The Humble Address of the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament Assembled
The Humble Address of the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament Assembled, presented to His Majesty, on Thursday, February 9, 1775… London : Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan, 1775.
THE HUMBLE / ADDRESS / OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE / The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, / and Commons, in Parliament assembled, / PRESENTED TO / HIS MAJESTY, / On THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1775
WITH / HIS MAJESTY’S / MOST GRACIOUS / ANSWER.
LONDON : / Printed by CHARLES EYRE and WILLIAM STRAHAN, / Printers to the King’s most Excellent Majesty. / MDCCLXXV.
Die Jovis, 9° Februarii, 1775. / ORdered by the Lords Spiritual and Tem- / poral, in Parliament assembled, That / the Address of both Houses of Parliament, / presented to His Majesty this Day, and His / Majesty’s most Gracious Answer thereunto, / be forthwith printed, and published. / Ashley Cowper, / Cler’ Parliamentor’.
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THE HUMBLE / ADDRESS / OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE / The LORDS SPIRITUAL and TEMPORAL, / and COMMONS, in Parliament assembled.
Die Martis, 7° Februarii, 1775.
MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN, / WE, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the / Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parlia- / ment assembled, return Your Majesty our most humble / Thanks for having been graciously pleased to communicate / to us the several Papers relating to the present State of the / British Colonies in America, which, by Your Majesty’s / Commands, have been laid before us: We have taken / them into our most serious Consideration; and we find, that a Part of Your / Majesty’s Subjects, in the Province of the Massachuset’s Bay, have proceeded / so far to resist the Authority of the Supreme Legislature, that a Rebellion at / this Time actually exists within the said Province; and we see, with the / utmost Concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by / unlawful Combinations and Engagements, entered into by Your Majesty’s / Subjects in several of the other Colonies, to the Injury and Oppression of / many of their innocent Fellow Subjects, resident within the Kingdom of / Great Britain, and the rest of Your Majesty’s Dominions: This Conduct, / on their Part, appears to us the more inexcusable, when we consider with / how much Temper Your Majesty, and the Two Houses of Parliament, / have acted in Support of the Laws and Constitution of Great Britain. We / can never so far desert the Trust reposed in us, as to relinquish any Part of / the Sovereign Authority over all Your Majesty’s Dominions, which, by Law, / is vested in Your Majesty, and the Two Houses of Parliament; and the / Conduct of many Persons, in several of the Colonies, during the late Distur- / bances, is alone sufficient to convince us how necessary this Power is for the / Protection of the Lives and Fortunes of all Your Majesty’s Subjects. / We
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We ever have been, and always shall be, ready to pay Attention and / Regard to any real Grievances of Your Majesty’s Subjects, which / shall, in a dutiful and constitutional Manner, be laid before us; and when- / ever any of the Colonies shall make a proper Application to us, we shall be / ready to afford them every just and reasonable Indulgence: At the same Time, / we consider it as our indispensible Duty, humbly to beseech Your Majesty, / that You will take the most effectual Measures to enforce due Obedience to / the Laws and Authority of the Supreme Legislature; and we beg Leave, in / the most solemn Manner, to assure Your Majesty, That it is our fixed Re- / solution, at the Hazard of our Lives and Properties, to stand by Your Ma- / jesty against all rebellious Attempts, in the Maintenance of the just Rights / of Your Majesty, and the Two Houses of Parliament.
HIS MAJESTY’s most Gracious ANSWER.
MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, / I THANK you for this very dutiful and loyal Address, and for the affection- / ate and solemn Assurances you give Me of your Support in maintaining the / just Rights of My Crown, and of the Two Houses of Parliament; and you may / depend on My taking the most speedy and effectual Measures for enforcing due / Obedience to the Laws, and the Authority of the Supreme Legislature. / Whenever any of My Colonies shall make a proper and dutiful Application, I / shall be ready to concur with you, in affording them every just and reasonable / Indulgence; and it is My ardent Wish, that this Disposition may have a happy / Effect on the Temper and Conduct of My Subjects in America.
FINIS.
