The manifold Advantages attendant on such a Scheme.

And 1st, A Disjunction from the Northern Colonies would effectually put a Stop to our present Emigrations. By the Laws of the Land it is made a capital Offence to inveigle Artificers and Mechanics to leave the Kingdom. But this Law is unhappily superseded at present as far as the Colonies are concerned. Therefore when they come to be dismembered from us, it will operate as strongly against them, and their Kidnappers, as against others. And here it may be worth while to observe, that the Emigrants, who lately sailed in such Multitude from the North of Scotland, and more especially from the North of Ireland, were far from being the most indigent, or the least capable of subsisting in their own Country. No; it was not Poverty or Necessity which compelled, but Ambition which inticed them to forsake their native Soil. For after they began to taste the Sweets of Industry, and to partake of the Comforts of Life, then they became a valuable Prey for these Harpies. In short, such were the Persons to whom these Seducers principally applied; because they found that they had gotten some little Substance together worth devouring. They therefore told them many plausible Stories—that if they would emigrate to North-America, they might have Estates for nothing, and become Gentlemen for ever; whereas if they remained at Home, they had nothing to expect beyond the Condition of a wretched Journeyman, or a small laborious Farmer. Nay, one of these false Guides was known to have put out public Advertisements, some few Years ago, in the North of Ireland, wherein he engaged to carry all, who would follow him, into such a glorious Country, where there was neither Tax, nor Tithe, nor Landlord’s Rent to be paid. This was enough: It took with Thousands: And this he might safely engage to do.—But at the same Time he ought to have told them (as Bishop Berkley in his Queries justly observes) That a Man may possess twenty Miles square in this glorious Country, and yet not be able to get a Dinner.

2dly. Another great Advantage to be derived from a Separation is, that we shall then save between 3 and 400,000l. a Year, by being discharged from the Payment of any civil or military Establishment belonging to the Colonies:—For which generous Benefaction we receive at present no other Return than Invectives and Reproaches.

3dly. The ceasing of the Payment of Bounties on certain Colony Productions will be another great Saving; perhaps not less than 200,000l. a Year: And is very remarkable, that the Goods imported from the Colonies in Consequence of these Bounties, could not have been imported into any other Part of Europe, were there a Liberty to do it; because the Freight and first Cost would have amounted to more than they could be sold for: So that in Fact we give Premiums to the Colonies for selling Goods to us, which would not have been sold at all any where else. However, when the present Bounties shall cease, we may then consider, at our Leisure, whether it would be right to give them again, or not; and we shall have it totally in our Power to favour that Country most, which will shew the greatest Favour to us, and to our Manufactures.

4thly. When we are no longer connected with the Colonies by the imaginary Tie of an Indentity of Government, then our Merchant-Exporters and Manufacturers will have a better Chance of having their Debts paid, than they have at present: For as Matters now stand, the Colonists chuse to carry their ready Cash to other Nations, while they are contracting Debts with their Mother-Country; with whom they think they can take greater Liberties: And provided they are trusted, they care not to what Amount this Debt shall rise:—For when the Time for Payment draws on, they are seized with a Fit of Patriotism; and then Confederacies and Associations are to discharge all Arrears; or, at least, are to postpone the Payment of them sine die.

5thly. After a Separation from the Colonies, our Influence over them will be much greater than ever it was, since they began to feel their own Weight and Importance: For at present we are looked upon in no better a Light than that of Robbers and Usurpers; whereas, we shall then be considered as their Protectors, Mediators, and Benefactors. The Moment a Separation takes Effect, intestine Quarrels will begin: For it is well known, that the Seeds of Discord and Dissention between Province and Province, are now ready to shoot forth; and that they are only kept down by the present Combinations of all the Colonies against us, whom they unhappily fancy to be their common Enemy. When therefore this Object of their Hatred shall be removed by a Declaration on our Parts, that, so far from usurping all Authority, we, from henceforward, will assume none at all against their own Consent; the weaker Provinces will intreat our Protection against the stronger; and the less cautious against the more crafty and designing: So that in short, in Proportion as their factious, republican Spirit shall intrigue and cabal, shall split into Parties, divide, and sub-divide,—in the same Proportion shall we be called in to become their general Umpires and Referees. Not to mention, that many of the late and present Emigrants, when they shall see these Storms arising all around them, and when their promised earthly Paradise turns out to be a dreary, unwholesome, inhospitable, and howling Wilderness,—many of them, I say, will probably return to us again, and take Refuge at last in Old England, with all its Faults and Imperfections.

Lastly. Our West-India Islands themselves will receive signal Benefit by this Separation. Indeed their Size and Situation render them incapable of substracting all Obedience from us; and yet the bad Precedents of their Neighbours on the Continent hath sometimes prompted them to shew as refractory a Spirit as they well could.—But when they come to perceive, what are the bitter Effects of this untractable Disposition, exemplified in the Case of the North-Americans, it is probable, it is reasonable to conclude, that they will learn Wisdom by the Miscarriages and Sufferings of these unhappy People; and that from henceforward they will revere the Authority of a Government, which has the fewest Faults, and grants the greatest Liberty, of any yet known upon Earth.

But after all, there is one Thing more, to which I must make some Reply.—Many, perhaps most of my Readers, will be apt to ask,—What is all this about? And what doth this Author really mean?—Can he seriously think, that because he hath taken such Pains to prove a Separation to be a right Measure, that therefore we shall separate in good Earnest? And is he still so much a Novice as not to know, that Measures are rarely adopted merely because they are right, but because they can serve a present Turn?—Therefore let it be asked, What present Convenience or Advantage doth he propose either to Administration, or to Anti-Administration, by the Execution of his Plan?—This is coming to the Point, and without it, all that he has said will pass for nothing.

I frankly acknowledge, I propose no present Convenience or Advantage to either; nay, I firmly believe, that no Minister, as Things are now circumstanced, will dare to do so much Good to his Country; and as to the Herd of Anti-Ministers, they, I am persuaded, would not wish to see it done; because it would deprive them of one of their most plentiful Sources for Clamour and Detraction: And yet I have observed, and have myself had some Experience, that Measures evidently right will prevail at last: Therefore I make not the least Doubt but that a Separation from the northern Colonies, and also another right Measure, viz. a complete Union and Incorporation with Ireland (however unpopular either of them may now appear) will both take Place within half a Century:—And perhaps that which happens to be first accomplished, will greatly accelerate the Accomplishment of the other. Indeed almost all People are apt to startle at first at bold Truths:—But it is observable, that in Proportion as they grow familiarized to them, and can see and consider them from different Points of View, their Fears subside, and they become reconciled by Degrees:—Nay, it is not an uncommon Thing for them to adopt those salutary Measures afterwards with as much Zeal and Ardor, as they had rejected them before with Anger and Indignation.

Need I add, That the Man, who will have Resolution enough to advance any bold unwelcome Truth (unwelcome I mean at its first Appearance) ought to be such an one, whose Competency of Fortune, joined to a natural Independency of Spirit, places him in that happy Situation, as to be equally indifferent to the Smiles, or Frowns either of the Great, or the Vulgar?

Lastly, some Persons perhaps may wonder, that, being myself a Clergyman, I have said nothing about the Persecution which the Church of England daily suffers in America, by being denied those Rights which every other Sect of Christians so amply enjoys. I own I have hitherto omitted to make Mention of that Circumstance, not thro’ Inadvertence, but by Design; as being unwilling to embarrass my general Plan with what might be deemed by some Readers to be foreign to the Subject: And therefore I shall be very short in what I have to add at present.

That each Religious Persuasion ought to have a full Toleration from the State to worship Almighty God, according to the Dictates of their own Consciences, is to me so clear a Case, that I shall not attempt to make it clearer; and nothing but the maintaining some monstrous Opinion inconsistent with the Safety of Society,—and that not barely in Theory and Speculation, but by open Practice and outward Actions,—I say, nothing but the avowedly maintaining of such dangerous Principles can justify the Magistrate in abridging any Set of Men of these their natural Rights. It is also equally evident, that the Church of England doth not, cannot fall under the Censure of holding Opinions inconsistent with the Safety of the State, and the Good of Mankind,—even her Enemies themselves being Judges: And yet the Church of England alone doth not enjoy a Toleration in that full Extent, which is granted to the Members of every other Denomination. What then can be the Cause of putting so injurious a Distinction between the Church of England, and other Churches in this Respect? The Reason is plain. The Americans have taken it into their Heads to believe, that an Episcopate would operate as some further Tie upon them, not to break loose from those Obligations which they owe to the Mother Country; and that this is to be used as an Engine, under the Masque of Religion, to rivet those Chains, which they imagine we are forging for them. Let therefore the Mother-Country herself resign up all Claim of Authority over them, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil; let her declare North-America to be independent of Great Britain in every Respect whatever;—let her do this, I say, and then all their Fears will vanish away, and their Panics be at an End: And then, a Bishop, who has no more Connections with England either in Church or State, than he has with Germany, Sweden, or any other Country, will be no longer looked upon in America as a Monster but a Man. In short, when all Motives for Opposition are at an End, it is observable, that the Opposition itself soon ceases and dies away. In a Word, an Episcopate may then take Place; and whether this new Ecclesiastical Officer be called from a Name derived from the Greek, the Latin, or the German,—that is, whether he be stiled Episcopus, Superintendent, Supervisor, Overseer, &c. &c. it matters not,—provided he be invested with competent Authority to ordain and confirm such of the Members of his own Persuasion, as shall voluntarily offer themselves, and to inspect the Lives and Morals of his own Clergy.

The Reader is desired to bear in Mind, that this Tract was written in the Year 1748, just after the Spanish War.

T. Liv. lib. 1. Romanos homines, victores omnium circa populorum, opifices ac lapicidas pro bellatoribus factos. Thus reasoned the People of Rome, as soon as ever they began to be famous in the Character of Bellatores and Victores. And, as this Vanity is natural to Mankind, have not the Friends of Commerce too much Cause to fear that our Opifices and Lapicidas, now turned into Victores omnium circa Populorum, will reason after the same Manner? And yet the Romans were not so mad as to fight for Trade; they fought only for Conquest and Dominion, which may be acquired by fighting: But to fight for the Sake of procuring Trade, is a Species of Madness reserved only for Britons!

Indeed this Instinct, like all other Instincts and Passions, ought to be put under proper Regulations, otherwise it may do more Hurt than Good. But this Necessity of due Regulation is no more an Objection against the good Tendency of the Instinct itself, than the Rules of Temperance and Sobriety are Objections against Eating and Drinking in a moderate and reasonable Degree. The Instinct itself is certainly good; but may be misapplied:—And what may not? The political Regulations it should be under, will be mentioned elsewhere.

The Wealth of this Nation—that amazing Wealth, which has been so profusely squandered away in the two last general and devouring Wars, is principally owing to the wise Regulations of that able Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Justice to his Character, and Gratitude to his Memory, demand this Tribute of Acknowledgement to be paid him when dead, which was shamefully denied him while alive. Sed opinionum commenta delet dies! And the Time is now come when his very Adversaries frankly confess, That his Plan of Commerce was manly and rational; that his Endeavours to prevent an infatuated People from quarrelling with their best Customers, were truly patriotical; and that his very Crimes were more owing to the Extremities to which he was driven by his implacable Enemies, than to any Malignity of his own. When he came into Administration, he found the English Book of Rates almost as bad as any in Europe; but he left it the very best. And were you to compare what he did for promoting general Trade, (and much more he would have done, had it not been for the Madness of some, and the Wickedness of others) were you but to compare what he actually did, with what has been done either before or since, in this, or any other Country, not forgetting the Sully’s, and Colberts, and the Fleurys of France, you would find that he shone as much above all other Ministers, as England hath exceeded the rest of the World in her late enormous Expences.

The Author is in no Pain for what he has advanced on this Head. Truth—unbought, unpensioned, and impartial Truth, is his only Motive: Indeed, what other Motive can any Man have for speaking well of a dead Minister? Nay, he will further add, That tho’ the Minister was neither complimented by Corporations, nor huzza’d by Mobs; yet as long as the 8th of Geo. I. Cap. 15. (see the Statute Book) shall remain among the Laws of this Realm, so long will these Commercial Regulations be regarded by the thinking and considerate Part of Mankind, as doing more true Honour, than all the Gold Boxes, or honorary Freedoms that could have been bestowed.

As a Confirmation of the above, it may be observed, that this very Country of Great-Britain is become much more capable of Defence against a foreign Invasion, than it used to be; and that the numberless Enclosures, new Canals, and artificial Navigations, which are now forming almost every Day, render it a Kind of Fortress from one End to the other. For while a few Regiments were posted in Villages, or behind Hedges, or to line the Banks of Rivers and Canals; and while a few Light Horse were employed in harassing both the Front and Rear of the Enemy, in falling on his Convoys, destroying his Magazines, and keeping him in a perpetual Alarm;—his progress would be so retarded, and his Forces so weakened, at the same Time, that our own would be encreasing in Strength and Numbers, as would oblige him to retire without Danger to us, but with great shame and Loss to himself. Had Harold used the same Precaution against the Duke of Normandy, instead of coming to a decisive Engagement with him on his landing, the latter must have returned ingloriously, perhaps with not a fourth Part of his Troops;—if indeed he could have returned at all, after he had penetrated a great Way into the Country far from the Resources of his Shipping, Provisions, and Supplies. An Invasion of this Country is certainly a possible Thing, notwithstanding all our Fleets, and all the Vigilance of their Commanders. But the Invader would not have the least Chance of conquering the Country, unless the headstrong Impatience of the English to come to Blows, should give him an Opportunity of bringing the Affair to one decisive Battle.

All the Speeches and all the Pamphlets poured forth against Standing Armies during the Administration of Sir Robert Walpole, were levelled at a Number of Troops so small that their highest Complement did not exceed 20,000 Men. Yet these were represented as very formidable to the Constitution by their Numbers; and more formidable still by that vast Accession of Power, which accrued to the Crown from the Disposal of such a Multitude of Places.—How are the Times altered since!

Our former Princes claimed a Right, and frequently exercised the Power of levying Taxes, without the Consent of Parliament. But upon settling the Colonies, this supposed Right, which cost Charles I. his Crown, and his Life, was not insisted on in any of the Charters, and was expressly given up in that which was granted to Lord Baltimore for Maryland. Now this Clause, which is nothing more than the Renunciation of obsolete Prerogative, is quoted in our Newspapers, as if it was a Renunciation of the Rights of Parliament to raise Taxes. Whereas the King in that Charter stipulated only for himself, his Heirs, and Successors, not to raise Taxes by Virtue of the Prerogative Royal; which certainly he might do, and which was very proper to be done for the Encouragement and Security of a new Colony. But he could not stipulate for the Parliament; and indeed he did not attempt to do it.

Those who have not the Statutes at large, may see the Things here referred to, and many others of the like Sort, in Crouche’s or Saxby’s Book of Rates.

Ever since the Discovery of America, it has been the System of every European Power, which had Colonies in that Part of the World, to confine (as far as Laws can confine) the Trade of the Colonies to the Mother Country, and to exclude all others, under the Penalty of Confiscation, &c. from partaking in it. Thus, the Trade of the Spanish Colonies is confined by Law to Old Spain,—the Trade of the Brazils to Portugal,—the Trade of Martinico and the other French Colonies to Old France,—and the Trade of Curacoa and Surinam to Holland. But in one Instance the Hollanders make an Exception (perhaps a wise one) viz. in the Case of Eustatia, which is open to all the World. Now, that the English thought themselves entitled to the same Right over their Colonies, which other Nations claim over theirs, and that they exercised the same Right by making what Regulations they pleased, may be seen by the following Acts of Parliament, viz. 12 of Car. II Chap. 18.—15 of Car. II. Ch. 7.—22 and 23 of C. II. Ch. 26—25 of C. II. Ch. 7.—7 and 8 of Will. III. Ch. 22.—10 and 11 of W. III. Ch. 21.—3 and 4 of Ann. Ch. 5 and 10.—8 of Ann. Ch. 13.—12 of Ann. Ch. 9.—1 of G. I. Ch. 26.—3 of G. I. Ch. 21.—8 of G. I. Ch. 15 and 18.—11 of G. I. Ch. 29.—12 of G. I. Ch. 5.—2 of G. II. Ch. 28 and 35.—3 of G. II. Ch. 28.—4 of G. II. Ch. 15—5 of G. II. Ch. 7. and 9.—6 of G. II. Ch. 13.—8 of G. II. Ch. 18.—11. of G. II. Ch. 29.—12 of G. II. Ch. 30.—13 of G. II. Ch. 4 and 7.—15 and 16 of G. II. Ch. 23.—with many others of a later Date. I might also mention the Laws made in the Reign of his present Majesty; but as these Laws are now the Point of Controversy, I forbear.

The Event has severely proved this Conjecture to be but too justly founded.

An Essoin signifies, in Law, a Pretence or Excuse.

A Wager at Law, is a Power granted to the Defendant to swear, together with other Compurgators, that he owes nothing to the Plaintiff in the Manner set forth.—It is easy to see what use would have been made of such a Power, had it been allowed.

But notwithstanding this Awe, it is now pretty generally known, that the French Colonists of Hispaniola endeavoured lately to shake off the Government of Old France, and applied to the British Court for that Purpose.

See the preceding letter from a Merchant in London to his Nephew in America; wherein it is proved, to a Demonstration, that the Powers, which the Colonies will not allow the Mother-Country now to exercise over them, are no other than what always belonged to her from the very first Period of their Settlements, and according to the original Terms of their Constitution. The Question therefore is, Which of the two, the Colonies, or the Mother-Country, usurps on the legal Rights and constitutional Privileges of the other?

See a Pamphlet,—“Considerations on the Expediency of admitting Representatives from the American Colonies in to the British House of Commons.”—London, printed for B. White, 1770.

Quere, Whether it is intended that the lower Houses in each Assembly should have the sole Right of voting for these Commissioners; Or both Houses jointly? If the former, then the Colony Governments would become still more democratical than they now are, tho’ already so, to such an excessive Degree, as to be almost incompatible with any Idea of Monarchy: But if each House is to vote separately, what Jars and Factions, and reciprocal Reproaches, would this occasion! And how would they be able to agree? In short, either Way, the Prospect is alarming!

Surely the Nation might have expelled Mr. Wilkes, or have struck his Name out of the List of Committee, had it been assembled, and had it thought proper so to do. What then should hinder the Deputies of the Nation from doing the same Thing? And which ought to prevail in this Case, the Nation in general of the County or Middlesex?

Some shrewd Politicians have been wise enough to ask, Why did not his Majesty marry a large Fortune, in order to re-imburse some of these Expences?—What large Fortune would these Wiseacres have wished him to have married? A Dutchy or Principality on the Continent, in order to engage us still more in Continental Measures?—Or was it to be a large landed Estate at Home, to be annexed to the Crown, like another Dutchy of Lancaster?—This would have had a fine Influence on Electioneering, and English Liberties.—But perhaps they meant, that he should have gone into the City, and have paid his Addresses to Miss Plumbe, the rich Grocer’s Daughter, or to Miss Rescounters, the Heiress of the great Broker in Change-Alley. And to be sure, such a Match as this would have corresponded rarely well with the sublime Ideas of City-Politics. Our antient Nobility would have been delighted in giving the Precedency to such illustrious Princes of the Blood.

Since the first Edition of this Pamphlet, an Act has past for remedying the Evils so justly apprehended relative to the Case of Appeals of Blood.—But still, tho’ this Difficulty is removed, many and various ones yet remain.

Great Quantities of Tobacco are permitted to be raised in French-Flanders, Alsace, and all the Païs conquises, i. e. the newly conquered Provinces; because the Inhabitants of these Countries are indulged in many Liberties, which are denied to the Provinces of Old France. But the Farmers General keep a strict Watch, that none of this Tobacco shall be permitted to be brought into Old France, except by themselves or their Agents. And the Penalty against Smuggling in this Case is very cruel and severe.

I am credibly informed, that it appears by Extracts from the Custom-house Books, that more English Goods are sent up the two Rivers of Germany, the Weser and the Elbe, than up any two Rivers in North-America. Yet the North-Americans and their Partisans are continually upbraiding us, as if we enjoyed no Trade, worth mentioning, except that with the Colonies.

The Phænomenon of that prodigious Increase of Trade, which this Country has experienced since the happy Revolution, is what few People can explain; and therefore they cut the Matter short, by ascribing it all to the Growth of our Colonies: But the true Principles and real Causes of that amazing Increase, are the following:

1. The Supression of various Monopolies and exclusive Companies existing before, for foreign Trade.

2. The opening of Corporations, or the undermining of exclusive Privileges and Companies of Trade at Home; or what comes to the same Thing, the eluding of their bad Effects by Means of legal Decisions in our Courts of Law. And N. B. The like Observation extends to the Case of evading the Penalties of the Act 5th of Queen Elizabeth, against exercising those Trades, to which Persons have not served regular Apprenticeships.

3. The Nursing up of new Trades and new Branches of Commerce by Means of Bounties, and national Premiums.

4. The giving of Drawbacks, or the Return of Duties on the Exportation of such Goods, as were to have paid a Duty, if used and consumed at Home.

5. The Repeal of Taxes formerly laid on raw Materials coming into the Kingdom. See 8. G. I. C. 15.

6. The Repeal of Taxes formerly laid on our own Manufactures, when exported. See ditto.

7. The Improvements in various Engines, with new Inventions and Discoveries for the Abridgment of Labour.

8. Better Communications established thoughout the Kingdom by Means of Turnpike Roads and Canals, and the speedy Conveyance of Letters to every great Town and noted Place of Manufacture, by Means of Improvements in the Post-Office.

9. Happy Discoveries and Improvements in Agriculture and in the mechanic Arts.

10. Larger Capitals than usual employed both in Husbandry and Manufactures; also in the Importation and Exportation of Goods.

Now all these Things co-operating together, would render any Country rich and flourishing, whether it had Colonies or not: And this Country in particular would have found the happy Effects of them to a much greater Degree than it now doth, were they not counter-acted by our Luxury, our Gambling, our frequent ruinous and expensive Wars, our Colony-Drains, and by that ill-gotten, and ill-spent Wealth, which was obtained by robbing, plundering, and starving the poor defenceless Natives of the East-Indies.—A Species of Villainy this, for which the English Language had not a Name, ’till it adopted the Word Nabobing