270 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.

being Subjects of England. There were no Pacta Conventa
between them & the Mother Country. The very Idea of a
Colony implyed Subordination & Dependence to render
Allegiance for Protection If they were not Subject they
ought to Pay Dutys as Aliens. That they consisted of 3 Sorts
of Governm^t, the first called the Kings Governm^ts w^ch were
derived from the Royal Commission to the Governors, their
Instructions & Subsequent usage. Second the Proprietary
Governments, and Third the Charter Governments. That
Maryland by its Charter was made expressly Subject to &
dependant on the Crown of England ever after their express
Tenure was of Windsor Castle, & their rights were to be Co-
Extensive with any Bishop of Durham in that County Palatine,
& the Statute Book shewed they were taxed by Parliament
before they were represented. That the Charter of Pensyl-
vania, who had preposterousley taken the lead, was Stamped
with every badge of Subordination, Laws to be approved by
the Crown, to keep an agent here, & a particular saving as to
all English Acts of Parliament. That in James the First's
time the Notion obtained that the Colonies were the Kings
Colonies & not belonging to the Crown of England. By his
Charter to Virginia he Granted them an Exclusive Fishery,
& w^ch being found Injurious, there were two Bills brot into
Parliament in the 3^d & 19^th years of his Reign to throw it
open, & tho' they did not pass by accident the right of
Parliam^t was asserted & the Charter no further Insisted on in
that respect. Could the Kings Bench Vacate the Massachu-
setts Charter & yet the Parliam^t be unable to Tax them. Did
they say this when they acquiesced in the Judgment & took a
new Charter. He Cited a Manuscript opinion of S^r Philip
Yorke & S^r Clement Wearg (Attorney & Sollicitor General)
in 1724 respecting Jamaica. If (said they) it is to be Con-
sidered as a Conquered Country the King may Tax it by his
own Authority. If otherwise it must be by the British Legis-
lature.
He repeatedly called upon the advocates for America to
draw the Line, to move their Exceptions & to Say how far
the Sovereignty of the British Parliam^t sho^d go & where Stop.
Did the Americans keep the Right of the Purse only & not of
their Persons, Libertys &c. That it was Sufficient to turn
over the Index to the Statute Book to shew the British Legis-
lature had Exercised Authority over them in almost every
Instance. Such were the Post Office Acts, the Act for recovery
of Debts in the Plantations, the Acts for preserving Timber &
White Pine, the Paper Currency Acts, they had even gone so
low as to restrain the Number of Hatters Apprentices in
America, & had in Innumerable Instances given the Forfeitures