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/ 
 
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 FROM 
 
 C I C E R O 
 
 T O 
 
 
 LETTERS, 
 
 CATILINE THE SECOND. 
 
 ' [Price Two Shillings.] 
 
 ' ! 
 
 i 
 
 T^ 
 
 

 I 
 
 4 
 'I >l 
 
 CA 
 
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 COl 
 
 
 in 
 
 ' 
 
 A< 
 
 
 Pc 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 A) 
 
 t 
 
 ^ 
 
LETTERS 
 
 FROM 
 
 CICERO 
 
 T O 
 
 CATILINE THE SECOND. 
 
 I 
 
 WITH 
 
 CORRiECTIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. 
 
 ■But he abounds 
 In the division of each feveral Crime, 
 Afting it many ways. Nay, had he power, he would 
 Pour the fweet milk of concord into hell. 
 Uproar the univerfal peace, confound 
 All unity on earth. Shakespeare. 
 
 L O N D O Ni 
 
 Printed for J. Bew* No. 28, Pater-nofter Row. 
 MDCCLXXXI, 
 
f 
 
ADVERTISEMENT, 
 
 SHOULD it be thoughc that the following 
 Striftures have been wHtten with coo much 
 afperity, let the licentious demeanour of the men, 
 who are the objefts of their cenfure, towards the 
 Servants of the Public, be candidly confidered. 
 There have been no epithets too opprobrious, no 
 language too grofs and abufive, either for their 
 declamations in Parliament, — for their harangues 
 in their lawlefs Committees,— or for their feditious 
 publications againft thofe in whom the powers of 
 the State are veiled. The epithets *' corrupt, 
 " treacherous, traitorous, tyrannical, defpotic,** 
 and, as if this world, with all its wickednefs, did 
 not afford a quality fufficiently foul, either for 
 their mouths or their pens, they have travelled 
 into the regions below for the word *« diabolical," 
 All thele, with a multitude of others of the fame 
 indelicate and flanderous complexion, have been 
 unrefervedly applied to the public Minirters, 
 without even an exception to that perfon who is 
 the frft in virtue as well as dignity in the State ; 
 while, on the other hand, thofe exalted chara6lers, 
 which have been thus unjuftly loaded with the 
 groffeft abufe, have demeaned thcmfelves with 
 a decency and refpeSi towards thefe malicious de- 
 famerj, to which neither their cxpreflions nor 
 
 a6tions 
 
vi 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 actions have given them the Icafl claim. Fot* 
 abundant proof of thefe truths, the Reader need 
 only to look into the republican pamphlets and 
 daily papers, which have been impudently pub- 
 liHied under the walls of the Courts of Jufticc 
 and the two Houfes of Parliament. 
 
 Befides, when we fee thefe men not content 
 with having involved their country in mifchiefs 
 too great to be defcribed, and which threaten 
 the freedom and independence of the empire with 
 ruin, flill perfifling in their fchemes j when we 
 fee them, in ftridt imitation of their rebel bre- 
 thren in America, and in dircdl violation of the 
 ipirit and eftabliflied laws of the moft excellent 
 of all political inftitutions, rearing up and openly 
 patronizing lawlefs and feditious Committees, in 
 oppbfition to the eftabliihed Councils of the 
 State — Committees which have not only formed 
 themfelves into permanent public bodies, but have 
 already aflumed the rights of convening their 
 members at their own pleafure — of fitting on their 
 own adjournments — of taking into their delibe- 
 rations the general affairs of the nation — enter- 
 ing into feditious refolves refpe^ing thofe affairs, 
 and openly avowing a defign to change and over- 
 turn the eftablilhments of the Britifti State; I 
 fay, when every man who is not blind fees all 
 this, it would be d^falfe delicacy indeed^ not to treat 
 them with that honeji plainnefs which is confiftent 
 
 with truths 
 
 I The 
 
 li 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 vu 
 
 The rights and liberties of a great aiul a free 
 people, are jewels too valuable to be loll through 
 a fliameful lethargy and tiii^id filence. And 
 therefore, when thole liberties are thus invaded 
 by intejlim as well as foreign, enemies^ it is high 
 time for the viriuou^ and brave^ who wifli to prefer ve 
 the blelTings of the Englifh government, to call 
 men thus wickedly a^ingy and things thus dcjiruc- 
 five of their future fafety and happinefs, by their 
 proper names — to " cry aloud and to fpare not/* 
 that fo the indolent may be roufed from their 
 lethargy, and, alarmed at the impending danger, 
 may, unitedly, purfue the proper meafures to 
 pull down the riling Hydras before their powers 
 fliall be too great for refiilance. 
 
 And what has Cicero done more ? Nothing. 
 Jle has only called Treafon Treafon, and a Traitor 
 a Traitor i " A Cat a Cat, and Dick a Knave." 
 
 J'appelle un Chat un Chat, et Ricard un 
 
 ff 
 
 if 
 
 Fri|: 
 
 3on 
 
 »> 
 
u 
 
 
 
X 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 FROM 
 
 CICERO 
 
 T O 
 
 CATILINE THE SECOND. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 ** Neque nox tenebrii dbCctiriitc castas nefarlos ; he'c prU 
 •' vata <lomus parietibus continere voCem conjurationis tuse 
 " pot.'ft." Cicero in Catilinam. 
 
 Neither the fhades of night can conceal your traiierous af* 
 femblies ; nor the walls of your houfe hinder the voice of your 
 treafon from being heard. 
 
 CiCBRO^s Oration againfl: Catiljne. 
 
 ALTHOUGH, Sir, many ages have glided 
 away fince I became divefted of the incum- 
 brances of mortality, and pafled into the etherial 
 region of fpirits, my attachment and affeftions 
 toward mortals remain unimpaired. Having been 
 accuftomed to vindicate the innocent, to dete<5t 
 hidden confpiracies againfl the common weal, 
 and to arraign the guilty culprit at the awful bar 
 of public juftice, during my abode among men^ 
 
 B I ^et 
 
 ' 
 
 
 li'. 
 
T 
 
 ( » ) 
 
 I yet continue the friend to their civil rights— 
 the guardian of their freedom and happinefs : and 
 by a natural impulfe, I am led to watch over 
 their public affairs, to fathom the councils of the 
 wicked and ambitious, to unfold the fecret de- 
 figns of the traitor, and to guard the people againft 
 their meditated ruin. 
 
 I have felt as much diflrefs, as is permitted Im- 
 mortals to feel, at the reflc6lion, that true civil 
 liberty, the greateft and bell gift of heaven to a 
 people, is long fince banillied by the divine de- 
 cree from every part of the globe except Great 
 Britain. That liberty which Rome once enjoyed, 
 and which I once preferved, and that which was 
 fo long the boaft of Sparta, is no more ! And 
 even that which has been fo long the glory of 
 Britons, which their anceftors have with fo much 
 wifdom, and at the expence of fo much blood 
 and treafure, tranfmitted down, feems, from 
 the fame degeneracy and folly of their polterity, 
 fluttering on the wing, and about to take its de- 
 parture for ever. 
 
 I do not pretend to penetrate into the fecret 
 and ultimate decrees of Heaven : Neither angels 
 Bor archangels are able to difcover them. What 
 therefore may be written in the facred volumes 
 of unerring wifdom refpefting the diflblution of 
 Britifh freedom, is unknown, and muft remain 
 
 unknown 
 

 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 unknown until the awful period Ihall happen. 
 
 But this we both know, that virtue is the only fure 
 
 defence of the civil rights and happinefs of men. 
 
 Without a due regard to its precepts, the life of 
 
 mortals is a fcene of horrors, and their end the 
 
 beginning of lading mifery. Kingdoms the moft 
 
 puijfant Jhall hfe their ftrength^ and the moft per- 
 
 feSi ftruSiures of civil liberty he levelled in the 
 
 4uJ{. 
 
 You, Sir, are a member of the only civil fociety 
 remaining on earth, which enjoys real liberty. 
 By the fiiifFrages of your fellow-citizens you have 
 lately been pnpe more exalted to the fupreme 
 Councils pf ypur country. By their confidence 
 you are again become one of the guardians of 
 their freedom and fafety. How arduous the talk! 
 How important the duties! and how inexpreflibly 
 wicked muft the heart of that man be who fhall 
 betray them, who fliail facrifice them at the 
 a)tar of }ii3 own private gratifications and am- 
 bition ! 
 
 : ■( 
 
 ' r 
 
 I have often had occafion to look down with 
 admiration on your fuperior abilities as an ora- 
 tor. — All agree that your invention is lively and 
 profound — yovr language pure and elegant — and 
 your elocution fcarcely to oe equalled in antient 
 or modern time. Such is the art with which your 
 matter and argument are conneftedj; and fuch 
 
 B 2 the 
 
( 4. ) 
 
 the rapid fluency and plaufibility with which they 
 a.re delivered, that they fiow from your tongue in 
 all the Ipeautiful ornaments of truth'—captivating 
 the weak and unguarded^ ^nd flalhing a momen- 
 tary convidion on the moft intelligent. Poflefifed 
 of fuch talents, what pity is it, that your condudl 
 is not direded by virtue, and a love for your 
 country ! Were this the cafe, there are no public 
 benefits which fuch talents might not produce. 
 Like me, you might ftep forth and dete6l the 
 •wicked xzonfplracies which are at this moment 
 forming againft the freedom and fafety of your 
 country. You might drag the fccret enemies of 
 the public weal from their no^urnal meetingSy 
 to the bar of public juft ice. So fliould your coun- 
 try, already torn to pieces by factious cabals, be 
 rellored to peace j and yourfclf be loaded with 
 all the honours and rewards which a jufl So- 
 vereign, and a great and grateful nation^ can 
 beftow. 
 
 But, on the contrary, how dangerous to the 
 rights of your fellow-citizens — to the order and 
 fafety of civil fociety, are fuch abilities, when in 
 the poireffion of a mortal deftitute of every public 
 virtue 1 whO;, like the deaf adder, hears not the 
 voice of Wifdom ? That *' thou art the man," is 
 univerfally confelTed by every good and well in- 
 formed perfon in the kingdom. To public rnif- 
 chiefs, too ^reat to be defcribed^ thofc abilities 
 
 y have 
 
 \ 
 
 
M 
 
 ( 5 > 
 
 have already fccretly nnd even openly been appli- 
 ed. Diiven to dcTpeiation by frequent difap^ 
 pointmenes, what can ftqp th^ir progrefs ? What 
 can gratify their lawlefs and boundlefs purfuits? 
 Inlaciable in their nature, like the great womb of 
 time, they can never be latisfied. And yet your 
 aim is, to be eftablifhed the guardian of the public 
 fafety. Like the wily FOX in the fable, you v/ould 
 afTume the care and protedion of thofe whom your 
 infidious heart wifhes to devour. Can it be fup- 
 pofed in the nature of things, that a man whofe 
 riot and extravagance know no bounds, and whofe 
 means, however immenfe, muft be infulFicient to 
 gratify them, can be aduated by that wifdom and 
 virtue which are neceflary to manage the arduous 
 affairs, and to infure the happinefs, of a free and 
 a great nation ? Is there a nobleman in the king- 
 dom who would make a man of fuch a chara(5ler 
 his lleward ? Is there a flxopkecper in London 
 who would truft him behind his counter ? There 
 is not 1 Is it then poffible that there can be any 
 Briton of a fane mind, who can wilh, that a wile 
 Sovereign, earneftly defiring to maintain the 
 dignity and freedom of his kingdom and people 
 among nations, will ever commit them to fuch a 
 man ? Can he, confiitently with his own maxims- 
 maxims vvhich he has adopted to preferve the 
 public liberty and fafety, entruft them to fuch a 
 fceward ; fubje6ling himfelf and his people to 
 all the mifchiefs which mud neceffarily arife 
 from his fecret intrigues and feditious artifices ? 
 
 You, 
 
 h 
 
 \ 'i: 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 You Sir whofe lively and brilliant abilities render 
 YOU vifionary. mayexpediti but your expcaa- 
 tion will prove as vain as that of the foolifh ruftic, 
 who wifhing to crofs an unfordable ftream, cx- 
 pcfted it would foon be exhauftcd by its own cur. 
 fcnt. But , * 
 
 Labitur et lahetur in mm voluhilis avum. 
 
 CICERO, 
 
( 7 > 
 
 ' 
 
 L E T T E R II. 
 
 " Fult : fult ifla quondam in hac republica virtus, ut 
 *' fortes viri acrioribus fupplkiis civem pcrniciofura quam 
 -** acerbiffimum hoftem coercercnt.'* 
 
 Cicero in Catilinam, 
 
 There once was ; I fay there once was, in this our com- 
 mbilwealth, fuch patriot virtue, that men were animated with 
 a keener refentment againft a peftiUnt citizetit tl^itn againlt the 
 moil implacable foreign enemy, 
 
 Cicero » Orations againft Catiline, 
 
 UP O N a view of youf pad condud in public 
 life, I was naturally led into the general re- 
 flexions contained in my firft addrefs. Hence- 
 forward, my ftriftures Ihall be more particular 
 and pointed at your demeanor in the high truft 
 repofed in you by your country. 
 
 
 He who deprives another of his property under 
 a falfc token, has been juftly ranked in the clafs 
 of villains — and by the laws of your country de- 
 ferves death. But how much more criminal is 
 that man, who, poflefTed of fuperior art and 
 abilities, wilfully proftitutes them to the pur- 
 pofes of feducing his fellow-fubjedls into miftaken 
 and falfe notions refpeding the public interefl: 
 and fafety— of perverting national truths— and of 
 leading the great Councils of the State into mea- 
 fures, which mull produce national difgrace and 
 
 ruin I 
 
 
( s y 
 
 ruin ! and that too, only to fubferve the ends of 
 his own private diffipation and lawlefs ambition ! 
 Mankind, in no language, have yet invented a 
 phrale emphatical enough to defcribe the enor- 
 mity of his offence ; nor have the laws of any 
 country provided a punifhmcnt adequate to his 
 guilt. 
 
 Knowing this, you have a hundred times en- 
 deavoured to deceive and miflead the national 
 councils in refpe<51: to the American rebellion* 
 And fo lately as in your fpeech of the 6th of Oc- 
 tober, in the H — e of C — ns, on the addrefs to 
 his Majefl-y, theutmofl: efforts of your oratory were 
 difplayed for that vefy purpofe. In that fpeech, 
 after taking notice of Mr. P — -^y's admiffion, 
 that " America had juftice on her fide, and in- 
 «* curred no culpability iill the conciliatory propofi- 
 " tions were rejefled to make room for a claim of 
 " independence," you boldly affirmed, in con- 
 
 tradidion to what Mr. P y had faid, " That 
 
 *' America ajferted that claim before the conceffions 
 
 of Great Brit ain-^-btf ore the conciliatory "propoji^ 
 
 tions were brought into Parliament,^' 
 
 iC 
 
 cc 
 
 And upon this ground, without a blufli in your 
 countenance, and without the leaft fenfe of duty 
 to your country, you proceeded, in a long de- 
 clamation, to vindicate the principle of the Ame- 
 rican rebellion, ' . . ; ; 
 
 Now, 
 

 ( 9 ) 
 
 I have before mc the votes of tlie Houfe 
 of Commons, and the proceedings of Congrcfs, 
 by which it appears, that the foundation up- 
 on which you ere(5led your pompous harangue, 
 is a palpable untruth. The firft •* conciliatory 
 ** propofitions'* were brought into Parliament, 
 and agreed on, the 20th of Feb. 1775. ^^Y ^^^^^^ 
 propofitions it was declared, that if the Colonies 
 would " grant their reafonable proportion of aids 
 " for the common defence, and to provide for 
 " their refpedliveeflablifhments, Parliament would 
 *' forbear to levy any duty, tax^ or ajfejfmenty except 
 " only the duties neceffary for the regulation of com- 
 "■ merce : and that even the nett proceeds of thefe 
 *' duties fJjould be carried to the account of the colony 
 " complying with this conciliatory propofttionJ'* This 
 condefcenfion in the Government of Great Bri- 
 tain completely met the claims of the rebellious 
 colonifts, who had hitherto relied their com- 
 plaints againil the authority of Parliament, in the 
 right of levying on the Colonies internal taxes ; 
 agreeing in the fuUeft terms to the right of levy- 
 ing duties necelTary to the " regulation of com- 
 " naerce." On the 20th of May 1775, thefe 
 propofitions, having been officially communicated 
 by Governor Franklin to the Affembly of New 
 Jerfey, were by that public body laid before the 
 American Congrefs, At this time, and long af- 
 ter, the claim of independence was pofitively and 
 Ui.»animoufly, though infidiouHy, difavowed by 
 
 )', 
 
 il 
 
 ir 
 it' 
 
 tl 
 
 le 
 
( Id ) 
 
 the Congrefs themfelves; and that in a variety 
 of their public proceedings, viz.— In their re^ 
 folve of the fame day * — in their truly treache- 
 rous letter to the inhabitants of Canada -f, and 
 even in their petition to their lawful Sovereign J, 
 to whofe Government they had often fworn 
 allegiance. Nor did their " claim of in- 
 " dependen '* make its appearance until the 
 4th of July 1776, thirteen months after thefe 
 *' conciliatory propofitions** had been under their 
 confideration, and more than ten months after 
 they had rejedted them as " unreafonable and 
 " infidious.'* 
 
 To fo zealous an advocate for congreflional 
 meafures, for withdrawing our troops from Ame- 
 rica, and feparating the two countries for ever 
 from each other, in refpe6t to their political in- 
 terefts, thefe fads could not pofTibly be unknown. 
 How loft then to all fenfe of public virtue, and 
 regard for the true intereft of your country, 
 muft you be, who could attempt to miflead 
 the national council, in a matter fo momen- 
 tous to the honour and fafety of the commu- 
 nity of which you are a member by birth, and 
 to whofe fovereignty you have often fworn allegi- 
 ance 1 
 
 
 * See the Proceedings of Congrefs of that day. 
 
 f See the Proceedings of Congrefs, May 29, 1773. 
 
 X See the Procecdingi of Congrefs, July 8, 1-75. 
 
 •> ' This, 
 
( II ) 
 
 This is a plain queftion : it will be rea- 
 dily underflood by yoiirfelf and your fcllow-eiti- 
 zcns. And, therefore, I know that among your 
 deluded friends you will endeavour to evade it. 
 You will fay, that you meant the propofitions 
 fent by the lad commifllon. But this fubterfuge 
 cannot avail you. The propofitions alluded to 
 
 by Mr. P y, were thofe 1 have mentioned. 
 
 They were thofe to which you made a reply ; or 
 otherwife your reply was Ihamefully infidious and 
 nugatory. It was an infult on the good fenfe of 
 every Gentleman to whom it was addreffed. And 
 thcfe propofitions, although your Sovereign, 
 in order to prevent the efFufion of blood and 
 the horrors of a civil war, had lefTened the dignity 
 of Government, by condefcending to offer terms 
 to the rebellious, were not even condJered by 
 them, as ^, ground of reconciliation and relief from 
 their imaginary grievances. They were unjufily 
 and inftdioufly rcprefented to the world, and re- 
 jefled with a degree of infolence and contempt y 
 which the juft refentment of Britons never yet 
 lufi^ered to remain unpunilhed in tlie maft pow- 
 erful enemy,. 
 
 Thus, it is evident from incontrovertible 
 proof, that " conciliatory propofitions, as Mr, 
 
 *♦ P y obferved,** were reje£iedy to make room 
 
 for a claim of *' independence" which was the great 
 
 C 'i objed 
 
objecl of the fciHtious part of the Colonlfls, from 
 the beginning of their conteft with Great Britain, 
 And therefore, keeping this great point conftant- 
 ly in their view, inftead of a6ling as good fubjefls 
 ought, and would have acted, they have not, to 
 this moment, pointed out the mode of redrefs, 
 nor even hinted at the relief which would fatisfy 
 them. They have not only avoided, but pre- 
 cluded every poflible ground of reconciliation. 
 They have, in every inftance, abufed and rejefled 
 the terms of accommodation held out to them— 
 And, in their " declaration of rights/' made fo 
 early as the 14th of 0(5lober 1774, their claims 
 refled in an exemption from the authcrity of Parlia- 
 ment^ in all cafes whatever* , thus beginning 
 with, and uniformly and pertinacioufly perfever- 
 ing in, a claim of independence upon the Parent 
 State ; to which they were indebted for their free* 
 dom and exiflence. 
 
 This truth has been repeatedly laid before the 
 Public, and Ihall be foon made m.ore fully mani- 
 feft to the world, by documents and i\5i% which 
 cannot deceive. In the mean time, proceed, 
 if you tliink proper, in your hitherto too fuccelT- 
 
 • Sec this famous Declaration in the Proceedings of Con- 
 grefs, which, though made in 177+, was fecreted, and not 
 published until late in the year i;75, and never tranfmitted 
 to their Sovereign : and alfo Striftures upon it in a pamphlet 
 entitled, " A Candid Examination of the Mutual Claims, iS^c." 
 publilhed by VVilkic in St. Paul's Church-vard. 
 
 8 ' fu| 
 

 C «3 ) 
 
 ful career of oppofition to the meafures of your 
 Sovereign — in encouraging the rebellion in Ame- 
 rica, and the lawlels and feditioiis aflbciations 
 and combinations in Britain — and in fiipporting 
 and ftrengthcning the hands of the common ene- 
 mies of your country — But remember — a friend 
 to that country will henceforth watch your 
 machinations againfl: it; and in future, no af*'*f- 
 tion, tending to its injury, fliall drop from your 
 fafcinating tongue, which fhall not be difleded, 
 its fophiftry and fallacy detected } and all your 
 fecret intrigues fliall be expofed to the full view 
 of your fellow-citizens, that they may guard againft 
 your fedudion, and fave themfelves from that 
 ruin, which, like another Caiiline, you have long 
 pieditated againfl your country. 
 
 CICERO, 
 
 ^- 
 
( H ) 
 
 LET" E R 111. 
 
 ** Nulla eft enim natic qu.im periimefcamus ; ««//«/ r/jr qqi 
 •' bellum fo/'ilo Romano inferrc poiru. Ds/r.rjlicum helium nia- 
 ** net ; ir.tus Infid'nt iunt ; intui iiKiufum periculum eft ; intus 
 *' eft Hojj IS !" Cicero in Catiunam. 
 
 For there is no nation which wc have rcafon to fear ; no Hug 
 who can make war againll the Roman people. But a Jomr- 
 Jlic nvar ftjll remains ; the treajon, the danger, the r. nicmv i& 
 WITHIN I Cicero's Orations againft Catiline. 
 
 IN my laft I told you, that I (hoiild afliduouny 
 watch over your fecret intrigues againft the 
 cornmpn-weal. I did not make that declaration 
 ■with defign to intimidate you into a belief of my 
 power, but rather to convince you of it j that 
 your prudence, if fuch a virtue can pofTibly be 
 blended witli your vices, might dire<5t you to de- 
 fift from your bold oppofition to the meafures 
 which are neceHary to the public fafety. It is not 
 your ruin, but your reformation, I wifh to effedl:, 
 Rufh not then too impetuoufly into an error, 
 which in the end may prove fo fatal to yourfelf, 
 You will relied, that, of old, the confpiracies of 
 your predecelTor could not, with all his art, be 
 concealed from my penetrating eye. 
 
 CaiWns 
 
' 
 
 ( ij ) 
 
 Catiline t\\c rirji, like you, was plaufibl' , rapid, 
 and eloquent in his harangues. — Of iilu-'ious 
 birth, he lived without one Ipurk of public \ rtue. 
 Born to the poirellion of wealth, he became re- 
 duced to poverty and want by liis vices and ex- 
 travagance. Prodigal of his own, he coveted 
 the wealth of his fellow-citizens. He meditated 
 the profcription of the opulent, that he might 
 place their riches in his own coffers i but not con- 
 tent with this, he even coveted the wealth of the 
 Public. Determined to gratify his boundlcfs am- 
 bition, as well as his infatiable avarice and rage 
 for difTipation, he refolvcd to feize into his own 
 hands the authority of the State. For thefe hor- 
 rid purpofes he held hi.', fecret cabals, kis noSfurnal 
 Committees and /Ijfociations, Poflefled of all the 
 arts and intrigues of a FOX, he was hidden and 
 fecret in his defigns. Yet fuch were my vigilance 
 and adlivity, that though at that time my intel- 
 leiflual powers were loaded with the defcdls of 
 mortality, by unremitting refearches I penetrated 
 into the inmoft fecrets of liis confpiracy, dragged 
 them from their dark recelfes into light; com- 
 pelled him and his colleagues to fly their country, 
 and at length puniflied them in a manner their 
 atrocious crimes deferved. Judge then what are 
 the powers of my fpirit, when unconhned by time, 
 and limited to no fpace, V/hat fecret combina- 
 tions can there be, to the difcovery of which it is 
 not competent ? Judge, and tremble ! for know, 
 
 that 
 
 ( 
 
 J 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 that in a little while all thofe intrigiie9 with the 
 common enemy of your country, that fecret cor- 
 refpondence, and that encouragement and fup- 
 port which have been given to rebellion by the 
 leaders of a faiftion in Britain, will be laid open 
 to the view of the people whofe intereft and fafety 
 they were intended to betray. 
 
 To convince you of thefe truths, know, Cati- 
 line, that I am not unacquainted even with your 
 fecret meetings in Warwick-Court, Holborn *, 
 
 Neither 
 
 * From the year 177410 1777, Mr. Livingfton lodged a. No. 4. 
 Warwick-Court, Holborn. — There are few places better adapt- 
 ed for fecrecy and treafon than this court and this houfe. Here 
 Catiline, his voble uncle, his colleague of St. Omer^s, nvith others 
 ef the fa£lion, frequently met Laurens, Livingfon, and Dr. 
 Franklin in the night, fometimes drefl'ed in difguife ; and 
 when it was cither not convenieut or not fafc to meet, they 
 correfponded with Mr. Livingfton in cyphers. And here the 
 plans of their future meafures were finally fettled. This 
 done, Mr. Laurens and Dr. Franklin failed fcr Atnerica, and 
 fbmetimc after Mr. Linjingjlon for France, in order to carry 
 the fchemes thus concerted into execution. On Laurens^ ar- 
 rival at Charles-Town, he obtained a delegation to Congrefs ; 
 and from that moment he became the mofl inveterate and 
 aftive rebel. As a proof of this truth, I {hall mention one 
 anecdote. There had been a long fubfifting fricndfliip be- 
 tween Mr, Laurens and Mr. Filher of Philadelphia.— The 
 former, when in that city, had often, before the rebellion, 
 made the houfe of the latter his home.~He lodged there for 
 feveral months, and had received every proof of friendfhip ?incl 
 
 cordial 
 
 
 c 
 
 d 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 O 
 
 ♦ 1 
 
i ' 
 
 w 
 
 ' 
 
 c 17 ) 
 
 ther the houfc nor room In which your nofturnal 
 (Cabals wee held, and your leditious plans were 
 concerted, nor the perfons you met, are unknown. 
 In this place, which was in every refpedt calcu- 
 lated for black confpiracy, your Gallic Ufjcie, and 
 your Colleage of St. Omer's, with others of your 
 faction, frequently met the late Prejideni of the 
 Rebel Congrefs, now in the Tower — Dr. Franklin, 
 the prefent Rebel Ambaffador at the Court of 
 France — and Mr. Liviugfion, now a zealous Rebel 
 in America. Here the plans of your fedition were 
 concerted, and finally fettled ; and here you af- 
 fumed your refpedtive charafters in your intended 
 tragedy. This done, Dr. Franklin and Laurens 
 
 cordial hofpitality. — When the Congress returned to Phila- 
 delphia, after its evacuaticin by the Britifli troops, Mr. Fifhef 
 waited on his old friend — determined to avoid any converfa- 
 tion on politics : — But Mr. Laurens dragged him into it ; and 
 at length faid, with a fneer, that he fuppofcd he, Mr. FiAier, 
 ** would now give, up his King." Mr. Fifher being a firm 
 Ldyalift, and rather a warm man, more halViiy than pru- 
 dently replied : *' No, he had not, nor ever would, and yet 
 *' hoped that his King would ftill be King of America.'* 
 Thefe words Mr. Laurens foon reported to Mr. Jofeph Reed, 
 the Prefident of the Executive Council; a man the fecond 
 only in murders and treafon to Livingfton, tlie rebel Gover- 
 nor of New Jerfey. Mr. Fifher, a Gentleman of the faireft 
 charat'^er, was apprehended for High Treafon — compelled to 
 give 10,006 1. bail, and efcaped not without much intereil, 
 from fufFering death. This anecdote is given as an inllance 
 of Mr. Laurens's enmity to his Sovereign, and of his ingraii- 
 tnde and infidelity to his frier d, and to prove that he was the 
 nioft proper inftfument the fadioii could have found to pro- 
 mote their fedition. 
 
 D failed 
 
 
 If-;' 
 
 
( «8 ) 
 
 failed for America, and Livingdon for FrancCy 
 in order to carry into execution your intrigues 
 with rebels and the common enemy of your, 
 country, -while you remained in Britain to op- 
 pofe, enfeeble, and, ifpoflible, to obftru6t every 
 meafure which fliould be propofed for the fafety 
 and happinefs of your country. 
 
 Nor am I lefs acquainted with the fecret in- 
 trigues of the Admiral lately high in command, 
 and as high in the confidence of his Sovereign and 
 country j but who, by his notorious indolence 
 in his naval operations, is become the contempt 
 of a well informed people i an Admiral, who has, 
 with great fidelity and ignoble fervility, drawn 
 with his Brother in the yoke fixed on their 
 necks by your fadionj a fa<^ion as treacherous 
 to them as to your country. For you have already 
 deferted them, and left them to that fate, which 
 is, in ftricft juftice, more properly due to the 
 atrocioufnefs of thofe crimes, of which you 
 have feduced them to become the accomplices. 
 I know the Howe by whom your Admirar^ in- 
 trigues with that arch-rebel Dr. Frajiklin, were 
 fought and effeded. I know perfeflly well the 
 whole fecret of the invitation to a game of 
 Chefs*, given to the Doftor, through a third 
 
 perfon, 
 
 • In the year 1775,, the Admiral being a ftranger to Doc- 
 tor Franklin, adopted the following ftratagem to ciFetl an 
 
 inter- 
 
 r 
 
 •r 
 
 I 
 
 vy\ 
 
( '9 ) 
 
 perfon, by a La^ly who was an utter ftranger to 
 the Dodlor, and his confeqtient introdudion to 
 htr noble Brother the Admiral j even the minutes 
 of the intrig-Lies which were concerted under lac 
 dill^iiife of the game of Chefs have been laid 
 before me. But I fhall forbear, at prefent, to 
 mention the particulars. My compafiion, from 
 
 ,1 . 
 
 interview. His fifter is a great player at Chefs, The Doc- 
 tor alfo plays the game well. A gentleman acquainted with 
 him was fent with a challenge to the Doftor, informing him 
 that a lady of diflinftion, naming the fifter, had heard of 
 his fame, and wifhed to try his fkill at a game of Chefs. 
 The Dftdor was too well bred to refufe a lady's challenge.— 
 A meeting took place, and the game was played. I am not 
 informed which of the parties left the field triumphant; how- 
 ever, this game begat another interview^ at which, with the 
 Dodor's confent, the Admiral was introduced to his after- 
 wrds " dear" friend. Many fubfequent meetings fucceeded. 
 And from this time the General's qualms refpefting the com- 
 mand in the American war vanifhed ; and in violation of his 
 f lemn promife to his Nottingham Eledlors, he indireftly 
 folicits and accepts it, and his Noble Brother the Admiral 
 joins him in it. The faftion, who before were " averfe'* 
 to the American war, now wait ^ ■> him and compliment 
 him on the occafion ; and the plaus of their future op- 
 pojition to the meafures of their Sovereign were finally fet- 
 tled. Wheti;er the operations of the General and Ad- 
 miral have not been conduced with much more conformity 
 to the wiflies and defigns of Doftor Franklin, and hi» 
 friends in Parliament, than to their duty to their fovereign 
 and country, is to be feen in the pamphlet intitled " Letters 
 *' to a Nobleman, &c." *' A Reply to Lieut. Gen. Sir William 
 " Howe's Obferrations," and ** A Letter to Lord Vifcount 
 " H— we." 
 
 D ^ 
 
 the 
 
 r aM 
 
( io ) 
 
 the nature of nn' exiilencc, will ever prevail on 
 me to prefer mercy to juiliee. And I am led to 
 this by Ibinc late marks of penitence fliewn by 
 this deluded and unfortunate nobleman, unfor- 
 tunate only through your treacherous feducHon, 
 
 The letter infidloufly written by a nolle Earl 
 deep in your treafon, to a gentleman of the firfl: 
 weight and influence in Maryland, in order to 
 induce him to take part in your fedition, but 
 whofe loyalty was too firm for feduclion j and thaC 
 inhuman letter written by your colleague of St, 
 Omers, adviGng the imprifonment of every fub-- 
 jedt who was faithful to his fovereign, with 
 many other things of the fame treafonable nature^ 
 are not unknown to m<^* 
 
 Nor am I a flranger to the artifices of youF 
 fa6tion, in concealing, in the beginning of the 
 American difcontent, their fc^itious letters to the 
 zealots fci rebellion. You know (for if you 
 had a fpark of public virtue left, I would even 
 appeal to you), that they were fecreted in the 
 buttons of a coat made for that purpofe in Lon- 
 don, and worL by the perfon employed to carry 
 them ; the brother to that wretch whofe heart is 
 a Teniple * replete with conflagrations, murders, 
 
 ■ and 
 
 • This man is the moft infidious and audacious rebel that ex- 
 ills. He does not hefitate, in his daily converfation, to 
 
 boaft 
 
 ^l< 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 and trcafon ; — a wretch, who afterwards was in^ 
 trufted with, but betrayed the caufe which he 
 
 boaft of his principles. In 1778, when he accepted of a trufl, 
 engaged to ufc his endeavours to accommodate the difputc 
 between the two countries, and went to America for that pur- 
 pofe; on his arrival at Bofton he treachcroufly informed the 
 rebels whatever they wilheu to know refpedling the ftate of 
 Great Britain, and advifed them not to negotiate, but to infifl 
 on their independence, and afTured them that Great Britain 
 would foon be obliged to grant it. He is very intimate with 
 many of the fadllous noblelTe. 
 
 From Bollon he pafled thr.^ugh the Colonies to Philadel- 
 phia, giving the fame perfidious advice to the people of each 
 province. He carried letters from the rebel Governor Trumbull 
 to the rebel Corpniander in Chief, and from him to the rebel 
 Congrefs, warmly recommending hin^ as a friend to their caufe; 
 and was treated by thofe men, who would have put him to 
 death had he been faithful to his Sovereign, with every mark 
 of kindnefs and hofpitality. See the letters from Trumbull to 
 Wafhington, and from him to the Congrefs, lately publilhed in 
 the Morning Poft. For fome time before the late mob in St. 
 George's Fields, he was the conllant attendant, and one of 
 the advlfers, of the unhappy Nobleman in the Tower for high 
 treafon ; and after the petition was prefented, he was conllantly 
 with his Lordlhip twice a day, and had left him only a ihort 
 time before he was arrefted. He had an intimate colleague, 
 who, while he attended his Lordlhip, was to perform the exe- 
 cutive part of the bufinefs- This wretch was a conftant 
 declalmer at the feditious, though profanely called patriotic, 
 clubs, He led the mob to the deurudion of Lord Mansfield's 
 houfe, and in feveral other places, and continued with them 
 until he heard the firing of mufquetry at the Bank; when he 
 inftantly fled with his wife at two o'clock at night, and pafled 
 over to Holland, where he has remained ever fincc. 
 
 had 
 
 i 1; 
 
 ' Hi 
 
( " ) 
 
 had fworn on the Holy Evangelifts to fupport ; — 
 Vfho was the adive and conllant advifer of the 
 unhappy Nobleman now in the Tower for high 
 treafon, and principally concerned in raifmg 
 a mob to murder the gur^rdians of the public 
 welfare, and to lay the capital city of the na- 
 tion in alhes. Can it be poflible? It is too in- 
 credible to relate ! And yet, this wretched, this 
 murderous traitor, with an audacious effrontery 
 equalled by none but your own, at liberty and 
 unmolefted, walks the flrects of that very city 
 which he would have laid in alhes. 
 
 By thefe intrigues, you and your alTociates 
 became the joint confpirators againft the com- 
 mon weal and fafety of your country, and 
 firmly united with the feditious part of America 
 in one common rebellion. I fay, Catiline, that 
 at the very times, and in the very places, and 
 through the intrigues of the very perfons I have 
 mentioned, all of them, and many more, at this 
 moment the aiders and abettors of your fedition, 
 the plan of American rebellion^ and q( your and their 
 treafonable oppojition to the meafures of your Sove^ 
 rei^n, became finally a'djujied. 
 
 One of your treafonable letters was written, 
 immediately after you had fettled your plans, by a 
 Commoner, who had been a Governor of one of 
 the provinces in America, and then held the high 
 
 office 
 
 1 
 
1 ' 
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 ofHce of a Biltilh Senator, but who has been 
 lately degraded by his fellow-citizens from that 
 important rruft. This man, from the year 1769, 
 held a condant correfpondence with one of the 
 mod inveterate rebels in Bofton. "With a con- 
 ftancy, equalled by nothing but the bliicknefs of 
 his treafon, he has not ceafed, by a great num- 
 ber of Letters, the originals of which are now in 
 Britain, to blow the coals of fedition, and to 
 feed the dame of rebellion* The 'ettcr I in-- 
 tend at prefent to communicate, contains the 
 great outlines of, and, in truth, the 'very 
 fyftem ivbicb the leaders in rebellion^ in conform* 
 ity to its dire^ions, have ever fence literally pur^ 
 fued. But why fliould 1 communicate this let- 
 ter to you ? you, who knew, and finally fet- 
 tled its contents, before it was tranfmitted to 
 your rebellious colleagues in America 1 It is to 
 convince you, and your fellow-confpirators, that 
 your and their treafon is difcovered j and that 
 there are means by which it will be foon yet fur- 
 ther unfolded to every fenfible and difinterefted 
 man in the nation, whofe morals are untainted by 
 your delufive arts and feditious principles. 
 
 i 
 
 The letter written and publifhcd in America, 
 to prevail on the deluded colonifts to adopt the 
 plan of your faftion in Britain, is in thefe words: 
 
 cc 
 
 I perfuadc myfelf your countrymen are not 
 ** fo contaminated with the effeminacy of this 
 7 *' nation. 
 
<( 
 
 cc 
 
 €€ 
 
 <C 
 
 ( ^-4 ) 
 
 *' nation, not to fee that this is the impor/ani 
 ** mjis, when they ought to make ^foletJin, ful- 
 letjy uniiedi and invincible Jt and againit the cruel, 
 tyrannoHSy and ruinous fyftem of policy adopted 
 " and excrciling by this legiflaturc, againft the 
 " riglits and freedom of America ; and let me 
 " add, that if the deputies of the federal Provinces, 
 " when convened in Congrefs, do not, one and 
 " all, firmly rcfolve to eflablifh, through every 
 county and townfliip in their refpedive pro- 
 vinces, a folemn league and covenant, and 
 *' under an oath or affirmation, not to purchafe 
 " or to ufe the manufatlures of this country 
 •' (fave what are colle(5led already within the 
 «« province), and if pofTible not to export any 
 <« provifions to the Weft India Iflands, and at 
 ** the fame time do not religioufly refolve to 
 " meei again in Congrefs once in every fix months, 
 " for the purpofe of forming a fuitable plan 
 *f for fecuring American rights and fredom, our 
 " children will be irremediably deprived of that 
 *' inheritance of liberty which our forefathers 
 ** carefully ^^ndipioufly tranfmitted to us.'* 
 
 In what, Catiline, did the '^ cruelty, tyran- 
 ny, and ruin of this fyftem of policy" confift ? 
 "Was this unjuft calumny, a calumny invented 
 to fupport your deep-laid plan of fedition, call 
 on the mildeft and moftjuft meafures of your 
 country, founded on any thing elfe than the 
 
 fictions 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 fi6lions of your afTociarcs and abettors? Was 
 it either " cruel, tyrannous, or ruinous," to 
 oblige the Americans to pay a fmall proportion 
 only of what in all cqtiity they ought to pay 
 towards the fupport of their own civil cftablini- 
 ments and the national defence ? — Was this 
 iinjufl:? was it not neceflary to their own 
 fafety? Are not the Americans fubjeiSts of the 
 Britifh State? Has not the State in all things 
 treated and a6led towards them as fuch; and 
 have they not by a thoufand documents uniform- 
 ly acknowledged themfelves fuch fubjects, from 
 the dawn of their fettlement to the moment of 
 their declared independence ? 
 
 Tell me further, thou faithful and bold af- 
 ferter of the caufe of rebellion, did they not, 
 at a time when they confefled in their humble 
 fupplication to their Sovereign, that they could 
 not prote6l themfelves, implore the aid and 
 protedtion of that Parliament againft whofe au- 
 thority they have now rebelled ? And were not 
 that aid and proteflion immediately fent, and 
 thefe ungrateful men, at an immenfe expcnce 
 of the blood and treafure of Britons, faved 
 from the conqueft and tyranny of that very 
 Monarch, with whom they are now perfidioufly 
 combined againft the Parent State, which with 
 indulgent care reared them in their infancy, and 
 
 E which 
 
 ^1 
 
 Iff 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 which had fo lately favcd them from utter dc- 
 ftrudion ? 
 
 ' 
 
 In this great flruggle for their liberty and 
 fafety, what part did they aCl? Did they not, 
 when folicitcd by the Britifli Minifter, and when 
 retributions were offered to allure them to the 
 mod important of all civil duties, refufe thofe 
 aids which were neceflary to their own defence ? 
 And were not the taxes of Britons, and the num- 
 bers of her armies increafed, to make up the de- 
 ficiency. 
 
 Afterwards, when a fucceeding Miniller of- 
 fered to drop the Bill for raifing a (tamp duty 
 in America, provided the colonids would grant, 
 in their own aflemblies, their reafonable aids 
 towards the fupport of their own civil eftablifli- 
 ment and the national defence; did they not 
 again refufe to contribute their jufl: proportion, 
 or indeed one farthing towards them, leanng 
 their fellow-fubjedls in Britain to labour under 
 an unjuft burthen, which they themfelves in 
 equity and good conlcience ought to have fuf- 
 tained ? Was this ading confidently with the 
 duty of citizens and fubjedls? Or could the 
 State, with any principle of juftice and equity, 
 longer permit Britons to lavifh their blood and 
 2 wealth. 
 
 ; 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 wealth, and to be " the hewers of wood and 
 *' drawers of water" for the Americans. 
 
 ■ • 
 
 Not to opprcfs — not to injure, much Icfs to 
 reduce them to flavery, as you and your fac- 
 tion have a thoufand times impudently and 
 falfely allcrtcdi but to induce them to do 
 equity to Britons, the Tea ac!:!, tlic pretended 
 caufe of that rebellion you have fo often vindi- 
 cated, was paffed; and this aft you and your col- 
 leagues in fedition on both fides of the Atlantic 
 have concurred in ftyling " a cruel, tyrannous, 
 " and ruinous fyflem of policy." 
 
 If this a(fl was " cruel," wherein docs rhc 
 cruelty confift? Was it cruel to impofe 3d. 
 per pound on teas imported from Great Bri- 
 tain into America, and, at the fame time, to 
 relieve the Colonifts from the payment of i s. 
 per pound in Britain ? If it was " tyrannous," 
 it was that kind of tyranny which your ancef- 
 tors had exercifed over the Colonies from the 
 firft dawn of their fettlement, without objec- 
 tion or complaint. — And it was that tyranny 
 which you yourfelves thought jufl: and equi- 
 table, after twelve months confideratijn, when 
 you voted for the flamp ad. If it was *' ruin- 
 " ous," it was only fo in your opinions, be- 
 caufe it tended to lay a foundation of relief for 
 your fellow-fubjefts in Britain, from the unjuft 
 
 E 2 burthens 
 
 
 w 
 
( s8 ) 
 
 burthens tliey have long borne to protect the 
 Americans. Thcfe arc all truths, too notorious 
 even for a Caiiline to deny. 
 
 And yet it is upon this very pjrmind, for no 
 other have you taken, that you julUfy the Ame- 
 ricans, in denying the iupreme authority of the 
 focicty of which they acknowledge thcmfclves 
 to be members, and in refufing to be repre- 
 fentcd in that authority j althou^^h tiiat repre- 
 fentation would at once remedy all their pre- 
 tended ap[)rehennons, and give them the fame 
 freedoms which Britons enjoy. It was upon this 
 ground you advifed the Americans " to eftablifli 
 in every county and townfliip, a fokmn league 
 and covenant on oathj" not to *^ purchafe or ufe 
 the manufaehuTS of Britain," thereby to reduce 
 to a ftate of bankruptcy the manufacturers of 
 your own country; and it was upon this ground 
 the Americans were advifed '* not to export any 
 provifions to the Weft Indiesj" thereby to ftarve 
 thofe innocent idanders, altogether unconne(5led 
 in the difpute. It was upon this ground you 
 advifed the Americans " religioufly to refolve 
 to meet in Congrefs, for forming a fuitable 
 plan" — for refiftijig the neceflfary and conftitu- 
 tional rights oi your own country. It was upon 
 this ground you declared to them, that they 
 ought to make a " fullen, folemn, united, and 
 inrincible ftand," againil that State of which 
 
 you 
 
 s I 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 you were members, and which had expended 
 upwards of" i'li'ty millions in their protection. 
 And it is upon this ground only that you 
 are, with tlie molt audacious elTrontcry, vin- 
 dicutin(_; the principle, and uniformly oppo- 
 fing the Kipprcirion of a rebellion, the mod 
 grouiullels and unjuflifiable that ever has been 
 produced in the annals of mankind. 
 
 Is it pofTiblc, that Britons cannot — will not — 
 fee through the flimfy veil of your artifices ? 
 Can it be poOible, that, with their good fenfe, 
 their manly virtue, their defire to be jufl — juft 
 to thcmiclves, and therefore jult to all the world 
 — they cannot perceive the fallacy, the wicked- 
 nefs, and fatal tendency of your more than facri- 
 legious defigns? 
 
 By your aid and encouragement, the fpark of 
 fedition, which mufl foon have expired through 
 its own weakncfs, has been kindled into a flame, 
 that has enJ-anger?d the freedom and fufety of 
 the Britifli empire j for, encouraged by thcfe un- 
 common fervices fo faithfully performed, and af- 
 fured of your future afTiflance, they have twice at- 
 tempted to incite a rebellion in the heart of Great 
 Britain*, and once in Ireland f. In full confi- 
 
 • See the fcditious Letters from Congrefs to the people of 
 Great Britain, in their printed Proceedings, dated Odober 
 21, 1774, and July 8, 1775. 
 
 •j- See the feditious Letter from Congrefs to the people of 
 Ireland, in their printed Proceedings, dated July 28, 1775. 
 
 dencc 
 
' 
 
 ■J 
 
 i 
 
 t 3° ) 
 
 dence of your protection, they have appointed 
 fpies within the bofom of your country, with or- 
 ders to give " the earlieft infornnation of all fuch 
 ** condud and defigns of Miniftry or Parliament, 
 ** as might concern America to know, and as 
 " they might judge to be of importance in this 
 «f great conteft *." And fupported by your 
 daily intrigues, and your feditious oppofition to 
 the exertions of your Sovereign, they have allied 
 tliemfelves with the perfidious and common ene- 
 my of your country ! And that enemy, encou- 
 raged by your unprincipled oppofition, and by 
 the difunion and weaknefs in the exertions of the 
 State, occafioned only by fuch oppofition, have 
 declared war againft your Sovereign, 
 
 r»f 
 
 For th jfe (ci voices you have received the " grate- 
 *« ful acknowledgments" of the rebel Congrefs, 
 who, to fecure your future aid, have filled you 
 the " truly nolfie, honourable, and patriotic Advo- 
 «' GATES, who have fo generoufly and powerfully 
 " efpoufed and defended the caufe of America^ both 
 " in and cut of Parliament f/' And agiin, the 
 fame Congrefs, " deeply lenfible of the powerful 
 " aid their caufe muft receive from fuch power- 
 " ful advocates," have paid to your Fadlion, 
 
 • See the printed Proceedings in Congrefs, July 8, ^775. 
 f See the Vote of Congrefs in their printed 'Voceedmgs, 
 Oaober 24, 1774. 
 
 " their 
 
 » ? 
 
I 
 
 ( 31 ) 
 
 *' their tribute of gratitude and thanks for the 
 ** virtuous refentment '*" which you had fliewn 
 to the meafures of the Britifh legiflature. Such 
 are the important lervices which you have per- 
 formcLl for rebels and the enemies of your coun- 
 try i and fuch the honourable applaufe you have 
 received as a reward for them. But know, that 
 however honourable yuu md your fadlion may 
 efteem thefe teftimonies of your merit, thofe 
 ferv'ccs are fo many wounds to your country, 
 at v'hich its blood and treafure are flowing out 
 apace. 
 
 Proceed, then, m your nefarious refolve to 
 ruin your country, in hope of " riding in the 
 ** whirlwind and directing the florm." But re- 
 member, that you have impudently threatened 
 the beft friends of the Public with impeach- 
 ments and the block. Remember too, there 
 is a Tower, where that man who was loyal 
 when you firfl: met hiip, but who^ before you 
 parted, became a determined rebel, is at this 
 moment in fafe cuftody. Little did he think, 
 when he embarked for Holland, that his deflina- 
 tion, written in the book a^ fate, was the Tower 
 of London. As little, I fear, do you now fuf- 
 pedl, what may be foon your own fate. But be 
 
 * See the Letter to the Lord Mayor and Livery of London, 
 in the printed Proceedings of Congrefs, July 8, 1775. 
 
 alfured. 
 
 T 
 
 t 
 
"«Ma>ir^"^"H.K'' 
 
 1 .« B >l V p I? i» I F V 'F 
 
 ( 32 ) 
 
 aflured, that juftlce, though often flow, is al- 
 ways certain; and that, by its eternal decrees, 
 the confpirator againft the public weal, fooner 
 or later, fhall receive the reward of his fuperla- 
 tive wickednefs. 
 
 CICERO. 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 L E T T E R IV. ■ ' " 
 
 *• Non eft ifta mea culpa, Quirites, fed temporum — 
 '* interemptum effe Lucium Catilinam, et graviffimo Aip- 
 *' plicio afFedlum, jampridem oportebat— idque a me et mos 
 f' majorum, et hujus imp€rii fevcritas, et refpublica, poftu- 
 ** labant." Cicero in CATiLiWAM. 
 
 No, Romans, it is the fault of the times— Catiline, in 
 jujiiccy ought long ago to have fuffered the laji funijhment z-— 
 the cuftom of our anceftors, the difcipline of the empire^ 
 and the intereft of the republic, require it. 
 
 Cicero's Orations agaii.ft Catiline. 
 
 THINK not, Catiliiie, that the proofs I have 
 already laid before your fellow-citizens are 
 all that I am and fhall be pofleffed of— My re- 
 fearches are penetrating yet further into your 
 fecret correfpondence with rebels, and your in^ 
 irigues with the cpmmon enemy ; and juft informa- 
 tion of your fchemes is daily pouring in upon 
 me. Befides, the adions of men fpeak louder 
 and plainer than words; and when they ar^ 
 fully inveftigated, they infallibly point to the 
 nioft fecret fchemes of the heart — Thus your 
 anions, and thofe of your confederates, Ipeak 
 louder and plaiqer than all your patriotic decla- 
 mations, ?»nd fair profeffions of love for your 
 country. — In them the lion appears through the 
 afs*s Ikin, the FOX through the unfpotted garb 
 of the innocent lamb ; and therefore an invefti- 
 
 f ^ gatioi^ 
 
 k 
 
 U ; 
 
T 1 
 
 < 34 ) 
 
 gation of your condufi:, and my authentic in* 
 formation compared together, (hall be the fources 
 from whence I will draw the evidence of your 
 guilt. 
 
 ■ When I furvey your conduct from the com^ 
 mencement of the American fedition, I have full 
 proof that Catiline loves rebellion more than he 
 does his Sovereign; and therefore he vindicates 
 the former, and daringly and inceflantly oppofes 
 the latter. — Catiline loves the common enemy 
 more than he does his country ; and therefore he 
 •g y -i-qges that enemy, and with a fteady uni- 
 forn of condufl endeavours to fruftrate the 
 means by v/hich alone the honour and fafety of 
 his country can be maintained againft that enemy, 
 — Catiline loves, public confufion more than 
 Vinion and public order ; and therefore he never 
 fails te exert all his powers, both fecretly and 
 openly, to diftra(5l the public Councils, and to 
 obftruft their execution 3 and even that too, at a, 
 time when nothing can fave his country but 
 unanimity in councUy and vigour in execution, 
 
 .Your deep-laid fcheme of withdrawing the 
 troops from Arnerica, in order to give inde- 
 pendence to rebels, and to weaken the empire, 
 by difmembering it of by far the greater part of 
 its dominions i — your wicked attempts to wreft 
 fron^ pur Sovereka his cpnllitutigjial right of 
 ^:.u.;- 5 .. appomtmg 
 
 i \ 
 
' 
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 appointing his own fervants, and to compel hitA 
 to place you and your confederates in their offices, 
 that you and they may command the purfes, and 
 riot in the wealth of your fellow-citizens j — and 
 the horrid defign of your favfUon, to bury in one 
 general conflagration the capital of .the BritiHi 
 empire, have all been happily fruftrated by the 
 firmnefs of your Sovereigni and the vigilance and 
 wifdom of his Minifters. One would have ima- 
 gined that, knowing this, you would have feeii 
 the folly, if not the atrocioufnefs, of your plots, 
 and, dnmayed at the profpedt, have furceafed 
 from further confpiracies againft the welfare of 
 your country. But, Catiline, your dillipation 
 knows no bounds, your thirft for power no end, 
 your conference no fenfibilityj and you arc de- 
 termined, like your predeccfTor of Rome, not to 
 ftop in your career of folly and wickedncfs, until 
 the cup of your iniquity Ihall be full, and the 
 hand of heaven fhall interpofe to fave your coun- 
 try from the ruin you meditate againft it. 
 
 «Jw>»^*ii«>^a. 
 
 ' At the moment of my addrefs to you, you are 
 contriving the means of reviving the finking fpi- 
 rit of rebellion, and of fupporting the inveterate 
 enemy of your country ! The information I have 
 received, and your own condu6l, will prove it, 
 and condemn you in the judgment of your impar- 
 tial fellow-citizens. This information I Ihall 
 
 Fa commu- 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 coinmnnicatc to them through you, in this and 
 my fubfcquent letter j not under the leafthopeof 
 working out your reformation, but to guard them 
 againft your intrigues, and the dangers and dif- 
 trefles that may flow from them, unlefs happily 
 prevented, . ;. . -^ ■ . , / 
 
 The following is a genuine extrafl of a letter 
 from a Gentleman of undoubted veracity at Ne*"^ 
 York, dated the 20th Auguft 1780: 
 
 *' I Ihall conclude this account of the Jerfey 
 expedition with the following authentic anec- 
 dote.— CoL *** arrived with Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton, and joined the army in Jerfey. A fervant 
 of his, who had the care of his baggage, was 
 taken prifbner by ' ^ rebels, and all the Colo- 
 nel's letters fell i to their hands. The letters 
 were examined ; among them was found a 
 fealed packet with this indorfcment. This not to 
 be opened but in cafe of CoL ***V death. From 
 which the rebels concluded it muft be his IFill^ 
 and did not break the feal. A few days after. 
 Col. *** received a letter from a rebel officer, 
 enclofing the packet, and informing him, * that 
 from a regard to his perfbnal gallantry, but 
 CHIEFLY from the circumjiance of his being the 
 Brother 0/ their good friend ******* ***, and 
 Nephew to their illustrious Advocate and 
 
 <* Patrok 
 
 «c 
 cc 
 <c 
 c< 
 
 €t 
 CC 
 C( 
 <C 
 (C 
 CC 
 
 <( 
 
 CC 
 CC 
 CC 
 
 CC 
 
 (t 
 
■ ' 
 
 C o7 ) 
 
 *' Patron the Duke of *****»»», he (the rebel 
 •* officer) did himlelf the honour of tranfmitting 
 '* to hull (the Colonel) the enclofed packet, fup- 
 " pofing it to be his Will. 
 
 •■'..::. , - .'-T •••• . ■ ■' 
 
 '* The carrying private letters from a place of 
 " fafety into a camp, in an enemy's country, 
 *' not one mile diftant, and the capture of the 
 " fervant who had thefe letters in his poffeflion, 
 ** are queer circumftances: And I think this anec- 
 " dote Ihould be made public, that the good 
 *' friend, and the illujlrious advocate and patron of 
 *^ the rebels, may not be deprived of the hot* jur- 
 ** able teftimony of their merit contained in it ; 
 " and it will doubtlefs raife them ftill higher in 
 ** the eftcem of their brethren the fuper-illujirious 
 *' Patriots of the Minority'* i , 
 
 Marked as the tranfaftion defcribed in this ex- 
 traft is with fecrecy, it is not difficult to unravel 
 it. In every ftep the truth appears *-^>o powerful 
 for the difguife. Your brother went from you^ 
 the " friend" of the American rebels in London, 
 to Carolina — thence to New York, and from 
 New York to Staten Ifland. Whatever eftate 
 your brother pofleffed, if he really had any ^ he left 
 in England, and, with it, you and his other re- 
 lations and friends, to whom he would naturally 
 bequeath it. His will would have been fafc either 
 in London, Staten Ifland, or, New York. If, 
 
 there- 
 
T 
 
 I 
 
 [i 
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 therefore, the fealed packet was really his will, 
 made before his departure, his prudence would 
 have left it in London ; if made in America, he 
 would have left it at New York, or Staten Ifland ; 
 in the firfl-mentioned place, it would have been 
 fecure from the dangers of the ocean and of war, 
 and in the fecond and third, from the capture of the 
 enemy. — The fame prudence would have left his 
 private and confidential letters from his friends in 
 thx'ume places of fafety. The «' fealed packet/* 
 therefore, did not cover your brother's will ; 
 though, from the deceptive indorfement, it bore 
 that difguife, but v^as intended as a cover to his 
 and your fecret deftgns^ and thofe of your faction ; 
 nor were the private letters taken from his fervant 
 by the rebel officer, letters to him from his friends 
 in Britain, but to bis a.nd your y^merican ^^ friends-," 
 —thofe friends who have fulfomely ftyled you, 
 in their congreffional thanks for your numerous 
 and faithful fervices, " their truly noble, honour- 
 able, and patriotic advocate/' — and thofe friends 
 whofe trealbnable practices you have fupported 
 from the firft dawn of their infurreftion to the 
 :prelent moment. ^ .. :^ 
 
 ••*,]") 
 
 ■Catiline, tell me, if the " fealed packet" really 
 <»ntained your brother's will, as the endorfement 
 imported j and if the letters captured were really 
 '•« private letters** from his friends in Britain, 
 rWhy did he, as a prudent man, commit them to 
 '^■-"^i . hit 
 
1 
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 his fervant ? Why did he, as a folditr, contvary 
 to all ufagc, encumber his fervant with them, 
 from places of fafety, into the icene of war and 
 danger? And if they were even letters from 
 yourfelf, containing your daily abufe of the Mi- 
 nillcrs of the Public, and your intended oppofi- 
 tion to the meafures of your Sovereign, why were 
 they, under the fhade of careleflhefs, carried into 
 the hands of the rebels, unlefs it was to commu- 
 nicate to them what they ought not to know 3 and 
 to enable them to avail themfelves of your fecrct 
 machinations in their favour, againft the fafety of 
 your country ? . 
 
 us 
 
 Tell me further — What bufinefs could your 
 brother's fervant, a ftranger in America, pofil- 
 bly have out of the Briti(h lines, which ought not 
 to have been tranfafted under the fandtion of a 
 flag ? Why did he not leave thefe private letters 
 in his Matter's tent, where they would have been 
 fafe ? Could they be necefifary to any bufinefs, 
 "which cither he or your brother could have to 
 tranfaft with the knowledge of the Commander in 
 •^hieff : , : L" ' . . 
 
 Tell me yet more — If thefe private letters did 
 not convey fome fecret information from you and 
 your fadlion j if they only related to your bro^ 
 ther*a private affairs, they could be of no more 
 Vf^ to the rebels, than knowing in what manner 
 ■ ' 'he 
 
f! 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 he had difpofed of his enormous eftate. Why then 
 did not the fame *' regard," which the rebel Of- 
 ficer felt for the ** perfonal gallantry" of your 
 brother i but chiejly from the circumftance of hi«i 
 being the " brother** of you, " their good friend^* 
 and the " nephew of their ilhijlrious advocate and 
 ^' patron^** induce him to return the " private 
 " letters,'* as well as ^he " I'ealed packet," in 
 which he conceived the will was enclofcd ? • • * 
 
 Thefe are fifting queftions. You cannot, 
 you dare not, anfwer them. The very anfwers 
 would yet further demonftrate your guilt and 
 your treafon. 
 
 Although thefe private letters have not yet rcr 
 crolfed the Atlantic, th/sre are means by which 
 they may be procured •, and not only thefe, but 
 many others wrote by your fafbion to incite and 
 fupport the rebellion. The letters wrote to 
 Wafhington and other principal rebels, fent over 
 about fix months fincc by pr. Pearcc *, with a 
 
 fuperb 
 
 "iiM 
 
 • Information was made againft this man, by a per^n ef 
 credit, that he was about to fet ofF for America, intending to 
 fpend the remainder of his life under the tyranny of the 'new 
 States (fuch was his republican enthufiafm, and his hatred 
 to the Government of his country !) ; that he had already taken 
 under his care a number of letters from thofe who ftile'them- 
 felves Patriots in Britaii^y for their adherents and ^* friends" 
 in America, and was to receive many more before his dep^f- 
 ture ; and thit he wa$ to be the carrier of a faddle, decorated 
 
 with 
 
 li 
 
 fiJ 
 
 fe 
 
 til 
 
 ce 
 
 
( 4- ) 
 
 fiiperb faddle, aprcfcntto the Rebel Conimaiulcr 
 in Chief J and in particular that accurfed letter 
 wrote early in the rebellion by your jrfuiiical col- 
 league, advifing the fcizurc and imprifoninent of 
 every American who was loyal to his Sovereign, 
 and faithful to your country j — that letter, in pur- 
 fuance of which, tlioufands of your innocent and 
 virtuous fellow-fubjedts have been profcribed, 
 their eftatcs confifcated, their families ruined, 
 and many of them have perifhed by lingering 
 difeafe in loathfome dungeons, and many fuf- 
 fered an ignominious death on a gallows, will be 
 brought to light. For think not, that it is within 
 the confines of polTibility that all thofe proofs 
 of the guilt of your faflion can long be con- 
 cealed in the gloom ofyour treafon. No ! Thofe 
 rebels, who, with a load of perjury on their fouls, 
 have defcrted and betrayed their Sovereign, and 
 the caufc of their country, fhall, as foon as you 
 can fupport them no longer, defert and betray 
 you and your aflbciaces. 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 with the fuperbeft ornaments, as a prefent from the Juftto hx 
 Britain to the Re&el Commander in Chief in America. An 
 oath was made before the proper authority, and a warrant 
 iffued for apprehending him.— But the Dod\or having fome 
 fufpicion, from a confcioufnefs that he had difclofed his 
 fecrets to more than one, h.iftily fled two days before the 
 time he had fixed with his friends for his departure, and ef- 
 caped the officers of juftice. 
 
 V ; 
 
 t 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 T" O tempora ! O mores! Hie tamen vivit — vivlt ! immo 
 •' verum in Scnatum venit : fit public! concilii particeps. 
 ** Nos autem, viri fortes fatisfaccre Reipublicce videniur, C\ 
 *' illius furorem et tela vitcinui !" 
 
 Cicero in CATILI^AM. 
 
 O degenerate times ! corrupted manners 1 The traitor 
 lives — lives did I fay ! He mixes with the Senate: while we, 
 magnr'-jnous Counfellors of State, judge that we difcharge 
 our duty if wc efcape his fury and his fword. 
 
 Cicero's Orations againft Catilini. 
 
 "IT 7 HEN I take a retrofpeft of your various 
 ' » intrigues, and particularly of thoft* which 
 your fadtion is at this monnent meditatinj iinft 
 the fafety of your country; when I confider your 
 fecret cabals with the rebel Prcfident, and the 
 rebel Ambafiador — the private meetings of your 
 favourite, the indolent Admiral, with the fame 
 Ambaflfador — the numerous letters replete with 
 treafon, wrote by your confederates in the early 
 ftageofthe rebellion — the private letters lately 
 carried by your brother's fervant to the rebel 
 officer — and thofe more lately fent by that fo- 
 menter of fedition, Do6lor Pearce — the feveral 
 large fums of money collefled by your adherents 
 in Britain, and tranfmittcd through France to the 
 
 O, 
 
 (c< 
 
 rebel 
 
( 43 '/ 
 
 rebel infurgents, in one vcflcl not lefs than 40,000 
 guineas* — the dreadful and univerfal conflagration 
 of the capital of the kingdom, lately attempted by 
 your fadion, and nearly efFedcd — and, above all, 
 
 — . ' , the 
 
 'I 
 
 • Captain l-urpinc, of the Fiir French man of -ivar, In- 
 formed a Britifh Colonel, now in London, when a prilbncr 
 on board his fhip, coming from the French Weft Indies to 
 France, that, to his certain knowlcge, '* the infurgents in 
 ** America had a po'werful party in England \ and that large 
 ** fums of money, collcdcd in Britain, had been often con- 
 *' veyed through France to America, for the ufc of the infur- 
 ** gents ; and particularly, ia one fliip, 40,000 guineas." 
 Can it be neceflary to remind Britons, that there has been long 
 a committee for raifing fubfcriptions for the relief of the rfA.'/ 
 prifoners in Britain ? that, in this committee, there is not ojur 
 man that has a fpark of loyalty in his brcall ; wlule its Treafurcr 
 Is the rankeji of rebels. What would a State, whofe councils 
 nvtre not in coHfufion, do with ich a daring combination in favour 
 t>i rabdliont What would have been done to fucli a daring in- 
 i'ult on the powers of Government in the year 1745 ? What 
 would the Court of France do to a committee of rr;jnclnncn, 
 who' Ihould dare to open fuch a fubfcription for the relief 
 even of captured Britons, to fay nothing of rebels? And 
 what inilant punifliment would have fallen on an American 
 committee of loyalilts (fond as the rebel Congrefs are of com- 
 mittees), ihould they jia-e attempted to open a fubfcription 
 for the relief of their J'tllo-w fubjeSls captured in oppofing rchcl- 
 lion? Let the loyal part of Britons feriouHy think of this 
 combination ; let them who underltand the riplitful powers ct 
 the Britifh Government confider, what may not be done in fup- 
 port of rebellion, under x\{\s fretemled charity. If they do not 
 know it already, I will icll them. Under this combination, 
 forbidden by the laws of the land, under this humane adh:- 
 rtnce to tht enemies of the Cro^vn, thoufands, and tens of thou- 
 
 G I fands. 
 

 n 
 
 : ( 4+ ) 
 
 the hoit of feditloiis committees and aflbclations, 
 and your numerous followers and adherents dif- 
 pcrfed throughout the kingdom, all of them def- 
 perately daring and ready for every kind of mif- 
 chief, however atrocious; — I fay, when thefe truths 
 pafs in review before me, if 1 did not know thai; 
 the decree is paffed, ** Thus far ftialt thou go and 
 *' no farther," my fpirit would take the alarm, 
 and defpond of the fafety of a people, whofe 
 liberty 't admires, and whofe fame is the firfl: oh- 
 
 jed of its care, - . , 
 
 -J " ^ . ■ ■ . . 
 
 The plot to compel your Sovereign to with- 
 draw his troops from Amer'ra, and to furceafe his 
 endeavours to reduce the rebellion, you are ftill 
 determined to purfue in the prefent Seflion of 
 Parliament, This plot has been long fettled 
 v/itli the rebel Congrefs, and tlieir prefent Am- 
 bafTador at the Court of France I want no 
 proof of its exiftencc. I have feen your 
 f.i.(fllon repeatedly moving and contending 
 for this meafure in the Senate, under the artful 
 difguife of reftoring peace to your country; 
 but, in reality,, with a defign to afliil the com- 
 
 fands, may hav« been fubfcribed, and tranfmitted, by the 
 rebel Treafurer, to the American infurgents, while the un- 
 happy -leluded prifoners have received hat a /mall pittance o{ 
 thofe liberal fums which have been paid by the republican 
 and traitorous fadion tc^vards the fuf fort of the rebellion, 
 
 mon 
 
 II 
 
T 
 
 tM\ 
 
 ^ 45 ) 
 
 mon enemy, to give independence to the Colo- 
 nies, and by that means to render the preient Mi-» 
 niftry deteilable in the eyes of a free and mag- 
 naninaous people, for having loft fo great a part 
 of their dominions, and in the refult to facrifice 
 thi^it Minidry to your ambitious and traitorous de- 
 figns. Your uniform condu6l in the Senate for 
 three years paft, when rightly confidcred, de- 
 monftrates this to be your horrid purpofe, with- 
 out other proof. — But I have other proof — It 
 comes from one of your faithful allies, through 
 different Gentlemen, whofe honour and veracity 
 cannot deceive. The latter are, what cannot be 
 faid of you, or any of your fa^ion, faithful fub- 
 jed? of your fovereign, and as zealouily attached 
 to i:he caufe of your country as you are to that of 
 rebellion. As a proof of their fidelity and honour, 
 while you are exerting your utmoft abilities to 
 overthrow the government which has given you 
 freedom and protection, they have facrificed their 
 fortunes, and the independent happinefs of their 
 familier, i:o its prefervation. 
 
 The information before me is contained in the 
 following genuine extradts of Letters. The firft 
 is dated New York, Auguft 28, 1780, in thcfc 
 words : 
 
 *^ We have alfo an account from a confiden- 
 ^f tial friend, that Dodtor Franklin had advifed 
 
 3 << Congrefs 
 
■ii 
 
 'C 46 ) 
 
 <f Congrefs to mufier all their forces, and to ap- 
 «« oroach as near New York as pofTible, to give 
 *' THEIR FRIENDS IN England an Opportunity 
 *' of declaring that New York was invefted by 
 " the French and Rebels — that the Britifh forces 
 *' dare not flir out of their lines — that there was 
 *« no profped of an end to the war — and to in- 
 " fid on a recall of the King's forces. This 
 <* account comes from your old friend **** f, 
 *< who had it from Timothy Matlack, a Mem- 
 ** ber of Conorefa." 
 
 The extract of the fecond letter, dated New 
 York, September 7th, 17 bo, is in thcfe words : 
 
 *' Do6lor Franklin has wrote a letter to Con- 
 ^' grefs, defiring them to raife all the militia in 
 *^ their power, and to let them, together with 
 " the Continental troops, lie as near the Britilh 
 " lines as pofTible, in order to give it the appear- 
 *' ance of being hejiegedt he afliires /i^^w, that he 
 <« expedls every salutary coNSECiyENCE from 
 ** fuch a meafure, as it will enable their friends 
 *< IN Parliament, during the winter debates, 
 *< to hold it up as a hefieged place^ and to infift on 
 *« a recall of the Britilh troops. Beware of this 
 " device 1" ... 
 
 
 f The name of Cicero*s friend is left blank, as the men- 
 tion of it would prove the ruin of a faithful fubjed of the 
 Crown, and a man of virtue and opulence. 
 
• 1^1. •»,»«■.■ ^m^m ym i,i|f M" 
 
 i ' 
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 In full conFinTiation of the truths contained in 
 thefe extra6ls, and to prove your treafonable in- 
 tentions to fupport and co-operate with the rebel- 
 lion from the beginning j I have the bed autho- 
 rity to add the following anecdote : " When 
 " Dodlor Franklin, between whom and Mr. 
 " Galloway there had been a long and continued 
 " fricndfhip, endeavoured to prevail on him to 
 *' accept a delegation to the fecond Congrefs, 
 ** and to throw his weight and influence into 
 *' their fcale j he, among other things, exagge- 
 " rated the refources of AniCrica, and diminifhed 
 " thofe of Great Britain. But Mr. Galloway, 
 '* well acquainted with thofe refources, deteding 
 '' his fa6ls, and refuting his arguments, the 
 " Dodor candidly unfolded to him the true 
 f foundation upon which the American rebels 
 built their hopes of a fuccef.ful oppofition. 
 *' He told Mr. Gallow y, that America would be 
 " united^ and alwavs able to diaw her powers 
 «' into exertion, wiaie the Britifh nation, anH its 
 " public councils, ivere^ ard would he yet more^ 
 " divided and dijira^fed. Ths^- the fr'mds to the 
 *' American caufe in Britain^ would inceffanth main- 
 tain and increafc that divijion and dift ration, by 
 opp'ifing the meafures of GovernmeiU j and confe- 
 quently, that though he confeifed the "efources 
 " of Great Britain, from whence th^ upplics of 
 *« war mufl be drawn, were very great, yet i\\2i\.Jhe 
 
 c 
 
 (C 
 
 ce 
 
 cc 
 
 C( 
 
 
 I 
 
 ^' never 
 
fe'C 
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 *' never would he ahk to command them^ iior to 
 " make the exertions necejfary to reduce the Colonies * 
 " Mr. Galloway, in his turn, wilhing to convert 
 " the Doctor, and knowing that, in his then dif- 
 
 pofition of mind, nothing could efFe6l it but 
 
 a full convidlon of the impradicability of his 
 ** fcheme, reminded him of the common and ap- 
 
 pofite fable of the two Bull Dogs tearing each. 
 
 other to pieces, yet, on the appearance of their 
 ** common enemy, their enmity inftantly ceafed, 
 *' and their whole powers became united^ and exerted 
 *' to reduce him. That fuch had often been the 
 " cafe of Britons, and certainly would be fo 
 *« again. Here the two friends parted as they 
 " met, unconverted to the principles of each 
 « other.'* 
 
 (C 
 
 <c 
 
 (C 
 
 i( 
 
 upon a review of the preceding Letters and 
 Anecdote, the authenticity of which can be 
 folidly fupported, ho'v glaring does the confpi- 
 racy of your fadion with the rebels, and enemies 
 of your country, appear ! So early as in the be- 
 ginning of the rebellion, the only hope of the firll 
 of rebels depended on your alliance andfupport^—' 
 in the confufion 'ujhich your oppojition Jhould create in^ 
 the Councils of the S.'ate^ — and in the imbecility of ^ 
 
 exertion^ which that cppofttion fljould occafion : ^ . 
 
 And how literally has the condud of your fac- 
 tion correfponded Vt^ith that hope ! With what 
 unremitting afliduity have they exerted their 
 
 abilities 
 
 ?' m 
 
i 
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 abilities to diftracft the public councils, to oppofe 
 the wifell meafures, and to fupport the rebellion ! 
 Has there been any .cheme, which your fubtilc 
 inventions could devife, that you have not ftea- 
 dily purfued, to eflfeifl thofe feditious purpofes ? 
 Has there been one .ncafure propofed and adopted 
 by the Councils of the State, which you have not 
 cppofed, mifreprefented^ and ahufed ? Has there been 
 one officer, either naval or militaryj one coward, 
 who from fear j or one traitor, who from trea- 
 chery, has neglected his duty to his country, 
 whom you have not embraced, jujiijied^ and defended ; 
 and, in one injlance, even crowned with honours and 
 applaufe? Has there been a moment loll, by your 
 induftrious confederates, in devifing plans to cn- 
 grofs and wafte the precious time of the national 
 Councils, and in fabricating the moft trivial, 
 falfe, and infamous charges againfi the Servants 
 of the Public? Have you not had the audacity to 
 threaten thofe Servants with impeachments, and 
 the block, for purfuing the wifefl, and the only 
 proper meafures to enfure the public honour and 
 fafety? Has there been one feflion of Parliament, 
 fince the rebellion began, in which you have not 
 contended for the principle , and vindicated the juf- 
 tice, of the American rebellion ? Has there been one 
 revolving year in which you have not, by your 
 ^crct cabals, your publications, and your fe- 
 ditious harangues, even in the Senate, endea- 
 voured to incite a rebellion in Britain, and cppofed 
 
 H thofi 
 
 ^i' 
 
 :^ 
 
 i'^ 
 
 ."i 
 
 i 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
( s° ) 
 
 ihofe meajures which were necejfery to fuprefs that in 
 Jmerica ? Have not the indolence and treachery 
 of the creatures of your faction, to whom the duty 
 of fuppreifing it was unfortunately, and, through 
 your intrigues, committed, rather lupported it ? 
 And have not that indolence and treachery en- 
 couraged France and Spain to declare war againft 
 your country, and involved it in all its prefent dif- 
 ficulties and dijirefs ? All thefe queftions muft, if 
 they are anfvvered by the voice of truth, be an* 
 fwered in the affirmative. 
 
 Had you a<5ted a faithful part to your country, 
 the rebellion either would not have happened, 
 or the fubjeft in controverfy would have been ea- 
 fily accommodated. While you were oppofing 
 the meafures of your country, to reduce its un- 
 dutiful fubjeds to their ufual obedience, you were 
 exhorting them to perfevere in rebellion j to 
 ** make a folemn, fuUen, and invincible ftand,** 
 againft that authority to which they had fubmit- 
 ted, without a murmur, for more than one hun^ 
 dred and fifty years, . . ; •. 
 
 
 Why did not your faflion, if they intended 
 good, either to Britain or to America — if they 
 had any thing in view, but the accomplifhment of 
 their own finifter defigns, become the mediatO|§ 
 in the difpute ? and, in the courfe of fix years, 
 in the place of this treafonable projeft, of with- 
 
 , drawing 
 
( 5' ) 
 
 drawing the troops from America, propofe fomc 
 plan by which the two countries might be bound 
 together by mutual policy and mnlual intereft ? 
 If you really thought that America was opprefied, 
 why have you not, in the courfe of fix fedions of 
 the Senate, brought in a bill which would have 
 relieved her from that opprefllon ? This was 
 more your duty, than that of tliofe who differed 
 in opinion from you. You evidently wanted not 
 abilities. If your hearts did not feel a greater 
 defire to [gratify your rapacioufnefs, and lull for 
 diflipation, than love for the two countries, you 
 would have done this. You would, in the one 
 hundredth part of the time you have fpent in 
 your fcditious defigns, have looked into the 
 caufes of the controverfy, and, perceiving the 
 remedy, have propofed it. You would not — 
 you could nor, had your hearts been thus dif- 
 pofed, have projefled the rebellion; — and ad- 
 vifed its leaders to make a " folemn, /"lien, and 
 ** invincible ftand" agalnfl: the authority of a 
 country which gave you hirihy and in the Councils 
 of which too many of you, fojfefs cm honouralle 
 Jhare, ' _ ., . 
 
 1 
 
 But however well your colleagues in the Se- 
 nate know this to have been their duty, had 
 ^America been really oppreffed, you alfo know 
 . that the oppreffion complained of, was vifionary 
 ,, and fiditious i and that the rebellious part of the 
 
 H 2 Colon ills 
 
( SJ ) 
 
 Colonifts wiihcd that no propofals of accommo- 
 dation Ihould be made on the part of Great Bri- 
 tain; but intended, from the beginning, to throw 
 off their allegiance^ and to feparate the Colonies 
 for ever from the Parent State. Their whole 
 conduct told you this truth j and you muft have 
 known it, had you not been admitted into their 
 fecret councils. You alfo knew that any pro- 
 pofals would have given them difguft and 
 offence — would have been a breach of your 
 mutual ftipulations — would have broken your 
 union. — And both your fa61:ion in Britain, and 
 your rebel colleagues in America, fiirther knew 
 that an accommodation with the Colonies would 
 have, at once, fubverted the foundations of your 
 defigns againfl the liberties and fafety of your 
 country, and deprived you of the only means 
 - and hopes of deflroying its peace. 
 
 How palpably con trad i(5lory has your condu<fl 
 been to thofe principles, which a little regard for 
 your country, and that humanity towards Ame- 
 rica, which have been the conftant themes of 
 your declamations, would have di(flated ! Inftead 
 of taking any one ftep towards reftoring the union 
 and peace of the two countries, you have uni- 
 formly oppofed both the coercive and the pacific 
 meafures adopted for thofe purpofes. You have 
 in every inftance exclaimed againfl the fending a 
 force to reduce the rebellion— and when ient, you 
 
 have 
 

 c 
 e 
 a 
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 have prevented, by your fiidlioiis intrigues, the 
 great and beneficial effe6ls which mull otlicrwifc 
 have been the natural confcqucncc. Vv^hen you 
 found you could not obfl:ru(5t a meafure fo evi- 
 dently necefTary to reduce the rebellious fubjedi 
 of the State to th.eir former obedience, vou infi- 
 dioufly prevailed on them, in two diiierent in- 
 (lances, to rejecb with audacious contempt the 
 mod liberal propofitions li.at were ever offered by 
 a State to its undutiful fubjeds — proportions to 
 which many of your faflion had infidioufiy afient- 
 ed ; when you had, by your intrigues with 
 your favourite General and Admiral, facrificed 
 the Northern army, brought on a \var with 
 France, and prevailed on that perfidious Court 
 to fend a powerful fleet to the afiiftance of youp 
 American allies; when you had compelled your 
 Sovereign to abandon Philadelphia, in order to fave 
 his fleet and army, at a time when the leaders in 
 rebellion were in the lad ftage of defpondency ; 
 and when you had, by thefe means, revived the 
 fpirit of the rebels j elated with your fuccefs, 
 you thought you had reduced the Minifters of 
 your Sovereign to fuch uncomnK)n difficulties, 
 that you could further compel them to adopt 
 your enfnaring and perfi'dious motion. You 
 then began to move in Parliament, that the Bri^ 
 tijh troops Jhould be is^ithdrawnfrom America. And 
 although the virtue and magnanimity of the Se- 
 nate, encompaflVd as it was by the diHiculties 
 
 and 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
 % 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 and dangcii) which your Icdicious intrigues had 
 cflc6ted, repeatedly overruled your motion; yet 
 having brought Spain into your alliance, and 
 prevailed on France to lend her forces to Ame- 
 rica, you have refolved, in your Tec ct cabals 
 with Dr. Franklin, to renew the moLion ** dur- 
 " ino: the winter's debates." 
 
 Left you fliould ftill fufpefl that I have not 
 difcovered your whole intrigues, I will be yet 
 more particular. Believing the rebel relburces, 
 which you took from their own reprefentations, 
 were much greater than they really were, 
 and relying on the indolent condu6l of your 
 favourite General and Admiral, it was agreed 
 between you, that the rebel army, alone, 
 fliould, in 17; o and 1779, draw near New 
 York, " to give it the appearance of a place be- 
 " fieged." This was accordingly done j and 
 upon this you founded your feveral motions in 
 the Senate in thofc years. Had you fucceeded 
 in your oppofition to the meai'ures of your Sove- 
 reign, either in preventing the necciTary fupply of 
 troops from being fent to America — or in your 
 motions in the Senate, for recalling thofe already 
 fent — the whole powers of the combined force 
 of France and Spain were to be employed in the 
 conqueft of the Weft Indies, and in plundering 
 and laying wafte your country; until its diftreffes 
 fhould compel your Sovereign, and his Parlia- 
 ment, 
 
T 
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 ment, to cede to America that independence, 
 of which you and yonr confederates have, by 
 their repeated aObrances, become, in a manner, 
 the guarantees. But this was not the ultimatum 
 of your plot — for thefe diltrefles were further 
 to be continued, until your Sovereign IhouKl 
 be compelled to abandon the faithful fervants 
 of the Public, and to eftablilh your rapacious 
 confederates in their places; and until you and 
 your noble uncle had obtained ahjolute -power 
 ever the lives and properties of your fellozv- citi- 
 zens. 
 
 I 
 
 But finding yourfelves deceived in the exer- 
 tions of America — failing in your fcheme for 
 recalling the troops — and perceiving i\\Q rebel- 
 lion falling under the weight of its own tyranny 
 and cruelties — you were obliged to fufpend 
 the profecution of your defign, until the proper 
 ineafures fhould again be taken, to give it fome 
 plaufibility and profped of fuccefs. For this 
 purpofe, France agreed to fend over a large na- 
 val force, and 10,000 men, and the rebels were 
 to raife 35,000. With this combined force 
 New York was to be befieged j and you, 
 whom Dr. Franklin calls " their friends in 
 <* Parliament," and whom the Rebel Concrrefs 
 fliles *^ their truly noble, illuftrious, and pa- 
 *' triotic advocates," were to renew your mo- 
 tion* ' ~ ' -^ "^ - * • - - -< " - ' 
 
 Had 
 
m 
 
 r "it 
 
 rv 
 
 ( f6 ) 
 
 Ttad this plot ruccccdcci, what an cxtenfu'C 
 fi<fkl would there have been opened for your in- 
 tended inocion, and your treafonable declama- 
 tions in Parliament ! How would the changes 
 have been rung on the injuflice of the American 
 war, on the ruin in which it muft involve Great 
 Britain, on the impoflibility of raifing the fup- 
 plies, and the necejfity brought on, by the indo- 
 lence, ignorance, venality, and treachery of the 
 lervants of the Public, of giving up by fur the 
 groatefl: part oftlicBiiiifb dominions! Here, Cati- 
 line, all your oratorical figures and flourifhes would 
 have been exerted — you would have even eclipled 
 yourfelf — your jefuitical colleague, the traducer 
 of his King, and blafphemer of his God, with ail 
 your fpcech-making, difappointed, defperate and 
 abandoned crew, would have followed you j and 
 all thefc falfehoods would have been audacioufly 
 thunc'ercu ir. th'* ears of the Senate ; although 1 
 know, and you know, that ihct very necejfilj 
 would have arifen from your oppofition to Go- 
 vernment, and your intrigues with rebels and the 
 common enemy of your country. 
 
 But, infatuated men ! you were again difap^ 
 pointed. The French deceived you, the rebels 
 deceived you. Inllead of 10,000 troops, the for- 
 mer could only fend 4,500. — Inftead of an army 
 of ^'?5,ooo men, the latter could raife only 10,000 
 for a few months ; and this number has finee 
 decreafed to 6,000. Here again difappointed. 
 
 5;! 
 
* ] > 
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 what could your fadion, the Court of France, or 
 even Dr. Franklin (of" whom you and that Coi "t 
 have been long the dupes), do in lb great au.- 
 lemiTi I i more efpccially as you all had, in your 
 perfidy, crolfed the Rubicon ? — Your fadlion de- 
 fponding, the Court of France in the fame dif- 
 mal fituation, deftitute of refources to carry 
 on the war for the accomplilhment of its ambi- 
 tion, and her fie 't blocked up at Rhode Iflandl 
 this forlorn (late of your affairs flared you in the 
 face. — You had deceived France, France had 
 deceived you, and Dr. Franklin had deceived 
 you both — all of you ading from different mo- 
 tives, and having different fchemes in view. 
 Yet, not feeing the art and duplicity of this po- 
 litical quack, you fuffer him to deceive you 
 again. He now affurcs you, that the militia in 
 America, difpofed to rebellion, is vaftly nume- 
 rous i that although the Congrefs have failed in 
 bringin g into the field nearly three-fourths of the 
 number flipulated ; although nodependancec anbc 
 placed on the militia j yet that they may be eafily 
 drawn forth '* to approach near New York, to 
 '' enable you, their friends in Parliament ^ during 
 " the winter's debates, to hold it up as a place 
 ** befieged, and to infifl on a recal of the Britifli 
 " troops." 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 \ ■ Having thus concerted the plan with you 
 and the perfidious enemy of your country, he 
 wrote the letter mentioned in the preceding ex- 
 
 I trails. 
 
 k 
 
^ 
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 tra6ls, infornning the Congrefs of It, and advH 
 fing their co-operation. — The utmoft exertions of 
 Congrefs have been made in purfuance of that 
 advice ; and this contemptible militia, that is, 
 all that they could raife of it, have been drawn 
 *' as near as poflible to New York, to give it the 
 *' appearance of a place befieged."— And you, 
 " the friends in Parliament" of the Rebel States, 
 have already prepared on paper, thofe declama- 
 tions upon which you intend to found your trea- 
 fonable motion. 
 
 l|;;- 
 
 Is it poflible for the acutefi: invention of the 
 moll inveterate enemy of your country, to devife 
 a plot more infidious and replete with treafon 
 againft its intereft and fafety ? Should this mo- 
 tion, thus devifcd by the combined enemies of 
 Britain, and rraitoroufly adopted by your iaftion, 
 fucceed, your country is undone for ever. All 
 hopes of reducing the rebellion, and of a re- 
 union with America, muft vanifh 5 her indepen- 
 dence in that moment will be fecured j her com- 
 merce with all the world, except your country, 
 fettled ; her refources of war ellabliflied ; her 
 whole powers thrown into a naval force, which 
 will harafs and ruin your commert,e; and the 
 treafon of America (hall combine with the per- 
 fidy of France and Spain, in purfuing ibeir un^ 
 provoked envy and malice"^ againji Great Britain to 
 her final deflruElion, To the lofs of America, the 
 lo Tes of the commerce of your country, of its 
 
 bcft 
 
 m 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 beft nurferies of feamen, of its naval ftrength, of 
 its poiTeflions in the Eaft and Weft Indies, if not 
 of every other part of its foreign dominions, 
 will fiicceed. For know, that it is recorded 
 among the decrees of heaven, " that when Great 
 Britain Jhall lofe America^ jhe Jhall be loji her- 
 self — her fame amon^ nations Jhall be forgot y and 
 her independence exifi no more !'\ 
 
 cc 
 
 IS 
 
 it 
 
 
 How long do you think, Catiline, you will be 
 permitted by infinite juflice to abufe the patience 
 of your fellow-citizens ? How long to trample 
 on the la'vs of yoir country and the excellent 
 conftitutioli of its government, by your lawlefs 
 committees and feditious aflbciations ? How long 
 to infult the Majefty of your Sovereign, and to 
 provoke the refentment and juftice of his Parlia- 
 ment, by your feditious harangues and treafon- 
 able propofitions ? How long to continue in 
 combination and co-operation with rebels, and 
 the conftant enemy of Britain, by your fedi- 
 tious intri^yues? Will not fome latent fpark of 
 regard, which poffibiy may yet remain unquenched 
 in your bofom, for your bleeding country — a 
 country bleeding at every pore through the in- 
 trigues of your faction — nor the fear of the in- 
 dignant refentment of your injured fellow-citi- 
 zens which you have too long provoked — nor 
 the dread of that punifhment which you have fo 
 long deferved — will nothing ftop the precipitate 
 
 J % career 
 
 i 
 
T 
 
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 career of your defperate audacity ? Refle<5b but 
 for a moment before it be too late ! Perceive you 
 not, that your dark confpiracies are brought to 
 light ? that all fenfible and good men are already 
 alarmed at your fecret intrigues, your nocturnal 
 aflTociations and committees j and that, in confe- 
 quence of that alarm, their indignation and re- 
 Icntment have already fallen on thofe men of your 
 fa6tion, who have been the conftant aavifers and 
 abettors of your treafon ? — Where arc thole fore- 
 runners of your pack, your mod fleady adhe- 
 rentSj a P — n — 1, a L — tt — 1, a C — g— r, a 
 H — tl— y, a M — r— d — th, and a H — we, who 
 have long fupported the rebellion ? — They are 
 juftly excluded from the Senate, notwithftanding 
 their infidious foHcitations, as unworthy of that 
 public truft which they had laboured fo long to 
 betray. And with what contempt was the whining 
 Jefuit of St. Omer's, your firft and mofl- faithful 
 colleague, juftly degraded from a feat in the pubr 
 lie councils of the State, by the fuffrages of the 
 virtuous and free people of the fecond city in the 
 kingdom ! 
 
 Perceive you not, that the refources of Ame? 
 rica are exhaufted, and that the rebellion, the 
 ground of your intrigues, the darling child of 
 your hope, notwithftanding all your fupport, is 
 expiring under the weight of its own tyranny ? 
 Perceive you not, that the virtuous 3nd deluded 
 
 pa^-t 
 
? 
 
 ( 6i ) 
 
 part of your fadion, whether in the army or navy, 
 ^re deferting you, and the fpirit of Britons is 
 roufed into indignant refentment at the multitude 
 and magnitude of \!i\?'. injuries they have received 
 from their intefline as well as foreign enemies ? 
 Perceive you not, that your Sovereign, whofc 
 rights you wifli to ufurp, is furrounded by a powr 
 erful band of faithful fervants, determined to 
 preferve thofe rights, and with them the liberty 
 and fafety of their country ? Have you not lately 
 feen that fovereign, when your faction meditated 
 the deilrudion of the capital, and the Daughter 
 and ruin of its inhabitants, with the fame firm 
 and undaunted virtue, by which I faved the city 
 of Rome, fave the cities of London and Wefl- 
 minfter from a general conflagration ? Yes, you 
 have feen all this — your fadion have feen it. And 
 you alfo know that your Sovereign, his Senate, 
 and the virtuous part of your fellowrcitizens, 
 are aware of your defigns, and prepared to meet 
 them. 
 
 Your predeceflbr, of Rome, faw and knew as 
 much. And yet your degenerate fouls, like his, 
 loft to all fenfe of public as well as private vir- 
 tue, and debafed below the wretch who robs on 
 the highway, or plunders his neighbour's houfc 
 jn the night, remain undifmayed at your danger, 
 and unmoved at the enormity of your treafon. 
 pefperate, and prepared for death, or to riot in the 
 
 fpoils 
 
 fe 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 f 
 
 /polls of your country,'you are refolved t.^ proceed 
 to the end. Think but a moment on the fmall de- 
 gree of that man's guilt, who has taken a (hilling 
 rotTi another, only to fupply his wants, when 
 compared with that of your fadlion, who have 
 long meditated the deflrudion of millions, and 
 of the freedom and happinefs of a whole nation. 
 But why fhould I reafon with Catiline, who has 
 t)ani{lied reafon and virtue from his heart ? Ceafe 
 then, my fpirit, and give him up to his doom-— 
 for quos Deus vult perdere priiis dement at — *^ Thofe 
 ** whom Heaven cannot reclaim confiftently with 
 " its unerring decrees of mercy and juftice, it 
 ♦' gives up to the infatuation of their wickednefs, 
 f ' and abandons them to their fate,*' 
 
 CiCERO, 
 
 i 
 
( 6J ) 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 ** Hoftis eft enim non apud Anienem, quod bello Punico 
 *' gravifliraum vifum eft, fed in Urbe, inForo. Dii immor- 
 ** tales! (fine gemitu hoc dici non poteft :) Non nemo etiam 
 '* in \\\o facrario Reiptihlica ; in ipfoy inquam, Curia non nemo 
 *' hoftis. Quid tandem fiet j hsc elapfa de manibus noftris, 
 ** in eum annum, qui confequitur, redundarint!" 
 
 Cicero pro Mun^ffiNA. 
 
 The enemy is not on the banks of the Anio, which was 
 thought fo terrible in the Punic ivar^ but in the City and in the 
 Forum. Good Gods! (I cannot /peak it •v:ithout a Jigh) there 
 ZTt/ome enemies in the very Saniluary, fome, I fay, in the Senate! 
 What will become of us, entering into a ticw year, with thefe 
 dangers around us ? 
 
 OF all the confpir^cles which ever entered 
 into the hearts of the wicked, that of Lu- 
 cius Catiline was the mod horrid. More than 
 1700 years have lince elapfed, and it has remained 
 unparalleled until the period of your faction. It 
 has been left by myriads of millions of the human 
 race who have fince exiAed, to be equalled in 
 the extent of its mifchiefs, and the horror of its 
 wickednefs, by that which has been formed by 
 you and^your abandoned confederates. How- 
 ever difagreeable it may be to you and them, 
 as it will prove a leffon of ufeful inftrudion to 
 your fellow-citizens, I mean to compare them. 
 The parallel will hold up a mirror, in which your 
 characters, your meafures, and the dreadful ex- 
 S tent 
 
 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 tent of your treafon agalnft the public weal, may 
 be clearly traced. 
 
 I fincerely lament, that the times, which you 
 have thought the mod proper for the execution 
 of your defigns, too much refemble thofe em- 
 braced by Lucius Catiline for the like horrid pur- 
 pofes. In Rome, at that day, as in Britain at 
 this, the immenfe wealth brought from foreign 
 countries, produced a boundlefs luxury amongft 
 the citizens j this begat covetoufnefs, rapacity, 
 and a fhameleis venality. The people themfelves 
 were in general debauched and corrupt, and loved 
 to be corrupted : And therefore^ the liberties of 
 Rome were not to be preferved without bribing 
 the very people who were interefted in their pre- 
 fervation. The virtuous magiftrate, the faithful 
 conful, who wilhed to preferve the freedom of 
 his country, was obliged to conform to the times. 
 Thefe circumflances gave L. Catiline an oppor- 
 tunity of procuring a needy, difcontented, and 
 rapacious band of profligates, who were always 
 at his beck. Thofe who had become abandoned 
 through their vices, thofe whom luxury had made 
 rapacious, and whom the want of means to gra- 
 tify it had rendered defperate, wilhing to obtain 
 the offices and emoluments of the Public, were 
 his colleagues and creatures. Nor was this def- 
 perate band to be found in the city of Rome only ; 
 
 they 
 
( 6J ) 
 
 they were difpcrfed in the country, and even in tht 
 Colonies, 
 
 How exaflly correfpondent are the prcfent times 
 which you have embraced for the execution of 
 your treafonable defigns, with thofe I have men- 
 tioned ! The immenfe wealth poured in froHi 
 foreign parts, has rendered too many of the foi*. 
 of Britain luxurious. That luxury has naturally 
 produced a wicked diflipation j that difllpation, 
 a rapacious covetoufnefs never to be fatiated. 
 Their defire of eafe, pleafure, and fenfual enjoy- 
 ments ever exceeds the means of gratification. 
 Impctuoufly led by their vices, nothing will fatisfy 
 them but the emoluments of office, and the fole 
 difpofition of the public wealth. Their Sovereign, 
 however difpofed he might be, for the fake of 
 peace and union in his public councils, to em- 
 ploy them, feeing no bounds to their iawlefs de- 
 fires, nor one fpark of public virtue in which he 
 can repofe a confidence, has hitherto declined it. 
 This virtuous refolution to preferve his own 
 rights, with the rights and liberties of his people, 
 which cannot be fevered without a diffolution of 
 the government, is, and, it is hoped, will con- 
 tinue to be, a bar againft entrufting the fafety of 
 bis crown and the liberties of his people to their ma- 
 nagemefit. Thus reltlefs in their paflions, diiap- 
 ppinted in their views, and inftigated by their 
 
 K vices. 
 
i! ' 
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 vices, they have been the proper fubje«5ls ofyoqr 
 arts, and the fit inftruments of your treafon. 
 
 Nor is your band unlike L. Catiline*s in its 
 numbers and extent. Your confederates are not 
 confined to the cities of London and Weftmin- 
 fter i — they are to be found in every fliire in Great 
 Britain— in Ireland, and in the Colonies. If the 
 Roman confpirator had his nofturnal meetings in 
 Rome and its mvirons, you have yours in Lon- 
 don, Weftminfier, Yorklhire, and various other 
 parts of England, You have your aflbciations 
 and committees, who not only meet in tlie night 
 to fettle thofe parts of their treafon which will 
 not bear difguife, but appear in open defiance of 
 law at noon-day i and fuch is their indifcretion, 
 fuch their audacity, that they do not refrain from 
 their freafonable declamations and refolvcs againlt 
 the wifefl: meafures, and even againft the long ^(la- 
 blifhed principles of that Government which they 
 are determined to deftroy *, 
 
 If L. Catiline raifed a rebellion in the Roman 
 Colonies, your fa6tion has raifed another in the 
 Britifh Colonies.— If he had armies under his con- 
 federates, Manlius in Etruria, Pifoin Hither Spain, 
 and P. S. Nucerinus in Mauritania, you have alfg 
 
 P 5cc the Refolves of the Wellminfler Aflbciation, j^ajim. 
 
 your 
 
( c? ) 
 
 your adherents in the Britifli army and navy, and 
 you have an army under W»*fhington, in New 
 Jcfey, one under Gates, in South Carolina, and 
 another under your faithful friend and ally M. 
 Rochambeau in Rhode Ifland. 
 
 tc 
 
 <c 
 
 cc 
 
 C( 
 
 €f 
 
 <C 
 
 it 
 
 The refemblance in the charad^ers of the lead- 
 ing confpirators of the two faflions is equally 
 ftriking* — " Lucius Catiline, like you, was of an 
 illuftrious family. — His anceftors had enjoyed 
 fome of the higheft offices of the State i he was 
 poor and neceflltous through his own extrava- 
 gance J he borrowed of his friends until no 
 man or woman in Rome would truft him, but 
 " his favourite flrumpet Oreflilla; his avidity 
 after money exceeded rapacity itfelf j his difli- 
 pation and profligacy even furpaflTed the means 
 " he poffefled of gratifying them. — He had a 
 ** head to contrive, and a tongue to perfuade, and 
 took pleafure in civil broils i of a fpirit daring 
 and infidious — expert in all the arts of difguife 
 and difiimulation J greedily covetous of other 
 ** men's wealth, lavifh of his own ; violent in his 
 ^' paffions i eloquent, but not endued with 
 ,** much wifdom :— His boundlefs ambition hur- 
 " ried him into extravagant and romantic pro- 
 " jecls ; making him afpire to things greatly be* 
 " yond the reach of his abilities. Loft to all 
 *' fenfe of virtue and religion, he feared neither 
 *< the Gods nor men. His luft f9r power was fo 
 
 K 2 ** bound- 
 
 (( 
 
 cc 
 
 cc 
 
( 6S ) 
 
 '* boundlefs, that he was ready to wade through 
 *' murder and treafon to obtain it." What a 
 mirror is here, CatiHne, in which you may fee 
 an exadl portrait of yourfelf ! Not one lineament, 
 trace, or fhade is to be found in it different from 
 your own. Whether I confider your family, your 
 abilities, and their fitnefs for intrigue, your paf- 
 fions, your poverty, your profligatenefs, your 
 vices, youf irreligion, your love of wickednefs, 
 and your lull for lawlefs power, in order to gra- 
 tify your lawlefs defires, it is an exaft refemblance 
 of Catilme the Second, 
 
 1, I 
 
 L. Catiline had alfo, like you, his principal 
 'heroes and leaders in his confpiracy. They were 
 to be feen ** in every public department j in the 
 " Senate, and in the ''"omitia ; and numbers of 
 " lefler villains amon^^ the populace, down to 
 " the gladiator and the flave." Have you not 
 like wife your fadlious and feditious coadjutors in 
 both Houfes of P— t, ftridtly purfuing your 
 plans, and boldly pulhing forward your execrable 
 defigns ? Arc not the inftruments of your fedi- 
 tion in the army, the navy, among the clergy, 
 
 and even at the bar ? Have you not a H e 
 
 and a B— y in the army, a H— e and a K— - 
 
 in the navy, a P e among the divines, and a 
 
 D — g at the Bar, with many others in thofe feveral 
 
 departments ? Have you not a P e and a 
 
 H y. 
 
1 
 
 ( C9 ) 
 
 H y, with hundreds of others of the fame 
 
 rank in life, who have been long inccfTantly en- 
 gaged in deluding the ignorant, and diftufing, 
 by their publications, the poifon of your fedition 
 among the people '—Have you not a numerous 
 band of low mifcreants, from a Temple and a 
 Smithy down through all degrees of journeymen 
 tradefmen, to the tinker, cobler, and chimney- 
 fweeper> ready to execute your dark purpofes ? 
 Tell me, Catiline, whether your fellow-citizens 
 have not lately feen thefe deluded wretches, in- 
 ftigated by your fadlion, exerting their utmoft 
 endeavours to put to death the moft virtuous of 
 your feUow-fuhje^Si and with torches in their handsy 
 to lay the cities of Londoi and Weflminjler in 
 ajloes? 
 
 If your fa6lion refcmblcs that of Rome in the 
 number and different ranks of confpirators, the 
 fimilitude is no lefs glaring between the charac- 
 ters of their principal leaders. For had the he-* 
 roes of the two factions been begot by the fame 
 parents, educated in the fame fchool, trained in the 
 fame habits of vice and criminal dilTipation, and 
 daily le£tured with the fame leflbns of fedition, 
 their refpeftive likenefles in their paflions and 
 principles could not be more ftrong. 
 
 r 
 
 In the Senate, the firft and principal confpi- 
 rator, on whom L, Catiline molt relied, was Caius 
 
 Cethegus^ 
 
n 
 
 Ui 
 
 ( 70 ) 
 
 OtheguSt dcfccndcd from the Cornelian family ^ 
 a Nobleman to whom, in cafe of fiiccefs, the 
 moft bloody and dcfperate part of the plot was to 
 have been committed. — *' His temper was fierce, 
 ** impetuous, implacable, and daring even to an 
 " cxccfs of fury. His ambition was boundlefs i 
 *' and by that ambition, and his intrigues, he 
 •< afcended to the firft offices in the State, and 
 " acquired confiderable influence, for a time, 
 ** in its public councils -, but his intrigues 
 «* and audacious infolence of office foon brought 
 <« him into difgrace, and he was degraded as 
 •* a Nobleman unworthy of public tnifl:.*' 
 Can any perfon, who knows the character, the 
 paffions, and temper of your noble Gallic Unclc^ 
 " the illuftrious advocate and patron" of rebel- 
 lion, be one moment at a lofs in finding ano- 
 ther Cethegus ? Whoever will look into the public 
 charadler of this Nobleman, will find that he has 
 rofe into the firft offices of the State by his in- 
 trigues: — That he has been juftly degraded by 
 
 his Sovereign for his over-ruling infolence : 
 
 That he \sjiercey impetuous, and implacable in his 
 temper; and never yet forgave what the info- 
 lence of his pride taught him to believe was an 
 injury, or even fo much as an inadvertent neg- 
 led. That uncle is the only Nobleman in the 
 kingdom, who has had the impudence, in tlie 
 public Senate, to treat Majesty itself with 
 inftilt I and whofe ambition afpires after nothing 
 
 fbort 
 
( 7« ) 
 
 Jhort of the defpotic fojfejfm of fh$ Tbroni 
 
 h 
 
 •t 
 
 In the chara(fler of the Earl of • *, your 
 fellow-citizens have the cxa<5l delineations of that 
 o( Pubtius Autronius* With an immenle eftate in 
 his poflcfllon, he canrot, or will not, pay his juft 
 debt, even to a worthy perfon of his own family to 
 whonfi it has been long fince mortgaged j the noble 
 Ear! intends to avail himfclf of the privilege of his 
 nobility. He is ^^ artful^ eloquent^ fhrewd^ fenfibk^ 
 " infidiouSy and falfe" Nor has he hefirated, with 
 unparalleled folly, to aflert to the face of his fove- 
 reign an undifi^uifed falfehood, in which he was 
 inftantly deteftcd. And yet, I know, Catiline, with 
 all thefe vices, he is not fo deep in your confpiracy 
 as you could wilh. He has a latent fpark unex- 
 tinguifhed, of an attachment to the fafcty of his 
 country. He defires not the final deftruftion of 
 its honour and independence, however far his 
 ambition might lead him, to acquire the emolu- 
 ments of office. And therefore, he occafionally fees 
 through your perfidious defigns, of giving inde^ 
 ^endence to the Colonies. 
 
 In the character of the Marquis of * * *, 
 you have that of Pub It us Cornelius Lentulus, 
 ^' He was a Nobleman of the Patrician branch 
 ** of the Cornelian family — tueak, vain, and 
 '* ambitious. He had been in the Senate, and 
 % " pro- 
 
( 7^ ) 
 
 '^ promoted to the Confulihip fomc years before 
 '' the confpiracy, but was afterwards degraded by 
 " the Csnfors for his mifcondud. His moderate 
 " abilities, his vanity and folly led him to hope, 
 " thit in the change of public affairs, or thefub- 
 *« vcrfion of the Government, he might rife to the 
 *^ higheft honours." 
 
 
 '. 
 
 It is impofiible to give a true defcription 
 of the abandoned ^inius Curius, whofe fcan* 
 dalous debaucheries in private life, and infamous 
 conducl: in public, knew no parallel in his time, 
 without holding out a mirror, which will Ihew 
 ihe ex ad rcfemblance of your colleague, the 
 infamous traducer of his King, and blafphemer of bis 
 Cod. In this man's countenance may be feen per- 
 fidious adultery, black treafon, and profane blaf- 
 phemy, trampling on virtue, loyalty, and reli- 
 gion.- -Like Quintus Curies, " defperately wick- 
 *' ed he is, yet has not more boldnefs than levity j 
 <* for whatever he hear: he difclofes -, he cannot 
 " conceal even his ozvn crimes ; in a word, he con- 
 ''* fiders neither ivhat he fays^ or what he does.'* 
 He has been expelled the Senate^ not indeed by 
 the Cenfors, as ^intus Curius was, but by 
 the voice of the Senate itfelf, for his fcandalous 
 crimes. 
 
 Such are the characters of fome of the leaders 
 of your fadion. To carry the comparifon 
 
 through- 
 
cc 
 
 cc 
 
 f 73 ) 
 
 throughout, would be an endlefs tafk. Enough 
 has been faid to prove of what flamp you are, 
 and how far the rights of a free people are to be 
 trufted in fuch hands. I will therefore only add, 
 that the reft of your fa6lion, like thofe of the Ro- 
 man traitor, are " all of the fame ftamp and cha- 
 ** rader, men whom dif appointments^ ruined fcr^ 
 tunes, and flagitious lives, have prepared for any 
 defign againft the State •, and whofe hopes of eafe 
 *' and advancement depend on a change in public 
 •' affairSi end the fi'lverfion of the Government'* 
 
 The times, and the Dramatis Perfona^ of your 
 intended Tragedy, bearing fo ftrong a refem- 
 blancc to thofe of your predeceffor, it is natural 
 to conclude, that we fhall find, on further en- 
 quiry, that your meafures and ultimate defigns 
 were nearly the fame. As to your meafures, you 
 and your fa6tion have trod ftep by ftcp in the 
 track of the Roman confpirators, fo far as they 
 were permitted to go. But having fome particu- 
 lar advantages, your procefs has been lirfs diffi- 
 cult, and your progrefs greater. You have de- 
 luded your incautious fellow-citizens with more 
 eafe and in greater numbers than your predecef- 
 for did ; and your fadion have proceeded to the 
 a6lual conflagration of a part of the cities of Lon- 
 don and Weftminfter. L. Catiline could derivt^: 
 no advantage from that fource of delufion, pub- 
 lic fraud and fcdition, the licmtioufnep cf the 
 
 L prefs. 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 prefi. Yet he found means by his arts and fair 
 pretences, his runners and his agents, to diflemi- 
 nate his fedition through the Roaian territories. 
 Thefe formed his cabals, received his intelligei.^ 
 of the flate of affairs at Rome, and of his intended 
 intrigues, and diffufed the poifon of his treafon in 
 the diftant parts of the Commonwealth. He held 
 at Rome, under the nofes of the Senate, the 
 Confuls and Praetors, nodurnal meetings with 
 his affociates, while his agents held them not only 
 in the immediate territory of Rome, but in the 
 remote Colonies. Hence, a partial, though a 
 dangerous, difcontent and fedition took place 
 throughout the Roman empire, at a tim.e when 
 the people had loft the virtue of their anceftor?, 
 and had arrived at that degree of licentioufnefs 
 which was incompatible with the freedom and jull 
 rights of civil liberty. 
 
 You, indeed, and your fadion, have poflefled 
 an advantage which your predeceflbr had not. 
 The liberty of the preis, degenerated into licen- 
 tioufnefs, has given you that advantage. Befides 
 your runners, your eftablifhed agents, your law- 
 lefs and feditious committees and affociations, 
 your conventions and congreffes, in every part of 
 the empire, you have a number of preffes at your 
 command, and in your pay. You have a hoft of 
 republican and ciefperate fcribblers, from P- -e and 
 H — y down to the common Garrctteer. And 
 
 you 
 
C 75 ) 
 
 you have even thofe republican defamers of their 
 Sovereign and the fervants of the Public, thole 
 Stink- Bingzims and Skunks * of fedition, the Au- 
 thors of the L n C— — t, and G 1 
 
 A r, in your laudable fervice. By fiich dc- 
 
 fperatc inftruments as thefc, you have prevailed 
 on many of your innocent and virtuous fellow- 
 citizens, to become the accomplices of your trca- 
 Ibn. Thefe unhappy deluded men, with a hoft 
 of republican enthufiaftic wretches, you have en- 
 I'ifted in your traitorous defigns againft that Go- 
 vernment, which alone can fecure them in the 
 poneflion of their civil rights. You have made 
 them rebels, and traitors i traitors, not onlv to 
 their Sovereign, but to their own fnfety and haf- 
 finefs. 
 
 • The Sfin'i-BrMgzim h an animal very fair to behoM. of 
 about the fize of an hare, which infclh the country near the 
 Cape of Goat/ Hope, When it finds iticlf clofely purlucd, or 
 is inclineii to annoy ai:\ ether animal, it lets fly from behind a 
 hlaj} of avind, of fuch a Stygian /cent, that no living crcatuie 
 that ha? a nofe is able to endure it. If hunted, the dogs are 
 immediately thrown out by the horrible fmell, and thehuntl- 
 men are obliged to retire as fall as they can ; or the animal 
 which it means to offend is glad of an opportunity of (lying, 
 while the delicate creature remains fecure under the protec- 
 tion of its o\vx\ fa;tid atmcfphcre. The Skunk is an animal of 
 the fame_/a/> (xtcrnal cippearanfi', and of Jimilar internal q:ia- 
 lilies, common in feveral parts of America. The chief dif- 
 ference between thon is, that the former does execution 
 \)\ its at7>rt', and the latter by its --vait-r, Sckiblervs. 
 
 L % Yoi: 
 

 l: 
 
 : 1 
 
 . You have done all this, under the fame, 
 clifguife, and fair pretences, which L. Catiline 
 made ule of in deluding the Roman people to 
 form his band of confpiratCrs againfc the Govern- 
 ment and liberties of Rome : he and his confede- 
 rates, like you and your aflbciatcs, " afliimed 
 <-^ the charaders of Pairiots, and covered their 
 ** fecret and wicked dcfign under their clamours for 
 *' Liberty -," although they intended to ufurp a 
 defpotic power over the lives and eftates of their 
 fellow-citizens. " The caufe of the poor, they de- 
 ff clared, was their caufe;" becaufe the pocry zvhen 
 deceived, 'were neceffary to their detefiable defigns \ yet 
 in their hearts they hated the poor, " They com- 
 " plained of the national poverty and diftrefs," 
 "johen the national refources were greater than they 
 had ever been from the foundation of the city. They 
 perfuaded the people, " that the powers and 
 •^ emoluments of Government were engrofled by 
 ** a/dz:.'," in order to induce all to hope for a parti^ 
 cipatioHy when they knew it was impojfibk. They 
 declared, " that the worthy and the brave were 
 *^ excluded from public offices and emoluments," 
 le^'aufe they themf elves, the mofl abandoned and pro'- 
 fligatc of men, were not admitted to participate in 
 them. The officers of Government, whofe lives 
 and ellates depended on the prefervation c>f^ its 
 civil conftitution, " they repiefented as tyrants, 
 *' unworthy of public trufl: j as men ^vho in- 
 ^* tended the defl:ru£lion of the frcedom of that 
 
 ** Govern- 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 f' Government," zvhich it was their biterejl^ ani 
 the interejl of their pofterity^ to maintain. *' They 
 ^* abiifed in their cabals their faithful Consul, 
 *' and every worthy Magiftrate" who they thought 
 would oppofe their horrid dejign. This they did not 
 .dare to do in the Senate, ajs your faftion has 
 done : the Sons of Rome were not so dege- 
 nerate AS to suffer it. 
 
 '■-■ 
 
 All thefe ineafures being taken, and the plot, 
 as it was thought, brought to its maturity, L. 
 Catiline, in order to " bind the confpirators 
 ** more firmly to each other, caufed a bowl of 
 " wine, mixed with human bloody to be handed 
 ^* round from one to another, after the man- 
 ^* ner of their folemn lacrifices. Of this all the 
 ^* confpirators participated.'* This you have 
 not done: not becaufe the precedent was too 
 horrible for your mind, but becaufe not confident 
 with the religion of your country — and therefore 
 you feared it would not hf^ binding on your con- 
 federates. But you hriVt- ' bflituted in its room 
 what is tantamount to '' in wickednefs and vil- 
 lainy, and more effeftual. You have confidcred 
 their enthufiafm, as well as their republican Ipi- 
 jrit, and have fenfibly adapted your meafures to 
 their principles. And therefore you have recom- 
 mended to your fellow-confpirators in America, 
 to enter into a folemn league and covenant by oath^ 
 imprecating the 'vengeance of Omnipotence if they 
 8 . fiiould 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 Jhoiiid break ity to make " an united, folemn, 
 «' fullen, and invincible; ftand" againft your and 
 their country. 
 
 M 
 
 The covenant of union being thus folemnly 
 made, it was refolved " that Lucius Catiline 
 " fliould put himfelf at the head of the difaffed- 
 *« ed and fadlious part of the troops — that Ronne 
 '« Ihould be fired in many places at once^ and a 
 <V maflacre begun at ^\\t fame time — that in the 
 *' conflernation of the fire and mafTacre, he 
 «' fliould be ready with his army to rake the bc- 
 *' nefit of the public confufion, and make him- 
 " fdf mafter of the city.'* I cannot fuppofe that 
 you, Catiline, was to take the command of the 
 military part of your faftion, who ihould at the 
 proper time revolt from their Sovereign — You 
 have no military genius. But you have an Uncle 
 deep in your treafon, befides many other military 
 confederates more proper for that fervice, who was 
 probably to have taken that command. The cities 
 of London and Weftminfter were to have been, 
 and aclually were, fired in many places at once. 
 MafTacres of the public fervants were fought 
 for, and attempted — and would have been com- 
 mitted, had not mcafures been taken to prevent 
 it. The furies of that faclion, which your fedi- 
 tious cabals had raifed and united, were let loofe, 
 ols were 
 
 The 
 
 op( 
 
 charged — many private houfes, and tvzx\ the 
 
 publiq 
 
 //f 
 
H 
 
 t 79 -) 
 
 public buildings, were laid in alhes ; while the 
 innocent and virtuous part of your fellow-citi- 
 zens flood aghaft at the threatened defolation and 
 ruin, hclplefs and hopelefs, not knowing where 
 to look for relief from dangers fo immediate, and 
 of fuch mighty magnitude. Thus the plot of 
 your faftion was, from Friday to Wednefday, 
 daily ripening into that confufion which would 
 have enabled them to make themfelves mailers 
 of the city, to put to death the guardians of the 
 public weal, and to have Jeized into their own 
 hands the powers of the State. Had this been 
 done, lav/lefs profcriptions, and cruel mafiacres 
 of the rich and innocent citizens would have fuc- 
 ceeded of courfe. But your Sovereign^ with a 
 fecrecy which proved the wifdom of his councils^ and 
 a caution which difcovered his exalted humanity, 
 Jiepped forth and faved the two capital cities of the 
 empire from defirutlion^ and the liberties of his 
 
 PEOPLE from the TYRANNY OF YOUR FACTION. 
 
 i 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 Il 
 
<t 80 ) 
 
 ;■' ' 
 
 it 
 
 n i'- 
 
 '» 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 •' SeJ ut vitiis tuiscommoveare, at legum pcenas pertimi/- 
 ** cas, ut temporibus reipublica: concedas, non eft poftulan- 
 " clum. Neque enim is es, Catilina, ut te aut pudor a tur- 
 ** pitudinc, aut metus a periculo, aut ratio a furore revo- 
 •* carlt.'* Cicero in Catiunam. 
 
 But there yvas no liope that Catiline would ever be induced 
 to yield to the occajlons of the State, or moved with z fenfe of 
 his crimes y or reclaimed by Jhamey or fear ^ or reafott, from his 
 madnefs and treafon. 
 
 CiCERo*i Orations againft Catiline. 
 
 IN what mighty mifchiefs, Catiline, have not 
 your treafonable pradliccs involved your coun- 
 try ? To give a faithful hiilory of your cabals in 
 Britain, in Ireland, *n France and America — to 
 trace in detail the variety of your political ma- 
 noeuvres—to mark out the verfatility of your fe- 
 veral plots, and to paint the hideoufnefs of your 
 black defigns againft your country, would employ 
 more time than I have to fpare. — Altliough I 
 know them well, and all the fac^s are before me, 
 yet it is not my prefent defign to undertake fo 
 tedious a talk. It will anfwer beft my 'honeft 
 purpofe — my defire to refcue Britons from the 
 threatened danger, to mark the great outlines of 
 thofe practices which have hitherto proved fo pro- 
 pitious to your defigns, and ruinous to your coun- 
 try. In doing this, 1 fliall trace your fadion from 
 
 its 
 
( 8i ) 
 
 its formation, marking its progrefs up to the 
 fummit of its glory, the co)jfagration of the Cities 
 of London andlVeflminfler, 1 Ihall relate fafts tliat 
 cannot deceive, truths fo notorious, that they 
 cannot be denied. 
 
 In tlie year 1764, unanimity prevailed in the 
 Councils of the Sta-e, refpedting its riglt to tax 
 America^ and the jujlice of the meafurc. The 
 bill commonly called the Stamp A5i pafTed 
 without one difTcnting voice. It pafll-d with the 
 concurrence of every leader of your prefent fac- 
 tion then in Parliament. For your audacious 
 defigns were not then concerted, nor your fac- 
 tion formed. But, as foon as they found a law- 
 lefs refiftance arifing in America to the execution 
 of that Act, they inflantly united into a feditious 
 confederacy againfl Governincnt. They began 
 with oppofing that very meafurc which they had 
 by their aflents pronounced rightful and jufl:. 
 They invited and feduced the American mer- 
 chants in every part of the kingdom, contrary 
 to their own, and the real inrerefl of their coun- 
 try, to petition a[rain(l ir. They encouraged the 
 fadlion in America, by innumerable letters, to 
 perfeverc in their treafon ; nor did they ceafe from 
 their intrigues, until they had compelled the 
 Councils of the State 10 repeal the aft. By this 
 meafurc they intentionally laid tlie foundation of 
 future infurrcftions and rcfiflance to the fupreme 
 
 M, authority 
 
 ri! 
 
'^*! \ 
 
 
 
 :i 
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 authority of their country ; to that very authority 
 which they were hufid by oath to preferve. 
 
 When the bill commonly called the Tea ASi 
 pafTed, they infidlouriy made little or no objec- 
 tion. But as foon as they knew that the Americans 
 were forming an oppofition againft: this A6I:, they 
 inftantly united in fupport of them, and all their 
 joint powers were exerted to procure its total re- 
 peal. Failing in this meafure, they advifcd the 
 Americans not to import teas from Great Britain, 
 and either to fmuggle them, or not to confume 
 them, in order to prevent their contributing the 
 duty towards the relief of their felloiv-ftibjetts in 
 Britain, 
 
 Again difappointed in feeing that the Ameri- 
 can Aflemblies were content under a partial re- 
 peal of the a(5t, and that the American merchant 
 would import Britifli teas, notwithftanding their 
 infidious advice to the rontraty, they remained 
 quiet for a time, but incelTantly watching fqr 
 another opportunity of clamouring againft, and 
 traducing the meafures of Goverment. 
 
 When the bill pafTcd, enabling the Eaft India 
 Company to export and fell their teas in Ame- 
 rica (an A6t in every refped greatly beneficial to 
 the Colonifts, as well as to the India Company), 
 the fat^ion advifcd their confederates at Bofton, 
 not to fuffer them to be landed. And when they 
 were rlotouily deftroyed, they openly vijidicated 
 the meafure, 
 
 Whpi) 
 
 f; 
 o 
 fc 
 o 
 o 
 
 Ci 
 
 ai 
 
( P3 ) 
 
 \Vhen the Parliament was about to pafs the 
 bill to compel the corporation of Bollon to do an 
 adl of the mod evident juflicc, and to pay for the 
 damage fuftaincd by the India Company, tbcy 
 Jlrenuoujly oppofed it. 
 
 But failing in their oppofition, and perdving 
 that the fervants of the Public were determined 
 to proceed with firmnefs in fupprefling the rifing 
 Icdition, and fupporting the conftitutional aiitho' 
 i'ity of the State, they laid the plan of /Imsrican 
 rejijlance, Th'^y advifed their feditious confede- 
 rates in the Colonies, to break off all commerce 
 with the Parent State, and to unite in a *' folcmn 
 ** league and covenant on oath," to make a 
 " folemn, fuiien, and invincible ftand" againft 
 t'lt authority, which, by their oaths of allegi- 
 ance, they were hound to excrcife and fupport. 
 
 When they had thus advifed and created a 
 treafonable oppofition to the fupreme authority 
 of their ountr/, a principal leader * in their 
 
 junto 
 
 * This Nobleman, once the friend of his Sovereign, tlie 
 father of his Country, lie I oart of Britons, and the ornament 
 of the age, fulFcred his pride and ambition to conquer his rca- 
 fon and patr jtifm. lie joued the fudlion againft the intcrcft 
 of that peopl> whofe reputation he had raifod to the fummit 
 of glory. l\\ i.iis Hate >»f delulion, he wnrmly efpoufcd the 
 caufe of rebellion aguii.fl the fi ncme authority of the State; 
 and did not bluih when he declared, that he ** rejoiced 
 
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 (716) 872-4503 
 

\ii 
 
 I i 
 
 ■( 84 ) 
 
 •junto did not hefitate to declare in the Senate^ 
 that he " rejoiced that America had rejijied,'* 
 
 Before this time you Catiline had revolted 
 from your Sovereign, and took a leading part 
 with the fadlion in oppofing his meafures. 
 And now— fearing the " Hand," thus advifed, 
 fhould not prove, as you wiihed, " invincible j" 
 and knowing that to fupprefs the rifing fedition, 
 .would be to deftroy the foundation and fource of 
 your intrigues, you oppofed fending troops to 
 America, ■ ' 
 
 ** that America had fefifled." But, unlike the generality of 
 his aflbciates, he had either fixed bounds to his ambition ; or 
 his confcience /mote him for the mrfchiefs in which his novel 
 principles and feditious harangues had involved the public 
 fafety. Therefoi-e, convinced of his error, inftead of con- 
 tinuing to approve of the American refiftance, in his dying 
 J'peech he condemned, and declared that ** he rejoiced, that 
 ** he was yet alive to give his vote againfl fo impolitic, fo in- 
 *• glorious a meafure, as the acknowledgment of the inde- 
 *' pendency of America ; that he would rather be in his grave, 
 *• than fee the luftre of the Britifli throne tarnilhcd, the dig- 
 *' nity of the Britifli empire difgraced, the glory of the 
 *' nation funk to fuch a degree as it mull be, luhen the depen- 
 * ' dency of Avierica on the fouereignty of Great Britain iijas 
 ** foregone.*^ — The Noble Earl declared further, ** that he 
 ** was exceeding ill ; but as long as he could crav/1 down to 
 «• the Houfe, and had ftrength to raife himfelf on his crutches, 
 *' or to lift his hand, he would vote againft giving up the de- 
 •• pendency of Ameri<:a on the fovereignty of Great Britain ; 
 ** and if no other Lord was of opinion with him, he would 
 *' fingly proteft againll the meafiue." Thus Heaven in its 
 Knening wifdom refolved, thac he fhould yj-a/ that truth which 
 he had wantonly violated, ivith his death. 
 
 8 Here 
 
 
 I 
 
>» 
 
 or 
 
 Kjre again iinruccersful, by your arts yon 
 procured the conrimand of "-hofc very troops, and 
 of the navy which attended them, for iujo of your 
 fadion, who were " averfe to the meafurcs" 
 they had infidioufly undertaken to execute, and 
 who you knew wouki co-operate in your defigns. 
 One of this par nobile fratriim had hekl his fccrec 
 cabals with the rebel agent Dr. Franklin y and 
 the other had promifed his Conftituents, firil, 
 that he would not " accept the command /' 
 and afterwards, when he had violated his pro- 
 mife, declared to his conftituents by words of the 
 flrongeft implication, that be 'would not f up pre] s the 
 rebellion. 
 
 Having thus infidioufly over-reached the Coun- 
 cils of the State, and laid a broad foundation of 
 your future meafures, you conceived you had every 
 thing in your power which was neceflary xo your 
 final fuccefs. Your faflion wrote many letters to 
 men in America, whom you thought of influence 
 in that country, and fit inftruments of your trea- 
 fon. With thcfe you have ever fince regularly cor- 
 refponded ; conftantly blowing the coals of fedi- 
 tion, and exerting every nerve to prevent either 
 an accommodation of the d'ljpiite^ or the fupprsjfion of 
 the rebellion. 
 
 ,;?' 
 
 You rcfolvetl, in your fccret cabals, that the 
 American war was " unjuft and cruel i" and you 
 
 even 
 
Vi 
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 even have repeatedly declared it Co in the great 
 Council of the nation. You further refolved, 
 that the termination of the rebellion was incom- 
 patible with your defigns, and therefore // Jhould 
 not he fupprejfed. In ftri6c conformity to thele 
 refo3ves, you your f elves, and your numerous agents 
 in Britain^ France, and Jmerica, adbed in dircft 
 oppofition to the meafures purfued for reducing 
 the rebellion. And although your General and 
 Admiral undertook the war with a force vaftly 
 fupcrior to that which they had to oppofe, two 
 years were infamoufly wafted in fhameful indo- 
 lence J battles were fought, and the enemy de- 
 feated, but never purfued ; and the moft obvi- 
 ous advantages of victories negligently loft. A 
 province was conquered, and afterwards infa- 
 moufly given up to 3000 men, when there were 
 near 40,000 to defend it. A Britifli army, of 
 near 40,000 veterans, was befieged, haraffed, 
 and diftreffcd at New York, from December to 
 June, by 4000 undifciplined troops : and in the 
 year following, another of near 20,000, at Phila- 
 delphia, during the fame length of time, by lefs 
 than 4000 men, who were daily periftiing, either 
 by famine or difeafe, and without the neceflfary 
 horfes to remove cheir baggage or cannon *. 
 
 * See the Letter from a Committee to the Congrefs, m 
 the Appendix to A Reply to Lieut. Gen, Sir William Howe, 
 &c. publiflied by G. Wilkie. 
 
 And 
 
 I 
 
 iv 
 
 ^ ISi 
 
( 87 ) 
 
 And although, during the fame time, your 
 noble Admiral had not Icfs than 80 ihips of war 
 (a force tenfold greater than that of the rebels, 
 and more than fufficient to feizc and deflroy the 
 whole of the rebel navy, with all the trade, ia 
 their dcfencelefs ports, in a few months), yet no 
 one rational ftep was taken to effect thofe import- 
 ant purpofes : but on the contrary, while the 
 amazing naval armament under his command 
 ■was for the moft part lying ufelefs in the harbour 
 of New York, he fuffered the rebels, whom lie 
 was fent to fubdue, to carry on from their ports 
 an open trade ; to import all the neceiTaries of 
 war, of which at that time they were in a manner 
 deftitutej and even to fcize the military and naval 
 flores, which were fent from Britain for the Britifh 
 fervice *. And although, notwithftanding all 
 this truly Ihameful condud, the feeble efforts of 
 rebellion had been fo reduced as to " intimidate 
 '* its leaders, and nearly induce them to a general 
 *f fubmiffion f j" yet the Northern Army, con- 
 trary to the pofitive orders of your Sovereign, was 
 deferted J, and left to be captured i a war with 
 France was brought on your country ; the fpirit of 
 
 * See a Lettpr to the Right Honourable ILord Vifcoqnt 
 JFIowe, ^c. pajftm. 
 
 f Sir William Howe's Narrative and Obfervations, p. 41. 
 
 X See Letter from Lord George Germ ine, dated the 3d 
 March 1777 ; and A Reply to Lieut. Gen, oir William Howe, 
 ■baffim, 
 
 \ ^ rebellion 
 
■'' 
 
 n 
 
 p.: I: 
 
 
 'I 
 
 U 
 
 C 88 ) 
 
 rehdlion fufftred to revive i and '30 millions of the 
 national treafurc mofi '-j:;ickcdly and 'wantonly "jjafted. 
 
 Nor did your fecret intrigues flop here. Ha- 
 ving thus involved your country in a war with 
 France, and perceiving that the vigilance of your 
 Sovereign was prepared to meet her naval force, 
 by a fleet greatly fuperiory you again infidioufly 
 procured the command for your relation, the Lee^ 
 Jhore Admiral^ a zealot of your fadion, and deep 
 in its ledition. That man, commanding this fu- 
 perior force, met the enemy under every advan- 
 tage of wind and fea in his favouri but, agreeably 
 to your preconcerted plan, which was, that no 
 fuccefs fljould attend either the naval or military ex- 
 ertions of your country, while the prefcnt fervants of 
 the Crown fhould hold their offices to the exclufion of 
 yourfelf and your adherents ; when Heaven had 
 placed victory before him, and when the laurels of 
 glory remained only to be plucked, he moft fhame- 
 fully and moft treacheroufly fuffered that vidlory, 
 and thole laurels, to efcape from his hands*; and 
 that too, under the moft ridiculous and inglo- 
 rious pretences that ever difgraced the name of 
 any naval commander. He was, it feems, afraid 
 of a lee-fhoret although that ftiore was not within 
 ninety miles of the fcene of aftion. And he would 
 not figlu his enemy, though drawn up in a line 
 
 
 • Sec the PoRfciipt to this Letter, 
 
 ^f 
 
 
d 
 
 ( «9 ) 
 
 of battle, challenging hiin to tlie combat, be- 
 caiife he would run the rifqne of fmn^ him the 
 next day, and beating him bandfomely. With what 
 indignant contempt would a Blake, a Hawke, 
 or a Rodney, look down upon fuch p:iltry apo- 
 logies for cowardice and treachery ! yJnd thus the 
 honour of your Sovereign, the naval force of Britain^ 
 and the inter eft of your country y fell a facrijice again 
 to your intrigues* 
 
 Having thus involved the Councils of the 
 State in almoft infuperable difficulties, and com- 
 pelled them to offer the mod liberal terms of 
 accommodation to the rebels — terms by which the 
 moft eflential prerogatives of the Crown, and the 
 moft important rights of Parliament, would have 
 been facrificed, had they been accepted; yet, 
 not having obtained your ends, and forefeeing 
 that an accommodation between the two coun- 
 tries would ruin your traitorous project, you ad- 
 vifed the Congrefs to treat thofe terms with con- 
 tempt, and told the Americans, if they would re- 
 ject them, that they would foon obtain, by your 
 aids, their wlfhed-for independence. They followed 
 your advice, as they had done before in refpeft 
 to the firfl conciliatory propojttions. And thus you 
 fruftrated the meafures of your Sovereign, and 
 prevented any negociation between the two coun- 
 tries from taking place. 
 
 ik 
 
 N 
 
 With 
 
 ^iV 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■'■If 
 
 11: ji 
 
 41 t ' 
 
 11 
 
 • With much art and indiifliy you brought all 
 thefe difficulties upon the Councils of the State, 
 and thefe misfortunes on your country, with no 
 other defign than to diftrefs, and render odious 
 in the eyes of the people, an Adminiftration whofe 
 meafures, right or wrong, you have uniformly op- 
 pofed, and whofe offices you wifhed to obtain. 
 But failing in your defign, you recalled your 
 General and Admiral, with their numerous fa- 
 vourites and dependants. With thefe you at- 
 tempted to deceive the public Councils, and the 
 people at large, in the following important par- 
 ticulars : I ft, " That America was impradlicable 
 *' in refpeft to military operations. 2dly, That 
 ^* the Colonifts were univerfally difafFcdled to the 
 *< Britifh Government. And jdly. That it was 
 ^' im.polfible to reduce the rebellion with the im- 
 *« menfe force which had been fent over for that 
 *' purpofe,'* Thefe pofitions, you and your fac- 
 tion knew to be palpable untruthsy and the mofi 
 "Wicked of all public imp oft t ions. 
 
 Had you fucceeded in this national deception, 
 you forefaw that all the odium and public deteft- 
 ation of the authors of thofe enormous misfor- 
 tunes, which your cabals had brought on your 
 country, would have been transferred /r<?w jca to 
 the prefent Miniftry, And in that cafe, you ex- 
 pected that your Sovereign would have been com- 
 pelled, by the public clamours, to give way to 
 your intrigues, and to deliver up the right s, liber- 
 
 tieSf 
 
C 9' ) 
 
 ties, and fafety of his crcwjiy and of his "people, into 
 your hands \ and upon your failing in this mea- 
 fure, your next refolution was, to impeach the 
 fcrvants of the Crown of high treafon, and to fa- 
 erifice their lives to your lai^Hefs ambition. But tlie 
 American Minifter, not fo much deceived by 
 your General's and Admiral's artful letters and 
 mifreprefentations, as you expected, perfeclly ac- 
 quainted with the real ftate of America, and ron- 
 fcious of the reftitude, practicability, and ne;- 
 ceflity of the meafures which had been adopted, 
 met with undaunted firmnefs your infidious at- 
 tempt, and defeated ir. 
 
 Thus again difappointed, when you thought 
 you had arrived at the goal of your wiflies, cha- 
 grine fucceeded to difappointment. All hope of 
 obtaining the powers and wealth of the State, by 
 fecret intrigues and public deception, without open 
 violence, was loft. Open violence was therefore re- 
 folved on. For finding that neither the Ameri- 
 can rebellion, the lofs of the Northern Army, the 
 treachery of the two Brothers^ added to that of 
 your relation the Lee-fhore Admiral'., the war with 
 France and Spain, the millions which had been 
 wantonly and treacheroufiy wafted, with the mil- 
 lions which will be neceftary to recover the nation 
 from thofe misfortunes, could lower into defpond- 
 ency the fpirit of Britons, nor compel the virtue 
 pf your Sovereign to remove his faithful fervants, 
 
 ^ % .and 
 
 m 
 

 : 
 
 It 
 
 it 
 V 
 
 ( 92 ) 
 
 and to receive your fafV.ion in their places ; — I fay, 
 not only perceiving all this, but that the fpirit of 
 your country, and the virtue of your Sovereign, 
 were riling into union, and determined with firm- 
 nefs to oppofe their domejlic as well ^% foreign ene- 
 tnies i your fa6t'on refolved, in ftri(ft imitation of 
 your great mailer Lucius Catiline, to wade through 
 confl'igrations and innjjacres, pubiic confufion and dif- 
 trejs, to the objects of your avarice and ambition; 
 and, in order to create that public confuftoni to 
 bury, by a general conflagration, one of the mo ft 
 fopulotis, wealthy, and flourifhing cities in the uni" 
 verfe in its own ajhes. 
 
 •k 
 
 
 If 
 
 m 
 
 
 What a fcene of terror and wickednefs is here 
 laid before the view of your fellow-citizens ! Did 
 not your hearts, when they meditated the de- 
 flruction of all that magnificence produced by the 
 art and labour of ages, and of all thofe inftru(51:ive 
 curiofities which had been collected by fo much 
 induftry from all parts of the globe, feel fome re- 
 morfe? Did not your confciences, when they re- 
 fieded on the ruin of thofe facred domes in which 
 your anceftors had worlhipped, feel fome compunc' 
 iion ? Had you loft all compaflion and mercy 
 for the thoufind? who muft have peri (bed, and the 
 hundreds of thoufands whom you would have re- 
 duced from opulence to want, dependent on the 
 cold hand of charity for their poor exiftence \ 
 And;, above all, did not your fouls fhudder at the 
 • • ... '; thought. 
 
 I 
 
t 93 ) 
 
 thought, that you had refolved on the ilcflruclion 
 of the niofl: pcrfed fyitcm of liberty remaining 
 on cartli, for no other purpofc than to gratify your 
 lawlefs third /c/r wealth and dcfpotic power ? No 1 
 You did not i for your confederates adually at- 
 tempted, and partly executed, this infernal plot ! 
 while the leaders of your faclion, unconcerned at 
 Ithe rapid progrefs made by their agents in the 
 horrid mifchief, remained inactive fpeftators. 
 Your hopes hourly rcfe, as the terror and difmay 
 of your innocent fellow-citizens incrcafcd. You 
 impatiently waited for the moment nf univerfal 
 ruin and confufion-, a moment fo propitious to your 
 pxeciable deligns, that you thought, when it ar- 
 rived, you might ftep in and " dire6l the ftorm.** 
 You would not fuffer yourfelves to refledl, that a 
 part of the dominions of your country, contain- 
 ing near 3,000,000 of your fellow-lubjeds, had 
 been reduced by your arts, from the higheft ftate 
 of human freedom and felicity, to the lowefl: of 
 human tyranny and mifery. Nor would you per- 
 mit yourfelves to confider, that already more 
 than 100,000 of your unhappy Americau fellow- 
 fubjc6ts had fallen the viclirns to your ambition 
 and treafon. Nor did even tlic lofs of thofe gal- 
 lant Britons in the military and naval fervice, 
 who have fallen, and who muft fall, in vindicat- 
 ing the independence and fovereignty of your 
 country againft the rebellion you have excited, and 
 . ^he war you had effecced witli the two Houfes of 
 2 Bourbon^ 
 
 fc 
 
 I 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 Bourbon, in the lead difcouragc you from your 
 nefarious defign. Refolvcd to gratify your dif- 
 fipation and ambition, the lives ot your fellow- 
 citizens were matters of no confequence, when 
 compared with the objedls of your wickednefs and 
 trealbn. 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 U J 
 
 Longj Catiline, did your predecefTor and his 
 facftion riot undetecfted in his public villanies. 
 The wealth of Rome, the difTipation and profli- 
 gatenefs of the people, rendered them the eafy 
 dupes of his fair pretences and infidious arts. 
 For a time, while their credulity was more pow- 
 erful thflii their reafon, and all the virtuous qua- 
 lities of the mind were led in captivity by his 
 fedudion, they thought he was 2^ friend to liberty^ 
 and therefore fupported his meafures ; and while 
 they imagined, by following Lucius Catiline, they 
 were purfuing their true intereft, they embraced 
 his treafon. But in that very moment, which 
 relieved them from his enchantment, as foon as 
 they perceived that the ultimate wiili of his heart 
 was to bury Rome in its own afhes^ and to ufurp a de- 
 fpotic power over their lives and efiates, they deferted 
 him and his fadlion. They faw, like a fenfible peo- 
 ple, who knew their own good, that thefe traitors, 
 notwithf^anding their long-continued profefTions 
 of difintereftednefs, of public virtue, love of li- 
 berty, and regard for the poor 5 and notwith- 
 ftanding their clamorous declamations, however 
 ^ " plaufible. 
 
 ' 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 plaufible, againfl the fcrvants of the public, 
 pofiTefleJ not one fpark of public virtue; that they 
 detejled the poor^ and abhorred the very name of 
 liberty j and in thole rare moments, when their 
 iicads were laid on their pillows, and their lei« 
 furc permitted them to reflect on their wicked- 
 nefs, they admired the virtues of the men, whom, 
 to gratify their own ambitious defires, they mofi 
 abufed, and intended to dejlroy. And hence the 
 people of Rome were perfe<5tly convinced, that 
 Lucius Catiline and his fadion meditated the de- 
 Jlrudion of their country and its freedom, in order 
 to divide its fpoils^ and riot in its ruin. 
 
 Thus at length delivered from the fafcination 
 of the confpirators, reafon^ public virtue, a fenfe of 
 their own true interejl^ and of the national honour 
 and f^fety^ took place j and the Roman peo- 
 ple invoked the immortal gods to punifj them. 
 Nor were they deficient in their duty to them- 
 i'elves and to their country. As the inllruments 
 of unerring Wifdom, they compelled L. Catiline 
 and his atrocious confederates to feek a tempo- 
 rary aiylum in open rebellion, where they fell 
 facrifices to the hideoufnefs of their treafon ; and 
 their country and its liberties ivcre delivered from 
 utter dejlru^ion, 
 
 I have thus, Catiline, laid before you the true 
 flate of your dcfperate affairs, that you may, if 
 
 you 
 
 miTr*: -Sii ' M n p, ^ r»*ii * 
 

 r 
 
 s 
 
 < 96 ) 
 
 you pleafe, avoid the fate of your predccefTof. 
 Bur this I have done only in compliance with the 
 will of Heaven. — I know, that *' neither the oc- 
 «' cafions of the State, a fenfe of your crimes, or 
 ** Ihame, or fear of punifhmcnt, or reafon, can 
 *f reclaim you from your madnefs and trea- 
 *' fon." — You will proceed in your inextinguifti- 
 able and infatiate ambition, until all virtuous 
 men fliall pronounce you the tnofl abandojitd of 
 cofifprators, and hlackejt of all traitors-, and the 
 judgment of Omnipotence, when it Ihall fall hea- 
 vy upon your faftion, fhall be acknowledged to be 
 jtijl both by heaven a?id earth, 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 
 P, S, It has not been uncommon for the moft 
 important truths to remain problematical for a 
 time, amidft the confufion of party, and the rub- 
 bifli of mifreprefentation and falfehood. The 
 minds of men, which can contain and compare 
 a certain number of ideas only at once, become 
 perplexed, and their judgments confounded in 
 the multiplicity of contradictory pofitions, Rea- 
 fon is blindly led aftray from thofe material fads 
 and circumftances, in which truth is always to be 
 found. 
 
 I 
 
 This was truly the cafe in refpetSt to the corl- 
 duifl of the two Brothers in the American war. 
 The public, for a time milled by their miffev 
 
 prefentationsj 
 
 III 
 
lit 
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 pfefentations, aiiJ tin* ni;i'Utlcrs falfchoodi; and 
 grouiidlcfij clamours of a fadio;!, believed tluic 
 they had tlifchan^ed their duty to their country 
 wicli fidelity dnd iionoiir, and that all the failures 
 and ill fuccefs in that war, had been owinnr to 
 the neglect or treachery of the fervants ol' the 
 crown. But as foon as thofe few leading facfls 
 and circumftances that were necelfary to dilpel 
 the mifis which the faction, with infinite indullry, 
 had raifed, were candidly related, reafon afTum- 
 ed its throne in the minds of the public, and up- 
 right decifion univerfally followed i infomuch that 
 there is now no man in the kingdom who has 
 read them, but is convinced, and none, who are 
 not of their party, that will not confefs, that y^d- 
 miniftratioji have faithfully difcharged their duty, 
 and the two Brcthers betrayed their country. 
 
 In the fame problematical fufpcnfe the condud 
 of the Lee-Jhore Adrairal has remained before the 
 public. The fame caufes have produced the like 
 doubts and contrary opinions, refpeding his na- 
 val condufl on the 27th of July. Truths which 
 always fhines mod in its native fnnplicity, has 
 been fufrounded and almoft totally inveloped in 
 party cabrls, mifreprefcntations and falfehoods: 
 whereas a few efTential f^icls, which cannot de- 
 ceive when fnnply pi.,, together, would have re- 
 lieved her from her embarrafsment, and flallied 
 convidlion on every mind which was difpol'ed to 
 fee her in her pure and native light. 
 
 O What 
 

 ..I 
 
 U 
 
 I'M 
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 What then are thofe fadts which will inform the 
 candid enquirer, whether the Admiral dilcharged 
 the duty of a gallant officer and a friend to his 
 country ? Was he furnifhcd with a force equal to 
 that of the enemy he was fent to combat ? is the 
 firft queflion which every man of fenle and can- 
 dour will alk. The anfwer to this queflion is 
 contained in the following authentic lift of the 
 two fleets. 
 
 jr^ Comparifon of the Forces of the Britifh and French 
 FleetSy when they met offUfhant on the I'jih of July ^ 
 1778. 
 
 Forces e q^u a l. 
 
 Ii 
 
 French line. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 Guns. Britifh line; 
 
 Le Bretagne, 
 
 100 
 
 100 Vidory 
 
 Le Ville de Paris, 
 
 90 
 
 90 Queen 
 
 Le Couronne, 
 
 80 
 
 80 Foudroyant 
 
 Le Robufte, 
 
 74 
 
 74 America 
 
 L'Orient, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Egmont 
 
 Le Glorieux, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Valiant 
 
 Le Conquerant, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Courageux 
 
 Le Fend ant. 
 
 74 
 
 74 Ramillies 
 
 1/ Magnifique, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Hedor 
 
 Le Palmier, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Monarquc 
 
 L'Intrepid, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Berwick 
 
 L'Aftif,. 
 
 74 
 
 74 Elizabeth 
 
 Le Zodiac, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Cumberland 
 
 Le Diademe, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Robuft 
 
 Le Bien Aime, 
 
 74 
 
 74 Centaur 
 
 Le Solitaire, 
 
 64 
 
 64 Sterling Caflle 
 
 Le Vengeur, 
 
 64 
 
 64 Worcefter 
 
 Forces 
 
( n ) 
 
 Forces e c^u a l. 
 
 French line. Guns, Guns, Britijh line. 
 
 Le Reflechy, 
 L'Artificn, 
 L'Actionnair, 
 L'Indien, 
 
 ^4 64 Exeter 
 
 64 64 Bienfaifant 
 
 64 64 Defiance 
 
 64 64 Vigilant 
 
 1542 1542 
 
 Fo 
 
 R C E S U N E 
 
 Le St. Efprit, 80 
 
 Le Dauphin Royal, 70 
 L'Eveillc, 64 
 
 Le Sphynx, 64 
 
 Le Roliand, 5^ 
 
 L'Annphion^ ^o 
 
 392 
 
 Q^U A L, 
 
 90 Ocean 
 
 90 Formidable 
 
 90 Sandwich 
 
 90 Prince George 
 
 90 Duke 
 
 74 Vengeance 
 
 74 Shrewfbury 
 
 74 Thunderer 
 
 74 Terrible 
 
 746 
 
 Total guns in the Britifli line, ^ 
 Total guns in the French line, ^ 
 
 Difference, In favour of the Britilh — 
 
 2288 
 '934 
 
 354 
 
 I^y this hfl It appears that the BritiHi line was 
 greatly fuperior in force to that of the enemy 
 liie former had three iliips of the line more than 
 
 ^ 2 (lie 
 
h 
 
 
 I 
 
 Hi. 
 
 ( lOo ) 
 
 the latter, fliould l/Amphion carrying only 
 50 guns be ranked of the line; in the Frcnc!^ 
 line there were only iwo three deckers. In the 
 Brmihfeve}!, In the French m?ie of 64 ^uns, and 
 mie of 50. And in the BntiH^Jix only of 64, and 
 nil tPje others of 74 and upwards. And the Britifli 
 
 had the lliperiority of 354 cannon. Thefe cir- 
 
 cumftances alone, when candidly weighed, mull 
 give to the Britilh Admiral a great luneriority of 
 force to that of his enemy. 
 
 Every focicty, whca it confers on an officer the 
 command of a force in any degree fupcrior to that 
 of an enemy, expe6ls to have in return a defeat of 
 that enemy, or fome advantage gaijied. BrilonSy 
 whenever they have fcnC out a force only equal 
 to that of the French^ liave ever been taught to 
 expect, from the iuperior itrength, {leadinefs, and 
 gallantry of their men, to look for certain vi61:ory 
 and fucccfs. And events have ever proved their 
 expeclations juil and reafonable, except when, 
 there has been fome intervening treachery or cow- 
 ardii'C) or ibme very extraordinary and unfore- 
 fcen accident. From fuch a fuperiority of foice 
 on the 27th of July, what ought Britons rationally 
 to have expelled ? Might they not — Had they not 
 ('. right ]u^\y to have looked for a total defeat of 
 their inferior enemy, if not a termination of the 
 war ? Was there any thing wanting in the equip- 
 ment of the fleet ? Or did any thing happen aut 
 
 :. of 
 
( lot ) 
 
 of the common courfc of naval expeditions, 
 which, when placed in oppofition to this great 
 fuperiority of force, could rcdnce it to a balance 
 with that of the enemy, or which ought in reafon 
 to apologize for the want of fuccefs? No. None 
 of thefc circumdances have had an cxillence. Nor 
 have any of them been produced in the Admiral's 
 vindication. FJfis force was well appointed i his 
 ihips were well manned j the wind and fea fa- 
 voured both his manoeuvres and his atlion i 
 v/hile they diftrefled thofe of his enemy, and ren- 
 dered his exertions greatly embarraffed and lefs 
 erfeftual. The gale was fteady ; the Britifh line 
 was to the leeward of tne French. This circum- 
 ftance alone gave the BritiHi Admiral an oppor- 
 tunity, by proper meafures, to receive his enemy 
 in ivbat manner he pie afcd. Befides, it placed the 
 lower batteries of the French (liips nearly even 
 with the water, a circumftance iibich grciilly ob- 
 firuoied their life : while it elevated thofe of the 
 Britifn, and gave them every advautage in aoVron, 
 Flence it muft be obvious to every pcrlbn verfed 
 in m.arine affairs, that the truly lliperior prowels 
 of Britifh feamen, all the advantages tliat wind 
 and weather could afford, and a great fuperiority 
 of naval force, placed vic^lury and fuccefs before 
 t\\Q. Britifh Admiral, had he been dilpofed to im- 
 prove thefe advant.ige.s. V/hat would a Blake, 
 an Hawke, or a Rodney, have done under tlic 
 like circumilances, pronrifing fo much fiime to 
 
 himfcT, 
 

 V 
 
 1 
 
 ( 102 ) 
 
 himfelF, • and iuch benefits to his country ? Let 
 the voice of truth j let the glory of their aclions 
 proclaim it in the ears of Britons. They wouKl 
 have burni, funk, or taken the greater part of this 
 
 jjojiile fleet. 
 
 And yet notwlthflanding all thefe aufpicious 
 circuniilances, alluring the Admiral to crop the 
 laurels they had placed before him, he was at- 
 tacked by this inferior enemy. His fecond in 
 command, witli all the gallantry of a Briton, ««- 
 (onrxtied ijc'ub fa^ioiiy fuftained the heat of the bat- 
 tle, occafioned by his AdmirdV^ twjl'ilful or trea- 
 fberous manceuvres, % 
 
 The plan of the naval combat being difcon- 
 certed, the enemy again drew up in a line of bat- 
 tle, and challenged the Britilh Admiral to a fe- 
 cond adlion. He by this time was to leeward, 
 and could do no more. But the Britifli Admiral 
 rcfufed the challenge, in order tp have an oppor- 
 tunity of beating him the next day handfomely. 
 What were the meafures he purfued to effeft this 
 purpofe ? — The very reverfe of what he would have 
 done had he meant to carry it into execution. 
 The French Admiral having out-manoeuvred him, 
 or excelled him in fidelity to his country, was 
 now to the leeward. He kept up his lights during 
 the whole night, and continued his courfe under 
 an eafy fail, hoping the Eritifli Admiral would 
 
 do 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 f.-» 
 
I 
 
 ( >oj ) 
 
 do the fame, and again try his fkill. But h\s 
 hopes deceived him. The Eritifli Admiral had 
 no fuch dcfign. For although this manoeuvre 
 waL the only one which would enable him to kcej> 
 tip with the enemy the next day, it waa neglected. 
 His lights were cxtingiiifhed at eleven o'clock at 
 nighr, that his fleet might not be {cen by chat 
 enemy from which he intended ignnminioitfly to fy. 
 And accordingly he fufFered his fleet to fall in the 
 rear of the French at day-break. And alchou.Q-h 
 they were within fight he tacked, inglorioujly fled 
 from an inferior enemy ^ and tock refuse in Ply- 
 mouth, 
 
 Such are the important facets — fuch is the truth, 
 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when 
 iindifguifed by the arts of defigning men. — Upon 
 thefe fads then let impartial Britons decide, whe- 
 ther there is not demonftration itfelf, that the Ad- 
 miral intended from the beginning to helrcy his 
 country to the intrigues of his faSlion, 
 
 The time has been when Britons inquired who^ 
 fought i and who did not fght. Upon thefe cir- 
 cumftances only, the prowefs or the treachery of 
 their fervants was decided. The Romans would 
 not truft, a fecond time, even an unfortunate Ge- 
 neral % — and a Byng was executed only for an 
 error in judgment. Such has been the public 
 virtue of Romans and Britons. But now difll- 
 
 pated 
 
I 1 1 ' JIW ■ 
 
 f' 
 
 
 1!^. a 
 
 
 ( 104 ) 
 
 pated luxurious Britons have lod the virtue anJ 
 iiigacity of their anccftors, and, miOed by fiidion, 
 know not zvhat ihey do» 
 
 T 
 
 For on account of this inglorious condudi, 
 through the ii ''■\mous arts of that junto, who im- 
 pudently ftile themfelves Patriots, the cities of 
 London and Weltminfter were illutninatcd, the 
 Admiral carried in triumph through them, ai 1 
 the thanks of the nation, tlie higlicd reward ■^' 
 the 'Virtuous m?d the braver were proltituted to ti, i 
 betrayer of his country^ while that gallant ofTiccr, 
 \i\\o fought in his country's caufea greatly fuperior 
 force, until his fhip was utterly dilabled, has been 
 falfely accufed, his public fame infamoufly tradu- 
 ced, and his houfe dellroyed by the milguided rage 
 of his deluded fellow-citizens. The moft precious 
 gift in the power of Britons to bellow, has been fo 
 infamoufly proltituteci to reward the coward or the 
 traitor, that the brave and the loyal will efteem it 
 hereafter a difbonour to accept it. O tell it not 
 
 within the walls of the H — e of C ns I nor ever 
 
 let it be remembered in the JJle of Great Britain, 
 
 '.h :.■. 
 
 HT 
 
 Jy. 
 
 --;o 
 
 iiiii 
 
 
 FINIS, 
 
 ii 
 
 
 -1 
 
i] 
 
 \