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cation of what has fince come to pafs.

It had leave to lie upon the table, but was no more taken notice of. The bill at laft was paffed by a very great majority, after a very spirited and long debate. The debates in the houfe of Lords were equally warm, and upon the fame principles, and in the end iffued in the fame manner. When this bufinefs was finifhed, the minifter proceeded to give the finishing ftroke to the liberties of America. It was moved for leave to bring in a bill for the impartial administration of juftice, in cafes of perfons questioned for any acts done by them in the execution of the laws, or for the fuppreflion of riots or tumults in the province of Maffachusett's-Bay, in New England. This bill provides, that in cafe that any perfon is indicted for murder, or any other capital offence, and that it shall appear to the governor, that the fact was committed in the exercise or aid of magiftracy in fuppreffing tumults or riots; and it fhall further appear to the governor, thaia fair trial cannot be had in the province, he fhall fend the person so indicted, &c. to another colony, or to Great Britain to be tried. The charges on both fides to be paid out of the cufThis act was to continue for four years.

toms.

The arguments ufed to inforce this bill were, that magistracy must be inforced by all poffible means; for as these orders would probably be refifted by force, it would lay them under a neceffity to ufe force in the executing of them. In this cafe blood would be probably fpilled. Who would rifk this event, though in the execution of his duty, if the rioters themselves, or their abettors, were to fit as judges. The minister alledged, that fuch an act was not without precedent at home. Where fmuggling was known to be notoriously countenanced in one county, the trial of offences of that kind had been directed to be in another. The rebel

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rebels of Scotland, in the year 1746, were tried in
England. All particular privileges gave way to the
public fafety; when that is endangered, even the
Habeas Corpus act, the great palladium of English
liberty has been fufpended. That the act propofed
did not establish a military government, but a civil one,
by which the former was greatly improved.
It gave
to the province a council, magiftrates, and juftices,
when in effect they had none before. This bill was
warmly oppofed, and all thefe reafons fully refuted;
but a dead majority carried all before them.

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It is impoffible not to obferve the weaknefs, as well as the abfurdity of the minifterial arguments, ufed on this occafion, as well as the futility of the precedents brought to confirm them. There had been recent inftances of the impartiality of juries in the colonies in the cafe of Captain Preston and others, when verdicts had been given according to justice, according to the ministers own ideas of that matter, and there could be no reafon of fearing juftice would not be executed, unless he was defigned to promote fome conduct which would give reafon for fetting afide its ufual courfe. His fpeech fuggefted that he intended that fomething would be done, which he would call juflice, and which the colonifts would have reafon to account unjust, and would be obliged in confcience to treat it as it deferved. He was therefore providing against a confequence he forefaw would happen, because he was determined it should happen. In this the old maxim was confirmed, "That the children of this world are wifer than the children of light." But there was no reafon for making provision agoinft an evil that never would have happened, unlefs the minifter himfelf had been the author of it. He appears to have been de termined that blood should be thed, and speaks of it

with

with great coolness and indifference; and what bears the most unfavourable interpretation, he wanted to have thofe he intended fhould fhed it fcreened from juftice if he poffibly could.

The precedents which he mentions, are moft unfavourable for his arguments; for it is only fupporting one act of injuftice by another. For though many in a county may countenance fmuggling, yet it does not prove that all the county are fmugglers, and that an honeft jury cannot be found in fome counties in England. No man would fuppofe this unless he were a proficient in the practice of deceit himself.

The cafe of the Scotch rebels is ftill more unfavourable; for the cafe of the colonies and that of the Jacobites are quite different. The colonies were acknowledging the fovereignity of the king, and petitioning moft humbly for a redrefs of grievances; they wanted not to have the government changed, nor the revolution fet afide, but to have the old laws continued, and their ancient conftitution fecured against modern invafions of parliament. They were willing to continue in allegiance to the king, and defired no more than the protection which other fubjects of the empire enjoyed; they claimed, and they prayed for no more than what all British subjects claim as their just and legal right to poffefs. But this was not the cafe of the Jacobites; their greatest grievance was the revolution itself, and their greateft eye-fore the Brunfwick family that fupported it. They did not come to the throne with petitions, but attacked it with the fword in their hands; they aimed at the deftruction of the fovereign, and intended to change the conftitution. Thefe Jacobite tribes inoft voluntarily, and without any new oppreffion, or any new reafons of rebellion, but what will always be the fame to them,

drew.

drew the fword against the King and the laws, and fought the life of his Majefty King George, to place a popish Pretender upon the throne of thefe kingdoms. But the colonists were praying and befeeching both king and parliament to fupport the common liberties of the empire, which had been ratified by the revolution fettlement, and confirmed by all the fovereigns fince that time. The oppofition which the Americans made to new ftatutes is fupported by the constitution itself, and without new laws fetting afide the old ones, they could not be made rebels.The violence of the miniftry drove them to refiftance, which was determined rebellion, to give fanction to the force that was intended to be used to make them fubmit to the new measures of government. In thefe refpects the cafe of the colonies and the Jacobites were very different, and no arguments drawn from the one to the other can poffibly be of any force. The paffions and prejudices of interefted perfons may lead them to pervert the cleareft reafon; but all dif passionate and difinterested men, who are under the government of right reafon and common fenfe, will judge in another manner, and determine according to truth. Had the minifter fpoken the real fentiments of his mind, he would have declared that he wanted to have a military government in the colonies to inforce obedience to all the arbitrary measures that had been purfued; for his words could imply nothing less than that he intended to rule by the fword, and therefore wanted to have his agent secured against law and justice.

The last and most remarkable tranfaction of this year, was the Quebec bill, which was called a bill for making more effectual provifion for the government of the province of Quebec in North America,This bill came down from the Houfe of Lords to the Commons

Commons for their approbation, where it met with ftrong oppofition, and underwent feveral amendments. The ministry expected that as the bill paffed the house of Lords fo eafily, that it would have met with no oppofition from the Commons; but in this they were mistaken. What embarraffed the minifter moft in this particular cafe was, that the bill made a great noife without doors, and was altogether unpopular in its nature. It had an article concerning religion in it, which appeared to have a tendency to inflame the nation; and provided there had been as much zeal for the proteftant religion, as in former times, the minister durft not have proceeded fo faft with his favourite bill, nor would it have at all paffed. This bill took up a good deal of time, and met with a very warm oppofition. Many witneffes were examined to give as much colour as poffible to the fairness of the proceeding.--Among these were General Carleton, governor of Canada; Mr Hay, Chief Juftice of that province; Mr Mazeres, Curfitor Baron of the Exchequer, late Attorney-General there, and Agent to the English inhabitants of Canada; Doctor Marriot, the King's Advocate-General in England; Monf. Lolbiniere, à French gentleman of confiderable property in Canada. The principal objects of this bill were to afcertain the limits of that province, which were extended far beyond what had been fettled as fuch, by the king's proclamation of 1763----To form a legiflative council for all the affairs of that province, except. taxation, which council fhould be appointed by the crown, the office to be held during pleafure? and his Majefty's Roman Catholic fubjects were entitled to a place in it. To eftablish the French laws, and a trial without jury, in civil cafes, and the English laws, with a trial by jury, in criminal ones. To fecure to

the

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