rMAGF EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
k
//
^^Jk
/.
&
%
IX)
LL
1.25
UllS 12.5
«« lis 12.2
t*a
i^
IM
U 11.6
^
^
/,
^
/a
"^A
O
'/
Hiotographic
_Sciences
Corporation
L17
d
\
V
\
:\
<^
■f'.
^
O^
^J^
33 WIST MAIN STRUT
WItSTH.N.Y. UStO
(7U)l7a-4S09
<^
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historicai IVIicroreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
D
D
D
D
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
nn Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagde
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde
□ Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
□ Coloured maps/
Cartf 8 gdographi
gdographiques en couleur
Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
Coloured plates and/or Illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Relid avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La re liure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge inttrleure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutAes
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans la texte,
mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas AtA fllmies.
Additional comments:/
Commentalres suppl6mentalres;
L'Instltut a microfilm^ le mellleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a dt6 possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage
sont indiqu6s ci-dessous.
I I Coloured pages/
s/
D
Pages de couleur
Pages damaged/
Pages endommagdes
□ Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d^color^es, tachetdes ou piqu^es
I I Pages detached/
Pages ddtachdes
Showthrough/
Transparence
Quality of prir
Quality in^gale de I'impresslon
Includes supplementary materii
Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire
Only edition available/
Seule MItlon disponible
r~l Showthrough/
I I Quality of print varies/
I I Includes supplementary material/
I — I Only edition available/
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partlellement
obscurcles par un feulllet d'errata, une palure,
etc., ont 4t4 filmAes A nouveau de fagon i
obtenir la mellleure Image possible.
This Item Is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est fllmi au taux da reduction IndlquA ci-dessous.
10X
14X
18X
22X
26X
XX
1
/
1U
lex
20X
24X
28X
32X
The copy filmed here hes been reproduced thenks
to the generosity of:
Library of the Public
Archives of Canada
L'exempiaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la
g6n6rosit6 de:
La bibllothdque des Archives
publiques du Canada
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in iceeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies in printed paper covers aro filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Les images suivantes ont 6X6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de l'exempiaire filmd, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimis sont filmis en commengant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
derniire page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration. soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont film6s en commengant par la
premiere page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
Un des symboiss suivants apparuitra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
CBS: le symboie —^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le
symbols y signifie "FIN".
Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre
filmis 6 des taux de rMuction diffdrents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre
reproduit en un seul clichA, if est film6 A partir
de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mithode.
1
2
3
32X
1
2
9
4
5
6
•%*i-
I^
'^
^^
IL E M A R K S
ON THE
iV>
TRAVELS
I 'ffi
O F T H E
II
MAR QJJ IS DE CHASTE LLUX,
1 N
NORTH AMERICA.
LONDON,
Prlnttd for G and T. W I L K I E, in St. Paul's Church- Yard.
MDCCLXXXVll.
•^ '
[ Price Two Shillingt. ]
A-
I
^r (7 '1
/'/?
^5
)
%lli^l
ADVERTISEMENT.
'TTHE florm of war has long ceaf-
ed ; the tumult that has arifen
from it is gradually fubfiding ; the
voice of reafon begins to be heard ;
and prejudice bears an unintentional
teftimony to truth. — Struck with
thefe refle<5l*ons, on reading the Tra-
vels of the Marquis de Chaftellux,
I offer fome remarks upon them to
the Public : his account of America
flrengthens many affertions relative
to the late war, that have hither-
to been difbelieved ; points out who
were the enemies of Great Bri-
tain ; what inftruments feparated her
from her colonies ; and produces the
moft ample evidence in favour of the
8 military
n
«
ADVER TISEMENT.
military talents of the Britifli gene-
rals. Every page of this work bears
with it the undeniable teftimony of a
foldier, citizen, or philofopher, that
the Britifli fubje^t enjoys a greater
fhare of happinefs at home than he
could find in a wild purfuit of it in
America.
The Marquis de Ghaftcllux's Tra-
vels are accompanied by the notes of
his Tranflator, of whom I fhall have
occalion to fpeak hereafter. Upon
military points, I frequently agree
with the Marquis : where I differ, I
collect my information from Britifli
ofiicers who fervcd in America. What-
ever is included between inverted
commas is taken from his Travels.
REMARKS
O N T H E
MAR Q^U IS DE CHASTELLUX's
TRAVELS.
THE Marquis de Chaftellux was a
French major-general, and in that
capacity went to Rhode Ifland with the
army under the command of M. Rocham-
beau ; all his intelligence, of courfe, was
derived through a medium fo oppofite to
the interefts of Great Britain, that he can
only be confidered as furnifhing an ex parte
evidence for the judgment of fome hifto-
rian ^ and he too muft not be of the prefent
age, as the Marquis juftly remaiii.-: : ** It is
for a Salluft and a Tacitus alone, fays he, to
tranfmit, in their works, the adlions and
harangues of their contemporaries ; nor did
they write till after fome great change in
affairs had placed an immenfe interval be-
tween the epocha of the hiftory they tranf-
B mitted.
[ 2 ]
mitted, and that in which it was com-
pofed."
The Marquis's teftimony is frequently
£wourable to the British armies, from whofe
merit, it is obvious, he aims to detradl j and
indeed it was politic for him to do fo, as
printed copies of his work were circulated
at Paris during the war, the flattering con-
tents of which in all probability echoed to
America. Speaking of the ftrength of Mud
Ifland, the Marquis remarks, ** When we
recolle<!t the innumerable obflacles the Eng-
lifli had to furmount in the prefent war, it
is difficult to aiTign the caufe of their fuc-
cefTes ; but if we turn our eyes on all the
unforefeen events which have deceived the
expe(5lations of the Americans, and fruf-
trated their beft concerted meafures, one
cannot but be perfuaded that they were de-
voted to deflrudtion, and that the alliance
with France alone proved the means of
their prefervation." There never can be
a greater panegyric bellowed on the Britifli
generals than what this fentence contains ;
innumerable obftacles they did furmount,
and it did not depend on them to crufli the
naval power of France.
The
4i
[ 3 ]
The Marquis, in viewing the redoubts
thrown up by the Britifh in front of Phila-
delphia, remarks on the defedt of the po-
fition ; and he might have related that the
houfes, which he takes care to mention as
deftroycd near that fpot, were thrown down
to ftrengthen it. He then fays, " At every
flep one takes in America, one is aftonifhed
at the ftriking contraft between the con-
tempt in which the Engli(h afFeded to hold
their enemies, and the extreme precautions
they took on every occalion." There can-
not be a greater proof of military talents in
a commander in chief than this obfcr-
vation.
The Marquis fays, that " the Englifh
attack confifls in general in a brifk fire
rather than in clofing with the enemy.'*
This French officer is unacquainted with
the theory of the Britifli army; and to
apply with the dridell: truth his own words
to one of its generals, " the many unfore-
feen events that deceived their expedlations'*
prevented fir Henry Clinton from inftrudl-
ing him and the French troops at Rhode
Ifland in its pradicc.
8 2 The
■k
r
[ 4 ]
The limits of this pamphlet preclude mc
from entering into the detail of the lefs
important events of the war. Suffice it to
obferve, that the Marquis has been much
milled in the account that he relates of
them ; and what he faid in raillery to M.
Fayette, on one occafion, may in fober fe-
rioufnels be applied to him and his other
military informers on all, ** He was a Gafcon
as well as the reft of them." When the
Marquis de Chaftellux relates that he was
at the houfe where lord Cornwallis came
to take Mr. Lincoln, he forgets to re-
count that, although his lordfliip mifled
the general, he took what was better, his
cannon.
The efcape of Mr. Wafhington from
Trenton, and that of the marquis de la
Fayette, are not juftly related: it is cer-
tain they did efcape, and the Marquis does
not praife them for being placed where
flight was neceflary for their prefervation.
To his remark on the battle of Brandy-
wine, I only add, that darknefs prevented
the purfuit j and had it not, it muft have
been ineffedtual, for Mr. Waihington wrote
a letter that night many miles from the
field
[ 5 1
field of adion, and the gentlemen of
France, whofe engagements in the Rebel
fervice at this time were contrary to the
laws of nations, were not lefs panic-flruck :
thej^ were flying, and on their journey con-
lidering whether it would not be better
for them to retreat by the Ohio to the
MifTiflippi, and fo to Old France 2 they
cxpedled that the people of the country
would rife up againft them ; not being
able to forefee that a fevere and more than
tropical rain, a few nights after, would
" fruftrate the bell concerted meafures" of
fir William Howe, and preferve Waftiing-
ton's army from deftrudtion *.
At
* The Marquis Is in doubt whether the Britifli
troops, who paflcd Chafisford, were in one or two co-
lumns. Though I have failed in my enquiries relative
to this point, I have met with an anecdote that may
illuftrate his account, and deferves to be made more
generally known. The Marquis was informed, that
the redoubt which Mr. Walhington had thrown up to
cover Chadsford, *' could not be taken, unlefs turned.**
Lieutenant-colonel Moncrief, then captain, was in the
front of a column, which advanced to a redoubt :
there was a howitzer in it, loaded with grape fliot,
pointed direftly towards the column, and a man
ftanding by it with a lighted match in his hand;
colonel
[ 6 J
At the affair of German Town, the Mar-
quis blames general Wafhington's inten-
tions, as being beyond his force; here
we moft perfectly agree : the execution of
his defiga can be well explained from the
Marquis's recital : ** A thick fog came on,
favourable to the march, but which ren-
dered the attack more difficult, as it became
impoflible to coiicert the movements, and
extend the troops." He adds, " The Eng-
lifh piquet were furprifed, put to the rout,
and driven to the camp." The fad: is, a
battalion of light infantry and the fortieth
regiment were in advance ; the piquet
guard was driven in by the enemy 5 nor
could it be fuppofed that two battalions
ihould witlifland, or were meant to with-
ftand, an army ; they retreated alfo, and the
enemy poflelTed themfelves of their camp ;
under the cover of the fog, and, in confe-
colonol Moncrlef, with his ufual prefencc of mind,
called out, •* I'll put you to death, if you fire:" the
man threw down the match, and ran olTj had he
fired, he could equally have efcapcd, and in all pro-
bability colonel Moncrief had not lived to difplay his
energy and abilities in the defence of Sarc^nah and
the conquell of Charles Town.
quencc
[ 7 ]
quence of their numbers, they had nearly
turned the right of the fortieth regiment,
when colonel Mufgrave fhewed his military
talents, and decifive application of them,
by throwing himfelf and his battalion into
Chews Houfe. General Wafhington loft
time at this houfe ; but had he immediately
advanced, he would have found the BritiHi
army in order of battle, and ready to receive
him ; they, however, could not leave their
pofition to attack, till the fog cleared up :
as foon as this happened, they did advance,
and general Wafhington and his people
fled on all fides *. The Marquis de. Chaf-
tcllux only lays, " The piquet was fui-
prifed, and fled," (it fled of courfe, and this
is rather a proof it was not furprifed) ; but
the tranflator heightens the exprellion, and
applies it to the army ; and then affirms the
Marquis calls it " a complete furprize,"
and goes on to queftion the evidence which
fir George Olbornc gave in the houfe of
• This precipitate flight orcafioned an o.Ticer to fay,
upon the field oi battle, •• Wuflilngton may write a
(horter letter to Congrefs than he diil after Brandy-
wine i he may copy CiElar's words, wllli a flii;ht alte-
ration, rriif 'i'iri'i iJi^i."
commons,
; I
I
[ 8 ]
commons, *' That the army was not fur-
prifed at German Town;" a teftimony
which, if it was necellary, could now be
confirmed by whole regiments. I am forry
that the gallantry of the afTault made upon
Red Bank by colonel Donop meets with no
applaufe from an officer : indeed it needs
none ; its plain recital is fufficient : nor
can the hiftory of the war among the con-
tending nations, exhibit any thing parallel
to the undaunted refolution and perfeverancc
fhewn in that unfortunate attempt.
On what principle does the Marquis de
Chaftellux remark, ** That the gallows
ought to be the reward of the exploits of
thirty foldiers, or regimented tories, who,
detached with the Indians, had burnt up-
wards of two hundred houfes, and deftroyed
above one hundred thoufand bufliels of
corn ?" Does the French Nobleman con-
demn thefe men for loyalty ? Or does the
Officer think the deftrudlion of one hundred
thouu\nd buHiels of corn no objed of mi-
litary expedition ? No lofs to an army,
which is defcribcd to have been frequently
in the utmoft want of food ? Or muft they
fuffer becaufc they a6t with Indians ? How
g exalttfd
[ 9 ]
cx.ilted then mail bs the gallows for M.
P^iyette, who made ufe of thefe people, not
in a frontier country, where the inhabitants
are more fivage and barbarous than the In-
dians, but, as M. de Chaftelkix informs
us, within fifteen miles of the city of Phi-
ladelphia !
As the following pages will contain ob-
fervations more of a civil than a military
complexion, I fhall now introduce the ..
Tranflator to the notice of my readers. He
flyles himfelf an " Englilhman ;" I can
fcarcelv believe him. He relates his hav-
ing been in ** the feventeenth regiment /'
that he had been ** an apprentice to a I.on-
don merchant, a Swiis, who was violent in
his approbation of tlie governmcnt-mca-
fures againft the Americans, and fupplied
them fecretly with gunpowder/' th.it he
had ferved on board an '* American priva-
teer, with wretches of every defciiption ;"
that he was ** in the Texel and in Ame-
rica during the war ;" he alfo adds, that he
law the camps in England : if io, he
probably vifited them upon that func ho-
nourable motive which brought M. Fayette
to London, Ions after he had determined
C to
r
[
lO
]
to enter into the fervice of the Congrcis.
If he be an Englifliman, his own reproba-
tion of White may fuit him, whom he
ilcfcribcs as going over to the enemy, and
** diflingiiilliing himfclf by every acft of
virulence againfl his country."
The war has ceafed, but not with the
Tranilator : his bufinefs is to vihfy the
Britilh artny, whofe officers, he affirms,
broke their parole ; but that " out of re-
ipcitt to their families, he does not mention
their names." He alfo fpeaks of a ** Britifli
chaplain, as dividing plunder" on the march
through the Jerfeys. He affeds to " blufli
for England :" if he really felt for the honour
of that country, he would mention names,
and not by concealing them be injurious to
the whole community ; but flories like his
arc improbable in themfelves, and will not
1 e believed on the anonymous aflertions of
one, who, by his own account, has acted
both as a lurking fpy and avowed rebel to
his country. TheTranllator heightens the
ravages of the Britilh army to the grcatell
degree, and the good difciplineof the French
is Ipoken of with enthufiafm : the fituatioa.
of the armies admitted of no comparifon -,
to
[ II ]
to form one, we mufl take the Britifli troops
as they now are marching from town to
town in England; the French army had
no enemy to oppofe^ and the way was
fmoothed before them. Refentment againft
the fuperiority of the Britidi arms in the
former war inflamed their hopes, and po-
h'cy regulated their condiicft : on the con-
trary, the Britifh army, when no enemy
dared to oppofe them in the field, were
yet f.rcd upon by a fkulking peafantry,
whom no laws, or ufage of European war,
could juftify; their characters were aflafli-
nated by fuch inftruments as the Tranfla-
tor, while rebel America affedted to be
aftonifhed that war brought with it any de-
predations or miferies.
The Marquis de Chaftellux feems to have
caught the political contagion : for him,
and thofe who think like him, it will not
be improper to relate fome of the futfer-
ings of Germany in the former war, from
the difcipline of France and the avarice of
its general : if the troops of that ambitious
country are now under a better difcipline,
and the fentimcnts of their generals arj as
delicate and fenfitivc as thofe of the Mar-
C 2
qu
IS
[ «2 ]
qiiis de Challclhix, the pandc(fts of Quebec,
Miniien, and Rofbach have produced admir-
able effed:s, and Wolfe, Ferdinand, and Fre-
derick have been mofl ufeful la\Vgivers.
I Ihall give a fummary character, from the
Annual Regifter, of the conduct of the French
army in Hanover, in 1757; a narrative that,
in the hands of the marquis de Chaftellux,
would have been fpun out into pages, could
they detrad: from the glory of Great Britain.
*' The moll: exorbitant contributions were le-
vied with the moll inflexible feverity ; every
exa<^lIon which was fubmitted to, only pro-
duced a new one flill more extravagant, and
all the orderly methods of plunder did not
exempt them from the pillage, licenticuf-
ncfs, and iniblence of the French foldiery."
T'he baron Gcrmingen, in a memorial pre-
fen ted to tlie diet of the empire, fays, ** the
damage oi' the firft invalion was feveral mil-
iions, they made a fecond invafion, exacted
infupportable contributions, plundered fe-
veral places, &c. ihcjhle ei:d of 'Zc'/6/c/6 was
to r^iVtrrt' the kings dominions and thofc of
IL'Jfe'*^'.'' A Frenchman, the ilave of his
govern -
* Vengeance foon overtook another armjr of French,
equalljr
%
i
A
■4
[ 13 ]
government, facrifices every thing to the
politics of his king; I am not furprifed
therefore at the indil'criminate cenfure that
the marquis de Chaftellux beftows upon the
Engliih generals and armies ; it is his endea-
vour to make them odious : this poffibly he
thought became a Frenchman; but an
Englifhman, the member of a free govern-
ment, w^ould be inconfiftent with its prin-
ciples, did he not feledt, to the beft of his
power, the deferving from the unworthy ;
did he not, in this prefent inftance, add his
tcllimony to thofe eulogiums which the peo-
cqually remarkable for their cruelty ; and the immor-
tal Frederick, according to their own Voltaire, met
them at Rofbach, where
Aux plaintes de la Germanic
L'Orgueil Francois eft ecrafe.
•* Depredatory expeditions is a term too (hamefui
to be made ufe of in the vocabulary of war, ' fays the
Tranflator. The pafl'age I have quoted proves it not to be
new, and it ought to be remembered that the prudent
Turenne cither burnt the Palatinate, or could not
prevent his troops from doing it, through their refent-
ment, and without orders. Expeditions of the Britifii
troops, which the Tranflator ctWs predatory^ were made
to dcftroy privateers, and their arfenals ; as the Tranf-
lator was not of their councils of war, it is among his
abfurditics to prefumc to give the fentiments of its
mcmbcrg, which neceffarily were /r.r//.
'-1;
[ 14 ]
il
pie of Hanover beftow on the military vir-
tue and good faith of the duke of Randan.
Much of the ravages in America v/as at-
tributed to the Heffians : it was certainly
difficult to inculcate into them that the
country fliould enjoy the advantages of
peace, the inhabitants of which were in
arms againft them j and who hourly violat-
ed the regulations which Europe has adopt-
ed to lelien the calamities of war. A very
refpedtable officer of the Heliians obferved,
and it was not contradidted by any of thofe
prefent who had ferved in Germany, " that
even the allied army, when it drove the
French marauders from IleiTe, pillaged the
country more than the Heiiians or Britifh
did America j" and added he, with great in-
dignation, ** no American town has been
laid under contribution, and what is there
to deftroy ? wooden houfes deferted of their
inhabitantvS, pigs, and poultry."
The marquis's Journal bears teftimony to
the real poverty and the fancied magnificence
of America. An European, upon looking
on the maps of Britifh America, miftakes
capital letters for cities, and thefize offome
diftrict or townfliip for a large town. From
the
[ 15 ]
the Marquis he will learn, that he and his
fuite could fcarcely be accommodated with
provifions at an immoderate price ; and he
will then eflimate the difficulties that an
army muft have laboured under for fublift-
ancein the country. The Tranflator fpeaks
to its almoll impoflibility, when lord Corn-
wallis's army receded from Rivers ; and fure-
ly this alone muft excufe foldiers for taking
provifions wherever they could find them^
it being an avowed maxim of European war,
to live upon an enemy's country. In gene-
ral, the Britifh armies were fupplied with
provifions from England; an immenfe ope-
ration ! but which proves the little inclina-
tion that its government had to carry on the
war in its utmoft rigour, and that it did not
confider its revolted colonies as enemies ;
that it did not look upon them as the duke
de Richelieu did on the unhappy inhabitants
of Hanover, or as Mr. Waihington and
the provincial afi^emblies did on the Tories, as
they politically termed them, whofe whole
property they confifcated, and whofe perfons
they banilhed. Charles Town, near Bof-
ton, was burnt* during the heat of a(Sion,
and it was necellary in a military light;
Houfes
(■•
i
[ «6 ]
Houfes and forage fuffered the fame fate in
the vicinity of Bofton, by general Wafhing-
ton's army ; they too confumed the houfes
in the neighbourhood of White Plains.
Thefe, and many others, were military o-
perations; but Norfolk in Virginia, unne-
ceffarily burnt by their back-woodfmen,
contained in it more houfes and a greater
property than the licentioufnefs of the Bri-
tifh foldiers ever deflroyed.
The Loyalifts are mentioned in this work
with the utmoft calumny and hatred : this
their principles, fo different from thofe of
the Author or Tranflator, naturally account
for — The tranflator fays, ** the Loyalifts
ravaged fome parts of America it is true ;
but ruined England, by infpiring her ene-
mies with an irreconcileable hatred." The
irreconcileable hatred to England was in-
fpired by the " enlightened few*." Such
incendiaries as the Tranflator may add fewel
to it; but, by the bleffing of God, the
ruin of England is not likely to be the refult
of their wiflies.
* This is the Tranflator's term for thofe *' few,"
who, according to the Author, led the Virginians
into revolt, and, agreeable to the Tranflator, formed
the government of North Carolina.
I beg
in
ins
ed
[ 17 ]
I hcg now the attention of the readers of
the marquis dc Chailellux's Travels, to the
numhers of the Britiih and Irifli whom the
Tmnflator's notes point out as holding the
^ higheft ports in America, and to his obferva-
tion that the latter pof]lefled as much ener-
gy at leaft, and ierved that country " with
as much enthufiailn in the cabinet and the
field as the native Americans, and, to ipeak
with the late lord Chatham, they infuled a
portion of new health into the conftitution."
Attend alfo to his remark on Mr. Wafhing-
ton's army, for it is a true one ; ** th's ar^
my was compofed of ali nations i yet they
feem to be pervaded but by one fpirit, and
fought and ad.ed with as much enthufiaihi
and ardour as the moil enlightened and de-
termined of their leaders." What infer-
ences fliall we deduce from this account?
Shall we fay that thcfe Iriih leaders, that
this army was pervaded with that true ipirit
of liberty, which is the refult of liberal c-
ducation and of virtuous principles, of a
cool judgment and a warm heart j and that
it was called forth to adlion by individual
difcernment in the one, and perfonal fufier-
ings in the other ? Or fliall we fay that the
D former
• ii
HI
ill
I t
I I
1^
[ i8 ]
former were refllefs adventurers ; who, likiv-
ing nothing to \o[^, had nothing to riik ;
and who, from ** fmall beginnings *," aim-
ed at the pofTefTions of the LoyaUtls ? That
the latter, an affemblage of all nations,
were coUedlcd together from neceffity, co-
alefced through fear of panilh:"nent, and were
preferved in their union by fevxre and uni-
form difcipline ? ^/jt:Je are tbc fa:is —
Their army was under a more than Pruf-
iian difcipline J I fpeak not of its mode,
but of its fpirit ; and nothing lefs than fucli
a difcipline could poihbly have held toge-
ther the outcallis of Europe, and the ban-
ditti of the univerfe -f*, 1 detract not from
the worldly wifdom of their leaders ; I con-
trovert their claims to public virtue and in-
* The Tranflator's expreflion of Mr. M'Clenachan,
who bought Mr. Chew's houfe.
f Thefe expreflTions are not too ftronfj, they will bear
the ftricHieft examination. The fobcr emi;];rant retired
into the interior countries, or joined the Britifh army,
the felons of England, the adventurers of tiie conti-
nent, and thofe Hearts of Steel, and White Boys,
who fled from the juftice of Ireland, formed this army,
which, under the pretext of liberty, had as many well-
wifliers to it as were diffafFeded to the government of
phujrch and ftate in Grcfit Britain.
tec^ritv :
[ 19 ]
tegrity : I admire the fpirit and ability of
Romulus ; but I detefl his fratricide, and
the principles of his companions.
To underfland, and to account for this
difcipline, it is neceiTary to remark that the
civil government of the feveral Hates v\'as
infinitely fubdivided, and diffufed through-
out the whole continent; that by this the
militia was called out into the field, and the
continental army was ready to punifli, and
in many cafes did fevercly punifh, any de-
lay in obeying its fummons. The militia
once out, it formed an horizon round their
camps, as ufeful in a military view to pre-
vent furprizes, as the light troops of an
European army; but their utility was of
higher import, they greatly prevented de-
fer tion, from the refpedive fituation of the
armies difficult in itfelf, and adling on the
principles of felf-intereft they efFedually
checked marauding, that bane of all armies.
The civil government, in the mean time,
fined, whipt, banilhed, and hung without
mercy, all who oppofed their refolutions ;
they feized the prefs throughout America,
and in the mod infamous manner managed
it to their purpofe ; they moulded many to
D 2 their
Ill
i
[ 20 ]
thdr vfcws by inflaming their paffions ; to
{ohk: they ibid the properties of the Loy.tl-
ifts -At 3. low price, who thenceforward bc-
csdiic attached to their intercil; others were
conneOed to it through fear of punifliment,
or dread of petribution j and the whole force
of America, civil and military, combined
to pbcc j.n Mr, Washington's hands a more
feveii?, fy/ieiiiatic, and uniform mode of
liifciiphne over his mtrcenary army, than any
^\itii^i:23\ potentate in the time of war can
^I'iiil himlelf of.
in iupport of the obfervation of the Tranf-
Jator, that Wailiingtou's army was com-
pofed of all nations, not ot native Aimri-
Cijjij i and of my pofitions, that the civil
and aiilitiiry powers were cloftly connected
with, and mod ilrongly aflifled each other ;
the miu-quis de Chaftellux gives thedefcrip-
tion of one colony, ** fpeaking of the re-
volution unhappily with regret," and of
the numbers who were difaffcdted to it in
others ; he mentions alfo " Mr. Pendleton,
chief juft ice of Carolina, having the cou-
rage to haiig three Tories at Charles Town,
a few days before the furrender of the town,
and was accordingly in great danger of lol'-
ing
£
21
]
♦
ing his life, had he not ^leaped out of tlic
hands of the Englifh, though comprifed In
the capitulation." He informs us, likcwife,
that when Mr. Ilarrifon had pcrliiadeii the
people of Virginia to take his ^ord for it
that the congrefs a<5led properly, *' he, Mr-
Harrifon, found himfelf greatly rcHevcd hy
afpccch made by lord Norlh, foon after this
fpeech was printed (properly garbled with-
out doubt), and the public papers irnd all
America rang with its contents/*
The marquis fays, *' governor Clinton is
inexorable to the Tories, whom he makes
tremble, though they are very numerous * :"
and well might he, for the Britifli govei*n-
ment executed no man through the war for
his civil principles ; yet v/hat province,
what county, what town in America, has
not ibme dreadful truth to relate of Loyaliils
* Mr. Payne, in his famous publication of Common.
Senfc, pfcvious to the declaration of independency,
fays, '* a line of di(lin£lion (houhl be drawn betwccu
Engliih foldicrs taken in battle, -and inhabitants of A<-
nicrica taken in arms. The lirll arc priloncrfi, but the
latter arc traitors. The one forfeits his libeitv, <hc o-
ther his head." As the Britilh govcrnmejit oiJ no:
proceed upon thcfc principles, nothing but conkicncc
rould make Pendleton think it pri^pcr lo cfcape ffom
Charle« Townt
executed
I 22 ]
executed for oftences againft laws to which
they had not afiented, and by a power whofe
legality they had always denied ? More per-
fons were put to death by the hands of the
executioner, in obedience to the rebel legif-
lature, than fufFered a fimilar fate from both
parties, during the civil wars of Charles the
Firft's reign *.
Nor was this the whole that the unfortu-
nate Loyalifts fufFered ; upon them murder
was let loofe ; mobs and the virulence of
demagogues were fomented by the magi-
flrates, to deftroy thofe whom no pretexts
of their laws could reach ; and this happen-
ed not in the barbarous and diftant parts of
the continent, but in commercial towns,
and in colonies on the vicinity of the fea-
coaft. Nothing but a wilh to place truth
in its real lij^ht, and to refcuc the Loyal-
ifls from the infamous al'perfions thrown on
them by the enemies of Great Britain, could
draw thel'e remarks from me j but the in-
flances of thcfe murders are fo numerous,
and the proofs fo ftrong, that fliould they
• France became the pander to American cruelty,
and fomeiimes ihc executioner of its political punifh-
ments.
be
[ 23 ]
be produced, it would be confelTed that
modern times are ignorant of fuch another
catalogue, and Europe would blufh for its
American offspring. The Tranflator relates
an inftance of murder in the back country,
which amidft all his palliatives and artifice,
will make an European fhudder, and which
is even worfe than all the calumnies, were
they true, that he and his author have fhed
upon the Loyalifls, and the Britifli generals
and armies.
" The inhabitants of the back frontiers
of Penfylvania, goaded to fury by the ra-
vages of the Indians, took the field; in
one of their excurfions they fell in with a
fmall tribe of Chriftian Indians, called the
Mufkingaws, who being fufpedted of at-
tachment to the Americans, had been for
fome time confined at Detroit, and were re-
leafed only on condition of obfcrving a ftrid:
neutrality ; thefe unhappy wretches, to the
number of two hundred, returning to their
habitations, were employed in putting their
feed -corn into the ground, when they were
furprifcd by the American militia ; in vain
did they urge their fituation, and their fuf-
fcrings from the Britifli; they were Indians,
and
mr
and their captors' men who had loll:, Ibme
brothers, fatliers, v/ives^ mid children in this
horrid war; no other plea was necelTary to
pailiite their meditated vengeance. The
Iiidinins iverc all fliut up in a barn, and or-
dered to prepire for death, but with this
baifyjraus canlblatioay that as they were con-
verte-d Chriftiajis they Ihould bo allowed a
icfpkc till the next inortiing ; the innocent
vidtirns: fpcnt tlie ni^^ht in fingini^ Moravian
h}TOns\» and other adts of Chrifliaii devotion,
and in the morning wctc led, men, women.
and children tO' the flaughter, and butcher-
ed by their fellow-worihippcrs- of the meek
Jefus. Thcr iV'loravians at Bethlehem and
Nazareth, whofe millionaries had converted
them, made ilrong rcprefentations to con-
grcfs on the fabje(ft. I was at Philadelphia
ivhcn the news arrived, and it is but jullitc
toiay that horror was painted on every coun-
tenance, and every mind was at work to dc-
viie expedients for avenging this atrociou-?
murder; but, after various eilbrts, both con-
grefs and the aflembly of the ftate were
found unequal to the punishment of thefe
ailailins, who were armed, diftant from tlic
Jeat of governrrent, the only fafeguard and
7 protedlioii
[ 2S ]
protedion of the frontiers ; and from their
own fivage nature alone fit to cope with the
dreadful enemy brought into a6tion by the
Britifli." So far the the Tranflator.
" The all-feeing eye of divine jufcice a-
lone can difcover and make known the au-
thors of fuch a crime ; but if difcovered.
Oh ! for the voice of Stentor, and the trum-
pet of Fame, to devote the vile perpetrators
to prefent and future horror, and to anounce
to all fovereigns and generals in chief, that
the enormities which they tolerate or leave
unpunidied will accumulate upon their heads,
and at fome future time render them the ex-
ecration of a pofterity, ftill more fcnfible and
more enlightened than we are yet." This
is a retledion of the marquis de Challcllux,
but not by him applied to this pafHige. It
is in the French manner, and I think it will
appear proper in the opinion of the Englilli
reader as 1 have placed it : here it is a more
applicable execration again R thole ** hunters
of men," the armed affaflins of congrefs,
the favages of the back- countries, than as it
was denounced by the marquis on the fpec-
tacle of a lingle event of this war.
The Marquis relates that he met with a
E man
!-fr
I
I f
I'i
[ 26 ]
n)an pale in appearance, and whofe wife
iliewed to him a piece of his Ikull that had
been cut out ; and he was informed that the
man had received fifteen or fix teen wounds
with a hanger. *' I was the more concern-
ed, lays the Marquis, to learn that it was
after he had received his firll wound and was
made prifoner tha* ..^ had been fo treated."
Then follows ♦■^^ . exclamation I have recit-
ed. Any ill uiage of prifoners is certainly
unwarrantable, and infamous to a degree ;
fuppofmg it to be proved, and not depend
upon this man's own account, that he had
furrendcred ; and that after furrcndering, as
many of his countrymen did, he had not
ag.un made ufe of his arms ; or that fome
rufiian had executed this villainous outrage
upon him ; ll:ill it appears to me that the
Marquis's vivacious language is but ill ap-
plied to a general or a ibvcreign, unlefs their
orders had directed luch cruelties, or that
they were endowed with ubiquity to prevent
them, and did not make ufe of it. I there-
fore think I have done the Marquis' fenti-
n^ents judice, in adapting them to a repro-
bation of cool, difpftiiionare, unprincipled
murder/ not a^^kd ia heat of blood, but af-
ter
i!!
[ 27 ]
; ;
ter a more than diabolical confultatioii. Nor
was even this atrocious murder of the Indi-
ans lingular ; a full and well attefted narra-
tive has appeared in the ncwfpapers, of a
Britifh major, whofe name I am forry I have
forgotten, being murdered with other pri-
foners, many days after he was taken ; and
thefe deeds of blood were frequently repeated
in detail upon the Loyalifts ; fo that it is no
wonder that they fliould be irritated, to
wreak upon Huddy*, a wretch marked with
a thoufand crimes, the vengeance due to their
flaughtcred countrymen, and calculated for
a better purpofe than vengeance ; the pre-
venting future barbarities. That this prin-
ciple was a jufl one, let the marquis de
Chaflellux teflify, who, in the cafe of the
thirty regimented Tories, before mentioned,
fays, ** they ought to have been executed;
but the enemy having alfo made fome prifon-
ers, reprii'als were dreaded, and thele rob-
• The Loyal ifts felt equally, :it leaft as other men,
for captain Afj;ili's fuficiiiigs, and they equally rejoice
in that young gentleman's being rcftored to his friends
and country, after exhibiting in his unfortunate fitua-
tion an heroifm that his companions bear teltimony of,
and which the United States, in all their records, can-
not parallel.
E 2 bers
ii
if]
[ 28 ]
bers were only confined in rigorous andclofe
irnprifonment." If the government of Great
Britain retaliated upon no man, it proves
that its hopes were to reclaim, not to tie-
llroyi and let tliofe vv'ho arraign its want
of firrnnefs, refpc(5t its clemency.
The marquis de Chailellux blames ge-
neral Burgoyne for burning a houfe of Mr.
Schuyler; the Tranflator produces general
Burgoyne's account of the matter; and n •-
lirary judges will leave to the Marquis his
choice of being a malignant narrator, or an
injudicious officer : nor fliould I here men-
tion this matter, bui to draw fro.n the Tranf-
lator's charadler of that general, a realbii
whv Great Britain was unfuccelsFul in the
war. " The Tranllator knows general iiur-
goyne to be a foidieroi honour, v/ho in that
capacity never willies to forget the para-
mount duties of a citizen and a man." The
people of England reafoned as men may
well be fuppofcd to do, who are blelled by
nature and their own fpirit with ample pro-
tection from the injuries of internal war;
long may they befo! They felt every wound
iuHiclcd on America, and flirunk from its
biire recital; iuid, from their com paihon and
generous
#
[ 29 ]
generous wiflies, they feem to have believed
that confuhon was capable of all the mild
leledtions of order, that war might b. adnii-
niftcred without individual calamity, and
that the duties of peace were flill paramount.
America aded differently, ** Hollis, hoflcni
occidere volui," ran through her whole pro-
ceedings, it fharpened the axe of her alfum-
ed juflice, and pointed the dagger of her
affaffination. She left the well-known line
of the poet, its application, and inefficacy to
her mother country,
*' Parcere fubjedlis & debellare fuperbos."
Great Britain accepted of it, and dired-
ed the operations of mercy to precede thofe
of conqueft. This anticipation principally
loil her America.
I join in the marquis de Chaflellux's ob-
fervations on Mr. Read ; / know^ in the
profperous lituation of the Britifli affairs in
1777, and before the unhappy event at Tren-
t0\vn, that Bowes Read, a brother of go-
vernor Read, croffed the Delaware from Pen-
fylvania, and took, .with the prefcribed
forms, a Britilh protedlion from a Heffian
cfficer, I believe colonel Donop, at the fame
time
I
1^
[
3^
]
time I^e rcqiieftfd one for his brother the
grroernory which colonel Donop declined
^'iving him, nnlefs he fliould appear in per-
{qv,. Soon after Bowes Read acted hirnlelf
m a civil employment in the ilate of New
JcL-lcy ; and the governor, it is well known,
as the Marquis obferves, ** publifned and
exaggerated the ofters that were made him
by governor Johnlbn, and attained his end
cf playing a leading part in the country."
The Marquis fays that Read is an enemy of
Dr. Franklin's. They are worthy rivals.
The doctor was equally fiifpided , in the be-
ginning of the war, in xA.merica, as in Eng-
land ; and though there is no doubt but that
he was then the ambitious and inveterate e-
ficmy of the latter, it would have been dif-
iicalt to prove it, had ar-y fmifter event wi-
thered his hopes in their progrefs to matu-
rity. The Tranflator (ays, ** Dr. Franklin,
whofe amiable and phib.fbpliic mind lin-
cerely laments all the evils attendant on hu-
jnanity, ufed frequently to regret the par-
ticular neceffity under which he forefaw A-
merica would fliortly find herfelf, of ufing
violence again ft: the lavages, from the bloody
fcenes in which they were led by the policy
of
[ 31 }
of the Englidi government.'* ' .e mar
quis dc Chaftellux philofophifes inthcrame
amiable .manner.
I totally deny Dr. Franklin's evidence,
that to the policy of the Englifli government
the Indian war is to be attributed; nor is
it a novel doctrine that American mercy
mull deftroy them. Dr. Franklin well
knows that the French let loofe " thefe
dogs of war" in the year 1756, and that it
coft Great Britain very dear to preferve the
Americans from their fury: the murders
committed by the favages in violation of a
facred capitulation, and in fight of the mar-
quis de Montcalm, have lately been brought
to the recolledtion of the public ; and Dr.
Franklin was in Philadelphia, when a pro-
polition was made to a Britiih officer, from
a furgeon of that place, to inoculate blan-
kets, and to diftribute them as prefents to
the Indians, to whom that diforder was fa-
tal. Can the fables of Europe match aftory
of fo much bafenefs and horror ? It can
find its parallel only in the mallacre of the
Moravian profelytes, which has been here-
tofore related, to whom Britiili faith allow-
ed a neutrality, and American mercy denied
an
I
ni
[ 32 ]
an exillence. From the nature of the people
oil the American frontiers, the genius of the
Indians, and their recolledion of the former
perfidies with which the French and A-
merican fettlers accufe each other, a neutra-
lity is fcarcely ever to be depended upon.
Dr. Franklin well knows that Congrefs
early endeavoured to feduce the Indians to
war againft Great Britain. The attempt
on Canada was a fecondnry proof of this ;
and the Tranflator fpeaks of a perfon who
*' was employed by the ftates of Virginia to
conciliate the favages, and to obtain their
neutrality." " We have been tried and
tempted by the Boitonians," was the an-
Aver of an old Iroquois chief, to General
Burgoyne's fpeech to the Indians ; grateful
for the benefits they had received from Great
Britain, and dreading the extirpation that
attends the marquis de Chaftcllux's philo-
fophy, ail temptations were in vain. Ge-
neral Burgoyne fufiiciently exemplified in
his condu6t how defirous the Britifh go-
vernment was of retraining their ravages.
The Tranllator fays, " Serjeant Glyn's
character of Mr. Wilkes may with peculiar
juftice be applied to this great man. Dr.
7 Franklin,
^
n
s
ir
[ 33 ]
Franklin ; few men in whole revolving ages
can be found who dare oppofe themfelves
to the force of tyranny, and whofe fingle
breafts contain the fpirit of nations." This
great, this eloquent eulogium, if truly ap-
plied, reduces the reft of the Americans to
be cyphers, or, what is worfe, the tools of
Dr. Franklin. Many doubtlefs were fo;
but the combuftible materials had long been
gathering, not in the oppreflion of Great
Britain, but in the original and republican
principles of New England j Dr. Franklin
became the incendiary, and, regardlefs of the
danger to the community, his malignity led
him to fnatch lightning from heaven * to
confume his perfonal enemies; and if he
feized the fceptre from one tyrant, it was to
fhare it with a thoufand.
The Marquis de Chaftellux relates a long
converfation that he had with Mr. Samuel
Adams upon the principles of a government,
* A note of the Tranflator's is,
** Eripuit coelo fulmen fceptrumque tyranni."
This verfe is of that virtuous politician and good
man Mr. Turgot. The Tranflator has inferted it, aS
it feems, by the author's omitting it to be of too high
a flavour for French cenfure.
F of
ifl
I ; '
[ 34 ]
of which, the Marquis fays, Mr. Samuel A-
dams was the fabricator. The Tranflator, in
a note, fays the Marquis is miftaken ; and
that Mr, John Adams was the author of
the conlliitution in quellion. I have always
underftood that Mr. John Adams, the law-
yer, not Mr. Samuel Adams, the malfter,
was the author of this conftitution; and
indeed an intercepted letter of the former's,
at the beginning of the war, developed his
Icheme, ai^d the feverity on which he meant
to fupport it. Yet, the long converfition
the Marquis held on the fubjcd, and his
own lagacity, make it fo doubtful, that I can
only reconcile the difference by prefuming
that Mr. John Adams framed the conllitu-
tion J and that the honourable Mr, Samuel
Adams claimed the merit of it with the
Marquis, who appears to have been furnilh-
ed with many limilar refpc<5table informa-
tions. Ihe Tranllator remarks, " it was
to this houfe the Marquis de la Fayette re-
tired, to be cured of the iirft wound he re-
ceived in fighting for America. An acci-
dent, which I am well affured gave this gal-
lant young nobleman more pleafure than
niofl of our European petit mattres would
receive
[ 35 ]
receive from the mofl flattering proofs of
the favour of a miflreis." The account of
the Marquis de la Fayette's wound is what
has been generally given, excepting that
what the Tranllator relates as his own ob-
fervation, was part of the original flory ; to
which he has, by his ingenuity, given a more
favourable turn. The coquetry, the affed-
ed coynefs, the prudery, with which the
Marquis dallied with his admirers, and dif-
played his wound, gave the true idea of a
French petit maitre to the beholders, and
made him the objedl of ridicule to his fel-
low-foldiers.
Speaking of general Sullivan's expedition
againft the Indians, the Tranllator remarks,
** it may be fifely ailertcd, that the journal
of this expedition v/ould lole nothing in a
comparifon with the fimous retreat ol the
ten thoufand, which it would relemble very
much if we could compare the mananivres,
the objed: of which is attack, with thofe
v/hich have no other than the prefervation of
a forlorn army." Unhappy Greeks, i\ad
you been conquered you would have I'u tier-
ed lefs difgracc ! Unfortunate Xenophun !
your talents, your courage, are fo mifcrably
F 2 degraded.
[ 36 ]
degraded, that even the mild philofophy of
Socrates would become indignant, could he
but know that his illuftrious difciple was
compared to an attorney of New Hamp-
shire I
" General Sullivan, after a month's march,
arrived without any check at the intrenched
camp, the laft refuge of the favages ; here
he attacked them, and was received with
great courage, infomuch, that the vidtory
would have remained undecided had not the
Indians loft many of their chiefs in battle,
which never fails to intimidate them, and
retreated during the night. The general de-
ftroyed their houfes and plantations, fmce
which they have never (hewn themfelves in
a body. However infufficient and (light the
idea may be that I have given of this cam-
paign, it may neverthelefs aftoni(h our Eu-
ropean military men to learn, that general
Sullivan was only a lawyer in 1775, and that
in the year 1780 he quitted the army to re-
fume his profe(rion, and is now civil gover-
nor in New Hampfhire." — European mili-
tary men, I am apt to believe, will think,
that the whole of this expedition favours
ynore of the lawyer than of the foldier ; the
delay
rs
[ 37 ]
deky of prorei^;, nJnute account of thepre-
mifes, and oi the apple-trees, which were
cnunierated in the American papers as de-
ftroyed, the indecifion of the action, and the
cofts of fuit, reminded Congrefs of the ge-
neral termination of a law-fuitj for they
were to pay the bill.
On the Marquis de Chaftellux's character
of colonel Wadfvvorth, the Tranflator's note
is, ** The Tranflator cannot forbear adding
his teftimony to this brilliant, but exagger-
ated eulogium." This furely, in Englifh,
muft mean the Marquis's eulogium is bril-
liant, but exaggerated ; pretty in itfelf, but
not true : and this opinion of the Tranfla-
tor I muft beg leave to transfer to the au-
thor's charader of Mr. Wafhington. This
celebrated man may poflcfs the foundation
of political abilities ; for, like other politi-
cians, he is hard-hearted and verfatile. The
part he had to adt was not a very difficult
one J and in the execution of it he was uni-
formly fupported by the civil power ; they
bore the odium of feverities, which they
could not have executed but for his protec-
tion ; and he aflumed the appearance of le-
nity and forbearance. He had the power
li
I '
'
11,
l:|E,
1^1
li
[ 38 ]
to cruili all rivals, and his jealoufy made him
employ it. He was the natural and abfo-
lute difpofer of all military preferment -, he
has been called a Fabius, but by thofe only
who knew the Roman by newfpaper allu-
fions. The fyftem of the one was, at his
out-fet, procraftination, that of the other of-
fenfive war ; and what the Roman adopted
from choice, the Virginian was driven into
from neceflity.
The American buzzard (hould be flripped
of the eagle's plumage. The nature and
ivic of this publication prevent me from a
}>erfe(5t and regular analyfis of his conduct ;
but I may obfcrve, that the credit which
our merchants of London gave to the Ame-
ricans in commerce, all ranks of Engliilimen
extend to them in a political and military
line : hence they believe in their profeflions
of virtue, and magnify accidental fuccefs in-
to uniform ability. Credit degenerates into
credulity. No greater inftance can be given
than in the general praife fliowered upon
Wafliington for not ufurpisg the govern-
ment of America, and overturning the con-
flitution of his country. I Ihould not have
remarked it, but that this moderation is fup-
pofed
<.:i
[ 39 ]
pofed to be the refult of an uniform condud,
and that it eftabliihed the virtuous confiften-
cy of his charader. I fliall ftate a few fadls,
that will prove he could not have oppofed
his army to the country ; and I fhall pub-
lifli allertions that have hitherto been un-
contradided, and obfervations which fup-
port them, and deny to Mr. WaHiington
the merit of confiftency. I have formerly
analyfed the American army ; and agreed
with the Tranflator of the Marquis de Chaf-
tcllux's Memoirs, that it was an alTemblage
of all nations. Had it been an army of na-
tives, it would have been an army of agita-
tors ; and a real Cromwel would have fnatch-
ed the fword of empire from an imaginary
one^: but neither Congrcfs nor Walhing-
ton could have led this heterogeneous army
again ft any one ftate ; it would have moul-
dered away on its march, and periflied in the
onfet. I believe Mr. John Adams to have
feen as far as any man in Europe or Ameri-
ca; his original objeil was to eftabliih a
ip-
Ifcd
* I will not degrade the virtues and military talents
of Fairfax by comparing him to Wafl)ini;ton, the rc-
femblance would be much the f.ime as between Xeno-
phon and Sulliv,»n.
B republic ;
Lilt IM
l<''
' I
III
-'!
m
[ 40 ]
republic ; and he never loft fight of it. To
conceal their intentions, to deny, and to dif-
avow, " fallere & eifugere" (which has been
fo often and fo well applied to American ar-
mies), were the means by which the Con-
grefs paved their way to fuccefs : indepen-
dency was the point at which Mr. Adams
aimed; this was the goal, where he ex-
pe(Sed to triumph. At the commence-
ment of the war, when England was in
hourly expectation of amicable accommoda-
tion, and Congrefs dreaded that a fkirmifli
might be decilive, this able man then de-
clared, " we can fight Great Britain for
five years with her own weapons" (mean-
ing European emigrants), " and it is flrange
if, during that period, fome fortunate e-
vent does not happen in Europe to befriend
us." He did forefee this, and he might
conje(5lure, that he fliould become an am-
baflador to the court of Great Britain ; but
it was beyond his forefight, that America
probably owes her fafety to the compofi-
tion of her army, to her defenders be-
ing aliens, and not natives ; in either cafe,
Mr. Wafliington, as the leader of it, was
not to be dreaded,
I bear
[
■ix
]
I bear no refentment to that general ; his
virtues and his vices are now out of the
qneftion j and v^hether he continues a land-
jobber in Virginia, or the prelidcnt ot'
Congrefs, is totally indifferent. The expo-
fition of truth is all my delign. Succefs
animates a mercenary army ; Mr. Wafn-
ineton had no hold on this chain of union.
The capture of Lord Cornwallis's army
was the effecfl of joint operation and French
artillery. The furprize of Washington at
Brandywine, and defeat at German Town,
have not added to his reputation ; and the
terming his repulfe at Monmouth a defeat
of the Britidi army, proved, that having
allumed French politic?, he was intoxicat-
ed with their manners. The Congreis
called it a victory, the army knew the term
to be a " diilionourable gafconade." Sol-
diers draw their concluiions, not from
gazettes ^^'hich they hear, but from opera-
tions to which they contribute.
The ar.ny having little reafon to rely on
the abilities of the general, we ihall now
fee what rii^ht it had to confide in the m.i-
Jitary talents of thofe fecondary perfons,
the intermediate links between the com-
G mander
t
[ 42 ]
rnander in chief and the army, the general
officers, whom Mr. Wafhington trufled
and employed. M. Fayette, whom I again
call, in the Marquis de Chaftellux's terms,
** a CJafcon as well as the reft of them,"
was diftinguiihed in every American Ga-
zette by name*, and no w'lcre by adion.
General Wayne, iiyJcfatigabb, active, and
brave, had niatle fjme amends, by his tak-
ing of Stoncy Point, ior having himfclf
been circumvented by hr Charles Grey in
a fituation moif diUi;raccful to a foldier,
that of being lurpriled by an army, whofe
motions he was fent to cbferve ; if he
* The Marquis de la Fayette's claim to any military
reputation I abfolutcly deny; that he was a rjian vi
political confcquer.ce cannot be difnuted; nor can
there be a better i'lea of ic than in wliat the INTarquis
de Chailellux afR-rts, ** That private letters iVuni him
have frequently produce ' more efFecl on fonie (tares
thyn the (ironjicU exhortations from the Congrefs ;"
but this remark lelllns our idea of Atntrican union.
Congvefs mull have wanted principle in their exhor-
tations, or patrlotifm in the fcparate dates by no means
been uuiverfal. M. Fayette's ainiing to command un
enterprize that Sduiyltr had projected againlt Canada,
-as the M. de Challcllux relates, it d(jes him no ciedit,
and difgraces Wafliingtcu ; Schuyler was too cunning
ior both.
fhould
[ 43 ]
urn
itcs
fliould ever read my account of the Marquis
de la Fayette, he will enjoy it, and lay it is
true. Alifflen and Lee were driven from
the arrr.y tliey had often faved. M. de
ChafleJlux heard Mifilen harangue in the
fenate; and, from his defcription, it was
with that lame fuperiority and imperatorial
dignity which, in the greatcft emergencies,
he diiftated to general VVadiington the
means of his prefervation. As an American
foldier, Lee was the moft injured man in
the univerfe ; as an Englifhman, he pro-
fefTed to fight on the fame principles which
made fo beautiful a figure in the fpeeches
of the Britidi parliament. The generals
Sullivan and Stirlin? often invaded the
iilands in the pofTeilion of the Britilh :
their firfl imprifonment always made them
attentive to fecure a retreat, and they re-
treated ** bootlefs, weather-beaten," and
difgraced. General Gates, the nominal
conqueror of general Burgoyne, laid laurels,
not his own, at lord Cornwallis's feet, f Je
is no hypocrite, but real in his love for li-
berty ; and if Wan;iington, as the Tranf-
lator hints, replaced him in his confidence,
it was not while he was an objedl of envy.
G 2 M. de
I
I
B '
i.i
[ 44 I
M. ae Chiiilellax mentions nothini* of
gtiic'cii Green ; his Tranilator ipcaks of the
** uaabated courage of that great orHcer,
general Green :" his courage was certainly
unabated, and in this confiiled his only
great rich ; he Hew from defeat to defeat ;
he iii: Link ivom the corredion of lord Raw-
don as a fehool-boy would from his mafler ;
and the cannon, which he fived at Cambden,
by fortunately hiding them, he lofl when he
injuuicioully expofed them at Entaw Springs.
I mean not to depreciate the American ge-
nerals : the art of w:ir is a fcience ; it re-
quires ftudy ; and a Batiih otiiecr, who has
bctn any ti.iie in the army, is dif^raced, if
not fuppofed to be fupcrior to thofe wbo
Lave nut made it their profellion '''^' : if he is
not
• It rnuy be fiid that g'-tiliis will faroutPtrlp applica-
tion ; th.it a civil war is its proper foil ; and there-
fore (h.ir tlic American gi'ner..ls may have been more
capable ot leading aunies than the Biitifn officers, who
hare riTen to conimaiul by rotation. 1 believe civil
war cbangcs the courfe of ability, but aiKlj not to its
quantity; an uniform dereliclion of confciencc is the
gvK^Al f^ep to eniiticnce in (o dreadful a conteft. Poli-
tical men, without any peculiar military talents or in-
clinations, nay embrace the profefiion of arms, as
that which cxpcnenct; teaches us iias) ultimately ar-
riveU
[ 4i ]
not lb, it Is a ierious misfortune to his courx-
try.
From thefe facts it appears ?vlr. V/afli-
ini>toa had no influence in his army, deduc-
ible from his own perfonal fuccefsj or thole
of his generals whom he principally em-
ployed *. The greaiefl conquefb the Ameri-
Ivo
ca-
re-
ore
vl
La
rived at ih<; fummit of power. The feparate ftatesof
Aiiierita leem to have trufted the comniaad of their
armies to their citizens, ;ind not to have fought for ioU
diersj fuppofmg that they had a(flQ<l otherwife, ia the
late American war, fo cxtenfive in its operations, azid
forming a period,
** When all the youth of England were on fire-,"
it was natural to prefume that cultivated military geni-
us among the Briiifli army might find its way to com-
mand; and it did fo: my account of general Green
is ItriiSlly true ; he was the chofen general of the Ame-
rican army, and he muft have drawn confulation fiom
the very fingular t.ilents, both as a foldier and a flatef-
man, that interell: this country in the life of lord
Rawdon.
* The Tranflator mentions " Montgomery's monu-
ment and fame, as a vidlim to tyranny, and a cham-
pion of freedom, configned to be celebrated by an en-
llaved people, agairdl whom he had often fought in
tlefence o( the fame caufe in which he facriiiced his
life." This paragraph is cuiious enough from an a-
vowcd partizan of France. Montgomery was neither
diliinguifiied by high rank, or eminent for abilities;
hi&
s
!
[ 46 ]
cans gained was over general Burgoync ;
whole valour, militaiy abilities, bright en-
dowment!^, the utnjoft confidence of his
troops, and thofe fecond to none in the uni-
\:ric; tlic fc ien.ce of Philips, and the cou-
rage of Fid zcr, were unavailing againil^the
natural obftacles of the country, and the
numbers of the native Americans. Plis fliil-
ure of fuccefs is an irrefragable proof that
Waihincrton could not become tht tv-
rant of his country ; and that, if we praife
tlic prudence of his luad, we have no right
to infer trom moderation in this refpeft, the
virtues of his lieart ; much lefs to draw de-
du(5lions from it in fupport oi the principles
of his former conduct.
The Tranllator iv.entions a flrong party,
Lis adoption of the Ameiican caufe fnppHc-d both, and
he was raifcd to faih reputation as pailiamentary ora-
to;y LOu;d beftnw, by liis countrymen, Mr. Edmund
IkirivC, and co'.onel Bacix". Their encomiums are but
words: he was neitiier a WolTc, nor a Hampden ; and
the enilaved people of France iviay telebr<ite him
.IS a hcvu. General Carlcton, now lord Dorchelter,
who had been infultcd l-y iMoiirgomery, and in the
Anieiican idiom, for fuch is, " by Heavens I will
(iiew you no mtrcy," nobly ;ivcnged himfclf, by giv-
ing his body a foldict's fuueial.
who
((
lo
I 47 ]
" who afFeded to hold jVIr, Wafliington In
no high refpedl:." When M. de Challelkix
fpeaks cf the propriety ol" ereding llatues to
Walliington, the Tranllator praiks ** the
wildom of Con^ircTs in not ereilini; a ilatue
to him during hiii-hfe time." And he adds,
that the Marquis would be iatisfied with their
reafons, if he knew them. The Tranilator
iays, ** Refledtion might have convinced
Mr. Bracknel, Vv-ho hung up Cromwell's
head as his lign, that, in the ad:ual pofition
of America, there was more to be ;:'ppre-
hended from a Cromv/ell than a Charles.'*
And adds, " that nothing could have made
hini replace Cromwell but the British hav-
ing thrown him down." Circumftances like
thefe detrad from the eulogiums that the
Marquis de Challellux and other flatterers
pour upon Mr. W'aihington ; it has been
alTerted that Mr. Wafhington was flattered
into his command ; that this was the me-
thod by Vv'hich New England policy ani-
mated the fupinenefs of Virginia, and led it
into adion ; and it has been laid, and never
contndidcd, that Mr. Washington fre-
quently and repeatedly declared that he ne-
ver v/ould confent to independency -, if it
be
I
i..
[
4.6
]
l>€ fo, the reader probably will agree with
me. il j.tMr. Walliington Is not a coiifift-
cni charailer : that he is fufpe^flcd in Ame-
ricr. ; iind he will think with th.e Trandator,
•* that Con^rcfs are wife in not erccflin::^ a
jftatuc in his hfj-tiine to that general."
The order of Cincinr.ati, which has been
fijppoicd the offspring of political dcilgn,
appears to me a natnnil bond of union be-
tween ih'jih w]io:n nccidcnt had called to-
gether, finiilir iortuncj endeared, and whoi7\
peace has again difievercd : inc.;pable of ef-
fecting any air.hitioiis views, commentators
have aniplified it into ronfecpience ; it cer-
tainly is more c:iknl ted to avN'iken the ta-
lents of the orator than the fears of tlie po-
litician. Fntnrity is hallening to produce
new revolutions, andconcjuefl will be clieck-
cd only by ti\e boundaries of mture, not the
divilio-ns of geometry. 'I hen the chimeras
of democricy y\'\U bedojie awa\-, and riches,
as M. de Challelhix obleivcs of the ladies of
Pliiladelphia, will eftabhfh their natural pie-
cedcncv; thev will combine with arn-.s to
acquire, and trai^finit hereditiry honours.
Tyranny rnay inflmtaneouily form an ir()ii
bond of union, and prcfervc its force during
the
[ 49 ].
the unnatural ftate of warfare; but laws
and provifions, neceflary to fecure the mul-
tifarious interefts of a peaceful people, and
to diffufe and render permanent thofe bleff-
ings which, as Montefquieu affirms, Eng-
land knows beft how to ufe and to enjoy,
** the bleflings of religion, liberty, and com-
merce," muft be the refult, not of fpecula-
tion, but of pradice; of the wifdom of
ages, not of the refolves of a moment.
Whenever I read of the American laws, of
fome being adapted to the infantine flate of
fociety, others to a maturer age, and many
negligently looking forward to pofterity, I
fincerely lament the condition of the poor
people, and apply to them what the Tranf-
lator remarks when M. de Chaftellux talks
of the French adopting our manner of gar-
dening, " the gardens I have hitherto ken
in [America] France, profeflcdly laid out on
the Engliih model, are, with great deference
to the authors, very unfuccefsful imitations
of the Englifh ftyle." The reader may pur-
fuc the metaphor, and he will find, wind-
mills, Chinefe bridges, and cockle- (liel I
temples, to illuftratc the creation of thefe
iyflem-mongers.
H From
[ 50 ]
•lit'
From the Tranflator we gather, that ge-
neral Arnold received kveii thourand pounds
in the funds ; and from the Author, that he
was to deliver up Weft Point. The death
of major Andre is univerfally known ; and
the rank that he bore of adjutant-general in
the Britifh army. From thefe inferences,
admitting their truth, what dedud;ions can
we draw ? Could Arnold alone give up
Weft Point ? Would an adjutant-general
have vifited him for what he alone could
have accomplillicd ? Would he have been
hazarded for the completion of fo fviall an
obje»5t ? Is there nothing in Arnold's alTc-
verations ? Gave he no reafons for his con-
dud ? He did. Much of this extraordi-
nary event will doiibtlcfs be ever concealed;
and probably little more than what has al-
ready tranfpired will be known to the })re-
fcnt generation. Arnold's aflLrtions, that
America in gcncnd was fatisiicd ^^'ith the
offers of the Britilh nation, that it was a-
vcrfe to the French, and the continuation
of the war, were true. It has been before
obferved, that Wafhington aderted, that he
\\ ould never agree to independency ; and
though the Congrcfs decreed that all their
' • votes
[
51
]
J-
ire-
;Iiat
Itlic
a-
IIOII
[ore
he
iiid
icir
votes fhould be ftyled unanimous, it is well
Jcnovvn that more than once a fingle voice
or two has decided upon their moll: import-
ant refolutions. To a certain length Gallo^
way acceded to tlie American caufe, and in
England, people at different periods defift-
cd Irom their lupport of America as (he re-
ceded from her connexions with this coun-
try ; this did the great and wife earl of Chat-
ham, the firfl: flatefman of the age.
The argument is not whether this change
of fentiments proceeded from patriotic prin-
ciples, or fmifter paffions ; it is the fadl that
I infill upon. In our own civil wars, Hyde
"vud Elfex, Falkland and Whitlock, and
ly others, furnilhed the precedent; and
iiiis condudt mufl arife from the nature of
man, imperfedt in himfelf, his judgments,
and opinions : and ad:uated from events and
cffeds originating from lb imperfedt a fource.
Was it not lb, how could a war ever be
terminated ? A brave, but a divided peo-
ple, under the influence of confcience, and
a firm bcHef of the juftice of their caufe,
would fight to their mutual dellrudion,
*' and darknefs be the burier of the dead."
llillory, when it points out to usthecala-
H 2 miticu
''•
[ 52 ]
mitics of civil wars, uniformly delineates
their termination, not fo much in the de-
ftrudtion of mankind, as in their change of
opinions. Had Lambert efcaped from his
purfuers, and the army revolted from Monk,
what would have been Monk's fate ? And
in what light would pofterity confider his
memory ? A republican, and therefore un-
conftitutional party, at prefent detra(5l from
his reputation j but he is venerated by Eng-
lifhmen in general, as the reflorer of the
peace of his country. That general has
been blamed for permitting the reftoration
of the king without compad: : the time ne-
cefTary for making fuch a /r^^, general, and
Englifb compact would have ruined his mea-
sures J (tcxt(y alone could give fuccefs to his
arduous undertaking. He trufted, and he
trufted juftly, that the fpirit of the times
would fecure the liberty of the fubjedl:, againft
which it was vifible the crown muft con-
tend in vain. Clarendon had wifdom fuffi-
cient to diftinguifli the momentary acclama-
tions of all ranks of people, happy in the
termination of their individual miferies, from
the fober and col ledive voice of their judg-
ment. If the houfe of Stuart, on the re-
moval
[ 53 ]
moval of that great m:.n, forgot their own.
interelts, and ungiat^iuily mvadcd the li-
berties of the people, it certainly was con-
trary to the calculations of reafon, and thev
loft the crown in confequence; the fpirit of
the people, as one man, rofe up againfl them,
and let it be remembered, the Revolution
was efFe(5ted without bloodfhed. Had Ar-
nold, and thofe who thought with him, gi-
ven a fevere blow, and without bloodflied, to
Washington's army ; had he broke the civil
chains of the people, and reftored the fword
to their hands, had they accepted the more
than independency which was offered to A-
merica by Great Britain ; and had the em-
pire by thefe means been reftored to union,
who would have enjoyed the bleffings of this
age, and been the favourite of pofterity, the
adive, enterprifing American Arnold, or
the cool, defigning, frenchified Wafhing-
ton? Thefe terms are derived from the
Marquis's Memoirs ; his opinions, and the
rejoicings of the Americans upon the failure
of Arnold's attempt, cftablifh its magni-
tude.
The Marquis de Chaftellux obfcrves, ** I
c^not help admiring the addrefs with which
Mr.
[ 54 ]
Mr. Barkminflcr, a young minifter, intro-
duced politics into his fcrmons." I will not
even quote the paiTage, it is offence to a
Chriflian ear. Nor is the Tranllator's ac-
count much better, that the prevalent reli-
gion of the principal inhabitants of America,
and particularly to the Southward, is pure
Deifm. I fhall only remark, that the moil
Ihipendous event which has hitherto been
produced by the American revolution, is the
introdudion of Epifcopacy; an end oppo-
fite, very oppofite indeed, to the intentions
and expectancy of thofe who, in Europe and
America, were among the promoters of its
independency, and totally contrary to the
politics of the fanatic and the felf-fufficien-
cy of the Deift.
As a general obfervation, though fre-
quently applicable to the Author of thefe
Travels, and univerfally to the Tranllator of
them, I fhall remark the variety of abufe
that has been thrown upon Britifh ge-
nerals, and the Britifh armies *. Eloquence
has
* The Marquis is proud to celebrate the dnncing of
Ills countrymen; and tlie Tranflator relates, witli
great complacency, a dance at Alexandria, attended
with
[ 55 ]
lias been employed to blacken their reputa-
tion ; poetry has attempted to embellifli the
unjufl: fi<ftions of party with the luftre of
truth ; the Englifh garden has been disfi-
gured by mifplaced ornaments, and polluted
by temples unneceilarily eredted to America.
Such calumnies the Britifh generals may look
down upon with magnanimous difdain ; they
know that war has its unavoid^^l'* miferies,
they know that Boflon, i niladelphia,
Newport, and Charles Town, acquit them
of unnecelTary deftrud:ion. CarelelTnefs in
a fingle centinel, or defign in any injured,
irritated, and exiled Loyalift, would have
reduced either of thofe capitals to allies ;
of
I'itli
led
rith
with circumftances that Europeans will think indecent
in the French officers to fufier; but he terms the Mef-
chianza, which was conducted with magnificence, ele-
gance, and decorum, " An illuftrious a£l of folly and
infatuation." What one military operation could this
noble entertainment prevent ? or what expence fell up-
on the public ? It was the tribute of affedlion from
the field-officers of an army to a genetal they revered,
on the eve of his departure for Europe, and when he
could no longer ferve them. This difinterefted grati-
tude, in the purity of American principles, the Tranfla-
tor calls an illudrious a«^ of fully; and in his eyes the
judgment that an army forms of its general, is infatu-
ation.
6 this.
L 56 ]
this, their orders, and the vigilant and faith-
ful execution of them effectually prevented;
New York too, amidft her ruins, will re-
mind poflerity to vvhofe exertion it owes
what remains of it j the Guards of the king
of Great Britain having preferved what a
cowardly enemy had devoted to the flames.
But while there can be no doubt but that
thefe generals may rely upon the tcftimony
of their hearts for the propriety of their con-
dud:, and that a future age will do their
memory ample juftice, the fubordinate offi-
cer, whofc flation will not procure him ad-
miffion to the auguft tribunal of pofterity*
fuffers the taunts and ignominy which arile
from groundlefs calumny, and the effront-
ery of fdlfehood. He expedls an enemy in a
French officer ; nor does he wifh for an ad-
vocate in a fubjedl of the United States ; but
he has a right to demand, that Britons will
receive no imputations that injure national
or individual reputation, without the fulleff
proofs ; tliey will then only be juft to their
own intereft, for though in other profeflions
the venality of politics, and the frequency
of anonymous abufe, has almoft introduced
an indifference to all afperfions ^ in the fol-
dicr
I S7 ]
dier the deflrudtlon of private fenfibility is
an injury to national honour; for whatever
blunts the one, detrads from that fum
which conftitutes the value of the other.
Mr. Payne, an Englifh emigrant, and
fuch perfons as the Tranflator, may calcu-
late as they pleafe, may elevate the power
of America, and degrade that of Europe ;
they may endue infancy with ftrength and
animation, and reduce the vigour of youth
to decrepitude. Such reprefentations will
have no effeft. The Tranflator, if a native of
Great Britain, will be defpifed at home, and
meet with that negledt from America which
has uniformly attended his countrymen,
when they could no longer injure Great Bri-
tain. The potency of Mr. Payne's affir-
mations, the fpells of his language, were
fuccefsful in diflurbing the peace of fociety,
and in injuring the country from whence he
drew his unhallowed birth ; peace has at
once difperfed his incantations. He, pro-
bably, curfes the hour in which Dr. Frank-
lin fummoned him from his country; al-
lured hirn acrofs the Atlantic, and compa<5l'
ed with him to fell his talents for the moft
mifchievous purpofes. Let us leave him to
I the
I
[ 58 ]
F ''
IE I
the contempt which he has long met with
from tiie inhabitants oF Philadelphia, and
the up' -iaidiniTs of his own conlcience.
I o
But I niuli confel's I am inclined to be-
lieve the Marquis de Challellux's charadler
v'i Mr. Jeffcrlln. The very inclination is
reipcd. There is an uniformity tlirough-
out, that appears to me to be natural ; and
the Autljor in tiiis delineation has at leafl the
merit of confillency. I have no pofitive tef-
timonv to contradi>!i: what is aflerted of his
talents and virtues, and I refpedl mankind
too much to be follicitous in mv fearch of a
negative ; to him therefore, and to men of
fmiiLir defcription, thcfe concludinnr ani-
madvcrfions areaddrefled: my heart neither
ciid.Ucs them through m.alignity, nor doth
my Ivan d fubfcribe them through apprehen-
fion ; if they come iiot from a friend to A-
mcrica, they proceed not from an enemy;
i\nd m eit|-;cr cafe their intrinfic merit mult
decide upon their reception. The Tranlla-
tor reiir.irks ** Mr. Jefferfon, a man of
'proiburid tliou^dit, andof i.reat pcnetnition,
is of opinion, that emigrants from Europe
■ are not defirable; left the emigrants bring-
in-: with them, not only the vices, but the
corrupt
la-
lof
)n,
jpe
Ig-
Ee
[ 59 ]
corrupt prejudices of their refpecSlive ancient
governments, may be unable to relilh that
bold uuiverllil fyilem of freedom and to-
leration which is a novelty to the old world."
This opinion the Tranflator controverts.
Mr. Jeficrfon well knows that no emi-
grant comes to difpute the laws of the coun-
try to which he wanders, but to fubmit to
them ; not to difplay his own wifdom, but
to be benefited by that of others. For
Englidimen it is a fublim.er, and more na-
tural hope, to amend the dcfedts of their
own laws than to feek refuge from them in
the wilds of America ; the field of Nafeby,
and tlie Revolution bear vvitnefs to it ; e-
vciUs to which we owe the bleillngs we now
enjoy, and are thankful for ; and which, in
all human probability, will fecure Britifli
freedom for ages, amidfl the wrecks of ar-
bitrary republics, and abfolute monarchies.
The Tranllator furnilhes me with an-
other obfervation, which will produce the
conclufion I mean to draw, and I believe the
reader will think it explanatory of Mr. Jcf-
i
ferfon'
s rci// rccioKs for wiihins: to
prevent
emigrations to America : what have been
given I eflccmas n:ereiy ojlci'fiblc ones. "It
I
IS
i: i ;5
y) ■ i
[ 60 ]
is from the interior fcttlements of this vaft
country that America will derive her future
greatnefs, and eftablifh new empires to rival,
and perhaps outdo, the ancient world." It
is the jealou fy of thefe new empires, Mr.
JeiFerron, that prevents you from the encou-
ragement of emigrants. For whither will
they refort to ? Not to the old colonies,
but to the new polTeflionSi not to fickly
climates, but to thole which are as healthy
as any in the world j not to where they will
become fervants, but where they may enjoy
equality : your flaves, the very negroes,
will participate the benefits of thefe new
fettlements j and what to you. Sir, huma-
nity poflibly may did:ate, felf-intercfl will
leludantly compel others to follow; a mil-
der treatment of thefe unfortunate men, to
prevent their flight and emancipation. Your
Congrefs mud admit thefe fettlements into
a federal union, when tliey acquire povN'er to
claim independency ; it muft afTume the
graces of benevolence from the compullion
of felf-intereft, ami diverting necCiTity of her
iron habiliments, array her in all the deco-
rations of jullice.
Virginia may abandon the luxuries of Eu-
rope 5
[ 6i ]
rope ; but Europe is elegant as well as lux*
urious : her embelUrhments have an intrin-
iic merit to attra<5t the eyes of the ignorant,
and the judgment of the polite. Habit a-
lone, without the national chara(5ter which
M. de Chaftellux attributes to the Virgini-
ans, has made them necefl'ary to you. You
will foon become an objedt of envy to thofe
who do not polTefs your iplendour j thefe
rifing empires, thefe interior emigrants,
when they oblerve your enjoyments, and
your natural oftentation will difplay them,
they will regret their own ii.tuatiop, and, as
it is natural for the human mind, thev v ill
feek for confolation in a comparifon ol their
own advantages, and they will fmd it in the
enjoyment of fuperior force, 1 laving once
rcafoned themfelves into a knowledge of their
own fuperiority, it will only remain to prove
it upon you. Europe, in its nations the
moil diftant from each other, has not an
example vv^here man is fo different in himfelf,
as in the enervated inhabitant of Virginia
and Carolina, and his .i-urous neighbour of
the back-fettlements and Kentuck : employ-
ment adds to the foi \.e of climate, in render-
ing the difference permanent ; the one is a
6 country
' u
[ 62 ]
country of merchants and arti;!an% lubjed
to eaiigrations ; the otlier of pcalantry, Hke
the anciciit Romans, adjuntVi ^Ichd^ on the
bell motives, they are the owners of it.
Such, Sir, being the vvejkneis of your na-
tive colony : fuch, in refpedt to other rif-
ing empires, being the fituation of moll of
the dates of your confederacy j talk not of
naval force, of combijied lieets, and llilure
hollihties \ adopt a iyileni of government
ufeful to your own fuhjetfts, and be at peace
with the world. Away v/idi fuch fenti-
ments ai> your's, *' that Providence hr.s plac-
ed the riciied puffcHions of Europe at our
door, and has obliged their mc.ll precious
commerce to pafs as it v>'cre in nview be-
fore us ••'^" :" they convey pirat'hul idc.i'? ; and
fucli as I am pcrfuaded arc foreign to vour
meaning. At ti"iis time they arc particular-
ly unf:afonablc ; ir.ankir.d 1^.;;. a ri^lit to be
jealous, not of the power of C'ongrcfs, but
of \u pcrfonal vvcuknels -^ ; rcaion and ex-
pcrienec
• The Tranfl.Uor quotes thly paluge from a woik
of Mr. JtilcrfcMi's.
t One of Mr. raynt*s humar.c lUfco-crics to pro-
mo;c American iiultpomlcnte w.is, •♦ The iliii-.iiiution
of
hii V
[ (>2 ]
he
II K
lo-
rn
lot
perlence convince us that flatcfmcn who
have been eininent, and are fallen into neg-
lev'i, will endeavour to reL,ain their power
by the lame means which produced it ; and
wi 1 pradlife what the theorifl prelcribes to
kin:jdon]s in a (late oi' decay, the recurring
to iirft principles for the renovation ot' their
conlliiution and pre-eminence. In the o--
pinion of Congrefs, war may rellore its
tonfequencej its prefent weaknefs is evi-
dent in its not fullilling the treaty of peace,
which fliould not be attributed to want of
faith, but to the want ol power.
There is in general but one lentiment re-
lative to America throughout Great Bri-
tain ; Ihe regrets only her national debt,
and not the lofs of her colonies. Some are
not wanting: to by that even that debt is
cheaply purchafed, it Great Britain is wife
enough to attend to her internal advantages,
anii to j)rtfer the certainty of their cultiva-
tion to all foreign and precarious emolu-
ments. The mod deteriViined eneir.ies of
American independence are not lo to the
' of traJc afforils an army, and the ncccffuics of an ar-
my create it t.cw trjdc" A!*y .[ r.cvcr again be apjili-
c/jlc !
United
1 :,
[ 64 i
United States. Perfonal dillike to the go-«
vernors is lofl in general compaflion for
their fiibjedls, and the fole objedt of the in-
habitants of Great Britain is the preferva-"
tion of peace.
Argument fliould be combated with ar-
gument. If you appeal to the fword, it is
necellliry you fhould meafure that of your
adverfary ^ and that you fliould inform your-
felf of his force, whenever you produce
your own. '* England, you fay, muft ad:
by detachment." England could adt by
detachment; not only naval, which you
allow, but milit:.ry, which you have for-
gotten. The force which conquered the
Ilavannah would be fully fuflicient to re-
duce any one of the United States to think
peace, on the mofl unconditional terms,
dcfircablc. And this might be eafily effe<fl-
cd by the introduction of the mildell me-
thods oi European warlarc, which every
military author dircdts and every general
pradiles, by burning the houfcs of (uch
peafanis as take up arms without being re-
gimented; levying contributions upon towns
to fave them from plunder ; and living up-
ua the countrv. What confolation would
it
[ 65 ]
it be to fuch a country, th.it it is prcferved
from abfoliite territorial conquefl, which
Great E-; 'n is too wife to aim at, by be-
longing 10 an impotent confederation. The
eftablilhment of your independency was not
the relult of American talents, or Atnerican
courage. It is to be attributed to Britilh
credulity, and Briiiih difunion ; and, final-
ly, as the Marquis de Chaftellux obferve^,
to the aififtance of France. Having juft
hinted that England might be an adtive and
tatal enemy, if any finifter paffion fhould
lead Congrefs to quarrel with her, I fhall
liate to you fome moral and political rea-
fons, that (liculd make you prefer her alli-
ance i and emancipate yourfelves from the
power of France. The i'acred war has ceaf-
ed ; thank Phihp, but let him prefide not
in the council of the Amphidtyons.
The late war originated from error, not
defign ; from events which, though futuri-
ty may regret, the prefcnt ag (^^d not oc-
cafion. The glorious Revolution, in fdi^,
annihilated the fource from whence the
chartered governments of America deduced
their origin, without the proper fublUtu-
tion of power that might connetfl and in-
corporate the empire. It was not then f . cPrcn
K that
[ 66 ]
that America, in her weak fituatlon, would
lilently accord with the principles of the
Revolution, to which when (he grew into
flrcngth (lie would rcfufe obedience; that
file would claim iier rights under the func-
tion of kingly government, which was an-
nihilated, and refufe the obedience which
Great Britain yielded to the fupremacy ot
kijig and parliament "*. The very effects
dedueible iVom thcfe caiifes were per erted,
and the priiiciple of no man's being taxed
without reprei'cntation, which could flow
only from the government of king and par-
liament, was infiflcd upon by thofe who re-
fiifed obedience to king and parhament, and
who deduced their privileges from royal
charters, where no fuch principles are to be
found. Many, who viewed tlie circle of
i^ovcrnmcnt on its widcll: ranw, thouidit
* Read i]je Marquis dc Clianellux's converfahon
V ith povcrncr TruiDbull, and the account of New
Enclaticl, in 1670, declining to apply to the Enplilh
pnrli.inient, as the Marquis obferves, " culy proving
that thiy never acknovvlcdp^il the authority of pariia-
nent." It is fcarcc ncceflary to obfervc, that bad thil
docli...^ hctn larlter divulged, tlie Enplilh parliament
v'onld not have fubniitte<l to a co-ordinate power in
i;«; colonies ; nor wouhl tb<-y have been jultified in
fprndlng the trcafurc of their cor.ftitucnts in ilieir
defence.
that
[ 6/ ]
h
n
at
that it was abfolutely neceflury for the Safe-
ty and connection of the empire, that fovc-
reignty ihould relide fomewhere, and that
its proper ftation was in the Britiih pailia-
ment : others contended that the colonies
were too great for fuch an obedience, a.id
that the fyftem of government fliould be ac-
commodated to their prefent fituntwn.
Thele various reafuns had an honourable in-
fluence on tlie minds of chinking men. Fac-
tion afliduouily moulded the tempers and
various intereils ot others to her bafer pur-
pofes. She pervaded England, mixed in
her mofc ferious councils, and rendered all
lier operations inconfilient and ineffectual.
But no political controverfy or fpccuiative
opinion could have had io prodigious an ef-
fcd:, had not the pallions of tiic people of
America been inuamed, or tlieir felt-interefl
been injured ; and this was the cafe in the
northern colonies, where the war firll com-
menced : the attempt to fupprels illegal
coiiimerce loured the numbers who were
benetited by it on the fea-coall ; and fana-
ticifm, drelfed in the garb of religion, became
the medium of politics in the recellcs of
New England, and intulal itlelf into the
hearts of its inhabitants ; they firmly be-
K 2 lieved
i i
4^u!X
M'8
[ 68 ]
lieved that *• the end of New England's
coming was religion *," bore a hoflile hatred
to the eftablifhment that protedled a differ-
ent church-government, and faw the time
was arrived in which they had the profpe^!^
of involving it in ruins.
To the fouthward, fupinc and indolent
were your exertions ; *' an enlightened few
only" leagued tnemfelves with the northern
colonies, with people whom they dcfpifcd
as hypocrites in rcL'^^ion, snd as athciits in
morality. The difpute in Virginia, as the
Marquis obferve^'^, " arol'c from a dilTcrent
nature >" and if the people of South Caro-
lina fhewed at any time any exertion, it was
only the inhabitants of the back-country ;
and they were allured by the hopes of plun-
dering the Loyal ids ; they flew to arms, and
Fergufon fell a vidtim to people whofe ex-
iftence is fcarcely known to yourfelves. I
ha\e given this detail, to prove, in the firfl
inftance, that the fuppofed origin -f of the
quarrel was fuch as, on the bcfl principles.
Great Britain and America might ftedfaflly
• ExprcfTions in the famous fanatical compofitien of
Elijah's Mantle, univerfally credited among the intc-
fiur parts of New England,
•\ Read the Marquis de ChaftcUux's account of
hit interview with Mr, Harrifon.
fupport ;
[ 69 ]
fupport 5 that it was natural for them mu-
tually to appeal to the fword ; and that the
fword being Tncathed, luch errors ought
to be mutually forgiven. I alfo offer it, fe-
condarily, as a n:emento to the inhabitants
of the fouthern ftates, who know fuccefs
has rather confirmed than altered the fana-
ticifin * of New England; that the doc-
trines of Elijah's Mantle are confidercd by
them as prophecies, and that ** the rolling
Hone which is to o'vcrlurn'\'y overturn, over-
turn, all nations," in its firft bounds, will
pafs the Delaware and the Chcfapeak, be-
fore it acquires the momentum to leap a-
crofs the Atlantic.
Place us in the fituation we were in 1763,
lliys Coiigrefs, and America will be fatis-
fied : was this fpeech made in carneH: ? was
it jufl: ? was it the language of that Congrcfs
which was ** compofed of every wife man
in America," as the Marquis de Chaftellux
obfervcs? was it true? It was. Truth is im-
mutable — the accelfaries, the calamities,
* Tlic Tranflator informs us, that lately nt Boflon
the propofal for the Sabbath's conflfbng of fix and
ihirty hours paffed the aflembly where the country in-
tereit prevailed, ami was thrown out by the merchants
who prcilominateil in the fcnate.
1 From Elijah's Mantle.
that
[ 70 ]
II »
that war has brought with it may obfcure
its lullre, but cannot alter its nature; a re-
volution may afFe6t your form of govern-
ment, but cannot change the lubllance of
your intereft. The naval power ol" Great
Britain has the advantage of incrcufing in
the hour of peace. When the reft of man-
kind are in profound repofe, the feamen,
who arc to fight our future battles, are dif-
ciplined by the dangers they have to com-
bat, and the elements they muft overcome ^
the Navigation Acft, that Hicred Palladium,
which our anceilors have delivered to us,
we will pioufly tranfmit to our children.
You fpcak of creating a navy; it will im-
poveriih you : it includes arfenals to efta-
blifli, and fortifications and troops to pro-
tc6l it. A fource of expence, which, in
your (late of infancy, will be infupportable,
and which nothing but an unjuft: jealoufy of
Great Britain, or a worfe principle, can
make neceflary. Our national gratitude,
our honour is pledged to France, fays the
American. On what principle did France
affifl: you ? Avowedly on that of its own
intereft. The objedl being fulfilled, the
contradt is no more. If you make a com-
mercial trcatv, contrary to your own inter-
eft.
Ir-
[ 71 ]
ell, to ferve France, flic certainly will fay
you are her friend; but Europe will call you
her tributary. Your enmity to England is
unnatural ; no rational man will allow that
refentment is a proper guide in the paths of
public virtue, or political wifdom ; if pri-
vate paffions, and effeds which exift be-»
yond their caufes, are to regulate the pro-
ceedings of your government, miferable in-
deed will the people of America be ! They
will have facrificed the fubftance, without
a fight of the fliadow ; and that hour will
doubly be accurfed, in which Pandora's box
was opened in the New World, if Hope
remains not behind !
Having analyzed the principles which fet
Great Britain and her Colonies at variance ;
having ftated the well-known views of felf-
intcreil that led France to afiifl: Americ? ; I
Ihall add, that Corfica at this moment is a
bleeding witnefs of French politics ; that
her wars have always been the wars of am-
bition ; and that no fophiflry can diminifli
or obliterate the hillorical truth, that Great
Britain has folely undertaken them to pre-
fcrvc the balance of power, and confcqucnt
liberties, of Europe, againfl: the encroach-
ments of France. The gradual fubfiding
^ y of
[ 72 ]
m !^
of defpotifm into a milder fway, the liu-
mane adminiftration of laws, which now
pervades the world, originate more from ex-
ample than precept ; more from the obferv-
ancc of the advantages with which freedom
has enriched England, than any incidental
liberality in the governors of mankind. The
utility of France, as an ally, depends upon
circumflances that probably will never liap-
pen ; to fecure you to her intcrefts Ihe will
alarm your fears, by pointing out Canada as
connecting the inhabitants of the back-coun-
tries, and uniting nations againft you : or,
to allure your avarice, (he will defcribe her
as rich ; and, with the Tranfl-itor of M. de
Chaflellux's Travels, eafy of conqueft : flie
may ihew you the VVefl India illands as de-
pendant upon you ; and hint, that Mexico
is at no great diltance. Thcfe are views of
general policy, and are not applicable to
the prefent moment of univcrfal peace.
When the will of arbitrary princes, or the
paflions of republican governors, fufpend
nor the real advantages of their fubjeds,
the conclufion of what treaty is beneficial
to them will be drawn from the numbers
who can be employed, and benefited by a
commercial ijitercourfe with other nations,
and
A V'
[ IZ ]
and from the comparifon of the refpcftivc
utility which the individuals of one coun-
try can be of to another ; and in this pre-
fent inftance it is to be weighed, whether
a connexion with Great Britain or France
is mofl profitable to the Americans ? Every
community which nature, habit, intereft,
policy, and language produce, aflimilates
him with the Briton, and prefles upon him
an averfion to the llibjed: of France.
There never was a kingdom, or even a
republic, Mr. Jefferfon, in which the lub-
jedt enjoys fo much individual freedom as
in Great Britain. The French, on the con-
trary, are in abfolute flavery \ their chains
are gilded, and they wear them as orna-
ments J the more they are individually
known, the lefs will they be nationally
refpedted * : if you admit not of emigrants
amongft you, Mr. Jefjcrfon, " left they
diould be unable to relilh your bold fydcm
• What the (hrewd Jefuit Charlevoix fays of the
French and Indians, may literally be applied to the
French and the Americans, " L'experiencp, non pat
dedit ans, mais de plus d'un fiecle nous a appris que
le plus mauvais fyfteme pour bien gouverner ces peu«
pies, 3c pov>r les maintenir dans nos interets, etoit de
ies approchcr des Francois ; qu'ils auroient beaucoup
plus cllimes, s'ils les avoicnt moins vus de pr^s."
L> of
[ 74 ]
of freedom and toleration -," permit not
your fubjeds to enter into too "lof? roanec-
tion with thofe who have ncrtiier freedom
nor toleration ; and who, however profufe
they may be of their Utopian ideas to dif-
turb the peace and welfare of the reft of
mankind, fhrink from the very recital of
any political matters that relate to their own
government. Englifhmen, on the contrary,
will tell you, that the bold fyflem you fpeak
of, has for years been in their polfeflion ;
and that your prefcnt greatnefs is a proof of
it. They will do more, they will lincere-
ly widi you long to preferve your freedom ;
they have an interell in it; Holland and
Switzerland are not to be named ; they are,
in fadl, the tributaries of France, and where
elfe is liberty to be found ?
** Idque etiam adverfus Britannos pro-
futurum, fi Romana ubique arma, & vclut
e confpedtu Libertas toUeratur," was a
principle on which the Roman governor of
England meant to lubdue Ireland; policy
therefore makes an intercourfe with the fub-
jeds of Great Britain and America of mu-
tual advantage, to inculcate and preferve
the principles of their mutual ireedom.
There are flronger reafons than fpecula-
tions.
la-
ns.
[ 7S ]
tions, which, originating from the part,
look forward to futurity : prefent intereft,
and conmiercial advantage?, thefe allure
you to renew your intercourfe with that
country. A wonderful event is now tak-
ing place, a treaty of commerce between
England and France ! Light is about to
fpring from a chaos of politics ; and na-
tional amity from the violence of national
refentmcnt : this is an effect that none of
the fons of men could have expedled to at-
tend the termination of the late war.
Englifhmen may fafely afk, if France and
England forget the injuries which for ages
they have received from each other ? Shall
America retain her refentment, the rcfent-
ment of a day ? It is the duty of men, Sir,
who are in your fituation, to allay this re-
fentment; a moiety of the abilities which
have been employed to feparatc America and
Great Britain, will reflore them to a bene-
ficial union ; and posterity, which at a
glance can trace the caufes and efFcdts of
the prefent age, will confecrate him who
lliall be inftrumental therein, among the
benefad:ors of mankind.
The prefent moment is big with import-
ant events. Commerce is breaking the
L 2 bonds
[ 76 ]
bands of monopoly, and pervading all na-
tions ; when infinitely fubdivided and dif-
fufed, like the elements, fhe is an univer-
fal blefling ; but if, by the puny artifice of
men, or by fome hidden operation in na-
ture, flie is pent up, and collected in one
flation, her expanfions are dreadful ! They
have ruined republics and empires, and pro-
duced as many calamities in the moral world,
as inundations, earthquakes, and volcanoes
have to the natural one. Commerce (brinks
from the fight of arbitrary power : that
which is the bufinefs of all men, will nut
be confined by the will of one ; and that
country will enjoy the greatcft: fhare of her
favours, and adt upon her trueft principle?,
where there is equal jiifiice and common
freedom : this country is Great Britain. To
what a wonderful eminence have their mer-
chants arrived ! From your youth, Mr.
Jefferfon, you muft have heard of their great-
ncfs, and in all probability been benefited
by its effeds !
A memorable and well known exprefTion
of the unfortunate king John of France was,
** If good faith (hould be bani(hcd from the
reft of mankind, it ought to find harbour
in the hearts of kings." The idea is fublime,
a nd
[ 77 )
ted
the
)ur
he.
In I
«nd the faying truly royal ! It is at this mo-
ment exemplified by the merchants of Eng-
land, ** thofe princes of the earth /* and in
a protefTion to which arbitrary monarchies
deny the privileges and rank of honour, its
pureft principles are carried to a height that
is unrivalled in ancient or modern hiftory.
** Their words are bonds, their oaths are
oracles."
The efflcSts are worthy of fo virtuous a
caufe. It is this probity, this perfonal ho-
nour, which fupports the confequence of
Great Britain. It is this reputation, which
in other countries it would require ages to
eftablifli, that has enabled them to raife
thofe immenfe individual properties, which
invigorate the machine of commerce beyond
the efforts of princes, or the calculation of
governments. The unbounded credit that
Englilhmen of this doicripiioii, and ihcy are
not a few, may obtain, is an aufpicious,
and iKible feature in the national charac^ler.
The merchants of other nations fmk in
comparifon betbre them; to thefe men, Sir,
interell Ihould teach the Americans to look
up for ancicni cunnedtion, and ef^'edual af-
fillance. Such men as you may fmooth the
dillicuhics which impede the renewal of
friendship
\W #
[ 78 ]
friendrtiip and credit, by flridly fulhliiii:^ tlic
articles of your public treaty ^ and by let-
ting that cxaniple of probity in your own
perlbns, which it is the advantage of the
community to adopt.
The Tranllator has informed the world,
that the prefiure of a fevere domefl^ic cala-
mity has led you to feek relief in public bu-
fmcfs : misfortune is the great link that
conncds the highcll and the lowed of man-
kind i and fympathy ot futTering continual-
ly reminds us of our original equality. The
rcfptctable prefident, Lawrence, has born
his tellimony to this remark ; and your con-
duct, I hope, will be an illuftration of it
in a fimdar diftrcfs : the ** Bciluni inter
rcmcdia," fignalizcd a great character ol an-
tiquity. May a nobler atftivity dillinguilh
Mr. Jcffcrfon ! The re-ellablilhment of a
real Fiunily Compaci. The l^'an/dy Corn-
pad is a tyc, which from one family pof-
fefling abfolute power therein, ac'tuates ilaies
and kingdoni"> contrary to their feparate in-
tcrcrts ; it connects and pcjints their force
at the will of the chief of it, the Trench
monarch.
As far as the iuterefts of nations arc fu-
perior to thufe oF kings, a Family Com-
8 padt,
[ 79 ]
ti-
ll-
padt, in greater luftre, and more extcnfivc
nieaning, would be created by an union of
force and of commerce between Great Bri-
tain, Ireland *, and America. No unne-
cellary wars would difturb the world by this
junc^tionj the ambition of each country be-
ing confined to its internal improvement,
and the reciprocal circulation of its com-
merce. They are of one origin, language,
manners, and freedom of government. A-
* The Tranflator fays, " on mote than one immi-
nent ()Cc;ifion Conj;refs o\\i>' Jicir exlilencc, and Ame-
rica poilibly her preftrvation, to the lidelity and firm-
riefs of the Irilli. I had the honour of dining with the
Irilh Society, cumpofed of the Ikcadicft Whigs upon
the continent, at the City Tavrrn, in Philadelphia,
on St. Patrick's dav. 'I'he niembt^rs wear a medal-
lion, fulpendcd by a ribband, with a very njjnificant
device, which was fo apphcabic to the Amciican Re-
volution, that until I wa'j allured that it fublilled prior
to that event, and had rclertncc only to the opprcflion
'A Ireland by her powerful filler, I concluded it to be
a temporary illu/:en." The reader will give as mudi
credit as he plcaies to this recital ; but I doubt not he
will agree with me, th.'t the error of the prefs i« aa
admirable one ; that temporary iUufion may be truly
faid ot .ill ihht can dilturb the harmony of (Jrcat Britain
and Ireland, notwiihllaiulin^ the implied wiihesof the
Tranllator. Fl.is fnor, lUufiou for allulion, reminds
me of the painter, who threw the fpungc at his pic-
ture in il.fpiir, and produced a more Uue died by hc-
iidcnt than hc could accomplilh by dcd^n^
way
^
( 80 ]
way then with the remembrance of iji^latc
war and its individual miferies. l^t Great
Britain and America purlUe their proper ad-
vantages ; they will loon lead to reconcilia-
tion : let all retrolpedt be avoided ; let all
harfli and aggravating exprefTionsceafe ; and
fiich incendiaries as the Tranflator of the
Marquis de Chaftcllux's Men\oirs be treated
with deferved contempt. This condu<5i: re-
ligion recommends, and hiilory points out
in the moft forpible manner to Britons and
their American dcfocndants. For who a-
mongft us, mofl: converlant in the annals of
our country, and glowing with the purcft
fjpirit of liberty, can praife the uniform con-
dudt of any one patriot in thole civil wars
to which uc have been indebted for our
freedom ? Or who can lay, had I lived in
thofe times of nccelTary contcft, lo far would
I have gone, and no fartlu-r ? And yet what
thinking man is not gratehd to the Supreme
Being, who, out ot the probation and mi-
feries of cur anccilorSj has diftributcd fo
much civil and religious liberty to the pre-
lent generation ?
• «
r I N 1 s.
/ 4j
1
MMHiiii^'