and
regulations of commerce, even in the West Indies. I give one of these
extracts as a specimen:

_Extract of a letter from Kingston, in Jamaica, to a merchant in London,
dated January 27th, 1765._

"Kingston, which used to be a place of great trade and hurry, is become
as still as a desert since we were so wise as to banish our best
friends, the Spaniards; and now the current of that valuable commerce is
turned in favour of the French and the Dutch, who have made their ports
free, and, taking the advantage of our misconduct, have promised them
safety, and so deal with them for all the European goods, upon the same
terms as the English did. Were I to depend upon the sale of goods I had
from you, I should not be able to remit the money these two or three
years."

_Extract of a letter from Jamaica, to a friend in London, dated May
12th, 1763:_

"We are in the most deplorable state ever known in the island; the
channel through which all the money we had came among us, is entirely
stopped up."--_Ib._, p. 4.]

[Footnote 264: Prior Documents, etc., pp. 4, 5. Annual Register, Vol
VII., Chap. vi.

"The Act which gave rise to these movements and combinations against
importing goods from England, passed in the spring of 1764, was known as
the 'Sugar Act,' reducing by one-half the duties imposed by the old
'Molasses Act' on foreign sugar and molasses imported into the colonies;
levying duties on coffee, pimento, French and East India goods, and
wines from Madeira and the Azores, which hitherto had been free; and
adding iron and lumber to the 'enumerated articles' which could not be
exported except to England. This Act was the first Act ever passed by
Parliament which avowed the purpose, as it did in its preamble, of
'raising a _revenue_ for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting
and securing his Majesty's dominions in America.' This Act gave
increased jurisdiction to the Admiralty Courts, and provided new and
more efficient means for enforcing the collection of the revenue."
(Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. II., Chap. xxviii., pp.
520, 521.)

"In order to remedy the deficiency of British goods, the colonists
betook themselves to a variety of domestic manufactures. In a little
time large quantities of common cloths were brought to market; and
these, though dearer and of worse quality, were cheerfully preferred to
similar articles imported from Britain. That wool might not be wanting,
they entered