Americans, their descent, and
the character and disposition which they inherited from their English
ancestors, all forbade the thought that they would ever submit to
slavish and tyrannical principles; for as was the mother, so were her
offspring. He admitted that the conduct of the Americans, and especially
the Bostonians, was unwarrantable; but he denied that the means adopted
to bring them back to a sense of their duty were either wise or
just. Against the blocking up the harbour of Boston he inveighed most
bitterly, assuming in the face of all fact, that it was "some guilty
profligates" who had been concerned in destroying our goods, and not
the main body of the people. He assumed, also, what was notoriously
untrue, that the colonies had no thought of prosecuting the quarrel;
asserting, that their gratitude was full to overflowing for the repeal
of the Stamp Act, and that it was the tea tax alone which had goaded
them on to insubordination and rebellion. Forgetting, moreover, that his
own Declaratory Act had inflamed the passions of the colonists after
the repeal of the Stamp Act, he charged ministers with having purposely
irritated them into their late outrages. Finally, although it is clear
that Chatham, as a minister, would never have granted the objects which
the American leaders required of the government, he recommended the
substitution of kindness for severity. He remarked:--"Proceed like a
kind and affectionate parent towards a child whom he tenderly loves;
and, instead of these harsh and severe proceedings, pass an amnesty
on all their youthful errors; clasp them once more in your fond and
affectionate arms, and I will venture to affirm that you will find them
children worthy of their sire. But should their turbulence exist after
your proffered terms of forgiveness, I, my lords, will be among the
foremost to move for such measures as will effectually prevent a
relapse, and make them feel what it is to provoke a fond and forgiving
parent." It is manifest, however, that the children had already resolved
to run all risks in discarding allegiance to their parent, and that
they could never be bound to their duty by the law of kindness. So the
majority of the peers whom Chatham addressed seemed to think, for the
bill he was opposing passed.

BILL FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF CANADA.

Towards the close of this session a bill was brought into the house of
lords, "for making more effectual provision for the gover