on the Produce of his own Lajid* 145 



»■"»— ■ ' ■ .. . 



fellow citizens. I, in that case reply, that I acknow- 

 ledge myself an attorney upon one side, and the ge* 

 neral information of my fellow citizens; and, therefore, 

 do not hesitate to state my arguments with confidence 

 and energy, against a peculiar infatuation. And if 

 called upon to account for it, I answer ; that when 

 we were British colonists, we were forced to be sub- 

 servient to the lucrative policy of the mother country : 

 we were taught to drink tea, coffee, rum, &c. and to 

 indulge in a variety of foreign luxuries, in subservien- 

 cy to their carrying trade. They did not encourage 

 the like among their own people. The policy of the 

 British was to favour the use of their own malt liquors 

 and other domestic productions ; and to prohibit rum, 

 even of their own colonies : and tea and coffee were 

 dutied and regulated in such a manner, that the use of 

 them was very limited, among farmers at least. They 

 thought it more expedient to send them to us ; and 

 would fain have made us pay duty upon them, besides 

 freight and other charges. This gave occasion to our 

 disunion ; and considering we had spirit and energy 

 enough to separate from so unjust a nation of mer- 

 chants, I appeal to the good sense of my countrymen, if 

 it is not very astonishing, that it has never yet occurred 

 to us, to abandon the vicious and injurious habits im- 

 posed upon us by mercantile intrigues. It might well 

 have been expected, that we should have felt some re- 

 sentment at the means employed, as well as the measures 

 of government, for enslaving us. But strange to tell, 

 from the day of our deliverance to this time, we have 

 consumed their teas with apparent delight. 

 Vol. ITT, T 



