I have not failed to lay before the King the Petition and Remonstrance to His Majesty of the late house of Representatives of the Province of Massachuset’s Bay, resolved upon in general Assembly on the 14th. of July 1772. and also their Petition to His Majesty resolved upon in general Assembly on the 6th. of March last, which Petitions and Remonstrance you delivered to me on the 14th. instant.
His Majesty commanded me to read them to Him, and having well weighed and considered the Subject Matter thereof, and the Expressions contained therein, was graciously pleased to declare, that as on the one hand His Majesty would ever attend to the humble Petitions of His Subjects, in all parts of His Dominions, and be most forward to redress, as far as depended upon him, every real Greivance they might have to complain of, so on the other hand His Majesty was determined to support the Constitution, and to resist with firmness every Attempt to derogate from the Authority of the Supreme Legislature.
That His Majesty considered His Authority to make Laws by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, of sufficient Force and Validity to bind His Subjects in America in all Cases whatsoever, as essential to the Dignity of the Crown, and a Right appertaining to the State, which it was His Duty to preserve entire and inviolate, and therefore His Majesty could not but be greatly displeased with the Petitions and Remonstrance of the late Representatives of the Province of Massachuset’s Bay, in which Petitions and Remonstrance that Right is drawn into question.
That His Majesty was unwilling to suppose that the Sentiments of His faithful Subjects in general in the Province of Massachuset’s Bay corresponded with the unwarrantable Doctrines held forth in the said Petitions and Remonstrance, but imputed the same to the Artifices of a few who seek to create groundless Jealousy and Distrust, and to disturb that Harmony and Union, the Preservation of which is so essential for the mutual Interest both of the Mother Country and of the Colonies. I am &c.