altered their constitution; the principle of which was respected by
usurpation; restored with the restoration of monarchy, and established,
I trust, for ever, by the glorious Revolution.


COLONIES AND BRITISH CONSTITUTION.

For that service, for all service, whether of revenue, trade, or empire,
my trust is in her interest in the British constitution. My hold of the
colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from
kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These are
ties, which, though light as air, are as strong as links of iron. Let
the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with
your government;--they will cling and grapple to you; and no force under
heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it
be once understood that your government may be one thing, and their
privileges another; that these two things may exist without any mutual
relation; the cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened; and everything
hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep
the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the
sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race
and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards
you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more
ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience.
Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows in every soil.
They may have it from Spain, they may have it from Prussia. But, until
you become lost to all feeling of your true interest and your natural
dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the commodity
of price, of which you have the monopoly. This is the true act of
navigation, which binds to you the commerce of the colonies, and through