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Ex. VIII.-THE WAY TO OBTAIN SUPPLIES FROM AMERICA.

Speech in Parliament, May 15, 1767.

THOMAS POWNALL.

ARE you determined, Mr. Speaker, from hence to direct. and regulate the quartering of the King's troops in North America? Do it in a way that brings it home to the executive power there to carry your directions and regulations into execution; explain and amend your act; make it practicable; make it effective; and then you may fairly decide whether they deny your sovereignty or not. You will find they do not. And although you represent the assembly of the province of New York alone as having revolted against your power of taxation for the purpose of maintaining the troops-believe me, there is not a province, a colony, or a plantation, that will submit to a tax thus imposed, more than New York will. All have shown their readiness to execute this service as an act of their own; all have, in their zeal to provide for it, by a grant of their own, provided a supply to answer the expense; but not one single assembly has acted or ever will act, under the powers and provisions of this act, as acknowledging, and in consequence thereof apportioning, assessing and levying the supply, as a tax im-/ posed by parliament. They have either acted without tak ing notice at all of this act of parliament, or have contrived in some way or other to vary it in some particulars, sufficient to make the execution and the tax an act of their own.

Try the conduct of every province and colony through by this rule, and you will find nothing particular in the case of New York. Don't fancy that you can divide the people on this point, and that you need only divide to govern; you will by this conduct only unite them the more inseparably; you will make the cause of New York a common cause, and will call up every other province and colony to stand forth in their justification, while New York, learning from the complexion of your measure how to avoid or evade the purport of your enforcing Bill, will suspend the force of it, in

* Governor Pownall had held by royal appointment the office of Chief Magistrate of Massachusetts Bay, and had done much by his wise and conciliatory measures to suppress the rising spirit of discontent among the colonists. He was not only a statesman and an orator, but an author, a treatise "On the Administration of the Colonies," and a "Description of part of North America," being among his published works.

EXHORTATION TO SELF-DEFENCE.

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stead of suspending the Assembly of that province against which it is brought forward.

It is a fact which the House ought to be apprised of, in all its extent, that the people of America, universally, unitedly, and unalterably, are resolved not to submit to any internal tax imposed upon them by any legislature, in which they have not a share by representatives of their own election.

This claim must not be understood as though it were only the pretence of party leaders and demagogues; as though it were only the visions of speculative enthusiasts; as though it were the mere ebullition of a faction that must subside; as though it were only temporary or partial; it is the cool, deliberate, principled maxim, of every man of business in the country.

They say that supplies are of good will, and not of duty: are the free and voluntary act of the giver, having a right to give, not obligations and services to be complied with, which the subject can not in right refuse; they therefore maintain, claim and insist upon it, that whatever is given out of the lands or property of the people of the colonies, should be given and granted by themselves.

Ex. IX.-EXHORTATION TO SELF-DEFENCE.

Boston, 1768.

JOSIAH QUINCY.*

If there ever was a time, this is the hour for Americans to rouse themselves, and exert every ability. Their all is at hazard, and the die of fate spins doubtful. British taxations, suspensions of legislatures, and standing armies, are but some of the clouds which overshadow the northern world. Now is the time for this people to summon every aid, human and

* The name of Quincy has long been celebrated in the annals of Boston. The author of this spirit-stirring address was the third of the name who had filled honorable positions in the councils of this country. He died in April, 1775, on his return from a voyage to Europe undertaken partly with the object of advancing the interests of the colonies, and left a son, bearing the same name, who has but now, (July, 1864,) departed from among us, after a dignified and useful life, at the age of ninety-two years.

divine; to exhibit every moral virtue, and call forth every Christian grace. The wisdom of the serpent, the innocence of the dove, and the intrepidity of the lion, with the blessing of God, will yet save us from the jaws of destruction. By the sweat of our brow we earn the little we possess; from nature we derive the common rights of man; and by charter we claim the liberties of Britons! Shall we, dare we, pusillanimously surrender our birthright?

Be not deceived, my countrymen! Believe not those venal hirelings who would cajole you by their subtleties into submission, or frighten you by their vaporings into compliance. When they strive to flatter you by the terms "moderation and prudence," tell them that calmness and deliberation are to guide the judgment, courage and intrepidity command the action. When they endeavor to make us "perceive our inability to oppose our mother country," let us boldly answer: "In defence of our civil and religious rights, we dare oppose the world! With the God of armies on our side, even the God who fought our fathers' battles, we fear not the hour of trial, though the hosts of our enemies should cover the field like locusts. If this be enthusiasm, we will live and die enthusiasts."

O my countrymen! what will our children say, when they read the history of these times, should they find that we tamely gave away, without one noble struggle, the most inestimable of earthly blessings! As they drag the galling chain, will they not execrate us? If we have any respect for things sacred, any regard to the dearest treasure on earth, if we have one tender sentiment for posterity, if we would not be despised by the whole world,-let us, in the most open, solemn manner, and with determined fortitude, swear,—“ We will die, if we can not live, freemen!"

Ex. X.-A SONG TO THE TUNE OF "HEARTS OF OAK."

Written July 4th, 1768.*

JOHN DICKINSON.

COME, join hand in hand, brave Americans all,

And rouse your bold hearts at fair LIBERTY's call;

*It is scarcely necessary to remind our young readers that the circumstance of this date's agreeing with that of our national holiday is only a curious coincidence.

A SONG.

No tyrannous acts shall suppress your just claim,
Or stain with dishonor AMERICA's name.

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Chorus.-In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live;
Our purses are ready-
Steady, friends, steady,

Not as SLAVES, but as FREEMEN, our money we'll
give.

Our worthy forefathers-(let's give 'em a cheer,) To climates unknown did courageously steer; Through oceans to deserts for freedom they came, And dying bequeathed us their freedom and fame. Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

Their generous bosoms all dangers despised,

So highly, so wisely, their birth-rights they prized; We'll keep what they gave-we will piously keepNor frustrate their toils on the land or the deep. Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

The tree their own hands had to liberty reared, They lived to behold growing strong and revered; With transport they cried, "Now our wishes we gain, "For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain.' Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

How sweet are the labors that freemen endure,
That they shall enjoy all the profits secure.
No more such sweet labors Americans know,
If Britons shall reap what Americans sow.
Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

Swarms of placemen and pensioners soon will appear,
Like locusts deforming the charms of the year;
Suns vainly will rise, showers vainly descend,
If we are to drudge for what others shall spend.

Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all,
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall;

In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed, For heaven approves of each virtuous deed. Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

All ages shall speak with amaze and applause,
Of the courage we'll show in support of our laws;
To die we can bear, but to serve we disdain,
For shame is to freemen more dreadful than pain.
Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health,
And this for Britannia's glory and wealth;
That wealth and that glory immortal may be,
If she is but just and if we are but free.
Chorus.-In freedom we're born, &c.

Ex. XI.-TIMELY WARNINGS.

Speech in Parliament, April, 1769.

THOMAS POWNALL.

SIR: There is a general dissatisfaction and uneasiness, as well here as in America, at our falling back into that controversy and contest between the government and the colonies, which we were once so happily delivered from. All now are convinced that there are no means of deciding the controversy, that there are no hopes of putting an end to the contest. Every event that arises, raises fresh difficulty; nothing but power can operate, and that can operate only to mischief. Power, thus used, will inflame and unite the colonies, as in one common cause, and every further exertion of that power will only press the people closer together, and render more intense and ardent that heat with which they are already inflamed.

The legislatures of the colonies have been hitherto permitted to hold that check and control upon the government, under which the people whom they represent live, that they have granted, appropriated, and held the disposal of the provision for its support. And although they complain of their

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