absolved: freed.

acquiesce: to accept or consent passively.

appropriations of land: the British government, or Crown, considered the land of all the colonies originally to belong to it, and individual colonies had charters that limited their settlement. To expand those colonies or create new ones required new appropriations of land from the Crown, which became more difficult and expensive to secure.

beyond seas: that is, in England.

conjured: to entreat or appeal to.

constitution: not the United States Constitution, which came after independence, but the various charters and laws by which the colonies were established and governed.

despository: the place where something is kept.

despotism: absolute rule by a tyrant, with no legal safeguards.

disavow: reject or repudiate any association with or responsibility for something.

eat out their substance: the American colonies were required to supply the needs of British troops stationed there, including food and housing; as the number of troops rose, the burden of feeding them became proportionately greater.

formidable: causing dread or extreme opposition.

incapable of annihilation: the idea here is that "legislative powers," since they reside ultimately in the people and not in a king or even a legislature, cannot be destroyed by dissolving such a legislature, in which case they would return to the people to be exercised in various other forms.

inestimable: extremely valuable or important.

King: George III (1738-1820), king of England (1760-1820) at the time of the American Revolution.

jurisdiction: a governing authority

levy war: wage or fight a war.

magnanimity: generosity and nobility, especially expressed in the forgiving of past wrongs.

neighboring province: the colonies which eventually formed part of Canada.

perfidy: treachery, deliberate betrayal.

prince: ruler; in this case, George III.

rectitude: moral correctness.

redress: correction of or compensation for wrongs suffered.

representative houses: colonial legislatures, such as the Virginia House of Burgesses, which was dissolved in 1764.

taken captive on the high seas: if a ship was short of crew members, the British (and later also the American) navy followed the practice of "impressing," or physically forcing individuals into its service, well into the 19th century. Men were often captured on land, before a ship set sail, but if the shortage occurred once the ship was on the high seas, they would simply board a merchant vessel (often of a different nationality) and take some of its sailors captive.

tenure of their offices: length or period of in office.

usurpations: illegal seizures of rights or powers.