t what value he shall think fit on
his own money, and that he shall be at once the interpreter and
executioner of this new law, the condition of the innkeeper will then be
such as no slave in the mines of America can envy, and such as he will
gladly quit for better treatment under the most arbitrary and oppressive
government.

Nor will the insolence of the soldier, thus invested with unlimited
authority, thus entitled to implicit obedience, and exalted above the
rest of mankind, by seeing his claim only bounded by his own moderation,
be confined to his unhappy landlord. Every guest will become subject to
his intrusion, and the passenger must be content to want his dinner,
whenever the lord of the inn shall like it better than his own.

That these apprehensions, sir, are not groundless, may be proved from
the conduct of these men, even when the law was not so favourable to
their designs; some of them have already claimed the sole dominion of
the houses in which they have been quartered, and insulted persons of
very high rank, and whom our ancient laws had intended to set above the
insults of a turbulent soldier. They have seen the provisions which they
had ordered taken away by force, partly, perhaps, to please the appetite
of the invader, and partly to gratify his insolence, and give him an
opportunity of boasting among his comrades, how successfully he
blustered.

If it be necessary, sir, to insert a new clause in the act to prevent
lawsuits, which, however advantageous they may sometimes be to me, I
shall always be ready to obviate, it is surely proper to limit the claim
of one party as well as that of the other, for how else is the ambiguity
taken away? The difficulty may be, indeed, transferred, but is by no
means removed, and the innkeeper must wholly repose himself upon the
lenity and justice of the soldier, or apply to the courts of law for the
interpretation of the act.

The question before us is said to be so free from perplexity, that it
can scarcely give occasion for harangues or disputations; and, indeed,
it cannot but be allowed, that the controversy may soon be brought to a
single point, and I think nothing more is necessary than to inquire, if
innholders shall be obliged to provide victuals for soldiers at a stated
price, what, and how much the soldier shall demand.

The power of raising money at pleasure, has been hitherto denied to our
kings, and surely we ought not to place that confidence in the