t Assembly, and the time prescribed by the Charter
for calling one had not arrived; but the House of Burgesses of the old,
loyal Church of England colony of Virginia took the state of all the
colonies into serious consideration, passed several resolutions, and
directed their Speaker to transmit them without delay to the Speakers of
the Assemblies of all the colonies on the continent for their
concurrence. In these resolutions the House of Burgesses declare--"That
the sole right of imposing taxes on the inhabitants of this colony is
now, and ever hath been, legally and constitutionally vested in the
House of Burgesses, with consent of the Council, and of the King or his
Governor for the time being; that it is the privilege of the inhabitants
to petition their Sovereign for redress of grievances, and that it is
lawful to procure the concurrence of his Majesty's other colonies in
dutiful addresses, praying the Royal interposition in favour of the
violated rights of America; that all trials for treason, misprision of
treason, or for any felony or crime whatsoever, committed by any persons
residing in any colony, ought to be in his Majesty's courts within said
colony, and that the seizing of any person residing in the colony,
suspected of any crime whatsoever committed therein, and sending such
person to places beyond the sea to be tried, is highly derogatory of the
rights of British subjects, as thereby the inestimable privilege of
being tried by jury from the vicinage, as well as the liberty of
producing witnesses on such trial, will be taken away from the accused."

The House agreed also to an address to his Majesty, which stated, in the
style of loyalty and real attachment to the Crown, a deep conviction
that the complaints of the colonists were well founded. The next day
Lord Botetourt, the Governor of Virginia, dissolved the House in the
following words: "Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I
have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have
made it my duty to dissolve you; and you are dissolved accordingly."

The Assembly of South Carolina adopted resolutions similar to those of
Virginia, as did the Lower House of Maryland and the Delaware counties,
and the Assembly of North Carolina, and was on that account dissolved by
Governor Tyron. Towards the close of the year, the Assembly of New York
passed resolutions in concurrence with those of Virginia. The members of
the House of Burge