Our paper money
will be of no use in England, and silver and gold we have none. In the
last war you made many conquests, but were any of your taxes
lessened thereby? On the contrary, were you not taxed to pay for the
charge of making them, and has not the same been the case in every
war?
To the Parliament I wish to address myself in a more particular
manner. They appear to have supposed themselves partners in the chase,
and to have hunted with the lion from an expectation of a right in the
booty; but in this it is most probable they would, as legislators,
have been disappointed. The case is quite a new one, and many
unforeseen difficulties would have arisen thereon. The Parliament
claimed a legislative right over America, and the war originated
from that pretence. But the army is supposed to belong to the crown,
and if America had been conquered through their means, the claim of
the legislature would have been suffocated in the conquest. Ceded,
or conquered, countries are supposed to be out of the authority of
Parliament. Taxation is exercised over them by prerogative and not
by law. It was attempted to be done in the Grenadas a few years ago,
and the only reason why it was not done was because the crown had made
a prior relinquishment of its claim. Therefore, Parliament have been
all this while supporting measures for the establishment of their
authority, in the issue of which, they would have been triumphed
over by the prerogative. This might have opened a new and
interesting opposition between the Parliament and the crown.
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