ctober; but at the very time that the British Parliament was
passing the Act which exempted New York from the disabilities and
punishments inflicted on its neighbouring colonies, north and south, the
Legislative Assembly of New York was preparing a petition and
remonstrance to the British Parliament on the grievances of all the
colonies, not omitting the province of Massachusetts. This petition and
remonstrance of the General Assembly of New York was substantially a
United Empire document, and expressed the sentiments of all classes in
the colonies, except the Royal governors and some office-holders, as
late as May, 1775. The following extracts from this elaborate and
ably-written address will indicate its general character. The whole
document is given in the Parliamentary Register, Vol. I., pp. 473-478,
and is entitled "The Representation and Remonstrance of the General
Assembly of the Colony of New York, to the Honourable the Knights,
Citizens, and Burgesses of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled." It
commences as follows:

"Impressed with the warmest sentiments of loyalty and affection to our
most gracious Sovereign, and zealously attached to his person, family,
and government, we, his Majesty's faithful subjects, the representatives
of the ancient and loyal colony of New York, behold with the deepest
concern the unhappy disputes subsisting between the mother country and
her colonies. Convinced that the grandeur and strength of the British
empire, the protection and opulence of his Majesty's American dominions,
and the happiness and welfare of both, depend essentially on a
restoration of harmony and affection between them, we feel the most
ardent desire to promote a cordial reconciliation with the parent state,
which can be rendered permanent and solid only by ascertaining the line
of parliamentary authority and American freedom on just, equitable, and
constitutional grounds. To effect these salutary purposes, and to
represent the grievances under which we labour, by the innovations which
have been made in the constitutional mode of government since the close
of the last war, we shall proceed with that firmness which becomes the
descendants of Englishmen and a people accustomed to the blessings of
liberty, and at the same time with the deference and respect which is
due to your august Assembly to show--

"That from the year 1683 till the above-mentioned period the colony has
enjoyed a Legislature consisting of th