At a farther Meeting, according to Adjournment, the Committee appointed Yesterday, made their Report, which being read, seriously considered and approved, was signed by a great Number of the Principal Gentlemen of the Colony then present, and is as follows:
We his Majesty's most dutiful Subjects, the late Representatives of all the Freeholders of the Colony of Virginia, avowing our inviolable and unshaken Fidelity and Loyalty to our most gracious Sovereign, our Affection for all our Fellow Subjects of Great Britain protesting against every Act or Thing which may have the most distant Tendancy to interrupt, or in any wise disturb his Majesty's Peace, and the good Order of his Government in this Colony, which we are resolved, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortune, to maintain and defend; but at the same Time, being deeply affected with the Grievances and Distresses with which his Majesty's American Subjects are oppressed, and dreading the Evils which threaten the ruin of ourselves and our posterity, by reducing us from a free and happy People, to a wretched and miserable State of Slavery; and having taken into our most serious Consideration the present State of the Trade of this Colony, and of the American Commerce in general, observe with Anxiety, that the Debt due Great Britain for Goods imported from thence is very great, and that the Means of paying this Debt, in the present Situation of Affairs, are likely to become more and more precarious; that the Difficulties, under which we now labour, are owing to Restrictions, Prohibitions, and ill advised Regulations in several late Acts of Parliament of Great Britain; in particular, that the late unconstitutional Act, imposing Duties on Tea, Paper, Glass, etc., for the sole Purpose of raising a Revenue in America, is injurious to Property; and destructive to Liberty, hath a necessary Tendency to prevent the Payment of the Debt due from this Colony to Great Britain, and is, of Consequence, ruinous to Trade; that, notwithstanding the many earnest Applications already made, there is little reason to expect a Redress of those Grievances: Therefore, in Justice to ourselves and our Posterity, as well as to the Traders of Great Britain concerned in the American Commerce, we, the Subscribers, have voluntarily and unanimously entered into the following Resolutions, in Hopes that our Example will induce the good People of this Colony to be frugal in the Use and Consumption of British Manufactures, and that the Merchants and Manufacturers of Great Britain may, from Motives of Interest, Friendship, and Justice, be engaged to exert themselves to obtain for us a Redress of those Grievances, under which the Trade and Inhabitants of America at present labour: We do therefore most earnestly recommend this our Association to the serious inhabitants of this Colony, in Hopes, that they will very readily and cordially accede thereto.
First, It is UNANIMOUSLY agreed on and resolved this 18th day of May, 1769, that the Subscribers, as well by their own Example, as all other legal Ways and Means in their Power, will promote and encourage Industry and Frugality, and discourage all Manner of Luxury and Extravagance.
Secondly, That they will not at any Time hereafter, directly or indirectly import, or cause to be imported, any Manner of Goods, Merchandise, or Manufactures, which are, or shall thereafter be taxed by Act of Parliament, for the Purpose of raising a Revenue in America (except Paper, not exceeding Eight Shillings Sterling per Reem, and except such Articles only, as Orders have been already sent for) nor purchase any such after the First Day of September next, of any Person whatsoever, but that they will always consider such Taxation, in every Respect, as an absolute Prohibition, and in all future Orders, direct their Correspondents to ship them no Goods whatever, taxed as aforesaid, except as is above excepted. ...[119]
[Present
89 members.]
The business being finished, the following TOASTS were drank, and Gentlemen retired.
The KING,
The QUEEN and ROYAL FAMILY,
His Excellency Lord BOTETOURT [the Governor], and Prosperity to VIRGINIA.