The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. II

The Works of the Right
Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol.
II

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable
Edmund
Burke, Vol. II. (of 12), by Edmund Burke This eBook is for the use of
anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project
Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. II. (of
12)
Author: Edmund Burke
Release Date: February 28, 2005 [EBook #15198]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF
BURKE, VOL. 2 ***

Produced by Paul Murray, Susan Skinner and the PG Online
Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available
by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at
http://gallica.bnf.fr

THE WORKS
OF
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
EDMUND BURKE
IN TWELVE VOLUMES
VOLUME THE SECOND
[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms.]
LONDON JOHN C. NIMMO 14, KING WILLIAM STREET,
STRAND, W.C. MDCCCLXXXVII

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION, April 19, 1774 1
SPEECHES ON ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL AND AT THE
CONCLUSION OF THE POLL, October 13 and November 3, 1774 81
SPEECH ON MOVING RESOLUTIONS FOR CONCILIATION
WITH AMERICA, March 22, 1775 99
LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL, ON THE AFFAIRS OF
AMERICA, April 3, 1777 187
TWO LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN OF BRISTOL, ON THE BILLS
DEPENDING IN PARLIAMENT RELATIVE TO THE TRADE OF
IRELAND, April 23 and May 2, 1778 247
SPEECH ON PRESENTING TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS A
PLAN FOR THE BETTER SECURITY OF THE INDEPENDENCE
OF PARLIAMENT, AND THE ECONOMICAL REFORMATION OF
THE CIVIL AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS, February 11, 1780
265
SPEECH AT BRISTOL PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION, September
6, 1780 365
SPEECH AT BRISTOL ON DECLINING THE POLL, September 9,
1780 426
SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL, December 1, 1783 431
A REPRESENTATION TO HIS MAJESTY, MOVED IN THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 14, 1784 537

SPEECH
ON

AMERICAN TAXATION.
APRIL 19, 1774.

PREFACE.
The following speech has been much the subject of conversation, and
the desire of having it printed was last summer very general. The means
of gratifying the public curiosity were obligingly furnished from the
notes of some gentlemen, members of the last Parliament.
This piece has been for some months ready for the press. But a delicacy,
possibly over-scrupulous, has delayed the publication to this time. The
friends of administration have been used to attribute a great deal of the
opposition to their measures in America to the writings published in
England. The editor of this speech kept it back, until all the measures of
government have had their full operation, and can be no longer affected,
if ever they could have been affected, by any publication.
Most readers will recollect the uncommon pains taken at the beginning
of the last session of the last Parliament, and indeed during the whole
course of it, to asperse the characters and decry the measures of those
who were supposed to be friends to America, in order to weaken the
effect of their opposition to the acts of rigor then preparing against the
colonies. The speech contains a full refutation of the charges against
that party with which Mr. Burke has all along acted. In doing this, he
has taken a review of the effects of all the schemes which have been
successively adopted in the government of the plantations. The subject
is interesting; the matters of information various and important; and the
publication at this time, the editor hopes, will not be thought
unseasonable.

SPEECH.
During the last session of the last Parliament, on the 19th of April,
1774, Mr. Rose Fuller, member for Rye, made the following motion:--
"That an act made in the seventh year of the reign of his present
Majesty, intituled, 'An act for granting certain duties in the British
colonies and plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the
duties of customs upon the exportation from this kingdom of coffee and
cocoa-nuts, of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for

discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthenware exported to
America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running
of goods in the said colonies and plantations, might be read."
And the same being read accordingly, he moved,--
"That this House will, upon this day sevennight, resolve itself into a
committee of the whole House, to take into consideration the duty of
three-pence per pound weight upon tea, payable in all his Majesty's
dominions in America, imposed by the said act; and also the
appropriation of the said duty."
On this latter motion a warm and interesting debate arose, in which Mr.
Burke spoke as follows.
Sir,--I