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Show aim-W21:??? .n)‘; '4 v«.u‘.-.--‘-v€-ii- ( 3 ) (sl Britilh merchants and manufacturers, and to the turers are fupported, who, but for them, mull : general fenfe of the nation. They have been pleafed, in the aft of repeal irl'elf, greatly to their honor, implicitly to acknowledge their fallibility and erroneous judgment in the other act, by laying, that " the continuance of the laid a& ~42 " would be attended with many inconveniences, " and might be productive of confequences great" ly detrimental to the commercial interells of " tho/é kingdoms." Thefe being the reafons alligned for the repeal, we may jufily conclude, that if thofe many inconvenience: and detrimen- tal coryéquenm could have been forefeen, the aét complained of would neverhavc been paired. And as the lame reaFOns will doubtlefs Operate at leall as llrongly, probably much more {irongly hereafter, in pr0portion to the growth of the colonies, than they do at prefent, we may natu- rally conclude alfo, that an act of the like nature will never again be heard of. Thus " our foul is cfcaped as a bird from the mate of the fowlers ; the fnare is broken, and we are efcaped ;" tho'not without much llrugvgling in the liiare, before it gave way, and let us at liberty again. But when I fpeak. of that pernicious act as a flare, and thofe who pre- pared it for us as few/err, greedy oftheir prey, let it be particularly obferved, that I intend not the lealt reflexion on our gracious Sovereign or the Parliament; who mull not be fuppofecl to have any evil deiigns againft the colonies, which are f0 necell'ary to Great Britain, and by which f0 many thoufands of her manufac132'ch actually llarve, emigrate, or do what I chufe to forbear mentioning. No! I apply this, as I conclude you will, only to fome evil-minded individuals in Britain, who are true friends nei« ther to her nor us ; and who accordingly fpa~ red no wicked arts, no deceitful, no dilhono- rable, no difhonelt means, to pull] on and 013% rain, as it were byflirpri/e, an ac‘i f0 prejudicial to both ; and, in lbme fort, to the enfimring of his Majefly and the Parliament, as well as the good people ofAmerica : Being, not improba- bly, in the interelts of the Houfes of Bourbon and the Pretender, whole caule they meant to ferve, by bringing about an open rupture be« tween Great Britain and her colonies I Thefe, thefe men, my Brethren, are the cunnin g fow~ Jeri, thefe the ciz/iierem, from whofe teeth "our foul is cfcaped as a bird 2" And fuch traitors will, doubtlefs, e'er long be caught in anot her flare, fuitable for them, to the latisfaéiion of the King's good liibjecls on both fides the Atlantic, if his Majelly and the Parliament fhou ld judge it necellary for the vindication of thei r own honor, or for the public good, to brin g them to condign punilhment. Let me jufl add here, that according to our latef‘t and belt advices, the King, his trul y pa~ triotic Miniliry and ,the Parliament hav e the interell, particularly the commercial intereil of the colonies much at heart ; being new difpoi‘e d even to enlarge, inl'tead of curtailing thei r pri« vileges, and to grant us every indulgence, con: C {illenr |