Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/134

124 : and, to effect theſe things, a power was given to make laws, laying ſuch duties, impoſts, or taxes, as they ſhould find neceſſary, and as would be leaſt burthenſome to the people. All laws were to be ſent to England for the king's approbation; and unleſs disapproved of within three years, were to remain in force. All officers in the land or ſea ſervice were to be nominated by the preſident-general, and approved of by the general council; civil officers were to be nominated by the council, and approved by the preſident. Such are the outlines of the plan propoſed, for the conſideration of the congreſs, by Dr. Franklin. After ſeveral days diſcuſſion, it was unanimouſly agreed to by the commiſſioners, a copy tranſmitted to each aſſembly, and one to the king's council. The fate of it was ſingular. It was diſapproved of by the miniſtry of Great Britain, becauſe it gave too much power to the representatives of the people; and it was rejected by every aſſembly, as giving to the preſident-general, the repreſentative of the crown, an influence greater than appeared to them proper, in a plan of government intended for freemen. Perhaps this rejection, on both ſides, is the ſtrongeſt proof that could be adduced of the excellence of it, as ſuited to the ſituation of America and Great-Britain at that time. It appears to have ſteered exactly in the middle, between the oppoſite intereſts of both.

Whether the adoption of this plan would have prevented the ſeparation of America from Great Britain, is a queſtion which might afford much room for ſpeculation. It may be ſaid, that, by enabling the colonies to defend themſelves, it would have removed the pretext upon which the ſtamp-act, tea-act, and other acts of the Britiſh parliament, were paſſed; which excited a ſpirit