislative Power of the Province of ''New York'', the Remonstrants consider as still more alarming to the Colonies in general, though it has that single Province in View, as its immediate Object.  If the Parliament has a Right to compel the Colonists to furnish a single Article for the Troops sent over to ''America'', by the fame Rule of Right they may compel them to furnish Cloaths, Arms, and every other Necessary, even the Pay of the Officers and Soldiers; a Doctrine replete with every Kind of Mischief, and utterly subversive of all that is dear and valuable to them.  For what Advantage could the People of the Colonies derive from their Right of choosing their own Representatives, fi those Representatives, when chosen, not permitted to exercise their own Judgments, were under a Necessity (on Pain of being deprived of the Legislative Authority) of enforcing the Mandated of a ''British'' Parliament? 
 
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Thus have the Remonstrants expressed, and they trust with decent Firmness, the Sentiments of a free and loyal People; it is hoped that the Honourable House of Commons will no longer prosecute Measures, which they, who are designed to suffer under them, must ever consider as much fitter for Exiles, driven from their native Country after having ignominiously forfeited her Favours and Protection, than for the Posterity of ''Britons'', who have been at all Times anxions and solicitous to demonstrate their Respect and Affection for their Mother Kingdom, by embracing every Occasion to promote her Prosperity and Glory; but that ''British'' Patriots will never consent to the Exercise of anti-constitutional Powers, which even in these remote Corners, may, in Time, prove dangerous in their Exam to the interior Parts of the ''British'' Empire.  Should the Remonstrants be disappointed in these Hopes, the necessary Result will be, that the Colonists, reduced to extreme Poverty, will be compelled to contract themselves within their little Spheres, and obliged to content themselves with their home-spun Manufactures.   
 
 
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==External links==
 
==External links==
  
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* Read the ''Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1761-1765'' (John Pendleton Kennedy, ed. Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1907) in [https://books.google.com/books?id=4oAbAQAAMAAJ&&pg=PA301 Google Books.]
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* Read this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=4oAbAQAAMAAJ&&pg=PA301 Google Books.]
 
* Read the ''Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia,'' vol. 3 (H.R. McIlwaine, ed. Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1919) in [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZ5WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1332 Google Books.]
 
* Read the ''Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia,'' vol. 3 (H.R. McIlwaine, ed. Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1919) in [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZ5WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1332 Google Books.]
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[[Category:Letters and Papers]]

Latest revision as of 09:48, 22 March 2023

In the fall of 1764, a specially-appointed committee from the Virginia House of Burgesses — made up of Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Landon Carter, George Wythe, Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Harrison, Archibald Cary, and John Fleming[1] — were ordered prepare an Address, Memorial, and Remonstrance to His Majesty, King George III, the British House of Lords, and the House of Commons, protesting the impingement of the American colonies' rights due to the impending Stamp Act proposed by Parliament, which was to impose a direct tax on the colonies and would require that many printed goods be produced on stamped paper prepared in London.[2]

Richard Henry Lee wrote the address to the King and memorial sections, while George Wythe penned this remonstrance to the House of Commons. Many of his colleagues found Wythe's remonstrance too bold — even bordering on treason — and subjected his declarations to substantial amendments. The House accepted this softened version of Wythe's resolution on December 18, 1764.[3]

Although the petitions were adopted by the House, and duly given to the Agent of the Virginia Colony, they were most likely never delivered to Parliament. Despite the colonists' muffled protests, the Stamp Act was passed March 22, 1765, to take effect on November 1 of that year.[4] Although the manuscript of the Address, Memorial, and Remonstrance is lost, the text was duly recorded in the Journals of the House of Burgesses.[5]

An updated version of the remonstrance was sent to Parliament in 1768, as the Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance.[6]

Document text, 1907

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To the Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of Great-Britain, in Parliament assembled:

The Remonstrance of the Council and Burgesses of Virginia.

It appearing by the printed votes of the House of Commons of Great-Britain in parliament assembled, that in a committee of the whole House the 17th day of March last, it was resolved, That towards defending, protecting and securing the British colonies and plantations in America, it may be proper to charge certain stamp duties in the said colonies and plantations; and it being apprehended that the same subject which was then declined, may be resumed and further pursued in a succeeding session, the Council and Burgesses of Virginia met in General Assembly, judge it their indispensable duty in a respectable manner, but with decent sureness, to remonstrate against such a measure; that at least a cession of those rights, which in their opinion must be infringed by that procedure, may not be inferred from their silence at so important a crisis.

They conceive it is essential to British liberty that laws imposing taxes on the people ought not to be made without the consent of representatives chosen by themselves; who, at the same time that they are acquainted with the circumstances of their constituents, sustain a proportion of the burthen laid on them. This privilege inherent in the persons who discovered and settled these regions, could not be renounced, or forfeited by their removal

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hither, not as vagabonds and fugitives, but licensed and encouraged by their Prince, and animated with a laudable desire of enlarging the British dominion, and extending its commerce; on the contrary it was secured to them and their descendants, with all other rights and immunities of British subjects, by a royal charter, which hath been invariably recognized and confirmed by his Majesty and his predecessors in their commissions to the several Governors, granting a power, and prescribing a form of legislation: according to which, laws for the administration of justice, and for the welfare and good government of the colony, have been enacted by the Governor, Council, and General Assembly; and to them requisitions and applications for supplies have been directed by the crown. As an instance of the opinion which former sovereigns entertained of these rights and privileges, we beg leave to refer to three acts of the General Assembly, passed in the thirty-second year of the reign of King Charles the Second (one of which is entitled An Act for raising a public revenue for the better support of the government of His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, imposing several duties for that purpose) which being thought absolutely necessary, were prepared in England, and sent over by their then Governor, the Lord Culpepper, to be passed by the General Assembly, with a full power to give the royal assent thereto; and which were accordingly passed after several amendments were made to them here. Thus tender was His Majesty of the rights of his American subjects: and the remonstrants do not discern by what distinction they can be deprived of that sacred birthright and most valuable inheritance, by their fellow-subjects; nor with what propriety they can be taxed or affected in their estates by the parliament, wherein they are not, and indeed cannot constitutionally be represented.

And if it were proper for the parliament to impose taxes on the colonies at all, which the remonstrants take leave to think would be inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the constitution, the exercise of that power, at this time would be ruinous to Virginia, who exerted herself in the late war it is feared beyond her strength; insomuch that to redeem the money granted for that exigence, her people are taxed for several years to come: this, with the large expenses incurred for defending the frontiers against the restless Indians, who have infested her as much since the peace as before, is so grievous that an increase of the burthen will be intolerable; especially as the people are very greatly distressed already from the scarcity of circulating cash amongst them, and from the little value of their staple at the British markets.

And it is presumed, that adding to that load which the colony now labours under, will not be more oppressive to her people than destructive of the interest of Great-Britain: for the plantation trade, confined as it is to the mother-country, hath been a principal means of multiplying and enriching her inhabitants; and if not too much discouraged, may prove an inexhaustible source of treasure to the nation. For satisfaction in this point, let the present state of the British fleet and trade be compared with what they were before the settlement of the colonies; and let it be considered, that whilst property in land may be acquired on very easy terms, in the vast uncultivated territories of North-America, the colonists will be mostly, if not wholly employed in agriculture; whereby the exportation of their commodities to Great-Britain, and the consumption of their manufactures supplied from thence, will be daily increasing. But this most desirable connection between Great-Britain and her colonies, supported by such an happy intercourse of reciprocal benefits as is continually advancing the property of both, must be interrupted, if the people of the latter, reduced to extreme poverty, should be compelled to manufacture those articles they have been hitherto furnished with from the former.

From these considerations it is hoped that the Honourable House of Commons will not prosecute a measure, which those who may suffer it cannot but look upon as fitter for exiles driven from their native country after ignominiously forfeiting her favours and protection, than for the posterity of Britons, who have at all times been forward to demonstrate all due reverence to the mother-kingdom, and are so instrumental in promoting her glory and felicity; and that British patriots will never consent to the exercise of anticonstitutional power; which even in this remote corner may be dangerous in its example to the interior parts of the British empire, and will certainly be detrimental to its commerce.

References

  1. ↑ John Pendleton Kennedy, ed., Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1761-1765 (Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1907), 257.
  2. ↑ Kennedy, ed., Journals, lvi-lxxvi.
  3. ↑ H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, vol. 3 (Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1919), 1334.
  4. ↑ Kennedy, ed., Journals, lviii.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, ed., Journals, 302-304.
  6. ↑ Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance from the House of Burgesses (Williamsburg, VA: Printed by William Rind, Printer to the Colony, 1769).

External links

  • Read this book in Google Books.
  • Read the Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, vol. 3 (H.R. McIlwaine, ed. Richmond, VA: Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1919) in Google Books.
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