342 HISTORY OF THE [book vr. 
Well therefore did a great statesman* observe, “ that 
it was a compact more solemn than any that an act 
of parliament could create ■” and when speculative 
men assert, and interested men complain, that a 
compact thus founded and supported is at this time 
not sufficiently favourable to Great Britain ; the 
answer is obvious. If Great Britain regrets its ope¬ 
ration and wishes to dissolve it, let her first make 
compensation to the colonists for all that they have 
undertaken, and the sacrifice they have made, under 
it; and next, when she releases herself from all 
future obligation to observe it, let the release be 
reciprocal; extending equally to one party and the 
other. This done, the colonists will have no cause 
to accuse her of injustice,—but this not done, they 
will assert that she has violated her faith with them ; 
that her conduct is oppressive and fraudulent 5 and 
her statutes snares to the unwary. 
In the mean time, it is impossible not to consi¬ 
der as exceedingly partial and unjust, those cla¬ 
mours and attempts by which, on any temporary 
advance in the prices of West Indian products, the 
public discontent is pointed towards the inhabitants 
of our sugar islands. They are partial, inasmuch as 
their authors consider the burthens and wants of the 
consumers on one side, without adverting to the bur¬ 
thens and distresses of the colonists on the other. 
They are unjust, as their manifest aim is to extend 
to rivals and foreigners, whose trade is not subject 
* Mr. Fox, 
