ng a revenue in America, the
discontents which have ensued in consequence of it, the general
suspension of the assemblies in consequence of these discontents, the
use of the military power, and the new and dangerous commissions which
now hang over them, will produce equally good effects, is greatly to be
doubted. Never, I fear, will this nation and the colonies fall back upon
their true centre of gravity, and natural point of repose, until the
ideas of 1766 are resumed, and steadily pursued.

As to the regulations, a great subject of the author's accusation, they
are of two sorts; one of a mixed nature, of revenue and trade; the other
simply relative to trade. With regard to the former I shall observe,
that, in all deliberations concerning America, the ideas of that
administration were principally these; to take trade as the primary end,
and revenue but as a very subordinate consideration. Where trade was
likely to suffer, they did not hesitate for an instant to prefer it to
taxes, whose produce at best was contemptible, in comparison of the
object which they might endanger. The other of their principles was, to
suit the revenue to the object. Where the difficulty of collection, from
the nature of the country, and of the revenue establishment, is so very
notorious, it was their policy to hold out as few temptations to
smuggling as possible, by keeping the duties as nearly as they could on
a balance with the risk. On these principles they made many alterations
in the port-duties of 1764, both in the mode and in the quantity. The
author has not attempted to prove them erroneous. He complains enough to
show that he is in an ill-humor, not that his adversaries have done
amiss.

As to the regulations which were merely relative to commerce, many were
then made; and they were all made upon this principle, that many of the
colonies, and those some of the most abounding in people, were so
situated as to have very few means of traffic with this country. It
became therefore our interest to let them into as much foreign trade as
could be given them without interfering with our own; and to secure by
every method the returns to the mother country. Without some such scheme
of enlargement, it was obvious that any benefit we could expect from
these colonies must be extremely limited. Accordingly many facilities
were given to their trade with the foreign plantations, and with the
southern parts of Europe. As to the confining the returns