their own representatives. The Stamp Act says, we shall have no
commerce, make no exchange of property with each other, neither
purchase, nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry nor make
our wills; unless we pay such and such sums." It was suggested that an
external tax might be laid on the necessaries of life, which the people
must have; but Franklin said that the colonies were, or very soon would
be, in a position to produce for themselves all necessaries. He was then
asked what was the difference "between a duty on the importation of
goods and an excise on their consumption?" He replied that there was a
very material one; the excise, for reasons given, seemed unlawful. "But
the sea is yours; you maintain by your fleets the safety of navigation
in it, and keep it clear of pirates; you may have, therefore, a natural
and equitable right to some toll or duty on merchandises carried through
that part of your dominions, towards defraying the expense you are at in
ships to maintain the safety of that carriage." This was a rather narrow
basis on which to build the broad and weighty superstructure of the
British Custom House; but it was not to be expected that Franklin should
supply any better arguments upon that side of the question. It was
obvious that Grenville's proposition might lead to two conclusions. He
said: External and internal taxation are in principle substantially
identical; we have the right to the former; therefore we must have the
right to the latter. It was a quick reply: Since you have not a right to
the latter, you cannot have a right to the former. But Franklin, being
a prudent man, kept within his intrenchments, and would not hazard
increasing the opposition to the colonial claims by occupying this
advanced ground. He hinted at it, nevertheless: "At present the
colonists do not reason so; but in time they possibly may be convinced
by these arguments;" and so they were.

Franklin also in his examination, and at many other times and places,
had something to say as to the willingness of the colonies to bear their
full share of public burdens. He spoke with warmth and feeling, but with
an entire absence of boastfulness or rodomontade. He achieved his
purpose by simply recalling such facts as that the colonies in the late
war had kept 25,000 troops in the field; that they had raised sums of
money so large that even the English Parliament had seen that they were
exceeding any reasonable estimate of