the novbmber 21 1777 number 403 north-carol i nj4 gazette with the lateft advices foreign and domestic semper pro libert ate et bono publico london may 27 a letter frcm edmund burke efq cnt tf tbt reprefenttitives in parliament fer the city af brijlol to john farr and john harris ejquires foertjfs of that city on the affairs of ame rica gentlemen triave che honour offending you the twolaft afti which have been paiicd with regard co the troubles in america tfiefe ads are limilar to all the reft which have b?en imade on the fame fubjeft they operate by the fame principle and they are derived from th very fame po licy i thiiik they complete the number of this fcrt of ita.uces to nine l affords no matter for very pleating iefie£tk>n to obferve chat our fubjeds diminiih as our law in if i have the misfortune of diffrring with fome of my fellow ci i-.ens on his great and arduous fubjcil it is no fmall con ro latioa to roc that i do noc differ from you with you i am per fectly united we are heartily agreed in our deteftation of a civil war we have ever exp*-efled the molt unqualified difap probation of all the flcps which have led to it and of all thofe which tend to prolong it and i have no doubt that we feel exactly the fame emotions of grief and fhame on all its rnifera bie cunfeqiknces ; whether they appear on the one fide or the other in the lhape of vi&ories or defeats ; of captures made fr^m the englilh on the continent or from the engliih in thefs ifiands oi legislative regulations which fubvert the liberties of our brethren or which undermine our own of the irft.ofthefe ftatutes that for letters of mart i hall fay tittle exceptionable as it may be and as i think it is in fjme particulars it feeim the natural perhaps neceifary reiuit of the mcifures we have taken and the fituation we are in the other for a partial fufpeniion of the habeas corpus ap pears to me of a much deeper malignity during its progrefs through the houfe of commons it has been amended fo as to e.xprefs more diihn&ly than at firlt it did the avowed fenii ments of thofe who framed it ; and the main ground of my ex ception ta it is becaufe it does exprefs and doe carry i?>to ex ecution purpofes which appear o me fo contradictory to all the principles not only of the conititutior.al policy of great bri tain but even to thofe principles of hotlile juliice which no tf pcrity of war whollyextinguifr.es in tha minds of a civilhed people it feems to have in view two capital objefti ; the firft to e nableadmiuiftration toconiine as long ts it lhall think proper within the duration of the aft thofe whom that ad is pleated to qualify by the name of pirates t.hofe fo qualified i under ftand to be the comm.inders and mariners of fuch priva.eers and fhips of war belonging to the colonies at in the cou.-fe of this unhappy contett may fall into the hands of the crown they are therefore to be detained in prifon under the criminal del cription of piracy to a future trial and ignominious pumihment whenever circumstances mall make it neceflary to execute ven geance on them under the colour of that odious and infamcrus offence to this firft purpofe of the law i have,po fmall diftike be caufe the aft does not as all laws and equitable iran factions ought to do fairly defcribe v3 objeft the parfons who make naval war upon us in confequencc of the prefent trouble may be icbels ; but to call them and treat them as pirates is con fo'jr.dinsr not only the natural deitindion of things but the or der of crimes which whether by putting them from a a»g h « part of the fcale to the lever or from the lower to the higher is never done without dangeroufly difordenng the whole frame of jurifprudence though piracy may be in the eye ot the law alefs ofrence than treafon ; yet as both are 11 ettcct psmi&ed with the fame death the fame forfeiture and the iame corruption of blood i never would take from any fellow-crea ture whatever any fort of advantage which he may derive to his fafety from the pity of mankind or to hw reputation from their general feelings by degrading his offence when i cannot fof ten his punifhment the general fenfe of mankind tells me that thofe offences which may poffibly arife from miftakea vir tue are not in the clafs of infameus a&ions lord coke the oracle of the engliih law conforms to that general fenfe whera he fays that " thofe things which are of the hi^heit criminali ty may be of the leaft difgrace the aft prepares a fort of mafqued proceeding not honourable to the juitite of the king dom and by no means neceflary for its fafety i cannot enter into it it lord balmerino in the laft rebellion had driven off the cattle of twenty claru i mould have thought it a fcan dalous and low juggle utterly unworthy of the nianlinefs of an engliih judicature to have tried him for felony as a dealer of cows betides i mull honeftly tell you that i could not vote for or countenance in any way a ih rute which fti^matizes iih the crime of piracy thofe men v:..;m an aft of parliament had previoufly pu out of the protection of the law when the le giflature of this kingdom had oidered all their hips and goods for the mere new created hence of exerciiir.g trade to be di vided as a fpoil among the fenmen of the navy — for the fame legiflature afterwards to treat the neceftary rrpi ii^l of an unhap py profcribcd interdicted people as the crime of piracy feem9 harfli and incongruous such » proceedure would have appeared in any other legiflature than ours a itrain of the moft infultine and unnatural cruelty and injuitice the fecond profefled purpoi'e of the aft is to detain in en gland for trial thofe who mall commit high treafon in america that you may be enabled to enter into the true fpirit of the prefent law it is neceffary gentlemen to apprife you that thera is an act made fo long ago as the reign of henry the 8th before the exigence or thought of any engliih colonies in ame rica for the trial in tha kingdom of treafons committed out of the realm in the year 1769 parliament thought proper to ac quaint the crown with their contlru&ion of that acl in a formal arfdi«is wherein they intreated his majcfty to caufe perfons charged with high treafon in america to be brought into this kingdom for trial by this adl of henry the 8th fo conitrued and fo applied almoft ail that is fubitantial and beneficial in a trial by jury is taken away from the fubjett in the colonies — this is however laying too little ; for to try a man under that art is in effect to condemn him ur.heard a pcrfon is brought hither in the dungeon of a thip's hold ; thence he is vomited into a dungeon en land loaded wich irons unfurnifhed with money unsupported by friends three th uiand mile from all means of calhng upon or confronting evidence where no lo cal circumftance that tends to detect perjury can poffibly be judg ed c f — f d ch a perfon may be executed according to form but he can never be tried according o jottice i therefore could by no means reconcile myfelf to the bill i fend you ; which is exprefsly provided to remove all inconveni ences from the eftablifkinent of a mode of rial which has ever appeared to me molt unjuft and rr»o;l\:nconilituri.jn4 far front removing the difficulties which impede the ex^cu'icn of fo mif chievous a project i would heap hew difficulties upon it fit were ia my power all the ancient honeft juridical principles and inlhtutions of england are fo ir.any clugs to thea and re tard the headlong courfe of violence and opprelfion they were invented for this one good p pole ; — that what was not juit fhould not b b convenient convinced oi this i would leave things as i found them tie old cool-headed general law is as good as any deviation dictated by prefent iieat i could fee no fair juiv'fiable expedience pleaded to favour this new fofpenfion of the • liberty of the fubje if the engiiih ia the colonies can fjpport the independency to which they have been unfortunately driven i fuppofe nobody has fuch a fanati cal real for the criminal jailice of henry the 8th that he will contend for executions which muft be retaliated ten-fold on his own friends ; or has conceived fo ftrange an idea of englifh dig nity as to think the defeats in america compenfated by the triumphs at tyburn if on the contrary the colonies are re duced to the obedience of the crown there mull be under that