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A M E R I C A. m Which . -tHE MISTAKES IN THE ABBE's ACCOUNT «P THE REVOLUTION OF AMERICA ' ARI CORR£CTE& AND CLIAREO UP« ' ' ■' - ■ ' . > ' J ■ ' ■ '■ ;■■ ■■ %,\,- BY THOMAS PAINE, •ECRITAKY FOR FOKSICK ATPAIAS T9 COMOREtt OlKUNI ^ TH« AMSRICAM WA^y AMD AllTHe|l Or COM>^ail SBK8E» AND TBE RtQATl Ot |«AH^r ■ I I I 11 I " II !■ Ill > I III ' I \ i-^ mmm0mmmiim i g Tn ii g iml ii . i i iii ''"' i *Ni' - ^^fci^i— ^i^—i— — >— w*— ^— ii ii nm I ■ II III II ym^mdtmmmmA^fmiimm I M 1 1 n i m wmmm^^'^^ii^mmmmmmtm * > / L N J> Ni MUVTfiO FOR J. RIDGWAV, HQ. t. YORK-STftlETi^ 61, JAMJB«'8-SaVJIll», «■*«« v.»cc UlU .■■*.'. -.' ■<, ilS'-';^ * ■^. * .ij. .. INTRO IXU CT ion; ^v-Mm Jffj i] /\ LONDON tr0^ii$0 •fmn original ttwri i« FrtmA, hy^be AOt Maymtif wbieb h-tMU •/tbt Xevtiutim of North AmrUa^ '^''7 ^« rtpri$mdSm ^ JHilaidpbi9Mml 0ti*r parts of tbe eomiiiMmtt mud at tbt dtfianee at ivbid tU Abbe itplactijr»m tbt AMuricam tbtatrt •/war and p^H'us^ bat •eeafivmd bim Jo m^tibtftveraifaett^ w mtiftimciivt tb* tauftt tr primeipUt by wbitk f^iey vterg ^rodKetdi tbe falkvrimg traeif tber^Qtt, it publijbed with aviewHirfaify tbtm, oMdprtntnt evmaeadmiUtl trrwt ittttrmixhg wiib bj/hryt imdtr tbmJaiiBim ^ - $m» amd^ltnte, . tbt Edittr^ftbt Zvufai tdition bat tatiiltd iif " The RcTolution of Amcr rica, by tbt Abbs KavHal," and tbt Amtricati prinUn bave/oUtwed ibfttr^ mmpU^ Bui I bavt UHderftoed, and T btlievt my in/trmatitm juJI, tbat tbt Pititt , ^ tirTR09 VCTIOi^. \^J i^' ¥>■> P.i" puik nw t mtl ttmjf uMfim* A mtm*$ t^hums^ %»te$itr nitrmtm tr In *hniji$M m* kit mtimtmU$M!ttUfmfe ibm Hmftl/i mid it h oddiHg crmtliy f^Jlf^u^ U mk<^ bimtkt mmm ^ vilmi Jkturt wtftiHm or Srtter im/trmsti^ gm^jtum^ jrm lUp t9k^4* *** «i"MMJl ihkrf mrt dtekmikin Mmd/tntimintt in *W, Mi*** jfUm' Mlf./i^ti9 »imf»t, f ilW W mjnA f»>&irf, mi/lui at khiUFi'-i^hm MiK> wM$ Urn fimt- ttta/lm #0 thai^t, fcrf tkf tatHiiptikd piraty tfiih^ih g l h m iid MmU* t^/»riiiiiity^'>*iid ^ifitmiot him Htfm/j^^Hia, whiAt lUw dtt %^9^ii^lmmM^''ibti f^ Ji^licilir andt fervlct pC letters ind tKe imfiiiHmaBtt^; ilMB^Iiwp are ouide to ^cVent deprfaHtoftiou litiiri^jp ||f«rl% renaitkiBg, (hat Rvfl^a, #rlio b«K i^t«#|««MB|iiiii|^, WfUmwmSmojp^t owti a large fnare of mt ft^ki^t'g^Hmr ' : jtoytiiin^ll^ ha$ ^d, and tbe wHe encdtiirlge^ieikt Cbe bit i *i^ everf brtnch of i^aacc and learnidR ; and wc ha¥e abttoft ite fin|^ .ipccaa INicc, in the re^a of hnn» XIV. [# '■L'vjite ^il 1- '■-•%*■ ;>' .frv^-i.- A- '* '••J* > » ,1'- •^'■.•» '&-'il.- V'.iM ;,r-vj «/» ;s^? 4mM ■SSBSSti it; 2^' ♦■d » LETTER AbDMtlMI TO THX r • ABBE A Y N A-L» .-.-.«! .• TO an author of fiich diiflnguli&ed feptitatlon an the Abbt RtTnal* It" tn'^t^ht very well become me to apolo^nke for the preTent nndtrtaking ( but as to he right Is the Srft wHh of philofophy, and the firft p* indole of ' hiftoryi he will, I p^eftimry accept from me a ((eclaration of my mottVMt which arc thofe of doing jufticC) in preference to anv compliniental apo« logVy I mifrht otherwife make.— The Abbe, in the courfe of his work, nat in ibme ioftances extolled, without a reafoOf and w^^aded wirhout a caufe. He has givt'n fame v^ere it Was not deferve • «nd withheld it ^here k wa/tyuftly due ; and af^ears to be fo frequently it ;;Qd out of tea** ^r with his fubjeds and parties, that few or none of them we deeifiverj and uniformly marked. It is yet too foon to write tdie hiftory of the rerolntion ; and whecver attemffts it precipitately, will unavoidably miftake cbaraAcrs'and circaiQ« ftances, and involve himfetf In error and difficulty. Thing* like men are feldom underitood rightly at firft fight. ^ But th6 Abbe fa wrong e attMolttlid ukStH^ the intifreft of Europe. %^* , Tomnve tKis, I fkall bring forward a paflage, wiHi||^HlJUk placei toWtrda the lattdr part of the Abbe*s work, is more intin^Kgi loniae^toA with the beginning; and in which, fpeaking of the originat cai^ of^ iht diljpttte, he ^clarea himfblf in tfte fbllowing mann— '* None/* fays her** 0^ cbofe energetic caufts, which hfveprodtteedHAi> '** inany revoltitipifa upon the globe, exlfted in North- America.. Sfeithf^ ** rtngion not laWa had there bten outraged. The blood ^f OMftyra or ^' patnots had not thert ili'^amtd fvom fcaffolds. Morals kad iiqi tbert ** oeen ihfuhed. Manners,,cuftom«, habits, no objed dear to natirii|ai had *** there been thefport of ridicule. Ari>itrary, power had not tKJHK.totii '** any inhabitant frdm the anins of his finiily and hia-friendsf to drag '^ fu a dresyy dungeon. Pttblit order had not beea> there invcarted«^.. ^ vrfaklnies of adminiftration had n^ beisB chanffcitlier^; anr^ '^ ma or government had there always remained die fames Xhe ^ %neftinn was rtdikced t4 i3ie kAowiHgf whether the mother country •^ wttaA lint i right to Uir, dirWy or in^rcaty , a flhrht ta» Ofoa tk||:< «l0l^llei.* ' ' jE^tltft ettsMrdinaiY f#iKe» it mit noli>e inipraper, ia^genrrat tcemi*. lfrmKl% lltti iK«i «in ? America twelve yean before the d4enec, and ten yean before the breaking out of hoftilitica* , »*»Thiir#, thcreflire, mi^hich the paragraph it tiue, ^vft be antecedent *fJ^R,»«Bpl.dfci fJtiti Stat that tiaae there wat no Fevolution, aor anf IdiBk of ciJe, it confcc|uei)t!y,appiie« without a naeaning ; and at it eattno^ •If th e Abba'i «iwn. principle, be applied to any time afUt the ftamp fdlf it a therttfore » wanderin^r folitvy paragraph conne^ed wkh podiinf »' jK^td at vari4ibce wih every iKliij^. , The ftamp aA, it it trae, was repe&l(>4tin two yeart afkef it wat pa4V4t Wf It wat immediately followed by doeoflii finite 7 more mirchievouaaia^ *if«!^t ' ««c*h the declaratory aft, wliich affertad the right, at it wat tS^ adropaa, they were now mad^ fubie^ to re- Jgtl wj^teration at the mere will at one party only. The whole conditiaa ^Strhffi'*^'^" •^"v r»i^°»« «»»« hands of the Parliament. or the MiniAr*. y*gf »*^e?ying < o her the lead righfcio any cafe #batfb^vcr: ^Theje isho dcfpbtijmto ^^hicbthifim^jiitout law did not extend; ancl. l5i?*Fli'"'^^***f,f b*** «»«T»c«itnt,inthee?tecutioncf it, toh»Vf«o». Wiifed attinneraand bab«s, the phaciplc of the ad made aU twaann letfaL Kfe x)l: « man, ot,^ If I n^y f* fi||r^^^ ^ft^t^e natare,^ law to reqnir6%be2ence. but thl? demaml^dlSSS|lfS l|dflbttietim«»^(i^ iitt: bt^ ■jice, ill whiclx it. J ■ i^|vik|o|tW«j»e, *doei^*io4'i?lfi^ ;. ^^I^k I ii M ': r- ; coaft* tcntlMf litnotr t worlds le cf ift* hum the futhtiw • of the' admitt auitkt. tecedcor lor tKf utaiMbi n4co«» Urcifrd «ii»fcftv id ■» aa b^ tbis Horeof k to re- mditicMi EtoiAry, r Bc^iiM >*^ ff- lITTtA TO Tlii MM»tL XATtktX f Mdthcr couMIt b«»id «ftf Jtfc, that ifct kglflitwt ttf Alt l i K M I Mf bnger made lawt for cHU, l>«t diat it m«c oat conii»tftdt| tm W fM ^ m differed an ad of Parliament conftmdUa on tliia priAcifl*, aM «Mili|lj(|9. this manner, over an vnraprafcnud peo^, from thaordotori ^ cftablifhmcnt \ The Parliament of England, with rel^cdk lo Amefficn* «■•< al bnt ptrftttmL It appeared to the latter a body alwtyt in brilf • ' Hi ekdUon or ita expiration were to her the faa^e at if ita tuaaSbftn Aweciild bj inheritance, or wcntont by death, or liYcd forever, or were tppoirtieA to it u a matter- of office.. Iherefbre, for the people of Baf^and to ham any jttft conception of the inittd of Aoaerica, refpcding thb extraordinurt «&, they Mntt ibppofe all elcAion and cxpiratiMi in that country to ccaw |«r ever, and tjait prelieBt Parliament, its hehra, &c. to be pcrpctniJ ; \m, Iria cale« I ailk^ what woald the moft clanam^na of them thinki wef» m aft to be palled, declaring the right of /WA « FmrUmnd to bind A^ ifi iV caies whatfocver ? For this word mUghcw^ would go aa effadpally to fliMr Magna Cbarta, Bill tf Jiigitt, TrM Sj Juriti, ftc. la it w«nt CO the/htlp*^ tcra and forms of goveromem in America. I am pcrfuadisiC that the Gentleman tb whom I addrcia thtfe remadki^ '^iil nut, after the paffins this aft, fay, ** That the ffheiJ^Us of adminiftratlHI i^ had not been ebanged in SAmerica, and that the masinu of gov€rnai«|K V* had there been alinays th$ fam$,^ For here i>, in principle, atotldww* 'throw of the whole, and not a fubvcrfion only, but an annihilation ti^S^' l^ndation of liberty, and abfulute domination eflabliihed in ita ftead. . The Abbe likcwife ftatei the cafe exceedingly wronjg and iB}ttrioiiMlj|[^ %hen be iiiya, « that' tht luUle queftion wai reduced to the. knowing f^k^ a* iber the mother country had, or had not, a right to lay, dtreftly or mdl* ** reftly »Jligb* tax upon the coionica." This waa m« tb« vMf of the 4M^ lion ; neither wai the Quantity of the tax the objeft, either to the Mimftryi w to ttoe Americana, it waa the principle, at which the tu made but a part, and the (quantity ftill lefa, that formed the gronod on which Aioatrica The tax on tea* which is the tax. here ttlMed to^ Hit aakber aiMe m M than an experiment tc cftabU^k the praftice of the d^c^mtorfliwiMi «ata> dtited i||t»the motefaihionable phrafe yfiA* miimtfiiJif^mm^^Biitiiammlk Sor, oi^tii tbik tiaic, the deckratory Itw bad lain dormant, ind the frai9ti|^ , •f iciiad contested litemfehrs^with hircly dtdMingaii opiatoBk ^ ^ r fhevefere^ the^ «MMr ^leftiilB with Aaieriea, in «b«(MiMofihadiCf ~ mtMi waa, ShaH^e be ihound in all cafiea. whacfecTer bf Oc Bfittfb Hi^ ' meat, or QM. w« not? For fubmiffioa to the tea or ti|x al^, impliad flbi: acliDowledgmeBt of tbededarxtory aft, or, ia other i^roei^, ^iMmMm Ol rupremacyof Parliwlaent, which, u they never iatefided to d«i^ hr mL nectnury tkcV fhould •ppofe it^ ut ita^rft fiage M eacfotfeiu . ' T ^. . It it probiibie* the Abbe baa been led into tbW«iHk|kt Mrvfiningdll ««cd ptecea in ibmc of tl]« American ncwa-papert } |c#. ta a cafewlear^ :^P«i« intereiled» every one had a. right to |^ve bla apimoa t . aad tbiM w mavivbo, with tlie bef^ btentions, dtd aot chiifiB the bcft j nor .indeed ttaegtonod, to defend theie caufe apon. They Mt tfwaOiebiea fi||^bflk palSiAimpiiieB, without beii^ ab)«^ fe^te, aaafy^e, and aitiaft^ai ^tim ibiaeiOiat liawUlingto eiamiiW^^^ %|«a^ ^^K\ oattaordiiia^pafliigeof the Abbe, left Ijlouldaffear to treat iT] iMritfT«diemfe icoaH,lhW'thac#t « Angle declamtion ia Jr^*' «d|'iivlitftaBfi9«,tha rcnvioiraa d^ aft of thaitiflaof Si P. ,f^_^-*_ mmS^fi'mbi mid drag tl^^^0ml^i$»~ dreary m:d^:i'-^--^- * '^ .9ilimimmfam$km |cw#beiM«tb« btcsaMns^iipr IK , P ) Is* 1^ M C. ■* f ItTTtR TO TMK ABBI ^ATHtMU a», ihinifh the blood of aMfCTrt tad pttriou h«4 fioc OrctOMd Mtk»^ Mi, It ftmmcd ia the Arottt, Jo thi Mflacrt of the iahaUtuMt 4t' Jhtmt hf tkt BritiA r«»t
  • ryi in the Tctr 1770. ital the Abbe fiM chat the ceofet «>liich predueed the rerohitioa io Ame^ rict were origtneily Jifftrtnt from thofe which prodoced reroltttieac hi other fkartt «l the globe, he tiad becii right Her* the value and quality of Uber- tf , the nature of Kove(nmciit» and ''the dignity of man were known and nndtilVioil. hod the attachment of the Americana fo thcfe prtnciplea prodo* ctd the revolution 91 a natural and almoft unavoidible conKqoence. They kftd no particular iamiy to fet up or puil dAwn. Nothing of peHbmlitr Wii Incorporattd with their caule. They Aarted even-handed with each •l^, and went no fafttr into the fcYcral ftngei of it, than Ihey were driven hf the nnrclcQting aod imperiout cnndoA of iSnuin. Nay, in the laft adl, the declaration of iodrpendcnre, thry had nearly been too late ; for had it Bit been declared at the cxaA time it was, I faw no period in their affairs ince, in wliich it could have been declared with the ftmeeffed, and ffobebly not at all. But the objeA being formed before the reverjft of fortune took place, that la befbre the operations of the gloomy campaign of 1V76, their honour, theiftl ialereft. their every thing, called loudly on them to maintain it ; and tha|^ glow of thought and energy of heart, which even a diftant profpcdl of inde^V pcwkncc ioipirca. geve confidence to their hopea and reinlution to thehr caadndl, which a ftate of dependance could never have rqachrd. Thryt looked fmrwaira to iiappier daya and fcenea of reft, and qualified the hardU * Jhipa/if the campaign by contemplating the eftabliflkoient of their new-born If on the other hand, vre take a review of what part Britain haa aSed, tPC iiall fiTnd every thing which ought to make a motion biufli* The moft ip^dlir akiifc, accompanied by thatfpecies of hanghtinefa, which diftinguifli^ •a iSe hero of a mob from the chara^r of a gentleman \ it waa e^mliy ae ■nih fimm her manaera aa from her mj.oftice that (he loft the c^oaiea. Bf the latter fte provoked their ptinciples, by the fbrnaea flie wore out duiir ^ilib^wr} mid it e«|^t to be hetdnut aa an exatoiple to the jtvortd^ to> dhmi, how neeeftanr it is to condu A the heJineife w govamment witii cl^ tiity. Itt i^Mrt, other rtvehlliona may^ve originated^ in caprice^ or-gcne* •mmfA In wibatiun i, but here, the moft unoffimding humility was tortnred into* fige, and the infiuiqr of eeiftcnce made to weep. . A union fo exteauve* continked and determined, (b&ring with padence JmA tt^^ttUt in dcfpair, co«14 not haiie been produced by common canfea. k tMift be fimething capable of reaching riip ¥^hujie foul (Mf nun, nod amingp 4t wkh ftrpetual dicrgy. bi vain it ia to hHdc for yreeedenta among the gPfohttviM of former ajpea, to ind out, bf eomp»iUbn,thecaufeanf tkia» .The fpeittt, the pragaeto, tbse db^edl,. the cottfeq^uencc^ n*y thcacn^thcir iilliei of iknkiag4 and all the circumftancea ot the conntry»>are di&Hnt.. ^Hurfe ti othce nauonaare, b genetal, little more thin llie hiftory <^ their qpuNTeie. They are marked by n» important cBara^er in the annalanf ««e^;.,ndat in the mafiiof general maatexs thef neempy hat a ommboi^ fage; and while the chief of the fheceftfnl partinana fte|pt into powi^ th» fiiniMed miattitttde fiit down afid iblrnwwd^ Few,, ver]^ fe« of theiaae^ nccompanicd with reformation, either in government or mannera; maaf nl iflibnk with: the iaoftcbnfumniato protilgacy^^TriUihph on the one fid* and ■iifilryi on the other wece the «dyi eventa. Pain^ puiuihniaiUi torture^ and ^Mth were made the bi^efs of maakind, until eynifaAaa^ the fiaiieft alilk*i- «ktte of ~^e hear^ was driven foam its plaee, and the eye, aeenftmned tn> ■on^mml: crttelly , eenld behnld it without ol^da. i. li|ta» tkepxilidplesoi the prelbttt itvnittlieo di|fcfcd icbn tkaftw^ ytiid e d it^ Mkx^t^ haa the condnA nl ^fac^ethoth in goeeantfaiii^MiP htk Miilheff thftlb^filttereldUi^^iee nortke kiaodThand«{«ii«MpiMl^ 4ki| bwrta pnfria hint tqiin her ftuM. Hir vidbMfks hftvn jecele^iniiB J 1 "JJl ^1 1m ?.« •<; .,! laTTiftTTOi fills mK» mienum* ia Amtk* I in other fotUhtt- lowm ftftd l««prndii> e. TlMjr eribmlitr ivithMch tn driven for htd it pir •ffiira lace, that iiury theis^l ; and tha|.^ ilbfindf-' 1 to the'te d. They the hardU ' new-born haa aAed, Themoft ifting«ifti» B^oaliy •• Btea. Bf otttdMir woAi, to> twitiiciki .Off |Mne« tared iato* t patience aafea. it nBf(th» taoC thia*. ■cn^dicir differtnt* yoltbrir ^ «l9* mamrnl fid* iani rtiirc^aiMfc ireftafib- fO ')] ■Mf «ii|lU kdttjr Imiw iirifcMiJ lopnllL •v9il»% VNirld^ Ifteiwfe been ofely the MImCi oi utmim^ i ImI^ Ciattt her varr* enenke auift c«afefe« dMt it i Stt jaft defnce» flie aCid it witbosi cndtj, mi Aaitianot mydeCgn to eitcad iMift ftante ^ a llMNr||4 take my leave of tUa wAfr* of the Abbai' ^vilb as obCtrpatie^^, iDenethbg aaioldt iileif to eoirviace am oth^rwift, I caMMt^iM to bMme {—which ia, that it waa the ftn JilHiailpiiim of thft] ^^iaetfeoqaarrel with AaaemaataHcveatai ^ .^' ^ They (the nembcra who cowpoTe the^iMliet) had to doabt.if i Jber coaldoBce bring it i« iIm line of ahotile i andthey^^ • eoneeeft. what thcr could neither nropela widi dHMKj* ail jHfjUMtioB. The ekarteiaaiid ia^iUniieBi of the celtalMrw ^ fheia aaatlera of oficitcc, and thell atail fiafiift fir property Mdype(# .KthNiiarra di%aibngiT beheld ffa«he gMMAnid nataral ■MaMarftHiik .pMdiMC.. TMy law no way to reuin them long bat by redaeinf ihiii lA time. ' A cooqucft woald at eike have made them both lords and lMidloi4H jand Mt thein m paficHon Wh of the reveaue and the lantaL The wheto .tteoble of govrmaMnt Would have ceiicdin a vidorjr, and a final end^lMMl .pnt to rcaMmftranca and debate^ The espfrience of the fta«^ nrft hni .ttagbt them how to qaarrel iHth the advantayiii of cevei^ h4 c e n^ld e i ii i g * - ^apdtbey bad nothing to dfrbuft to zvantm Ihe.ietii. amd pnt caiileniifliBj|M|. viMioB. They hoped lor a jBhelUtn.tndiin^Wdeiwit. f lWf i t iiW L ■»diriwnioo o^independeoce. and ihty Wertf net IHnipnHiid "^ •ihMu. thcT hNdEedioir vtdlatvs Md MhcMM a defirat*' . If thia be tekan jia llte?iiMaga|hi|r eiMh^il the cantefib %» fp • •f the coadodt^if liM VlidhnlNiltfi' MnllianL froii '^mif^ i|li tHe '%Pi|: tHa' t^^'^af JNriv' i M iJ Iaa lnla H th ejr r at y Nied ^ negodation, and wece again deleattfk . ^ ^^fniingii the Abbe poffcfiea and difplayi great poaren of icid«%. iMli %m mnmr of ftylo and langaage, he feern* not to pay equal aftentleft Mi llil «fica of an hifiorian. Hia taAa are coldly and carelefsly flSMcd. Tbii^ ; aeitlwr inform the reader, nor intereft him. Mioy of them are errtmeMiC ,^i(km/^ elfhemdefeAivtfandobf6ttn,v It fa undoubtedly both an oooom ijMinda'iifefta i|#i^ t^ biftory f^^^^j^ifiinr it viith mas||it«fa j|^ 3jtta)l« diverfified flwoQcr of.ei9reffion i but it ^8 abibliiiel)r-^M J»m imm, !n^h#c^ ij^ fyting, or the foundationt on which they are i fiMttlQ be ^vell attended to, which in thia wprk they are not. Thf Abl|l ^hiiliiii th»oa|lihia^nyrati6na m if he waa glad to get from them» f^ hg >:i|MMMerthe mofe cofiooaficljd of eloquence and imaginatioii. ^ t^ ;vmadlieQi>oC Trenton and iPrineeton in Mew^>^ey. ia DaMmbe% wfi^ii md Janoapy Collowing, on'#hichthe fate oFApatrica ftood hxki IMiflct'trembling on {fat point of fufpence, and^ from whi& the aipft ^'''$')^ .«0«idiftqta
    t •! • ktt»r. The «6Uoo of Eong-iflMid it but h^)j hiSMittt ud Che opcrttifOBAac the Whtce-PhiM wBoIIt omitted : wtt Vktmi^ Ae atlKk and loft of Fort Waiiingtos, irith a gamfim •£ about two thoD&nd five hundred men, and the precipitate evacuation of Fort Let* Ik 'Ci«liqtien3din puUing down bridges, andtfieTan «f me other in buildinr them up, mu6 neccflarily be accompauled witk ItfaAj iMereftiQg circumftancet. It was a period of difkrefies. A crifis rather of danger than of hajfe^. 4imt k no dcfrription can do it jaftice } and even the a&ors in it, looking ■hade upon the fcene, are furprifed how they got through } and at a lpf$ to nccoMU for thofe powers of the mind and fprings of animation, by which .they withftood the force of aecumalated misfortune. k was expeded, that the time for which the army was enlifted, would carry the campaign fo far into the winter, that the feverity of the feafon, ai^ itht confequent conditibn of the roads , would prevent any material open* . tion of the enemy, until the new army could be raifed for"^e next year. rAttd f mention it» as a nutter worthy of attention by all future hiftoriaaiy. that the nurrements of the American army, until the attack upon the licffien pod at Trenton, the ft6tk of December, are to, be cotifldered asopa* rating to effcA no other principal purpofe than delay^atid to wear away tbe -campaign under all the difadTaatagcs of an unequal force, with as little mif- - fiMTtvne as poffiblo. But the lofs of the garrilbn at Fort Waihington, on the i6th of Noivembtfr and the expiration of the time of a confidentble part of the army^ foeatlyv as the 3Qth of the fame month, and which were to oe followed by akitoftdaiv 1^ ecplratious afterwards, made retreat the oaVf final expedient. To thtft fUfcumftances mav be added f he forlorn and deftitute condition of the Aiw. tiiac remained ; for the garrifoa at Fort Lee, ^hich comp ^hoWeb, without an army to oppofe him. Tliere were no fuceoura^to be /ind, but from the free-will offering of the inhabitants. All Was choiice, iSd ^ I I' ■I H J LSma T<».TK1 ABBS tLATIUU thebniflA it but fapreljr itted: wai^ tfaboQttwo if Fort Lct» the canfe oC boot oiiwty , from the theti;^*!*- aleagth di aadtSeTsn paBi«d wick an of h(^^ 1 it, lookinlf d at a k>fs to D, by which lifted, would efeafon, and iterial opert- le next year, re hiftofiiiHy. :k u|K>n the lereda«o|MK ear awaf tke at little miT- ofMotremb^ Lt. Tothdc I of the fiiw> ed almoft the . tantan«diifly», thi»deftiettce tnfUt to 6t6tt nguatAt io^ , the cewstty rty wkhiii ito iieeeun-to be I choice, s^ undortdlii- d«r(luin, aUd of hoQii, to ia of a Winter tiforded tiitte lieDellNyaf^. WeA«|i|tcfti lOW, iwh^t rt, M rxtnas. ent and not wtrll uaderfteod in Europe, 1 (ball, atcendMv«» I can, relate the fwincipal partt; they may fenre to prevent future hiftarnuni iMm error, and recover from forgetfulneft a fcene of magnificait feecitode* Immediately after d^ furprife of the Hcfliant at Trenton^ General WaAbi inMon recri^d the Delaware, which at this place it about three fuaricrtoC a^mile over, and re^fftuncd hislbmer poft on the Pennfylvania fide. Ttta^ ton remained unoccupied, and the enemy were psfted at Princeton, tmdivt- milesdifbnt, on the read tovrards NeW'Totk. The weathei| Was ndw gnnr* ing very fcvere, and as there were very few houfes iHilar the flioee where 0«i«i» Wafliington had ttkenliit A^timi, the ^eiteft part of bis army ac^' Mstoed out in the woods and fields. Thefe, vMth fomef otho* eircumftimeeft indMcd die re-croffing the Debward, and taking pbffieffion of Trenton. 1^ was aodoobfeodly a bo^ adventure, and catried wlui it the appeamace efcdo* Amce, efpecially vrhcn we confiderthe panicofbruck condition of the caemj* on 1^ loft dT the Hsflian poft. But in order to give a juft ideaAOf the afi)^, it is neceffary I (hould defcribe the place. ^ /Trenton is fiiMCed en a rifing ground, about three ^artors efwouleidil* tant from the EMehiwarek on the eaftern w Jafeyfldei and Is cot inns Mvgr ^vWoas by a fiamH creek or rivulet, iifllcient totuma mill whkik isen % aflarwhich it empties^itfelf at nearly fight angles into the DfeUwaic. 7I» upper divifion, woich is to the oorth>eaft, contains about fiwenty or eMitw Iwtt0% and the lower ibeut forty or fifty« The ground ea each fide ot thfir «ieidt, and on which Aehonfes ary, is fikewiferifinf^ and the two divifiea» Itefimtan agiPeeaUe pro^ieA to eadk either, wkh the creek besween, ei| irMch there is a^mallfiMme^dgeol one frck. ' Scarcely had General WadnDgcon.tf3icn pofthcre, and" before die ftvenl Mrdea of mtlithi, oat on detacbmentn, ior en their way, eotiM be eniiedkd^ ikanUie BritiA, Icaving^hind them a ftreqg gantfon at PriacetiMi-y«aaffehed dMdSuly, and eaceftd Trenton at the uppea or north-eiA^miitcr. -jMfum *4dtiie Americans flttMiiftcd.wilhilie a dnnecd>yar t y of dm BlM^CoitfeM Me for lemovilif the Aorea and bagKH»4andl^dU»rawing over IM bftdM^ III itlftdeikiie the BrHifli hadpdmBmi dP one half of cbte town. Oeneni 1l|ryiiSlij||ftalt a river of fueh txtent* The roadt • were btolM ■■jjmnnri with the Koft« md tbe tti:4o road «aa tednM by the eaeav« •( i> jilwt iaor o'clock a party of the Britiih aiwwwiheff tiM WMfH PWIA^ 4a|g#ito|ain it, but wenejqnilfed. They made ii«»o«« attM%l tb^«ek lapaffible: anfi vHiere becwcen the bridjM4d4jbVi|)tMitre^ maa in a mggeH natvraMiade ditch, overi»lil«|i'»ytii0tMByiH^^ Kttle difficHicy. the ftream being rapid and- ib«uap« :9mm»g mu iMMf coming f>n, and the Britift, beUeving thtiy had ntlthe advaatagea thef . coald wifli for, and chat they couJd.ttle them when thtypleafedi difeMiitini»*> rd all further operatiotia. aid held themfelt«t prepared to icake the attaclit aexr'nieming. ; ^ ^ But the next mornicf^ pruduced a fcene« at elegant aa it wa»nnexpeAed« ' *l!lieJB|ritifli<#ere under arma andrc^dy to march to adHoo, when ode of thelrMlglit*>hoife fiom Prtncecon came fnrioufly down the ftreet^ irith Mt. •ceoMtthat General Waflungton .had (hat morning attacked Old otnlid.- Che Bricifli ppft at that place, and wai proceeding on to (ei^e the nagaci«« •t Bhmiwkit t on which the ]^ritt(h» who were then oh the point of midking' an affault OR the evacuated camp of the Americaai, wheeled ^>out, and is t »Jro£ eDhfternattonmarch\ed for Princeton. i^ :;.Thii;xetreati«oneof tbore extraordinary circttmftanod'i; that in Ibtwf , agetdttay probably ^» for Sable. For it will with difficalty be beiie?ed that^ teaacmie^ on which aattrngigement, when every ear is fuppofed to bemiH «od;every IWgyjiKf Befr.;eiiBp!oycdt jflkottld move completely fromjbe ground, wiA^rml^s^l^ ftaioN«bag|^e and artillery, unknown and even, ttu(ufpeAedbyrthe.4}||inr« JlaMllbrci^rely were the Britifli deceived, that when, they heard tbereJKNjf:; oliirir caoBoa laid. Cnullarmt at Princeton, they fuppofed it to be tbnndef«<; tiwa|ki|^^;d^th t>f winter. . ^ I, the,be«»tf>|»«o?cr 9|)4^di4{uii«-hiireti^^fffia: a line of ftaito be iightedup in fnontofiSiria («p&« ^m»«fiadyJ'crv^tto give ao appeiiraace df going to reft, enddlPliliB^. ititm^-tba^ ji iy m ckw hf coocealed from the Britifli w^Kverweat adUiM beUad them^ilSli M^ie eaa no more be feen^throi^^n a w^Ui aiHlt ia IMI fiwitioni i^ may t^ ifitm propriety imm^t ^|r $Icjmwb a ptlliij' af^^to^oaearmy, afida;pUhirp£ac|oi»^tothe other: aflfair thi^ k^i^ 4wieit0tosja»rch pf^about eighteei^ jaUea, the Americani reached ^»P(e^< ton early in the morning. • / r^s'^tln* .^Iftwi ia ii i r r af friwat Oxteen^ile^^H^ fraai, yjii>ee; iijilti -md mmm «i«f e th«yrf«ith.|he m»m^Mvmk*m^ht9ti»i± i My ti' lii Mati ^.mgU^Jkm^^^Him |lMm|i9nf viihoattteH^ «iid^_„ iKtkoat lafrelhmeBi, that the. kv^.^d^mtk gi^aaa^^imh ao oOiei i iffiag^ilMiMM ^ kit^mt^n f^mi» ii^^mm^om^ rcftr. By ti I aiil advi^ttrnMliinpii^ mgj»i»m4t mvmmh MMmM^ii ^ _. , > flMfeipittecHRa, fftttiiki^iiiiftibifibjwo^ai^^, IMioov^k tMv>m4vt the Abhrxiiliiiin^ymiiUted; r 'I 1. *\ V <-i4b^^ .^„ ''^^^'^^^'^H'l'lttiiiiii^i rtifttWil Ddnnut' »le, Ibihftc ^rt brake* lETTBR TO TRX ABBl KATNAJ^. '3 bcageithrf . difemitiniK the attack* iiexpeAa4« r ten otie of :, witk Mr of makiiig' >ut, and ii^T ia fotwf. Heted that^ ihoiild ^,, I th^ fYQ of. tbDnder«9 , ■ * ti5eait>frfii! £^» cam* aKverwa*! RfB a iwJIit/ ^ AllM»ir> kit Qd 3ftluii ^ V. t. A i «« •I r» «< iiftkedclit and paper monej of America, wherrflt^Mklivof theft mat- ters, hefaj*! ^^ " Thefe ideal riches were rejefted. The more' tfie multiplication dT them waa urged by want, the girater did their depreciation grow. The Congrcfs was indignant at the a/Froncs given to its money, anid declared all tbofe to be traitors to their conAtty who Ihould not receore it aa thef wovldhaTe received gold itfelf. *< Did not this body know, that pofltHions are no more to be contronled •* than feelings are ? Did it not perceive, that in the prefent crtfis, every <* rational paan wouM be afraid of exjpofing htk fortune? Did it not fee, ** ^tt in the beginning of a republic it permitted to itfelftlMcsercife of ** rach aAs of defpotifm as are unknown even in the countries which are *' moulded to, and become familiar with fervlcude and oppreflion? CovU ** it pretend that it did not punifli a ^nt of confidence with the pains whidi '* wouMhave been fcarcely merited by revairand treafun } Of all this wia ■< the Con^refs well aware. But it had no ch6ice of means. Its defylfe' *' and defpicable ftraps of paper were adtualiy thirty time* below their tiH- '* ginal value, when more ot them were orderbd to be made. On the liUl '* of September 1779. there was ofthispapei* money, amongfl the pnblir» •' to the amount of j(^. 35. 544, 155. The (tate owed moreover ^.8,3^5,356, ** without reckoning the particular debts of fingle provinces." In the above-recited paffages, the Abbe fpeaks as if the t/nited States had contraded a debt of upwards of forty millions pounds fterUng, beCdetthe debts of individual States. After which, fpeaking of foreign trade #ltli America, be fays, that ** thofe countries in Europe, which are truly com- ** merciai ones, knowing that North America had been reduced t6 tontraft " debts at the epoch of even hergreateft profperity, wifely thought,^ that in ** her prefent diArefs, (he would be able to pay but verf little, for what ■* might be carried to her.** 1 know it muft be extremely difficult to make foreigners -underftand the nature and circumftances of our paper monev, becaufe there are natives wh« do mit underftand it themfehres. But with us it^ fate is now determined. Common confcnt has coniigned it to reft with that kind of regard which this long ferviee qf inanimate things' hifenfibly obtains from muikind. Bvcry fUme in the bridge, that has carried us over, feems to have a chiitri ofWi our efteem. But thu wasa-corher-ftone, and its^ nfefulnefs cannoc be forgotten* There is fomething in a gratefiil . mind, which extends icfelf even to thin|^ that can neither be benefited by regard, nor fuffcr by negled : But foil is; andalmoftevery manisfenfibleofthceffeA;. i But to return. The paper money, though ifiiied from Congrelk unoer die name of dollars, did not come from that body always ac that value. Thofe whi(:h were ifltied the firft year, were eqt^al to gold and filver. The fecon^i year left; the third ftill lefs) andCo on, for nearly the fpaceof five years t at the end of which, I imagine, that the whole value at which Oongrdii might pay away the feverat emiffiona, taking them together, was about tea or twelve millions pounds fterling. Now, as it would have taken ten or twelve millions fterling of taxes, t« carry on the war for five years, and, as while this money was ifluing and likewife depreciating down to nothing, there were none^ or few valu^le taxes paid ; confequently the event to the public was the fame; whether wtj funk ten or twelve millions of expended money, b^ depreciation, or paid ten' or twelve millions by taxation } foras tney did not do both, and chofe t« do one, the matter, in a general 'view, was indifferent. And therefore, what the Abbe fdppofes tote a debt; has now no exifteiice j it having^ been pird, by every body confenting to rednce it, at his own expence,from the value of the bills continuing palling amr)ng themfelvetr, a fum, eq^ualt* . npat-ly what the cxpence of the war w^s for five years. Again. <—Tbe paper morvcy having now ceafcd, and the d«preciatioo with it, and gold and fiiver foppiied its place, the war will now be carried <»n bf 'B t«xat'o»« «4 ifeTTIft' TO THg ABBB RAYNAt. , \ tttitias, whtcK wSIl dnjWjN" the iMiblic ■ eoofiderable left ftim this what Cbt depfvdtcioii flMv«l«ts. while they pay the ibriner, thefdo not (uf. frr the letter, «ml m^fm^tt thuj fufferedf the latter, they did fM>t pty the f jr- nifr* th« thinfr wilt siikMrly equjJ, with this moral idvantagfy that uxa* tUm nccatiosu frugality aod thought* and depreciation produced diffipation ■ad ftreleiTof fa. Am fgain.-* If ft mau*a portion of tftcei eome* to Uf% than what be loft l»y tht ffl. To ait who can renleildMi'* H was a feafon of hardOi'p, but not pf defpair} and the Abbe, fptalung of m pcriud and it* inconveniences, faya» '* A multitude of privations, added lio Co mtny other misforiiinca, fli!||ht make the Amrrieansregrettheir former tranqoiUity, and incline them t« an accommodttiun with England, in tain had tho people been bottttd toT tlie new Coteri^ment by the facrednrfs of oaths,, and rh« iofloenee of religion . In tain had endr« tours been dfed to contbce them, tHit it tVM impoffible to treat falcly with t country in which one p^rli»^neat,«ighl *' otertum what (hould hate been eftabiilhed by another. In tain hid tEcf ** been threatened with th** eternal rcfentment of an exafperated and tindi^ tite enemy. It was poffible that thefe dittant irb»bles might not be boi lanced by the weight of prefent etils. > r ** So thought the Britiih Miniilry when they fent to the New World p0b«- lic agents authorifed to offer ete«-y thing eicept independence tothcfe te» r^ Americans, from whom they had two years before exa^d an ueoiidii tional fttbmifllott. It ia not improbable, but that by this plnn of coscilit** " cion, a few months fooner, fomc effeft miff ht hate been mx>doced. Bar « •( «« of fear and weakncfs. argnmcM The Con«- « l^he people were aheadt re-affuied. grefs, the Generals, the troops, the bold and fltilful men inlsach eohmy» badpoflcfled themfeltes of the aothnrty ; ctery rhing had recotentdlta 6m fvitit^ Tth wat tift gpft ' ' • - tk^ UnitidStaht and $1*0 Covrt On this paiTage of the Abbe* with circomftance,' is a material nicety in hiftory ;.che want of which ixv 4|uently throws it into endi<(s confufion and milUke, occafions a total repa- ration between caofei 4nd ooofequenees, and conneds them with othenthey : sure not inmnediately, and fometimes not at all, related' feo^- THe Abbe, in faying that the offers of the Britiih Min'iftry, •< werefef> *\ jeded widi difdain," is right as to the/aH, ha^'wrtng as to the /mi«s and« ^is error in the time,,ha8 occafioued him to he miftdtenin the caqli, T^efigning'the treaty of Paris the 6th cf February, 1778, could hate fu>' effed on the mind or politics of America until, it was knewn in America i m^': ' therefore, when the Abbe fays, that the rejediion of the Britiih o^rs wfM^iil confequence of the alliance, he m^ft mean , chat it was in cbnfequence of th» I alliance ^Wiif itunva in America ; which was not the cafe : ahd by this mif> I take he not only takea from her the reputation, which her unfiiajten fortitiide" 4 I in that trying utuation defeftes, but is Itkewife led very injurioufly tofvp* V pofechat had (he not known oi thcTtreaty, the offers.Wou tt jprobably bate betti lacccptedf whereas (he Ifnew nothingyf the treaty at thctnae'of the vt\tQ3m^^^t jmd confei^eatly did not re]e<5l them on chat ground, y. ''•'i^ Ti\e propofitions or offers above-mentioned were cqniiained in two bQlt''^' brought into the Britifh Parliament byword North on the lych of Februaf^« 1 7 73 . Thoie hi Us were hurried through both houfe&with unufual hafte ; tmt before they had gone through all the cuftomary forms of Ptrliament, copi^i i of them Were fent oter to Lord Howe and General Howe, then in PhiladeU \ Ehia^ who were l^wife Commiffioners. General Howe ordered tlMm to e printed in Philadeljihia, and- fent copies of J them by a flag to General Wafhington, to be forwarded to Congreft at Yock-TowiH where they tr*^^ rttedthe atft of April, 1778. Thus much for the arrtval of the biUthi^ America. . ^^ "- ■- 'L%- % -■ B X * Coof^r^ %$ |.BTTIt TO tni ASBB tATKAL. !■ I ¥.' iKik<^ ^' Congrtia^ t* it their usual in#diB> appointed a xommittee fioili Aeir own bdiy^ to examine tbirn, ana^report thereon. The re- |K>rt was brotttbt in the next day, (the twenty-fecond), was read. And ucanimovlny agreed to^ eiitered on their journals, and publish- od|br the iitformation of the country. Now this report must be |ho l^^jc^on to whS^h the Abbe alludes, because Congreis gave no other formal opinion on those bills and proi>6fitions : and on a lttlid^e<])ient application from the British Commifiioners; dated the 87th of May, and received at York-Town^the 6th of June, jpoilffrefs Immediately referred them for an answer to their printed resolves of the 22dof April— Thus-much for the reje&ioi>of the •flfers. . On the 2d of May, that is eleven days after the above rgeo tionwas made, the treaty between the United States and £rance arrived at York-Town ; and until this moment Congrefs had not iiw lead notice oi' idea, that such a measure was fn any train of execution. But left this declaration ot mine should pass only for assertion, I shall support it by proof, -for it is material to the ^h^ lacter and principle of. the revolution to shew, that no condition pf America, since the declaration o£ independence, .however, by ing |nl' ^vere, ever operated to produce the rooft diftant idea of jrieldii^. it up either by forde, distrefs, artifice, or persuasion. And thiS'proof is the more necessary, because it was thesysteni •f the British Miniftry at this time, as well as before and since, to hold out to the European powers that America was unfixt in ^er resolutions ^nd policy; hoping by this artifice to lessen her reputation in Europe, and weaken the confidence which diose ^wers, or any of them, might be inclined to place in h^r. .At^the time these matters were transi^cting, I was secretaiy to ^e foreign d^p^i^ent of Congress. AH the politiqil letteiv ftom die American Commissioners refted in my h^nds, and all that JMre officially written went from my office; and so fyt from Congrf»ss knowing any thing of the iignine the treaty, at the time Jhey i^5t;i^ tjiie British offers, they hfifTnot received^ line of )|^ormatip0 from their Coomiissioners at Paris on any subject ^ wnatever ibr. upwards of a twelvemonth. Probably the loss of the poit of Philadelphia and the navigation of the Delaware, to- father with the danj^er of th,e seas, covered at this time with ritish^ciliizers, contributed to the disappointment. ,Qne pJKket, it is true, arrived at York-Town in January pre* ^fm!ing» #rhich was about three months before the arrival of ihe ireaty ; out, ((range as it may appear, every letterlhad been t^en 4fXA, hetort it was put on board the vessel which brought it, from ^nc<^j 9nd blank white paper p\it in their ftead. J Ifavingthus fUted the time when the proposals from the Bri- iiu3k Conimissioners were firft received, and likewise the time ^hen the treaty of aUiance arrived, and shewn that the rejection mjfte former was eleven days prior to the arrival of the Uiter, ' " ot|t the leaft knowledge of such circumstance havi^ff t9- or beii; nj^ut to tS^e place; the rejection, thei muft 1" tteeftofh There- was read, i publish- t must be ;reis gave and on a dated the of Jiuie, ^ir printed ;ioi>of the overge# nd £rance (s had not ly train of 8 only for :o the ^h^ con(li^o0 vertrying ant idea of )enuasion. the systei^i and 9\mt, unfixt in lessen her ^hich ftose h^r. ecret^iytp etteis ftqin and all that fyt from at the time kl.a line of my subject ^ the loss of laware, to- 1 time with nuary pre* ival of the been t^ea ^titfrom •mthe Bri- le the time le rejecdon 'the I4ter» iiiuft LYTTIR TO THI ABBt RAYNAt; '17- roust, and ^ght to be attributed to the fixt unvaried fcntimcnts of America refpectin^r the enemy sh^ i^ at war with^ and her dt- tfermination to support her independence to the last possible eflbrt, and not to any new circumstance in her fiivour, ^ch at that time she did not, and could not, know of. Befides, there is a vieour of determination and spirit of defi^ ance in the lan^^ge or the rejection, (which 1 here subjoin)', which derive their greateft glory by appearing before the treaty was known; for that, which is bravery in distrefs, becomes insult in prosperity: And the treaty placed America on such a strong, foundation, that had she tnen known it, the anjiwer whicn she gave would'fiaye appeared rather as an air of triumph, tiuuti as the glowing serenity of fortitude. Upon the whole ttie Abbe appears to have entirely midaken the matter; for inflead of attributing the rejection of the propositons^ to our knowledge of the treaty of alliance; he should have attri« buted the origin of them in the British cabinet^ to th^ knowledge^ of that event. And then the reason why they were' hurried over^ to America in the (late of bills, Ihat is, before they were passed^ into acts, is easily accounted for, which is, that they might havc^ the chance of reaching America before any knowledge of*th$ treaty should arrive, which they were lucky enough to do, ahd . there met the fate they so richly merited. That these bills were brought into the British Parliament after the- treaty with France was signed, is proved from the dates :* the treaty being on the 6th . and the .j^ills the 17 th of February. And that the signing .t|l^> treaty was known in Parliament, when the bills were brought in, is likewise proved by a speech of Mr. Charles Fox, on the faid^ 1 7th, of February, wno in reply to Lord North, infbrmqd the Housis ^the treaty being signed, and challenged the Miniiler's know-- ledge of the. same fact.* • In. CONGRESS, April 22d, 1778, ""^ ■ •art «* THE Committee to whom was referreJ the Oeneral't letter of the. iSchK^cpntaintng a certain printed paper fent from PhtUdeIpMa» purporting to ht the draught of a Bill fov declaring th^ intemthmt of the Par* liament of Great Britain, as to the exereife cf \what rhey are plcafed 19 teroit their right of impofing taxes within thefe United States; and alfo che draft/ of a Biu to enable the King of Great- Britain to appoint Conimiffiooers, witli powers to treat, cbnfuit, and agree upon the means ol quieting ccrtiln difot • * ders within the (aid States, beg leave to obfcrve, | *• That the faid paper being induftrioufly circulated by emilLirtes of d)e enemy, in a partial and fecret manner, the fainc ought to be fotthwith^i printedfar the public information. ' . | " The Committee cannot afcenain whether the content* of fhe ffid pap^. have been fra^ied in Philadelphia or in Great Britain, much lefs whether iht. Utat are reaUy and- truly intended to be brought inW> the ParJiament of that kingdom, or whether the faid Par.iamentwitl confer thereon the afual^ folemaities>of their laws. But are inclined to b«;ict« this wiU happen, for the foiiowiifg reafons : ^l^it <* ift. 3ecsufe their General hath made dive r",i ■ ' M \ I I pi'jBqt jJ^nfUei to ttt iSbfi ^itf^fi #.'■ taken I4m of hb own disoitj and iMtruncc. thc^Mot^iafornatfen, w Aif aE^Ciiifi digr mppofc M>»t tlie fana«^\{f (<¥<• «f > ceflSitiop of W' tSUttef JviU tender theft States rcmift in their |>|e|»antiont for war. '•'» lHy. Becanlc belie^g the Ametuant -pM^ ^^^ w*'* they lkp« p»ft we «iU Recede to the tcraw for fthe'fMw^pttace, ^»» 4t|af* Becanfc they fpj»ppe fvbj«4.^ • m«<^ri||pt influence with their deaatea. ^" jdllyi Fecaurc they expedl from th|iftep the (aine effeas they did frQm wHm one of their mipiften thqusht proper to ca|l hi%«Mieiliatoey mt>iM,y^s» tiil'iC«ittI|Nreveqt foreign powers from nving aid to thefe liiatn ) ^at it wiQllMd 'their own fnhjeAt to continue a little longer fne prefent war ; and 4iflil yum dem> fmf wfahioen in America frpm the s^^k of fr-fcdom ^ 1^! feliib ihfir King, froA his owp |bcyri»iiiitry, beinff day n^Of e and more manifefti it u their intereil to e^tf ieat< th^mfijfc^ 'c war jipop any terms. le CoRimitte^ beg leate further to obfenre* I'hat, i^n a lup^* tifK^ HI Miit^ contained in the fk{d paper will really go iulo the Britifli' Ipirtttte B«il(^ they fcnre to fliew, in a cleat point of mew, theweaknefa igiLw^^j^ pf th.e enemy. •» T|kii» WfAHMEsa, '^ ^ llecaufe they focBierly declared, not only that they l^d a right tf Modi & inha^tants of theib States in all c^es wli^tfoever, but alfo that the {l^lmlitantsftcmid a^/itfah and uMfniiifmaHy fubmit to the eaercife of t|(^ r%iit« "^ And oas fubmrffion they hate ^deavouiied to cxaA by tht ^•rd. ' Eeeeding from this daim, therefore, under ^e prefent cir^ wUn* «||, Umiithuelr inability to enforce it. <* sdff. iecaule their Prince hath heretofore lejeaed the |inmbleft petiti- MS oTAe Rcprelbntatives of America, praytng ioi>^ confidcred as fubje^s, nod ptotedtra.in the enjoyment of peace, liberty, and fafety; and bath ^BgcdambRcrtiidiiiar againft them, and emoloyed the fai4gea to butcher tolfMilM womefi and children. But now the lame Prince pretends to treat witK^^ thole vety ]tepk«l^tatives, and grant to the arm* iX America what ho ^lij^rfb(i|oher/hmr». ^v^^ " ^^Jfify' Hti»^a&fe they have unifomily laboured to conquer this contment, #e^mii|l^wry idea of accommodation propofed to them, from a confidence , it their owh ftrength. Wheitfore it is. evident* from the change in their , mode of attadit, that thej have lo|k this confidence. And, - ' ** 4thly. Became thl. cohftant language, fpoken not only by their Mini- AerS) but by che .moft piiblic and authentic ads of the nation, hath been, that Itji Ifie^l^H^Ie with their dignity to treat with the Americans whilt liey hi^Ve ei|^^ their hnuds. Kotwithftanding which, sn o&r is npw i^b^t to til IJHm^ treaty. . *^ "^Np.wI^I^KII. ^^^ infinceiity of the eneniy appear from the follow- itecon^tera " 'fi(>n OMjjiitrt of v^ ill* nowto be paffi:d contain a r%t>t tf that the xereUe of A bfthf eft petlci. 1 fttbje^iy and bath Vutcher Ib to treat i what h« . oBttnent, onfideoce einthcir eir MinU ith been, n« wliila r it npw e ibllow- reft eef. im it ia iftq,oar« ' ul. rel. If tkey do oot, thentiicf «c« calculattd to^dteihv A rt il m 1 oie ttmift to vvUth ocitlMr •rgameot bcfiire the witi mt forae incc, coald pmrnm «< ajtty^ The irft of theft JSUif ^iffW, from the tide, to be a diaduMtiM of ^ imumitm of the Britifli TkrUamont conceroiog the eserglJe i^jM'rSk ^fimff/imi tamtt within thefe Statca. Wherefore, fhoyld tliefe Stacea treat under the (aid Bill, they would iodifeAly acknowledge that right, tb obtthi which acknowtodgmeiit theprcfent war hath beca avowedly undcrtahoe and profccPte«)« 9e the part of Great Britain • *' adiy. Should fuch pretended right be Co acouiefced Ip» th^ of conftoMMi t^jB Ume mij^ht be exercifed whenever the Britifli Pvlianicnt fhwStmjii^ ^ta&VitM io a different impermixA £Jp^tlm\ doce it mnft depend ttMMl thofet and fuch like tontiugenciesy how nr men will aA accarduig'to Oirir former l ato ati mr. «• 4M>lx* The faid fiift BiH, }u the hody theif^, eonttincth 'no Mir flatter, but is precifely the fame with the rootifjpeafion of hoftUitie%, ^ cei;tun of thcit a^, ^e mndng of par^oni, and^be af ' "^ QoTtrnora to thefe fQvereign, lree« , and ind^nflMdfnt Itatet. the ff id Pi(riiamcnt have rdferved to tbcmfehpi«i;m4i^«^«atri&, the . . er of fettiog afide any fuch treaty* and takin| ttl adv«m;aM of aii^yi^chKim* ftancet which may arife to labjed tbit continent to chiair.u^irpaticyill " 6tbly. The (aid BiiU hy holding forth a teodf r of paidinn, impHlHH criminality in our juftifinble refiftance, and con&^ucAt^, to treat apder. ni». would be an implied acknowledgment, that the inliabitanti, of t|M^St|||l^, were, what Britain hat dcclai'ed them to be, Rehelt* / -/ ; <* ythly. The inbabitantt of thete Statet being claimed by theni la liid^^ Kd», they may infer, from the nature pf the nego^j^tMii a9V|«ctend«d Kr! be let on foot, that the faid inhabitatnt .would orri|^liB.afterwtii^ \fl!0i^ ^ hy fuch Uwt M they Ihould make. Wherefore any agreement enitlm ifilf up focb negociation might at any future time be repea)«l And,- ' ;C» -v ** &hly. Becaule the faid Bill purports,, that the Commiifionert th^li^ mentioned may treat with priv;ife individualt ; a OMeafiire ^i||^y deipgi^ tory to the dignity of the national charaSer. ^ ** Fr.om all which it appeart evident to your Committee, th^tdicftjUl BllU are intendtd to operate upon tHe hbpetandfeartof die good tiei^|^ of thefe States, fo at to create divifiona among them, and a detedtiofi from the common cai^e, now by the bleflin^ of Divine Providenci'draWins near ,\o a favourable 'fitie. That they are the fequel of that infidjiiout pfauit 'wrhith, from the 'UajfA of tlie Stamp-aA down to the. .prcfent ttme» hath involved tttis cjuntvy iK contention and blo6dl«flied. And that, aain other ^fet iV in ih^!), i»ithoogh'cvcumftancet nuy force them at timet to r^iaeds Drom their unjufufiable cbims, there can be no doubt but they will at hert* tbfore, upon the firf): favourable occaflon, again dif]play that luftaf dbn^BM ^OD, which hath rent in twain the mtgbtr>empiiV^BrttahqPI m u ii^.i -N ■na S9 LXTTtR Td TBI AIBB RATI! Al* field of philofophical reflexion. Here the materiab are hit own ; trentod bj himfelf; aiid the eiror, therefore, it an i^ of the- mind. Hitherto my remarkt have been confined to circumftaa- eet: the otder in which they arofe, and the eventt they produ- ced. In thifty mv information being better than the Aobe't, my tatk was eafy. How I may fucceed in controverting matters of lentinient and opinion, with one whom years, experience, and long-^abliflied reputation have pkiced in a fuperior line, I am left cdhfidenttn.; but at they fall within the (hope of my obfer-. vationt, it would be improper to pafs them over. ^ From this part of the Abbe's work to the latter end, I find fo- veral expreffions which appear to me to flart, with a cynical com- plexion, fi-om the path of liberal thinking, or at lead they are fo liiyolved as to lofe many of the bea|^ties which dittinguim other jwrtt' or the performance. The Abbe having brought his work to the period when the treaty of aljiance between France and the United States commen- ced, proceeds^) maH^ fome remarks thereon. A'C i. t X ** Upon the whole matter, the Committee beg leave ^to report it as their minioh, That the Americans united in this arduous conteft upon princi- ples of common intereft, for the defence of common rights and privileges, vdiich union hath been cemented by common calamities, and by mutual good olBces and affeAion, fo the great caufe for which they contend, and in wlkfch all mankind are interefted, muft derive its fuccefs from the contimi- ancc of that union. Wherefore liny man or body of men, who fhould^pre- Ame'to make any feparate or partial convention or agreement with Com- ariffioners under the Crown of Great Britain^ or any of them, ought to be cbnfldered and treated aa open and avowed enemies of thefe United States. ** And furthttr, your Committee beg leave to report it as their opipion^. That thefe united Stlt^s cannot, with f^ropriety, nold any conference or litaty with aiy Commiffiontrs on the part of C^reat Britain, untrfs they fltiU, •S- a preliminary thereto, either withdraw their fleet!) and admirals, ~or dfe, m pofitiVe and exprefs tejm», acknowledge the Independence of the fiud States. ■ # ' **' And inafmuch as it appears to be the defign of the enemies of thefe. Stales to lull them into a fatal fecunty— to the end that they may z6t with a> heceirtlng vr eight and- importance, it is the opinion of your Committee, That thefcverai States be cailed upon to ufe the moft flrenuous exertvons to have, their re(jpe^ive qtiotas of continental troops in the field as foon as pofi>' flble^ and that aU the militia of the faid States be held m readineft, to a tboft^iAs,. in a. publicatiofef'tbc aad of April laft. ,. \ ;S!i^4.1 =i^*iP»r^!Sj(W«»«s»m«v^-,: hi« own ; 1^ of the- umdaa- \y produ^ '«, my latters of and am ly obfciw ^ tITTBt TO TBI ABtB BAVMAI- « In fbort,'* fiiyt hc^ « phUofophy, whole firft ftnlimililit the defire to fee ill governments juft, and all people happy»« find feu fcal com- py are fo pm other vhen the :omnien- itastbeir Ion prind- brimlegei, Ibv mutuil My and in t continu- lould ,pre- 'itb Com. ighttobe . ed Sutet. ' op^ian^ srence or iral», "or :e of tht > of thefe St with ». nmittee, rtions to a as pofi.' :o act a a oatiom. agttfs: prdle4. •r in % " cafiing her eyes upon this alliance of a monaicl^> wpi • p^ ** pie wno are defcming their liberty, b curkms h kmm fk mifn '- Uve. Sbejksj at once, too dearly, tbat the bajf^mutfmm * kind bas no part in it," Whatever train of thinking or of temper the Albt night te if^ vrhen he penned tliis expression, matters nSt. They wiS neither qualify the fentiment, nor add to ita defeA. If nghl; |t nee^t no apology ; if wrong, it merits no ezc'ufe. It j» icil iinl^ the 'World as an opinion of philofophy, and may be ftimvMt without l«egard to the author. - ' , It feems to t>e-a^efe6t, conneAed with Ingenuity, that it oilm employs itfelf more in matters of curiofity t£m ufbfulnefi. Mail mull be the privy counfellor of fate^ or fomething is not right Ha muft know the iprings,the whys and wherefores of every thiBl^ or he fits down unfatisfied. Whether this, be a crime, or onlyHll caprice of humanity, I am not enquirinjg; into. I (halltake (tji paflajge as I find it^ and place my ome^ons agairtll it It is not fo properly the motives which ^rodircccf tile alliance, 4* •the confequences which are to ha produced from it, that mark out the field of philofophical refle6tion. Ih the one we only pene* trate into the barren cave of fecrecy, where litde can be iqiviwnif and every thing may be mifconceived ; in-the other, tbemiad ie prefented with, a, wide^. extended profpe6l, of vegetative goo4 and fees a thoufand blessings' budding into exiftence. «' But the expresfion, even within the compafs of the Al>be's meanine, fets out with an error, becaufe it is made to declare that; wnich no man has authori^ to declare. ^ Who can fity tlfgfi the bappinei^ of mankind made w pari qf ibe motives which Jin»* duced the^alliance ? To be able to declare^ this, a man ,mu(t be poflefled ^f the mind of all the parties concerned, and 'koow thjit their motives were fbroething elfe. In, proportion as the independence of Ameiricabecmne-coHteiil- plated and undetftobd^ the local advantages' of it to the immedil^ actors, and the numerous benefits it promifed to mankincl, «pr peared to be every day encreafing, and we faw not. a tempomq^.^ good for tiie prefent race only, but a continued .good to jiU p<9& << Be loured, Si^, when the King of Great Britain ihall be €erioiifly'|iS^ tofedto put an end to the unprovoked and cruel war waged agaifift:l|li# United States. Congrefs will readily atteod to fueh terma of peaeie, as iOaf coofift witi) die honour of independent nation^, the intere(t of their ^^^^ip eutl^ juid;the fiicred regard they mean to^f to treaties. I ha^ tqeiilN amu be, Sir, ^ *; # ^ i , Tour m^mwem^ aaS. 4K^ himifejkmmiif I HXMRY LAt)»|M9» , Fr^tnit/Coiijp'ifi** BU EnctUmey, $ir Henry CUntQa, K,,S.JFbiM, . ', teiily; ^%3| ■ .-kSI » V • J 1 fl ItTTtft to till AIBI lAYIIAL. '^• w li^ity; tfiefe motives, therefore, added to thofe which preceded ^0iifl% btdme the motivef; on the part of America, which led liar to MTopofe and agree to the treaty of alliance, a» the befl OfllAtMU method of extending and fecuring happineft; and there* foK) with fefpedt to us, the Abbe is wrong. . FraDQf^ #0 th. other hind, was fituated very diflferently to Afnerici. She was not a6ted upon by necessity to feeka friend, ' and therefore her motive in becoming one, has the ftrongeft evi' dence of being good, and that which is fo, muft have fome hap- pined for its o^eA. W th regard to herfelf fhe iaw a train of ' conveniencies worthy her attention. ' By lelfening the power of an enemy, whom, at the fame time, (he fought neither to deftroy nor mftrefs, fhe earned an advantage without doing an evil, arid created to herfelf a new fViend by affociating with a country in misfortune. The firings of thought that lem to a6bons of this kind, however political they may be, are neverthelefs tiaturally benejficent ; for in all caufes, good or bad, it is necellary there ihould be a fitnef^ in the mind, to enable it to a6l in charadter with the olje6t: Therefore, as a bad caufe cannot be proiecuted with a good motive, fo neither can a ^ood caufe be long ftfpported by a' bad one, as no man a6ts without a motive, therefore^ in the prefent inflance, as they cannot be bad, they muft bo admitted to4>e good. But the Abbe fets out upon (uch an eX' tended (bale, that he overlooks the degrees by which it is mea* fured, and rejects the beginning of good, becaufe the end comea- Ootatonle. it Is tru;i that bad motives rray in fome degree be brought to fupport a good caufe, or profecute a eooa object; but it titver continues lone, which is not the caie with France ; for cither the obje6t will refbrm the mind, or the mind corrupt the oUe^ orelfe, not heme able, either way, to get into unifon,they ' wfll feparate in dif^ult: And this natural, though unperceiVed progrels of aifociation or contention between the mind and the Obje^ is the fecret caufe of fidelity or defection. Every objeA iTtnan purfues is, for the time, a kind of miftitfs to his mmd: if both are good or bad, the union is natural; but if they are in wvcrfe, and neither can feduce nor yet reform the other, the op- pofition grows into diflike, and a feparation follows. When the caufe of America firfl made her appearance on the ftlge of the univerfe, there were many who, in the flyle of ad- venturers and fortune-hunters, were dangling in her train, and- making^heir court to her with every profeifion of honour and attachment. They were loud in her pratfe, and oftentatious \rt ner fervice. Every place echoed with their ardour or their an- f»r, and<^ey feemed like men in love. — But, alas, they were lortune-huntersr Their expedtations were excited, but their, minds were unimpreffed; and finding her not to their purpofe^N nor themfelves reformed by her influence, they ceafed their, fuit^, M\d in fome inilances deferted and betrayed her. > There fX ■ ,~mxt'm)im,. i«jfci^MmUBi»q/i ■*M»%^,m,fK«i£i*%^J'-'AAf- -^iTJ inrghi.'ff^^l&fTJir Yi[Usit.^i., A wvk^A^ J..v4a^,jg|j;;.|| , IP LITTia TO THE ABtf lAYHAi I preceded which led ■sthebefl andthere- erently to Ka friend, DOgeft evi' fome hap- / a train of QWerof an to deftroy 1 evil, and country in ons of thia jtiatumlly llary there n charadter proiecuted j; furfiported > therefore) y muft be uch an ex* it is nie»» end comef- ^e brought e6l; but it ^rance; for ;orrupt the inifonythey ' inperceiVed Ind and the /ery objeA I his mind: tliey are in lef; the op- ance on the (lyle of ad- r train, and- honour and intatious ii> or their an- they were I, but their, eir purpofe, id their, fuit^. There- There were others, who at fir:^ beheld hfr with indiflfanence^ and unacouainted with her character were cauttoun of Her com* . ptny» They treated her as one, who, under the ^ name of liberty, mi^ht conceal the hidt-ous figure of anarchy, orthe slooniy monfter of tyranny. They knew not what (he was. If rair, ttut was fair indeed. But dill Ihe was fufpedted, and though bom among us appeared to be a liranger. Accident with fome, ^nd curiofity with others, broueht on t ' diftant acquaintance. They ventured to look at her. They ftit an inclination to fpeak to her. One intimacy led to another, till the IVifpicion wore away, and a change of fentiment ftole gradual- ; ly upon the mind ; and having no felt-interelt to ferve, no patfioH of Uifhonour to gratify, they became enamoured of her inno- cence, and unaltered by misfortune or uninilamed by fuccefi ihared with fidelity in the varieties of her fate. This declaration of the Abbe's, refpe^ling motives, has led me unintendedly into a train of metaphyseal reasoniru^; but there was no other avehue by which it could fo properly be approach- . ed. To place prefumption againd prefumption, affertion asainft ail^rtion, IS a mode of oppofition that has no effeA ; and mere- : fore the more eligible method was, to fliew that the declju«- tion does not correlj)ond with the natural proerefs of the r^ind, and the influence it has upon our condudt. — I mall now quit this part, and proceed to what I have betbre ftated, namely, that it is not fo properly the motives which produced the alliance, as the confequences to be produced from it, that mark out the field of philofophical reflexions. It is an obfervation I have already made* in fome former pub- lication, that the circle of civilisation is yet incomplete. A mu- tuality of wants have formed the individuals ofieach country into a kind, of national fociety ; and here the progrefs of civilization [has ftopt. For it is ealy to fee, that nations with regard to each other (iiotwithllanding the ideal civil law, which every one ex- ?]ains as its fuits him;, are like individuals in a ftate of nature. *hey are regulated by no fixt principle, governed by nocbmpul- I five law, and ^ach does independently what it pleafes, or what Kit can. Were it poflible we could have known the world when in « Iftate of barbaril'm,wemight have concluded, that it never could be [brought int 3 the order we now fee it. The untamed mmd was then as hard, if not harder to work upon in its individual JVate, than the national mind is in its prefent one. Yet we have ifeen the accomplifhment of the one, why then fliould we doubt Ithat of the others' There is a greater fitnefs in mankind to extend and complete [the civilization of nations with each other at this day, ttian there was to begin it with the unconnected individuals at firft; in the fame nr^anoer that it is fomewhat eafier to put together the ma- terials of a machine after they are formed, tljan it was to forte fliem *i LBTTBIC TO TBC ARBC ItAYlTAL; I. iBtttm Ami original matter. The prefent condition of the vrofii dHftHtilffo exceedingly from what it formerly was, has given a niW'call'to the mind of man, more than what he appears to be fc»fiblcl of. The wants of the individual, which firft produced the ideaof fociet^, are now augmented into the wants of the nation, and he is obhzed to feek &om another country what before he fiyught from the next perfon. Letters, the ton^e of the world, have in fome meafure brought . ■!! mankind acquainted, and, by an extension of their ufes, are eviery day promoting fome new friendfhip. Through them dif- tant nations become capable of converfation, and loiing by de- ' grees the awkwardnefs of ftrangers, and the morofenefs of fufpi- cioii} they learn to know and underftand each other. Science, the Iiartiun of no country, bnt the beneficent patronefiof all, has liberal- y opened a temple where all may meet. Her influence on the mind, like the sun on the chilled eai^, has long been preparing it for higher cultivation and further improvement. The pnilofopher of one countky fees not an enemy in the philofopher of another: he takes his feat in the temple of fci^nce, and alks not who ^ts be* fideiiim. This was not the condition of the barbarian world. Then the wants of man were few, and the objects within his reach. While he could acquire thefe, he lived in a A ate of individual inde- pendence, the confequence of which was, there was as many na- tions as peribns, each contending with the other, to fecure ibmething which he hadj or to obtain fometbing which he liad not The world had then no buftnefs to follow, no fliidi^ to exercifc the mind. Their time was divided between, floth and - i^tigue. Hunting and war were their chief occupations ; ileep and food their principal enjoyments. Now it is otherwife. A change in the mode of life has made it' neceflary to bebufy; and man'finds a thoufandthingi to do now which before he did not. Inilead of placing his ideas of greatnefs in the rude atchievements of the favage, he Itudies arts* science j agriculture, and commerce, the refinements of the gen- tleman, the priiKiples of fociety, and the knowledge of the philofopher, fe There are many things which in themfelves arc morally neither good nor bad, but they are productive of coi\fequences^ which are Rrongly marked with one or other of thefe chara£ters. TH us commefce, though in itfelf a moral nullity, has had a c6n- siderable iniiuence in tempering the human mind. It was the want of ObjeAs in the ancient world, which occaAoned in them fuch a rude and perpetual turn for war* Their time. hung on tSeir Wds without th? means of employment. -The indole ce thiey lived in afforded leifure for mifchief, and being all idle at once, and equal in their circumftances, they were eafily provoked or induced to adion. , '.But'the introdu^on of commerce furnilhed the world with < / objcfts. f LtfTtSR 19 THI M9t frATHAt. «? he woilS given a ars to be duced the ' le nation, before he i brought ufes, are them dlf- lig by de- ' s of lufpi* jience, the h£» liberal- I the mind, iring it for lofppher of mother: he ho fits be* Then the his reach, vidual inde- as many na- , to fecure g ^vhich he ', noftiidi6s leiv doth and- itions; Heep ife has made Mngi to do r his ideas of 'itudifesarts, Bof the gen- ledge of the are morally :oi\fequenccs, fe characters, as had a c6n- L. It was the oned in them time>ung on rhe indole ce ing all idle at ifily provoked ic world with / objcfts. I dBJeAV, which in their extent, reach evfry q^an, tnd |3vet&k Tomething to thinic aboat and ibmething to oo; by thefe'his attri- tion is mechanically drawn from t^e purfuits which a fta^e df hido- lence and an'unemployed mind occafioned, and he trades wich the Tame countries, which former a^es, tempted by their produc- *tions, and too indolent to purchaiethem, would have gone to war withk Thus, a» I have already obferred, the' condition of the world •t)cing msiterially changed by 'the influence of i'cience and Qom- Therce, it is pnt itito a atnefs not only to admit of, but to defire an «xte«bout, but what arifes from that demon of fbciety, .pr^judic^ and the confequent fullennefs and uncra£tablene(s of the temper. There is fomething exceedingly curious in the conditution zttd operation of prejudice. It has the fingular ability of accommo* dating itfelf to all the poflible varieties of the human mihd. Some pailions and vices are but thinly fcattered among mah« kind, and find only here and there a fitnefs of reception. But prejudice, like the fpider, makes ev^ry where its home. It hae neither tall e nor choice of place, and all that it requires, is room. There is fcarcely a fituation, except fire of water, in which a fpider will not live. So, let the mind be as naked as the^ walls of an empty and forfaken tenement, gloomy as a dungeon, ^r ornaihented with the richefl: abilities of thinking ; let it be hot* cold, dark, or light, lonely or inhabited, ftill prejudice, if o&- • diflurbedj will fill it with cobwebs, and live, like the fpidel', where there feems nothing to live on. If the one prepared hit food by poifoning it to her palate and her ufe, the other does the fame; and as feveral of our paj^qns are flrongly chara61;er^ by" the animal world, pstjudice may be denominated the f^i^^ • of the mind. .... Perhaps no two evehtrever united" ft intimately and forceabljp ' to colhbat and'cxjfel' prejudice, as the Revolution of Amerka, -and the Alliance with France. Their efft^ts are" felt, and tncir infiacnce already extends as wdl to the old world as the new. < Our tVyle and manner of thinking have undergone a revbtiitiont aore irktraordinary thaathtf political revolution of th^ country, ' W^e fee'with other eyes ; we.hear with other ears'; and think ^^with other thoughts, than thofe we formerly ufed. We can look ^:%acko» otJr Own prejudice*, as if they had been the prejudices^ C eth# : ' V J ''^tmum.ttum.- ■•■>■■ W .90 rETTBA TO THE ABtE RAfNAV ' jOther -people. We now fee and know they were ^rejodlcest* nothing else ; and relieved from their ftiackles, enjoy a freedom of mind We felt not before. It was not all the argument, how« «verpo^rfuI, nor all the reafoning, however elegant, that could have produced this change^ ib neceflnry to the exteniioa 4>f the mind and the cordiality of the worJd, without the twc circumftances ofthe Revolution and the Alliance. Had America dropt. quietly from Britain, no material change an fentiment had taken place. The fame notions, prejudices^ Andconceits» would have governed in both countries, as govern- ed tbem before ; and, ftill the flaves of error and education, they would have travelled on in the beaten tradt of vulgar and ha- bitual thinking. But brought about by the means it has been, both with regard to ourfelves, to France, and to England, eveiy corner of the mind is fweptof its cobwebs, poifon, and duft> and inade fit for the reception of generous happinefs. Perhaps there never was an alliance on a broader bafis,' than that between America and France, and the progrefs of it is' worth attending to. The countries had been enemies, not properly of themfelves, but through the medium of England. They, ^nginally, Kitd no quarrel with each other, nor any caufe for one, but what arof^ from the intereft of England, and her arming America againft France. At the fame time, the Americans, at a diflance n-om and unacquainted with the world, and tutored in all the prejudices which governed thofe who governed them,^ conceived it their duty to sl&. as they were taught. In doing ihis they expended their fubllance to make conq^uefls, not for them- felves but for their mailers, who in return, treated them as flaves. A long fucceflion of iniblent feverity, and the feparation fi- nally eccafioned by the commencement of hoftilities at Lexing- io;i>, on the 19th of April, i775> naturally produced a new dS*. -pofitio'n of thinking. As the mind clofed itfelf towards England, It opened itfelf toward^ the world ; and our prejudices, like our Appreffions, underwent, though le& obferve^ a mental exa^ni^ nation ; until we found the former as inconilftent with reafon and Benevolence, as the latter were repugnant to our civil and poli- tical rights. iX^hiTe we were thus advancing by degrees into the wide field •f extended humanity, the alliance with France was concluded ; «n alliance not formed for the mere purpofe of a day, but on jnft a|id generous grounds, and with equal and mutual advantages; aad llie eafy afifedUonate manner in which the parties have fince com- snunicated, has made it an alliance, not of cauru only, but of countries. There is now an union of mind as well as of intereft 1 fid our hearts, as well as our profptrity, call on us to fnppor t it. The people of England not havin^^ experienced this thange, •Ml Itkewife no idea of i^ They were hugging to theiifboToins #ft fiune prejudices we were ua^iapling benesuh our i|^et ; and they 'I ntkmJKimtiiiiki idlcest' ,i |a freedom :nt, hovTo \9nt, that extenfioa It the two iai change »rejudicety IS govern- Ition, the^ Lr and ha. has been, |nd, evciy dufl> and afjs,' than t is' worth properly . They, caufe for er arming ricans, at tutored in led them,^ In doing t for them- as Haves, sration fi- t Lexing. i new dS". £ngland, , like our il exa^ai^ safon and suidpoli- ('ide field Deluded ; Htonjaft iges; aad ice com- r, but of intereft; port it. thange^ ifbo^s ret; and they 'i' EBTTBR TO TRX ABBB tAYItAt^ Tff they expend to keep a hold upon America^ by that narrawnneTft of thinking which America dildained. What they were proud of, we defpifed : and this is a principal caufe why alftheir ne^ gociatione, ^onflrufled on this ground, have failed. We are now really another people,^ and cannot again go back to ignorance and prejudice. ^ The nrind once enliehtenea cannot agafai become dark. There is no posfibility, neither is there any term to ex- prefs the fuppofition oy, of the mind wwknowing any thing it Already knows ; and therefore all attempts on the part of Eng- firflof which is unnatural, and the other imposfible: As to the remark which the Abbe makes of the one countrjr being a monarchy and the other a republic, it can have no efTeh*, tial meaning. Forms of government have nothing to do with tr mat friendfhip is to be extended, and prejudice deftroyed* alloverithe world. But, notwithftanding the Abbe's high profesfions in fav tempting to reduce her to unconditional fubmifiion, 0ie would have propofed to her the conque(t of Mexico. But frem the countries fcparately Spain has, nothin g to apprehend^ thptt^^h from their union fhe had more to fear, than any other power m Europe. ' The part which I fhall more particularly confine myfelf tQ, i| that wherein the Abbe take^ an opportunity of complimenting tl e Btitifh Minidry with high encomiums of admiratiow, pn f!heir rejeding the offered mediation of the Court of M^d^^ in 5^779' It muft be remembered, that before Spain joined France ijl %he war, (he undertook the ofHce of a mediator, and made pro* "pofals to the Britifh King and MiniUry fo exceedingly favour^ able to their inti^reft, that had they been accepted, would have become iuconvenient, if not inadmiffible, to America. ^ hefe pre? j^fals were neverthelefs rejected by the Britifh Cabinet : qa which the Abbe fays, -»— ** It it iai jjich a circumAance as this; it .i& in the tiiD^ ^Hea . •« D0U« « em e by amp in^fs, he or right* needa no the fame watched^ nothing, rence be- ^ccording tf afffcai- Q expired the littl* ame, and She had and, dvantag^ the more ^ginning* infadliona aing thf to follow ^ut being i Brit^ift g danger? nng, 3i^t, icr oefor^ eadofat* 3ie would from the I, thptt^fe power m felf to, i« limenting ati^j, pil France m nade pro« y favour-? Duldhave hefe prQ-- [net: q|l iinr when , ttTTCR TO THE ABB! &AYNAU t^ •* noble pride elevates the foul fuperior td all terros; when ** nothing is feen .more dreadful than the shame of receiving the ** law, and when there is no doubt or heiiution which to chufe* •« between ruin and diihonour ; it is then, that the greatnefs of *' a nation is difplayed. I acknowledge, however, that mm' •« accuftomed to judge of things by the event, call great and «r perilous refolutions, heroifm or taadnefs, according to the good or bad fuccefs with which they have been attended. If " then I ihould be afked, what is the name which (hall in years *' to come be given to the firmnefs which was in^this moment *< exhibited by the Englilh, I fhall anfwer, that I do not know. ••But that which it deferves I know. I know that the ^annals • ** of the world hold out to us but rarely the auguft and majea- ** tic fpedacle of A nation, . which chufes rather to renounce ita «• duration than its glory." , , . , ' t . In this paragraph the conception is lofty, and the exprescioa elegant ; but the colouring is too high for the original, and the likenels fails through an excefs of graces. To fit the powers of thinking and the turn of language to the fubjedl, fo as to bring out a clear concluflon riiat fhall hit the point in quefttoil, and nothing elfe, is the true criterion of writine. But the greater part of the Abbe's writings (if he will pardon' me the remark)' appear to me uncentral, and biirthened with variety. They repre- fent a beautiful wildernefs without paths ; in which theeye if dif> - verted by every thing, without b^ii>g particularly dired&dtoany thing : and in which, it is agreeable to be loft, and difficult (D fioit the way out. » . Before I offer any other remark on the^fpirit and compo* fition of the above pafTage, I fhall compare it with; the cir-* ^mibnceit alludes to. The circiunflance, then, does not deftrv^ the encomium. The reje^on was not prompted by her fortitude, but her vanity. She did not view it as ^ cafe of defpair, or even of extreme danger, and confec^ently the determination to re*- nounce her duration rather than l\er glory, cannot apply to< the condition of her mind. She had then high expe^tions of ^ Aibjugating America^ and had no other naval force againft her than France ; neither was (he certam that reje&ing ^ mediation of Spain would combine that pcoNier with France^ New mediations might arifs more favourable^ than thofe Oie had refuied. Bat if they fhould not, and Spain ihould jotn,. flie ftill faw that it would only bring out her naval mcee SKgainft France and Spain, which was not wanted, aind eoi|ld AOt be employed againft America; and habits of thinking kad taught h^r to believe herfelf fuperior to both.^ ,r' But in any cafe tp which the copfec^ucnct might point,, C 3 thcTf. '■«*i«ta**A,.*., ■#■ r.BTTtlt T9 THC ABBl KAYlf^Lk rthere was nothing tohnprefs her with the idea of renouncing 4)er duration. It is not the policy of Europe to fuflfer the cx- '.trnftion of any power, but only to lop off, or prevent its 'dangerous encreafe. She was likewife freed byfituation from 'the internal and immediate horrors of invafion } was rolling !in diflijfiation, and looking ftr conquers ; and though fhe ^fuffered nothing but the expence of war, (he ftill had a greedy eye to magnificent reimburfement. But if the Abbe is delighted with high and flriking fin- gularities of chara£ler, he might, in America, have found ample field for encomium. Here wa^^ ^^^ ^^"^ Annual Register for the year 1780. *» IHE Commissioners, who, in comequence of Lord North's con-^ ** ctliaiory bills, went over to America, to propose terms of peace ta ** the colorks, were wholly unsuccessful. The concessions wimb **fbfmeifily would have been received with the utmost gruti- ** tude, were rejeckd with disdain. Now was the time of Ame-^ <* rioan pride and haughtiness* It is probable, b&wever, that ^ iiw^is Kof pride and b:tugbimess alont that dktated the Reso- ** L tiara . .u "aswpswsi,; LITTER TO THE ABBB RAYNJll. 3« ouncfng - the cx- evenc its on from s rolling ough (he a greedy cing (in- /e found lo couki againll e, in op- e nations jnnciples that was en them- t (hewing again by . unmanly :onditions epared for :>n of fu€- mces. ear 1778^ far greater ]e Spani(h hiilorians r conduct :*.mftah:e :e. Their t order ta ts magni- the prin- n England. 1780. \ of peace to s'ions wlAcb imt gvati" me ofAme" vever, thai the Re:0' ** Lit WIS • But this pa(Honate encomium of the Abbe is defervedlr fubjed to nioral and philofophical obje5!ions. It is the a* fufionof wild thinking, and has a tendency to prevent that humanity of refledlion which the criminal conduiSt of Bri- tain enjoins on her as a duty. — It is a laudanum to courtly iniquity.— It keeps in intoxicated (leep the confcience ofji natiot>} and more mifchief is efFeded by wrapping up guijt infplendid excufe, than by directly patronizing it. Britain is now the only country which holds the world in difturbance and war ^ and inileaa of paying compliments to the excefs of her crimes, the Abbe would hiave appeared much more in character, had he put to her, or to her monarch, this ferious qucilion — Are there not mifcries enough in the world, too difficult to be encountered, and too pointed to be borne, without (ludy- ing to enlarge the lift, and arming it with new deftru^ion? Js life fo very long, that it is neceiTary, nay even a daty^ to ihake the fand, and haften out the period of duration ? Is tl^e path fo elegantly fmooth, fo decked on every fide, and carpet- ; td with joys, that wretchednefs is wanted to enrich it as. a foil ? Go, afk thine aching heart, when forrowfrom a thou- fand caufes wound it ; go, a(k thy fickened felf, when every medicine fails, whether this be, the cafe or not ? ' Quitting my remarks on this head, I proceed to another^ in which the Abbe has let loofe a vein of ill-< nature, ^nd». what is ilill worfe, of injuflice. After cavilling at the treaty, he goes on to chara£^eri^e thefevcral parties combined in the war. — -" Is it poffible,'*' fays the Abbe, ''that a flri6t union ihould long fubfift amongd: ^^ confederates of charadlers fo oppodte as the hafty, light, *' difdainful Frenchman, the j,ealous, haughty, fly, flow,. *' circumfpe^tive Spaniard, and the American, who is ie- ^' cretly fdatching looks at the mother country, stod would ^< rejoice, were they compatible with his independence, ^t " the difajlprs of his allies ?" Todrawfooli(h portraits of each other, is a mode of attack and reprifal, which the greater part of mankind are fondof tndulging. The ferious philofopher (hould be ;^o,ve it, more efpeciallyin cafes from which no pofiible good ^an arife, and l&ifchief may, and where no received ^royocaiion can paW * l\iii(fns ofCongreiSi but a distrust of the sincerity of the offers, oj, ** JBritam, a determination not to git e up Weir indepepdt}ic€t and ** ABOVB /iLtf.. THS''ENGAGEMCHTS INTO WHICH TH&Y HAD SMT^BEO ** BY THE. A &ATK TAfeATY WiTB FaaKC».*' 3* LETTER TO THE ABBE RAYNAL. llate theofFence. — The Abbe might have invented a dif- ference of character for every country in the world, and thejr in return might find others for him, till in the 'War of WiC all real chara^er is loih The pleafantry of one nation or the eravity of another may^ by k little pencilling, be diftorted "foto whimfical features, and the painter become as muoli laughed at as thi; painting. ' But why did not thie Abbe look a little deeper, and bring forth the excellencies of the feveral parties ? \Vhy did he not dwell with plcafure on that greatnefs of chara£ter, that ftiw periority of heart, which has marked the conduft of France in her conqueils, and which has forced an acknowledgment even from Britain ? There is one line, at leaft (and' many others might be dif^^ covered) in which the confederates unite, which is, that of a rival eminence in their treatment of their enemies. Spain, inr ' her conqueft of Minorca and the Bahama lAafids, confirms ' this remark. America has been invariable in her lenity from ' the beginning of the war„ notwithftanding the high provoca- ' tbns ike has expcrienctd ? It is -England only who has been infolent and cruel. * But why muft America be charged with a crime undeferv- ed by her condudi, more fo by her principles, and which, if a fac6i would be fatal to her honour ? I mean that of Want of at- tachment to htr allies, or rejoicing rn their difafters. She, it is truej has been aiHduous in (hewing to* the world that (he . was^not the aggreiior towards England ; that the quarrel wa& not of her feeking, or, at that time, even of her wifhing. JBut tojdtaw inferences from her candour, and even from her juftification, to flab her character by, and I fee nothing elfe from which they can be fuppofed to be drawn, is unkind and unjufl, . Does Tier reje£lion of the Britifh proportions in 1778, l>c- ; fore (he knew of any alliance with France, correfpotid wiih^ the Abbe's defcription of her mmd ? Doiesa fmgle inflanceolf her conduct fince that time juflify it i — But there is a flill betterevidencetoapply to, which is,thatofalHhc mail? whiclv at different times have been way- laid on the road,, in divers parts of America, and taken and carried into New- York, and from which the mott fccret and ^onfidehtiahprivate letters, as well as thofe froiti authority, have been publifhed, not one of them, I repeat it, not ^ fingle one pf them, gives countenance. to ifuch a charge. , This is not a country \irhnc men are under governmetnt leitKftMi* tted a dif- » and they arof Wic tion oc the diftorted as much and bring did he not that (tk" of France M^ledgment ght be dif^ s, that of a Spain, \rh » confirms enity from h proTOca- lo has been undcferv- which, if sb Want of at- rs. She, it rid that (he juarrel was er wifhing. en from her lothing elfe unkind and* I 1778, bc- fpond vfiih '. inftanceo^ ere is a ftill Tiailfwhicb- l,Jn divers ^ew-Yoit, vatelettersy I, not one of 3untenanc& government (■^y«'^l LETTER TO THE ABIC RAYNAL. * 3^^ ftftraint in fpeakine ; and if thert is any kmd of reftraint, i^ arifes from t fear of popular refentmcnt. Now> if nothing iii^ her private or public correfpondence favours fuch a fuggeftioii» and if the genera) difpofition of the country is fuph as to marts' it unfafe for a man to fliew an appearance of joy at any dif- afterto her ally ; on what grounds, I a(k, can the accufation ftand ? What company the Abbe may have kept in France^' we cannot know ; but this we know, that the account hf gives does not apply to America. Had the Abbe been in America at the time the news ar- rived of thedifailer of the fleet under Count de Grafle, in th^ Weft Indies^ he would have feen his vaft miihke. Neithq^ do I remember any infl^nce, except the loCs of Charleftownji i(i which the public mind fufFered more fevere and pungent^ concern, or underwent more agitations of hope and appre* henfion, as to the truth or falfehood of the report. Had thfi lofs been all our own, it could not have had a deeper effe^^ yet it was not one of thefe cafes which reached to the indc^ pendence of Agierica. , In the geographical account which the Abbe gives of the Thirteen States, he is fo exceedingly erroneous, tha$ to at- tempt a particular refutation, would exceed the limits I have prefcribed to myfelf. And as it is a matter neither p^litical^ hiilorical, nor fentimental, and which can always be coif* tradi£ted by the extent and natural circumilances of tl^iQ €onntry, I fhall pafs it over ; with this additional remark^ that I never yet faw an European defcription of America! t^t was true, neither can any perfon gain ajuft idea pf ity but by coming to it. , Though I have already extended this letter beyond what I at firft propofed, I atn, neverthelefs, obliged to omit many obfervations, I originally defigned tc have made* I wifh there had been no occaOon for making any. But the wrong ideas which the Abbe's work had a tendency to ex- cite, and the prejudicial impreflions they might make, muA be an apology for my remarks, and the freedom with whicli they arc done. I obferve the Abbe has made a fort of epitome of a cotifi- derable part of the pamphlet Common Sense, and introduq- cd it in that form into • his publication. But there^ ace other places where the Abbe has borrowed freely from th^ iame pamphlet, without acknowledging it. The difFere^cf; between fociety and government, with which the pamphlet ^pens, is take^ from it, and in fome expreifions almoft litq* , ' raHIr / >i ■I 1 J4 LETTER TO THE /BBB RATMAl. rally, into the Abbe's work, at if originally his own ; tni through the whole of the Abbess remarks en this head, the idea in Common Senfe is fo clofely copied and purfued* that the difference is only in words, and in the arrangemv.if of 4he thoughts, and not in the thoughts themfelves*'. But as it is time I fbould come to a concluHon of my ktter, I (hall forbear all further obfervations on the Abbe^t work, and take a concife view of the ftate of public affairs^ ilnce the time in which that performance was publifhed. A mind habited to a£kions of meannefs and injuftii^e, com* mits them without refle£lion, or with a very partial one ^ for on what other ground than this, can we account for the declaration of war aeainft the Dutch ? To gain an idea of the politics which actuated the firitiih Miniftry to this Itieafure, we muft enter into the opinion which they, and the Englifh in general, had formed of the temper of the Dutch nation; and from thence infer wnat their expectation •f tire confequences woul^ be. Could * Common Scvsb. ** Some Nvriterihave fo confounded fixiety with government) as to leave little or nodiftinftioQ between them; whereat they are not only differeot« Ibvt have di£rerent origins. ■ ** Society is produced by our wants, aad goviemments by our wickednefn ; thejbtfmer promotes our happinefs pojiththft by nnitine our afFcdlions ; thtXtXttx nefptivefyfh^ reftralaing our Abbk Ratnal., ** Care muft be taken not to con* found together foctety with govern* ment. That they may be known dif- tmAIy, their origin ikould be eoB« fidered. ** Society pripnates io the wants> of men» government in their vice*. Society tends always to good ; go- vernment ought always to tend to tht- reprcifing of cvil.'^ . . \ Jh tbejbllow'mg paragraphs there is less likeness in the Janguage^ but the ideas in the one are evidently c<^iedfrom the ot^. ■ *< Ib order to gain a clear and juft idea of the defigo and end of govern- ment, let tis fuppofe a fmall number of perfons meeting in fome fequef • tcred part of the earth unconneSed with thifr reft; they will then repre- fisot the peopling of any country or Of tlir^Vrorid. In this ftate of natu- HU Jlittty^ fociety will be our firft thojDght; A thoufand motives will excite them thereto. The ftrength «£-oBe man is fo unequal to his wants, and hia mind fo unfitted for perpetual (aatode, that he U foon obliged to, iiek *fflft«Oce of anotlur. w^o, in bit 'and «r« tacko^ LETrfcR TO THE AlTW RAYNAL. IT Could they have imagined that Holland would have Teri- oufly made a common caufe with France, Spain, and America, the Britifli Miniftry would never have dared tQ provoke them. It would have been a madnefs in politics to have done fo ; unlefs their views were to hailen on a period of fuch emphatic diftrefs, as (hould juftify the conceffiont which they faw they muft one day or other make to the w«rld, and for which they wanted an apology to themfelves. —There is a temper in fome men which fceks a pretence for fubmiflion. Like a (hip difabled in ad^ion, and unfitted to continue it, it waits the approach of a ftiil larger one tp flrike to, and feels relief at the opportunity. Whether this is ereatnefs or Uttlen^s of mind, I am not enquiring into. I lEould fuppofe it to be the latter, becaufe it proceeds from Common Sense. 9!s nifD) requires the Came. Fnar or five united would be able to raife a tolerable dwelling in the midfl; of a . wildcmefs; but om man might la- bour out the common period of life, without aicomplilhine any thin? ; when he had felled nis timber he could not remove it, nor-eret^ it ai^ ter it was removed ; hunger, in the mean time, would urge him from hi« work, and every difterent want call him a different way. Difeafe, naj even misfortune, would be death ; for though neither might be imme- diately mortal, yet either .of them would difablehim from living and re- duce him to a ftate in which he might rather be faid to perifli than to die. —Thus 'Oecoffity, like a gravitating ^wcr, would form our newly ar* rived emigrants into fociety, the W- crprocal blefiiogs of which would fu- perfede and render the obKgatinns of Taw and government .^nneceffiry, while they remained p«rfe<^ly juft to each other. But as noriiihg but heaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happen, that in pro- portion IS they furmount the firll difficulties of emigration which bound many evils, that he had fafbiohed thta globe to his ufe, reftrabieii the rivera, fub« jugated the ieas, iufured hia fubfif* tence, conquered a part of the aai- ma's in obliging them to ferve him, and driven others far from his empirt to the depth of defertsor of woods, where their number diminilhes from age to age. What a man alone wooUi not have, been able to cffed, ite^n have executed in |ft'ehdhfiohs do hot cxift. Such, however, has hitherto beea "iier conduct. » Another meafitre which has taken place iince the pubis- 'Nation of the Abbess wdrk, and likewife fince the time 6f mf beginning this letter, is the change Jn the Britifli Mioi^r- try. What line the new cabinet will purfue refpediiig; Ameilfca, is at t2»i$ thne unknown; neither is it very matt- { ) « its origi- ibinet hti ind confe- !r line, ry humbfe tnem asi might in- eafed, and ibinet, the )n the fup- iiics, they ;, (and ro with them f terms the ler was the was fet Ml dignity, it n another. fuch a va- herfelf, (he ifts in other ity and fub-. , in a num- ne charadier feems to be America are tnofe coun- n will court make them ' them, in nding them, T, thofe ^p- ttherto beiSa :e the pubK- the time bf ritifh MioVr e refpei^ing* tY«ryftiate« t t«TTlR T TRI Ain RATWAl. ^ M9 unlafi they are ferioufly diTpofed to a general an4 hoiiouribic peace. Rcpctted experience hat (hewn, not only the impra6Kca<* Dility of conquering America, but the ftill higher impombi- lity of conquering her mind, or recalling her back to her former condition of thinking. Since the commencement oif the war, which is now approaching to eight year*, thoufanda an4 tens of thoufands have advanced, and are daily advanc- ing into the iirft ftage ot manhood, who know nothing of Britain but as a barbarous enemy, and to whom the inde» pendance of America appears as much the natural and cflbabn(hed government of the country, as that of £ng» Imd does tp an £ngli(hman« And on the other hand, thoufands of the aged, who had Briti(h ideas, have dropped and are daily dropping, from the fta^e of bufineft and fife* •^-*The natural progrefs of generation and decay operates every hour to the difadvantage of Britain. Time and deathy hard enemies to contend with, fight conftant* ly againil her intereft; and the bills of mortality, is every part of America, are the thermometera of her declinoi. The children in the ilreets are from their cradle bred to con-* fider her as their only foe. They hear of her cruelties ; of their f^ithers, uncles, and kindred killed ; they (ee the re* iTiainf t of burnt and deflroyed houfes, and the common tra* dition of the fchcol they go to, tells them, thofi things ^rt 49919 by the Britijb, Thefe are circumftances which the mere £ng1i(h fiata ]K>litician, who confidcrs man only in a ftate of manhood^ does not attend to. He gets entangled with parses coeval or equal with himfelf athome, and thinks not how faft the rifing epneration in America is growing beyond his knowledge of viea, or they of him. In a few years all perfonal remem- brance will beloff, and who is king or min liter in Eoglandy will be little known, and fcaroely enquired after. The new Briti(h adminiftration is compofed of perfons who have ever been againft the war, and who haye conftant- ly reprobated all the violent meafuces of the former one^ They confidered the American war as deftru^live to them- ielves, and oppofed it on that ground. But what are the(e things to America ? She has nothing to do with £r>gli(h parties. The ins and the outs are nothing to her. It is the whole country (he is at -war with, or muft be at peace with. Were every minifter in England a Chatham^ it would' now weigh little or nothina in tlic (isale of American politics. D L>ii i'l .rtiftt'f'^-'" ^ ■ - '^■'^' ■*■"■ 0$ .LETTER TO THE ABBE RAYNAL* Death has preferved to the memory of this flatefman, thai fame^ which he, by living, would have loft. His plans jMid opinions, towards the latter part of his life, would have been attended with as many evil confequences, and as mu^h reprobated here, as thofe of Lord North \ and confidering him a wife man, they abound with inconftencies amounting to ^bfurdities. It has apparently been the fault of many in the late mino- rity, to fuppofe, that America would agree to certain terms with thetp, were they in place, which ihe would not ever liften to from the then adminiftrati'on. This idea can stnfwer no othct' purpofe than to prolong the war; and Britain may, at the expence of many more millions, learn the fatality of fuch miftakps. If the new miniftry wifely avoid this hopelefs policy, they will prove, themlelves better pilots, iind wifer men than they are conceived to be ; for it is every day expelled, to fee their bark ilrike upon fome hidden rock, and go to pieces. .But there is a line in which they may be great. A mone brilliant opening needs not to pref'ent itfeif.; and it is fuch a one,' ^as twe magnanimity would improve, and humanity r«joicein. A total reformation is wanted in England. She wants an expanded mind, — an heart which embraces the univerfe. Inftead of fliutting herfelf up in an ifland, and quarrelling with the world, fhe would derive more lading happin%fs, and acquire more real riches, by generoufly mixing with it, > and bravely faying, I am the enemy of none. It is not ' now a time for little contrivances, or artful politics. The European world is too experienced to be impofed upon, and America tob wife to be duped. It muft be fomething new '^^and mafterly that mud fucceed. T^he idea of feducing .America from her independence, or corrupting her from her i^Iiande, is a thought too little for a great mind, an^ inw potffible for any honeil one, to attempt. Whenever politics tre applied to debauch mankind from their integrity, and diflblve the virtues of human nature, they become deteftable and to be a flatefman upon this plan, is to be a commffiioned villain. Be who aims at it, leaves a vacancy in his charac* ter, which may be filled up with the worf( of epithets. If the difpontion of England fhould be fuch, as net ta i^gnec to a general and honourable peace, and that the war tttt^, atall events^ continue longer, I cannot help wiihing that V I ^\^ lETTER T9 THE ABBE RAYNAIi. 39 ., that' plans Id have inu^h [idering )unting mino* 'n lerms t ever Jinfwcr lin may, |ta]ity of hopelefs ts, iind /cry day ck, and A more It is fuch iumanity wants an univerfe. larrelling iappin%fs, 5 with it. It is not s. The pon, and ing new reducing from her an^ im- ' politics rity, and leteftable nffiioned i charac* ts. s net to the war wi(hing that <\M • ol that the alliances which America has or may enter into, may become the only obje£ls of the war. She wants an oppor- tunity of ihewing to the world, that ihe holds her honour a» dear and facred as her independence, and that (he will in no fituation forfake thofe, whom no negociations could induce to forfake her. Peace to every reflexive mind is a defirable objefl ; but that peace which is accompanied with a ruined chara£ter, becomes a crime to the feducer, and a curfe upon Chefeduced. But where i» the impoflibility, or even the great difficulty^ of England forming a frien()lhip with France and Spain, and making it a national virtue to renounce for ever thofe pre-^ jndiced inveteracies it has been her cuftom to cherifh ; and which, while they ferve to fink her with an encreafing enor- mity of debt, by involving her in fruitlefs wars, become Uk»« wife the bane of her repofe, and the de{lru(Slion of hef man- ners i. We had once the fetters that ihe has now, but expe- dience has flicwn us the millake, and thinking juilly hasfet eight. The true idea of a great nation is that which extends and promotes the principles of univerfal fociety. Whofe mind rifes above the atmofpheres of local thoughts, and confides mankind, of whatever nation or profeflion thev may be, a$ .the work of one Creator. The rage for conquell: has had its fafhion and its day. Why may not the amiable virtues hav^ the fame ? The Alexanders and Cxfars of antiquity, have left b&« hind them their monuments of deflru£lion, and are remembered^ with hatred; while thefemore exalted chara^ers, who firfl taught fociety and foience, are bled with the gratitude of. ' every age and country. Of more ufe was one philofopher>. though a heathen, to the world, than all thd heathen COA* querors that ever exifted. Should the prefent revolution be diftinguifhed by opening a new fyftem of extended civilization, it will receive from heaven the higheft evidence of approbation,; and as thisisa> fubjed to which the Abbe's powers are fo eminently fiiiteii>I recommend it to his attention, with ihe afFe^ion of a friends 'mad the ardour of an univerfal citizen*. ^y 9 2 POSTSCRffT. m pmmm "•m" iMi POSTSCRIPT. CINCE clofing the foregoing letter, fomc littirtidtldni le- ^fpe£ling a general peace, have made their way to America On what authority or foundation they Hand, or how near dr remote fuch an event may be, are circumftances, I am not enquiring into. But as the fubjed muft fooner or later be- come a matter of ferious attention, it may not be improper, «ven at this early period, candidly to inveftlgate fome p6itii9 that are connected with it, or lead towards it. The independence of America is at this moment as iirnaly il^abliflied as that of any other country in a ftate df war. it is not length of time, but power, that gives inability. Na- tions at War know nothing of ^ach other on the (bore'df ah- ti^iry. It h their preferit and immediate A^reng^, tdg^thiflr wkh their edtitiea:ioi5s, that mvfft fopport them. To Whidi #t m^ add, th^t a right Ivhidh originated td-day, is jisMiidh «^ght, as if it h^d the fan^ion of a'tboufand yesl's^ zsid i^infottt the rndependawce and preftnt governiheint of Aftife- ricai are in no more danger of being fubverted, tetaiif^ l^hcfy mit Hfiddern, than '^an that of {^glfUidls fecure, bec&iifb it is The politics df Brrtain, fo far as they refoe6led America,, yrete otiginaHy conceived in idiotifm, and aaed in madnef9» T^here is not a flrep Which bears the fmalleft trace of ratio- nality. In her management of the war, fhe has laboured t6 be wretched, and ftudied to be hated ; and in all her former l^rdpofitions for accommodation, ihe has difcovered a total ig- ' norance of mankind, and of thofe natural and unalterable fen- fations by which they are fo generally governed. How die may condiid^ herfelf in the prefent or future bufinefs of nego« tUtixu;^ peace is yet to be proved. ii> A POSTSCRIPT* 4» He is a weak politican who does not understand humaa nature, and penetrate into the efFe^ which meafur^s of go- vernment will have upon the mind. All the mifcarriages of Britain have arifen from this defe the event would be ; for the means produced only its proper and natural confequence. It is very probable, that in a treaty for peace, Britain wil contend for fome poft or other in North America 5 per- haps Canada or Malifax, or both : and I infer this from the , known deficiency of her politics, which have ever yet made ufe of means, whofe natural event was againft both her in- tereft and her expectation. But the queftion with her oughi^ to be. Whether it is worth her while to hold them, and what will be the confequence ? Refpcdting Canada, one or other of the two following will take place, viz. If Canada fhould people, it Will revolt, and if it do not people, it will not be worth the expence of holding. And the fame may be laid of Halifax, and tfie country round it. But Canada never will people^ neither is there any occafion for contrivances on one fide pr the other9 for nature alone will do the whole. Britain may put herfelf to great expences in fending fettlers to Canada ; but the defcendants of thofe fettlers will be Ameri- cans, as other defcendants have been before them. They will look round and fee the neighbouring States fbvereign an4s. free, refpe^ed abroad, and trading at large with the world ^ and the natural love of liberty, the advantages of commerce^ ' the bleflings of independence and of a happier climate,, and. a richer foil, will draw them fouthward, and the^fFt^6t will ' be, that Britain will fuftain the expence^. and America reap^ the advantage. One would think that the e^fperience which Britain has had of America^ weuld entirely ucl^en her of^l thoughts of D 3 . contbcnta i ii 4« FtSTSCltlPli eontinentnl colonization ; and any part which fhe might rt* tain, will only become to her a Held of jealoufy and thornt, •I" debate and contention, for ever ftruggling for privileges, and meditating revolt. She may form new iettlements> but fiey will be for us ; they will become part of the United States of America ; and that againft all iier contrivances ta prevent it, or without any endeavours of ours to promote it. In the firft place, (tie cannot draw from them a revenue . until they are able to pay one, and when they are (o^ they will be above fubje£lion. Men foon become attached to the Ibil they live upon, and incorporated with the profperity of the place ; and it fignifies but little what opinions they come over with, for time, intereft, and new conne«ftions, will ren^ ier them obfolete^ and the next generations know nothing of them. Were Britain truly wife (he would lay hold of the prefent .opportunity to difentangle herfelf from all continental cm- bar raflments in North America, and that not only to avoid future broils and troubles, but to fave expcnces. For to fpeak explicitly on the matter, I would -not^ were I an European power, have Canada, under the conditions that Britain muft retain it, could it be given to me. It is one of thofe kind of dominions that is, and ever will be, a conftant charge upon any foreign holder. n As to Halifax, it will become ufelefi? to, England after th6 prefent war, and the lofs of the United States. A harbour, when the dominion is gone, for the purpofe of which only it was wanted, can be attended only with expence. There -are, 1 doubt not, thoufands of people in England, who fuppofe, that thofe places are a profit to the nation, whereas they are directly the contrary, and inftead of producing any re- venue, a confidcrable part of the revenue of England is an- jmaUy drawn off, to fupport the expences of holding them. Gibraltar is another inftance of national ill-policy, A poft which in time of peace is not wanted, and in time of war is of no uf^, muft at all times be ufelefs. Inftead of affording protec- tion to a navy, it required the aid of one to maintain it. And to fiippoTe that Gibraltar commands the Mediterranean, or the pafs intait,or the trade of it, is to fuppofe a dete£ted falfehoodj becaufe, though Britain holds the poft, fhe has loft the other three^ and every benefit fhe cxpe6^ed from it. And to fay that alt Ihjs happens becaufe it is befieged by land and water, is to fay BOthing, for this will always be the cafe in time of war^ while Fr«ice and Spain keep up fup»rior fleets, and Britain holds ^ PdlTSCP.iPTa 4) holds the phcc.**— '^o that, though as an impenetrable inac- ceffible rock, it may held by the one, as it is always in the power or the other to render it ufc efs and exceffively chargeable. I fhould fiippofe that one of the principal obje£ls ofSpaiA inbefieging it, is to Ih vv to Britain, tint ihou^ih (he may not take it, (he can command it, that is, ihe can Ihut it up, and prevt^nt its being uledas a harbour, though not as a garrifon. —But the fhort way to reJuce Gibraltar, is to attack the Britifh fleet ; for Gibraltar is as dependant on a fleet for -fupport, as a bird is on its wing for food, and when wounded there it ftarves. There is another circumftance which the people of Eng- land have not only not attended to, but feem to be utterly fgnorant of, and that is, the difference between permanent , power, and accidental power, confidered in a national fenfe. By permanent power, I mean, a natural inherent, and per* petual ability in a nation, which, though always in being, may not be always ina£^ion,or not always ad vantageouflydi redded i and by accidental power, I mean, afortunate or accidental di£i* podtion or exercife of national flrength, in whole or in part.^ There undoubtedly was a time when any one European na« , tion, with only eight or ten (hips of war, equal to the pre« lent fhips of the line, could have carried, terror to all others^ who had not began to build a navy, however great their na- tural ability might be for that purpofe : but this can be con- fidered only as accidental, and not as a ftandard to compare permanent power by, and could lafl no longer than untxt thofe powers built as many or more (hips than the former* After this a larger fleet was neceflary, in order to be fuperior i, and a ftill larger would again fuperfede it. And thus man- kind have gone on building fleet upon fleet, as occafion or fituation dictated. And this reduces it to an original q^cC^ tion, which is : Which power can build and man the largefb number of (hips ? The natural anfwer to which is. That power which has the largeil revenue, and ths greateft num- ber of inhabitants, provided its iituation of couft aflFords fuf^ ficient conveniencies. . . France being a nation on the continent of Europe,, and' Britain an ifland in its neighbourhood,, each of them derived different ideas from their different fituations. The inhabi- tants of Britain could carry on no foreign trade, nor ftir from the fpot they dwelt upon, without the aflSiftance o£ ftippipg^ but this was not the a^ with France. Th<» idcst ,rf < ''"^ .*w« ■ 44 POSTSCRIPT. ^ idea therefore of a navy did not arife to France from the fairie original and immediate neceflity which produced it to England. But the queilion is; that when both of them turn their attention, and employ their, revenues the fame ^ay, which can be fuperior ? The annual revenue of France is nearly double that of England, and her number of inhabitants more than twice, as many. Each of them has the fame length of coail oa the channel ; befides which, France has feveral hundred miles lextent on the Bay of Bifcay, and an opening on the Medi- terranean : and every day proves, that pradlice and exercife make failors, as well as foldiers, in one country as well as another. If then Britain can maintain an hundred (hips of the line, France can as well (upport an hundred and fifty, becaufe her revenues and her population are as equal to the one as thofe of England are to the other. And the only reafon why ihe has not done it, is becaufe fhe has not till lately attended ta It. But when fiie fees, as ihe now fees, that a navy is the firft engine of power, 0ie can eafily accompliih it. f^ngiand very falfely, and ruinoudy for hcrfelf, infers, that becaufe (he had the advantage of France, while France had a fmaller navy, that for that reafon it is always to be fo. Whereas it may be clearly feen, that the ftrength of France has never yet been tried on a navy, and that ihe is able to be as fuperior to England in the extent of a navy, as (he is in the "extent of her revenues and her population. And England may lament the day when, by her infolence and injuilice, (he provoked in France a maritime difpofition. It is in the power of the combined fleets to conquer every iiland :n the We(t Indies, and reduce all the Britifn navy in thofe phces. For were France and Spain to fend their whole naval force in Europe to thofe iflands, it would not be in the power of Britain to follow them with an equal force. She would ftill be twenty or thirty fhips inferior, were ihe to fend every veflel ihe had; and in the mean time all the foreig.a trade of England would lay expofed to the Dutch. '/ It is a maxim, which, I am perfuaded, will ever hold good, and more efpecially in naval operations, that a great })ower ought never to move in detachments,, if it can pof- ible be avoided; but to go with its whole force to fome important obje£i, the redudion of which ihall have a deci<» five effe^ Upon the war. Ha J the whole of the French and Spaniih fleets in Jbiurope come lail fpring ta the Weil Indie^i^^ It I r*.ii. .. '- .%., .-^' >0ST8C1TP^. from the ced it to \cm turn nc >yay, e that of an twice, coaft oa ed miles \c Medi- exercife s well as the tine, caufe her : as thofe why (he :tended ta ,vy is the If, infers, le France i to be fo. )f France able to be > fhe is in I England iilice, fhe [uer every h navy in leir whole be in the rce. She :re fhe to be foreign ever hold at a great t can poC- ; to fome ve a deci"* rench and ii\ InclieS|^< 45 n 't nU eycnr ifland had been their own, Rodney their prifoncr, ind his fleet their prize. From the United States the combinM fleets can be fupplicd with pr6vifions, without the neceffity of drawing them from Europe, which is not the cafe with England. Accident has thrown fome advantages in the way of Eng- land, which, from the inferiority of her navy, ihe had not a right to expea. For though flie has been obliged to By before the combined fleets, yet Rodney has twice had the fortune to fall in with detached fqindrons, to which he was fupcrior in numbers : The firft m Cape St. Vincent, where he had nearlv two to one j and the other in the Weft-Indies, where he had a majority of fix fhips. Vi£tories of this kirid almoft produce thenifetves. They are won without honour, •nd fufliered without difgrace; and are afcribeable to th« chance of meeting, not to the fuperiority of fightihg: For the fame Admiral, under whom they Were obtained, was unable, in three former engagements, to make the leaft im- preflion on a fleet confifting of an equal number of flii^ iRpith his offpf and compounded for the events ^y decliniiig •the aditons ♦. T6 conclude, if it may be faid that Britain has numerous enemies, it likewife proves that fhe has given numerous of- fences. Ihfolence is f^ire to provoke hatred, whether in a Ration or ^h individual. The want of mitnn^rs in th^ BA« %ij^ Cbtiit'may be feen 'even in its bii'th-tiays and new-yeitff tMks^ which iri^ calculated to infatusttethe Vulgar, and dif« |;uft ^e 'Mian at refin^ent ; and her former oVerbearii^ irudenefs^ and kiftjlWeriblc iajuflice 6h the feks, have made every commercial nation her foe. Her fleets iiifere employ- ed as engines of prey; and adted on the fur^vee of the^eep the charaAer which the fhark does beneath it.-^On the other hand, the Combined Powers are taking a popular part, and will render their reputation immortal, by eftabliming the perfedt freedom of the ocean, to which all countries have a right, and are interefted in accomplifhing. The fea is the world's highway ; and he who arrogates a prerogative over it, tranfgrefles the right, and juilly brings on hii^felf the / cbaftifement of nations. ^ t'erhaps it might be of fome fervice to the future tranquiU /' * '* Sif ih aecounUt either Englifif or Fretteb, of the oB'toiutiHh^ Wefi^ jfnfUaitt^ttMi Count de Guichen, and ddmiral Jiodney^ in XjSOt hty 4i POSTSCRIPT* Iky of mankind, were an article introduced into the next general peace, that no one nation (hould, in time of peace, exceed a certain number of ihips of war. Something of this kind feems neceflfary ; for, according to the prefent fafliion, half the world will get upon the water, and there appears J10 end to the extent to which navies may be carried. Ano« ther reafon is, that navies add nothing to the manners or morals of a people. The fqueftered life which attends the fervice, prevents the oppprtunities of fociety, and is too apt to occafion a coarfenefs if ideas and language, and that more in (hips of war than in commercial employ; becaufe in the latter they mix more with the world, and are nearer related to it. I mention this remark as a general one, and not ap- plied to any one country more than another. Britain has now had the trial of above feven yesurs, with an expence of nearly a hundred million pounds fterling ; and every month in which (be delays to conclude a peace» coflfs her another million fterling, over and above her ordi- nary expences of government, which are a million more ; fo that her total monthly expence is two million pounds fter- ling, which is equal to the whole y^^r/^ expence of America, all charges included. Judge then who is. beft able to con- tinue it. She has likewife many attonements to make to an injured . world, as well in on^ quarter as another. And inilead of ; purfuing tl;iat temper of arrogance, which ferves only to fink her in the efteem, and entail on her the diflike, of all na- tions, (he will do well to reform her manners, retrench her expences, live peaceably with her neighbours,, and think of wafnomore. Philadelphia^ Anguft 21, 1782. tHE END. -■••i* » New puUications printed for H. D. STMONDS. I. THE JOCKEY CLUB ; OR, A Sketch of the Manners bJ the Age. Three Parts. ^The fifth Edition. — Price las. ti I'll speak of them as they are, ^ Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. Shaks* 11. LESSONS TO A YOUNG PRINCE, By An Old iStatefman; In which is the Method of Studying and Profiting by Mr. Burke's Strictures on the French Re- volution. — Price 4s 6d. III. ^ . A L E T T E R BY THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWN, \> With an Appendix; containing Thougijts on the Peace. — ^A Letter to the Abbe Sieycs, &c% with a fine Portrait of the Author—Price as. In the Prejs, andjhortly will be puUi/hed, THE SECRET HISTORY ^ GREENROOMS. Co