others of a more particular nature. They would feel no small
inconvenience in the loss of those supplies they annually get
from us ; and their islands in the West Indies would be in the
greatest distress for want of our trade.
From these reflections it is more than probable, that America
is able to support its freedom, even by the force of arms, if she
be not betrayed by her own sons. And, in whatever light we
view the matter, the consequences to Great Britain would be too
destructive to permit her to proceed to extremities, unless she
has lost all just sense of her own interest.
You say, " The grand Congress, the piddling committees,
through the continent, have all disclaimed their subjection to the
sovereign authority of the empire. They deny the authority of
Parliament to make any laws to bind them at all. They claim
an absolute independency. Great Britain has no choice, but to
declare the colonies independent States, or to try the force of
arms, in order to bring them to a sense of their duty."
It is the common trick of ministerial writers, to represent
the Congress as having made some new demands, which were
unknown to former times ; whereas, in truth, they have, in sub
stance, acknowledged the only dependence on Parliament which
was ever intended by their predecessors. Nor is it true, that
they have claimed an absolute independency. It is insulting com
mon sense to say so, when it is notorious that they have acknow
ledged the right of Parliament to regulate the trade of the
colonies. Any further dependence on it, is unnecessary and
dangerous. They have professed allegiance to the British King,
and have bound themselves, on any emergency, to contribute
their proportion of men and money, to the defence and protec
tion of the whole empire. Can this be called absolute independ
ency ? Is it better for Great Britain to hazard the total loss of
these colonies, than to hold them upon these conditions ? Is it
preferable to make enemies of the people of America, instead
of being connected with them, by the equal tie of fellow-sub-
122 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [J3r. 18.
jects ? ' Is it not madness, to run the risk of losing the trade of
these colonies, from which the mother country drew* " more'
clear profit than Spain has drawn from all her mines," because
they insist only upon all the essential rights of freemen ? You
may call it effrontery, consummate assurance, or what you
please, to say so : but every man, capable of taking a full pros
pect of all the probable mischiefs which may result from an open
rupture between Great Britain and the colonies, will coincide
with me when I affirm, that nothing but the most frantic extra
vagance, can influence administration to attempt the reduction
of America by force of arms.
It is sufficiently evident, from the respective charters, that
the rights we now claim, are coeval with the original settlement
of these colonies. These rights have been, at different times,
strenuously asserted, though they have been suffered to be vio
lated in several instances, through inattention, or, perhaps, an
unwillingness to quarrel with the mother country. I shall de
cline producing any other proofs of the sense of the other pro
vinces than those already mentioned, and shall confine myself
to a few extracts from the resolves of some assemblies of this
province.
In 1691, there was an Act passed by the General Assembly,
which contained the following clauses.f
"Be it enacted, by the Governor, Council, and Eepresenta-
tives, met in General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted and
declared by the authority of the same, that the supreme legislative
power and authority, under their Majesties, William and Mary,
King and Queen of England, &c., shall for ever be, and reside,
in a Governor-in-Chief and Council, appointed by their Majes
ties, their heirs and successors, and the people, by their repre
sentatives met and convened in General Assembly.
" That no freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be de
prived of his freehold, or life, or liberty, or free customs, or out-
* See Shipley's Speech.
t This Act is very remarkable. It was drawn up by Messrs. Tazewell and
Emmett, two gentlemen appointed by the governor for the purpose, and remained
six years in England before there was a negative put upon it.
jEi. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 123
lawed, or exiled, or any otherways destroyed; nor shall be
passed upon, adjudged, or condemned, but by the lawful judgment
of his peers, and ~by the law of the province.
" That no aid, tax, tattage, custom, loan, benevolence, gift, excise,
duty, or imposition whatsoever, shall be laid, assessed, imposed,
levied, or required of, or on, any of their Majesties' subjects
within this province, &c., or their estates, upon any manner of
color or pretence whatsoever, but by the act and consent of the
Governor and Council, and Eepresentatives of the people, in
General Assembly met and convened."
This Act shows clearly, the sense of His Majesty's represen
tative, his Council, and the Assembly of this Province, above
eighty years ago, which was, that the supreme legislative author
ity, and the exclusive power of taxation, should for ever be,
and reside, in a Governor-in-Chief and Council, appointed by
their Majesties, their heirs and successors; and the people by
their representatives, met and convened in General Assembly.
We may also infer from hence, that the other colonies act
ually enjoyed similar privileges at that time : for it would have
been the height of presumption, in this province, to claim such
important immunities, had not the others been in possession of
the like.
This Act, of itself, confutes all that has been said concerning
the novelty of our present claims ; and proves, that the injuri
ous reflections on the Congress, for having risen in their de
mands, are malicious and repugnant to truth.
You have produced some expressions of the Congress and
Assembly of this province, in 1765, which you lay great stress
upon. The true meaning of them may be gathered from the
following passage, which is taken from the same piece that con
tains the expressions in question. The Congress speak thus :
"It is humbly submitted, whether there be not a material dis
tinction, in reason and sound policy at least, between the neces
sary exercise of parliamentary jurisdiction, in general Acts for
the amendment of the common law, and the regulation of trade
and commerce through the whole empire ; and the exercise of
that jurisdiction by imposing taxes on the colonies."
124 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [Mi. 18.
They allow only a power of making general Acts for the
amendment of the common law, and for the general regulation of
trade. As to any special laws to bind the colonies, in particular,
they never intended submission to these ; nor could they intend
a right to impose special duties, of any kind, for the purpose of
raising a revenue ; which is, to all intents and purposes, a species
of taxation.
The Eesolves of our Assembly, the last day of December,
1771, about three years afterwards, will serve as a full explana
tion. " As it is not only the common birthright of all his Ma
jesty's subjects, but is also essential to the preservation of the
peace, strength, and prosperity of the British empire, that an
exact equality of constitutional rights, among all his Majesty's sub
jects, in the several parts of the empire, be uniformly and inva
riably maintained and supported ; and as it would be inconsistent
with the constitutional rights of his Majesty's subjects in Great
Britain, to tax them, either in person or estate, without the con
sent of their representatives, in Parliament assembled: It is
therefore
RESOLVED, nemine contradicente :
"That it is the opinion of this Committee, that no tax under
any name, or denomination, or on any pretence, or for any purpose
whatsoever, can or ought to be imposed, or levied, upon the per
sons, estates, or property, of his Majesty's good subjects within
this colony, but of their free gift, by their representatives lawfully con
vened in General Assembly.
" That it is the opinion of this Committee, that this colony
lawfully and constitutionally has, and enjoys, an internal legisla
ture, in which the Crown and the people of this colony, are con
stitutionally represented : and that the power and authority of the
said legislature cannot lawfully or constitutionally be suspended,
abridged, abrogated, or annulled, by any power or prerogative what
soever ; the prerogative of the Crown, ordinarily exercised for
prorogations and dissolutions, only excepted."
A supreme authority, in the Parliament, to make any special
laws for this province, consistent with the internal legislature
^ET. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 125
here claimed, is impossible, and cannot be supposed, without
falling into that solecism in politics, of imperium in imperio.
I imagine, sir, I have, by this time, pretty fully and satisfac
torily answered every thing contained in your letter of any con
sequence. The parts I have left unattended to, are such as can
not operate, materially, to the prejudice of the cause I espouse ;
but I should not have neglected them, had it not been, that I
have already taken a very ample range ; and it would, perhaps,
be imprudent to delay a conclusion.
Whatever opinion may be entertained of rny sentiments and
intentions, I attest that Being, whose all-seeing eye penetrates
the inmost recesses of the heart, that I am not influenced (in the
part I take) by any unworthy motive. That, if I am in an er
ror, it is my judgment, not rny heart, that errs. That I earnestly
lament the unnatural quarrel between the parent State and the
colonies ; and most ardently wish for a speedy reconciliation
a perpetual and mutually beneficial union. That I am a warm
advocate for limited monarchy, and an unfeigned well-wisher to
the present Koyal Family.
But, on the other hand, I am inviolably attached to the es
sential rights of mankind, and the true interests of society. I
consider civil liberty, in a genuine, unadulterated sense, as the
greatest of terrestrial blessings. I am convinced, that the whole
human race is entitled to it ; and that it can be wrested from no
part of them, without the blackest and most aggravated guilt.
I verily believe, also, that the best way to secure a perma
nent and happy union between Great Britain and the colonies, is
to permit the latter to be as free as they desire. To abridge
their liberties, or to exercise any power over them, which they
are unwilling to submit to, would be a perpetual source of dis
content and animosity. A continual jealousy would exist on
both sides. This would lead to tyranny on the one hand, and to
sedition and rebellion on the other. Impositions, not really
grievous in themselves, would be thought so ; and the murmurs
arising from thence, would be considered as the effect of a turbu
lent, ungovernable spirit. These jarring principles would at
126
HAMILTON'S WORKS.
. 18.
length throw all things into disorder, and be productive of an
irreparable breach, and a total disunion.
That harmony and mutual confidence may speedily be re
stored between all the parts of the British empire, is the fa
vorite wish of one who feels the warmest sentiments of good will
to mankind ; who bears no enmity to you ; and who is
A SINCEKE FKIEND TO AMEEICA.
. 18.]
REMARKS ON THE QUEBEC BILL.
1775.
NO. I.
In compliance with my promise to the public, and in order
to rescue truth from the specious disguise with which it has been
clothed, I shall now offer a few remarks on the Act, entitled "An
Act for making more effectual provision for the government of
the province of Quebec in North America ;" whereby I trust it
will clearly appear, that arbitrary power, and its great engine,
the Popish religion, are, to all intents and purposes, established
in that province.
While Canada was under the dominion of France, the French
laws and customs were in force there ; which are regulated in
conformity to the genius and complexion of a despotic constitu
tion ; and expose the lives and properties of subjects to continual
depredations from the malice and avarice of those in authority.
But when it fell under the dominion of Great Britain, these laws,
so unfriendly to the happiness of society, gave place, of course,
to the milder influence of the English laws ; and his Majesty, by
proclamation, promised to all those who should settle there, a full
enjoyment of the rights of British subjects. In violation of this
promise, the Act before us declares, " That the said proclama
tion, and the commission under the authority whereof the go
vernment of the said province is at present administered, be, and
the same are, hereby revoked, annulled, and made void, from
and after the first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and
seventy-five." This abolition of the privileges stipulated by the
128 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JET. 18.
proclamation, was not inflicted as a penalty for any crime by
which a forfeiture had been incurred ; but merely on pretence of
the present form of government having been found by experience
to be inapplicable to the state and circumstances of the Province.
I have never heard any satisfactory account concerning the
foundation of this pretence ; for it does not appear, that the peo
ple of Canada, at large, ever expressed a discontent with their
new establishment, or solicited a restoration of their old. They
were, doubtless, the most proper judges of the matter, and ought
to have been fully consulted before the alteration was made. If
we may credit the general current of intelligence which we have
had respecting the disposition of the Canadians, we must con
clude they are averse to the present regulation of the Parlia
ment, and had rather continue under the form of government
instituted by the Koyal proclamation.
However this be, the French laws are again revived. It is
enacted, " That in all matters of controversy relative to property
and civil rights, resort shall be had to the laws of Canada, as
the rule for the decision of the same : and all causes that here
after shall be instituted in any of the Courts of justice, shall,
with respect to such property and rights, be determined agree
ably to the said laws and customs of Canada, until they shall be
varied and altered by any ordinances that shall, from time to
time, be passed in the said province, by the Governor, Lieute
nant-Governor, or Commander-in-Chief for the time being, by
and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council of
the same." Thus the ancient laws of Canada are restored, liable
to such variations and additions as shall be deemed necessary by
the Governor and Council : and as both the one and the other
are to be appointed by the King during pleasure, they will be
all his creatures, and entirely subject to his will, which is thereby
rendered the original fountain of law : and the property and
civil rights of the Canadians are made altogether dependent
upon it : because the power communicated, of varying and alter
ing, by new ordinances, is indefinite and unlimited. If this does
not make the king absolute in Canada, I am at a loss for any
tolerable idea of absolute authority ; which I have ever thought
JSi. 18.] QUEBEC BILL. 129
to consist, with respect to a monarch, in the power of governing
his people according to the dictates of his own will. In the
present case, he has only to inform the Governor and Council,
what new laws he would choose to have passed, and their situ
ation will insure their compliance.
It is further provided, " That nothing contained in the Act,
shall extend, or be construed to extend, to prevent or hinder his
Majesty, his heirs, and successors, from erecting, constituting,
and appointing, from time to time, such courts of criminal, civil,
and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, within and for the said province of
Quebec, and appointing, from time to time, the judges and officers
thereof, as his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall think ne :
cessary for the circumstances of the said province."
Here a power of a most extraordinary and dangerous nature
is conferred. There must be an end of all liberty where the
prince is possessed of such an exorbitant prerogative as enables
him, at pleasure, to establish the most iniquitous, cruel, and
oppressive courts of criminal, civil, and ecclesiastical jurisdic
tion ; and to appoint temporary judges and officers, whom he
can displace and change as often as he pleases. For what can
more nearly concern the safety and happiness of subjects, than
the wise economy, and equitable constitution of those courts in
which trials for life, liberty, property, and religion, are to be
conducted ? Should it ever comport with the designs of an
ambitious and wicked minister, we may see an Inquisition erected
in Canada; and priestly tyranny hereafter find as propitious a soil
in America, as it ever has in Spain or Portugal.
But in order to varnish over the arbitrdVy complexion of the
Act, and to conciliate the minds of the Canadians,, it is provided,,
" That whereas, the certainty and lenity of the criminal law of
England, and the benefits and advantages resulting from the use
of it, have been sensibly felt by the inhabitants, from an expe
rience of more than nine years : Therefore, the same shall be
administered, and shall be observed as law, in the province of
Quebec, to the exclusion of every rule of criminal law which
did, or might, prevail in said province before the year one thou
sand seven hundred and sixty-four."
B 9
130 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JEm. 18.
As "it is in the goodness of criminal laws, that the liberty
of the subject principally depends,"* this would have been an
important privilege, had it not been rendered uncertain and alien
able by the latter part of the same clause, which makes them
" subject to such alterations and amendments, as the Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander-in-Chief for the time be
ing, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council
of the same, shall, from time to time, cause to be made therein."
Under the notion of necessary alterations and amendments,
the King, through the medium of his creatures, the Governor
and Council, may entirely new mould the criminal laws of
Canada, and make them subservient to the most tyrannical
views. So that, in this respect, also, the principle of arbitary
power, which is the soul of the Act, is uniformly maintained
and preserved, in full vigor, without the least real or effectual
diminution.
It has been denied, with the most palpable absurdity, that the
right of trial by juries is taken from the Canadians. It is said,
that the provincial legislature of Canada may introduce them as
soon as they please ; and it is expected that they will, " as soon
as the inhabitants desire them," or " the state of the country will
admit of them."
A civil right is that, which the laws and the constitution
have actually conferred ; not that which may be derived from
the future bounty and beneficence of those in authority. The
possibility that the Legislature of Canada may hereafter intro
duce trials by juries, does not imply a right in the people to
enjoy them. For in the same sense it may be said, that the inhabit
ants of France, or Spain, have a right to trial by juries, because
it is equally in the power of their legislatures to establish them.
Since, therefore, it is apparent, that a system of French laws
has been established in the province of Quebec ; and an indefi
nite power vested in the King, to vary and alter these laws ; as
also to constitute such courts of criminal, civil, and ecclesiastical
jurisdiction ; and to introduce such a form of criminal law as he
shall judge necessary ; I say, since all this is deducible from the
* Montesquieu.
JEx. 18.] QUEBEC BILL. 131
express letter of the Act ; or, in other words, since the whole
Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary powers, are ultimately and
effectually, though not immediately, lodged in the King ; there
can be no room to doubt, that an arbitrary government has been
really instituted throughout the extensive region now com
prised in the province of Quebec.
NO. II.
Having considered the nature of this Bill with regard to civil
government, I am next to examine it with relation to religion ;
and to endeavor to show, that the Church of Eome has now the
sanction of a legal establishment in the province of Quebec.
In order to do this the more satisfactorily, I beg leave to
adopt the definition given of an established religion, by a certain
writer who has taken great pains to evince the contrary. " An
established religion," says he, " is a religion which the civil au
thority engages, not only to protect, but to support." This Act
makes effectual provision, not only for the protection, but for
the permanent support of popery ; as is evident from the follow
ing clause : " And for the more perfect security and ease of the
minds of the inhabitants of the said province, it is hereby de
clared, that his Majesty's subjects, professing the religion of the
Church of Rome, in the said province, may have, hold, and en
joy, the free exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome,
subject to the King's supremacy, &c. ; and that the clergy of the
said Church, may hold, receive, and enjoy, their accustomed
dues and rights, &c."
This is represented as a bare permission to the clergy, to en
joy the usual emoluments of their functions, and not as a legal
provision for their support. Much stress seems to be laid on the
word " may," which is commonly italicised. But though the
phraseology be artful, yet it is easy to perceive, that it operates
to the same effect as if it had been more positive and emphatical.
The clergy " may hold, receive, and enjoy, their accustomed
dues and rights." They may if they please. It is at their op-
132 . HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JET. 18.
tion, and must depend upon their will ; and, consequently, there
must be a correspondent obligation upon their parishioners to
comply with that will, and to pay those dues when required.
What the law gives us an unconditional permission to enjoy, no
person can legally withhold from us. It becomes our property ^
and we can enforce our right to it. If the Legislature of this co
lony were to decree, that the clergy of the different denomina
tions, may hold, receive, and enjoy, tithes of their respective con
gregations; we should soon find that it would have the same
efficacy as if it were decreed, that the several congregations
should pay tithes to their respective clergy. For, otherwise, the
Legislature might confer a right which had no correlative obliga
tion ; and which must, therefore, be void and inefficacious. But
this is contradictory and impossible.
" Tithes in Canada," it is said, "are the property of the Eo-
man Church : and permitting a tolerated Church to enjoy its own
property, is far short of the idea of an establishment." But I
should be glad to know, in the first place, how tithes can be the
property of any but of an established church ? And in the next,
how they came to be the property of the Eomish Church in Ca
nada, during the intermediate space between the surrender of
that province to the English, and the passing of this Act?
Nothing can be deemed my property, to which I have not a
perfect and uncontrollable right by the laws. If a church have
not a similar right to tithes, it can have no property in them ;
and if it have, it is plain the laws must have made provision for
its support, or in other words, must have established it.
Previous to the surrender of Canada, the Catholic religion
was established there by the laws of France ; and tithes were,
on that account, the legal property of the Church of Eome ; and
could not be withheld by the laity, though ever so much dis
posed to it. But after the surrender, this circumstance took a
different turn. The French laws being no longer in force, the
establishment of the Eomish Church ceased of course ; and with
it, the property which it before had in tithes.
It is true, the clergy may have continued to receive and en
joy their customary dues, tithes, and other perquisites : but they
JET. 18.] QUEBEC BILL. 133
were not, for all that, the property of the Church ; because it
had lost its legal right to them, and it was at the discretion of
the laity to withhold them, if they had thought proper; or to
abridge them, and place them upon a more moderate footing.
Their voluntary concurrence was necessary to give their priests
a right to demand them as before. But by the late Act, this