[232] and Englishmen, are addressed to the more nu-merous part of mankind, who have ears but no understanding.
chap. XI.} 1765. Feb.
The great capital argument, the elephant at the head of this nabob's army, is this: that no Englishman is or can be taxed but by his own consent, or the persons whom he has chosen to represent him. But this is the very reverse of truth; for no man that I know of is taxed by his own consent, least of all an Englishman. The unfortunate counties which produce cider were taxed without the consent of their repre sentatives; and while every Englishman is taxed, not one in twenty is represented. Are not the people of Manchester and Birmingham Englishmen? And are they not taxed?
If every Englishman is represented in parliament, why does not this imaginary representation extend to America? If it can travel three hundred miles, why not three thousand? If it can jump over rivers and mountains, why cannot it sail over the ocean? If Manchester and Birmingham are there represented, why not Albany and Boston? Are they not Englishmen?
But it is urged, if the privilege of being taxed by the legislative power within itself alone is once given up, that liberty, which every Englishman has a right to, is torn from them; they are all slaves, and all is lost. But the liberty of an Englishman cannot mean an exemption from taxes imposed by the authority of the parliament of Great Britain. No charters grant such a privilege to any colony in America; and had they granted it, the grant could have had no force: no charter derived from the crown can possibly supersede the right of the whole legislature. The charters
