Page:The Life of George Washington, Volume 1.djvu/337

 INTRODUCTION. gg^ morial to their sovereign, stating the mo- chap. vm. tives on which they had acted, and praying a 1728. change in the royal instructions to the go- vernor. Agents were appointed to represent them in England, and a vote was passed for defraying the expenses attendant on the busi- ness. With this vote, the council refused to concur, because the agents had been appointed by the house of representatives singly, and the plan must have been abandoned for want of money, but for the public spirit of Boston. The merchants, and other respectable inhabi- tants of that town raised the necessary sums by subscription. Letters from their agents were soon received, inclosing a report from the board of trade, be- fore whom they had been heard by counsel, entirely disapproving the conduct of the house. The agents gave it as their opinion that, if the house should persist in its refusal to comply with the king's instructions, the affair might be carried before the parliament. But should even this be the case, they thought it more advisable, that the salary should be fixed by the supreme legislature, than by that of the province; it was better, they said, " that the liberties of the people should be taken from them, than given up by themselves." The governor now refused to sign a warrant on the treasurer for the pay of the members. One branch of the legislature, he said, might r r 2