186 



&quot; most oppressive, and worse than any of those they had hitherto 

 &quot; denied. He was quite satisfied, that the bill was meant for no- 

 &quot; thing else hut to exasperate the colonies into open and direct 

 &quot; rebellion.&quot; 



Mr. Burke, pursuing the same idea, and enlarging upon it, applied 

 to the ministry, who brought forward the bill, the passage from 

 Macbeth : 



&quot; I am in blood 



&quot; Stept in so far, that should I wade no more, 

 &quot; Returning were as tedious as go o er.&quot; 



He said &quot; that the scheme was new, and unheard of in any civil- 

 &quot; ized nation ; to preserve your authority by destroying your domi- 

 &quot; nions. It was rather the idea of hostility between independent 

 * states, where one not being able to conquer another, thinks to re- 

 ** duce its strength gradually, by destroying its trade and cutting oft&quot; 

 * its resources.&quot; 



On the passage of the bill through the house of lords, there 

 was a protest against it, signed by sixteen peers, among whom are 

 the names of Rockingham, Camden, and Fitzwiliiam. Among the 

 reasons of this protest are the following : 



&quot; Because the people of New England, besides the natural claim 

 &quot; of mankind to the gifts of Providence on their own coast, are 

 &quot; specially entitled to the fishery by their charters, which have 

 &quot; never been declared forfeited&quot; 



* Because we conceive that the attempt which has been made to 

 &quot; bribe the nation into an acquiescence in this arbitrary act, by 

 &quot; holding out to them (by evidence at the bar,) the spoils of the 

 &quot; New England fishery, worth upwards of three hundred thousand 

 &quot; pounds sterling a year, to be a scheme full of weakness and in- 

 &quot; decency ; of indecency, because it may be suspected that thede- 

 &quot; sire of the confiscation has created the guilt ; weak, because it 

 &quot; supposes that whatever is taken from the colonies is of course to 

 &quot; be transferred to ourselves. We may trample on the rules of 

 &quot;justice, but we cannot alter the nature of things. We cannot 

 &quot; convey to Great Britain the advantages of situation which New 

 &quot; England possesses for the fishery.&quot; 



But reason and eloquence were vain : the bill, styled by Mr. 

 Burke &quot; the grand penal bill, which passed sentence on the trade 

 &quot;and sustenance of America,&quot; was sanctioned by the then usual 

 majorities of both houses of parliament ; and it is thus specially 

 mentioned among the charges against George the third, in the De&quot;- 

 claration of Independence : &quot; He has combined with others to sub- 

 &quot; ject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknow~ 

 &quot; ledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended 



&quot; legislation -for cutting off&quot; our trade with all parts of the 



&quot; world.&quot; 



Had Mr. Russell been a member of the Congress of 1776, with 

 what admiration would that illustrious body have listened to hisdoq \ 



