288 Correspondence of Governor Sliarpe.

them from the necessary Expence w^ch many of them have
hitherto always borne in Guarding their Frontiers against the
Savage Indians.
6^thly Because not only the Right but the Expediency &
necessity of the Supreme Legislature's exerting its authority
to lay a General Tax on Our American Colonies whenever the
wants of the Publick make it fitting & reasonable that all the
Provinces should contribute in a proper Proportion to the
Defence of the whole Appears to us undeniable from these
Considerations, First, That every Province being separate &
independent on the others, and having no common Council
impowered by the Constitution of the Colonies to act for all,
or bind all, such a Tax cannot regularly or without infinite
difficulty be Imposed upon them at any time, for their imme-
diate Defence & Protection by their own Provincial Assem-
blies, but requires the Intervention and Superintending Power
of the Parliam^t of Great Britain: Secondly, that in looking
forwards to the possible Contingency of a New War, a Con-
tingency perhaps not far remote, the prospect of the Burthens
w^ch the Gentry & People of this Kingdom must then sustain
in Addition to those w^ch now Lye so heavy upon them is so
Melancholly & dreadful, that we cannot but feel it a most
indispensable duty to ease them as much as is possible by a
due & moderate Exertion of that great Right, w^ch the Consti-
tution of this Realm has vested in the Parliament to Provide for
the Safety of all, by a proportionable Charge upon all, equally
& indifferently laid: we likewise Apprehend that a Partial
Exemption of Our Colonies from any Exercise of this Right,
by the British Legislature, would be thought so invidious &
so unjust to the other Subjects of the Crown of Great Britain,
as to Alienate the Hearts of these from their Country men
residing in America to the great detriment of the latter, who
have on so many occasions reced & may again want Assis-
tance from the generous Warmth of their Affections.
7^thly Because the Reason Assigned in the Public Resolu-
tions of the Provincial Assemblies in the North American
Colonies for their disobeying the Stamp Act (Viz) That they
are not represented in the Parliam^t of Great Britain, extends
to all other Laws of what nature soever, w^ch that Parliament
has enacted, or shall enact to bind them in time to come,
and must (if Admitted) Set them absolutely free from any
obedience to the Power of the British Legislature. We like-
wise observe, that in a Letter to M^r Secretary Conway dated
12^th Oct^r 1765 the Commander in Chief of his Maty's fforces
in North America has declared his opinion, " That the Ques-
tion is not of the Inexpediency of the Stamp Act or of the
Inability of the Colonies to Pay the Tax but that it is uncon-