Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/168

140 indifferently Qualified for that Service, they allow the Force of the particular Statutes, and at other times reject the whole especially if the Bench is inclinable to be partial, which too often happens in those new & unsettled Countries ; & as Mens Liberties & Properties in any Country chiefly depend on an impartial and Equal Administration of Justice, this is one of the most Material Grievances which the Subjects of America have just Cause to complain of; But while for the want of Schools & other proper Instructions, in the Principles of Moral Vertue, their People are not so well Qualified even to serve upon Juries, & much less to Act on a Bench of Judicature, It seems impracticable to provide a Remedy until a Sufficient Revenue be found out amongst them to support the Charges of sending Judges from England to take their Circuits by turns, on the several Colonies on the Main, which if thought worthy of a Consideration will appear neither to be improper nor unpracticable ; & until that can be done all other Attempts to rectify their Courts of Law will be fruitless, & may therefore be Suspended. . ..

A Militia in an Arbitrary & Tyrannical Government may possibly be of some Service to the Governing Power, but we learn by Experience that in a free Country, 'tis of little Use ; the People in the Plantations are so few in proportion to the Lands, which they possess, that Servants being scarce, & Slaves so excessively dear, the Men are generally under a necessity there to work hard themselves in Order to provide the common necessary's of Life for their Families, so that they cannot Spare a days time without great loss to their Interest. . ..

. . . The Wisdom of the Crown of Britain therefore by keeping its Colonies in that Situation is every [very] much to be applauded while they continue so ; it is morally impossible that any dangerous Union shou'd be form'd among them, because their Interest in Trade & all manner of Business, being entirely seperated by their Independancy, every Advantage that is lost or neglected by one Colony is immediately picked up by another, & the Emulation that continually subsists between them in all manner of Intercourse & Traffick, is ever productive of Envys, Jealousies & Cares how to gain upon each others Conduct in Government or Trade, Every one thereby endeavouring to magnifie their Pretentions to the Favour of the Crown by becoming more usefull than their Neighbours to the Interest of Great Britain. . ..

All that has been said with Respect to the Improvement of the Plantations, will it is supposed signifie but very little unless a Sufficient Revenue can be raised to support the needfull Expences, in Order to