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Dear Sir, IN the beginning of our unfortunate con- teft with America, I took the liberty to lay before yoa my opinion of its event. What I faid at that time upon the fubjedt, was with a view to difcourage the partifan^ of coercion from a perfeverance in their plan i and, if they had followed my advice, I flatter myfelf, they would have had no reafon to repent of it. It has been a matter of real concern to me, as well as to many of the advocates for peace, to fee thefe fan- guinary projefts ftill perfiftcd in. As I ftill continue to fee them in the fame light as at firft, I (hall, for the eafe of my con- fcience, and in hopes of being of fome fer- vice to this country, urge fuch farther rea- fons againft the continuation of the war,^ as policy, reafon, and juftice, have fuggefted B to / h^ ( 2 ) to me. I am obliged, upon this occafiort, to recur to my principle, and to repeat in a few words, what I have always inliiled upon, that the difpute, on our iide, is founded in injudice. It is well known, that having for a long time monopolized the American trade, we extended our claim to tax the Colonies ^ that upon this they petitioned, and remon- ilratedt and that their petitions and remon*- ilrances being unheard, ox unattended to, and even unanfwered, they had recourfc At length to refijlancci they conlidered the compa(!l: between themfelves and the ipo- ther country as difTolved^ and renounced their allegiance to that power by which they were no longer protefted. This meafure has been called a rebellion by fome, who ought to have been more moderate in their expreffions ; for my part, I confider it merely as a feceflion of one part of the people, from the domination of tlie other. The objed which the Miniilry have in view is, to bring back thefe people, condi- tionally, or unconditionally^ to their de- pendence ( 3 ) 4>cndcncc upon this country. The wifdom, the policy, the neceffity of this meafure, I purpofe to examine (fetting afide, as the American Minifter has done, the juftice or injuftice of it) but before I proceed in this bufinefs, I beg leave to premife, that not being an author by profeflion, my argu- ments will not, probably, be arranged and methodized to the greatefl advantage ; but I {hall fay, firfl or laft, all that occurs to me upon the fubjed, and hope to be ex- cufed, if I am fomctimes guilty of repe- tition, It may not be amifs, if jrt the fame time I produce my ov^^n arguments, I hazard fome objedion to thofe of an honourable gentleman, who is lately returned from America, and who having long been a ftre-* nuous afferter of the rights of mankind in general, and our late fellow fubjedts in par- ticular^ has» all at once, to the furprize and mortification of his friends, and the exulta- tion of his enemies, become an advocate for the meafures of government. This gentleman, in a fpeech lately deli- vered in the Houfe of Con^mons, averts, B a that u ) i ( 4 ) that ** j^Il men will now confcfs tbi AmerU ** cans have a bad dnd wicked caufe ', that ** they have nojuji objeSi to contend for, be- ** ing now united with F ranee ^ for the pro- " J\II^^ purpofe of reducing this country ; *' that all good men ought to join moji bearti- ** ly to oppofe them,'* As one allertion without proof, is as goo4 as another, I fhall beg leave to reply, that the Americans having been firft attacked, are juftified by all laws, human and divine, in having defended thcmfelves, and to have aifled otherwife, they would have adted weakly, if not wickedly. The objcdls they originally contended for, are their liberty, and thtir property; neither of which can be fafe whilft a Britiih fleet is upon their coafts, and a Britifli army in their country. Their alliance with France is evidently founded upon felf-prefervation. How could they balance between the foe, who was burn- ing, murdering, and deftroying, and the friend who ftrctched out a helping hand for their falvation ? Could we, could any na- tion in the world, place any coniidence in th?fe people, or truft to any futyce treaty / with ( 5 ) with them; if, as the firft adt of their po- litical exiftcnce, they ihould renounce a folemn treaty entered into with a friend who fuccours them in dilirefs ? Muft every •good man be the enemy of a people who adt upon fuch principles ? I am thoroughly perfuaded, that all good men will not unite to oppofe fuch people ; and I am as well fatisiied, that all the bad men of this coun- try will never be able to fubdue them. The gentleman thinks, that neither our want of refources^ nor the Jirength of the Americans can prevent ourjuccejs ; fure he is not ferious. Are our refources more abun« dant than before we had thrown away thirty millions, in three fruitlefs campaigns ? or are the Americans weaker fince the whole power of France has been thrown into their fcale ? Onefet of men ^ he fays t have loft the confidence of the people, by mifmanagement j I fuppofe he means by the" mifmanagement of the war ; but of this I entirely acquit them. I do riot think that any fet of men could have profccuted any plan with more determined acrimony, and I do not think it is owing to the wcaknefs of their heads, or i> ( 6 ) or the goodnefs of their hearts, that they have now a fingle enemy in America. They have loft the confidence of the people, by having plunged them into all the horrors of a civil war ; a war, which, if we may judge of the future by the paft, can never be fuccefsful, notwithftanding the affcClcd contempt of the flrength of the Americans. Another fet of men, he fays, wa?2t to yitld tip all that is worth contending for. This is a moft unwarrantable affertion with, re- gard to the very refpedtable Minority in both Iloufes of Parliament. I believe I fhall rot be difavowed ^^hen I maintain, that there is not a man of them who is dif- pofed to give up any territory of which we are in poffeffion. With regard to the con- tinent of America, it is a joke to talk about yielding it up 5 we might as well talk of yielding up Spain, becaufe we arc in pof- feffion of Gibraltar; or furrendering France, becaufe we have a garrifon at Jerfey and Guernfey. Every body knows, that beyond the range of our cannon, we do not pofTefs a foot of ground from Nova Scotia to Flo- I'iiJa. J^ct us fee then what wc aiflually pofTefs,, i ,S) 'la- ( 7 ) poflefs, and what I am fatisfied wc may continue to polTcfs, unmolefled by Ame- rica, or any power in Europe. We have Canada, Hudfon's Bay, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland ; an abfolute mo- nopoly of the fur trade, and more fi(h than we could catch thefe hundred years, though we were all to turn fidiermen to-morrow : we have more trees to cut down, more acres to cultivate, more lumber, more pitch, tar, rofin, than o\ir latcft pofterity can ever fee the end of: we poflefs all that France poflefl'ed before the lafl: war, befides Nova Scotia and the two Floridas ; and the French, though admitted to a (hare of the American trade, poflefs nothing in North America ; they have not a Angle fortrefs in the country ; the Americans, opprefled and injured as they have been, are ftill the fons of Engliflimen ; they are flill, what their gallant anceftors long were, a brave, a free, and an unconquered people. How long will men be carried away with the notion that thofe who have not all, can keep no- thing ? The world is wide, and with peace and induflry people may live, though they ihould 1 I -n •t III. . in;-: ( 8 ) lliould not have more extenfive dominiotts than they know how to govern. France, who twenty years ago loft Canada, and all her pofleflions in North America, ftill exifts as a refpedable power, with a flourifhing trade, and a formidable navyj and they might have faid with as much reafon, at the conclufion of laft peace, that we (hould kill them, becaufe they had not killed us, as any man could advance that inhuman pofi- tion at the beginning of the prefent war. With regard to the treaty with France, it has been faid that // has not been conjlitu^ tionally ratified-, andjthis leads me to fay a word or two about the Congrefs, who have been fo cavalierly treated in a late eloquent oration. If thefc people be what they arc reprefented, it follows, that half a million of free men, with arms in their hands, havc^ chofen and employed fifty or fixty of the moft worthlefs and profligate among them, to trample upon their liberties, to rob them of their properties, and excrcife the very tyranny they are up in arm« to oppofe ; and what 18 ftill more extraordinary, that thefe people (hould be annually re-cleded, without power ( 9 ) powei- to compel, or money to bribe their conftituents to fo glaring an abfurdityj (for I do not find that thefe ambitious Dele«> gates have as yet given themfelves a powder to fit for feven years, as our virtuous and immaculate Parliaments have done on this fide the v^rater). This may be true, but is to me abfolutely inconceivable 5 and I hear- tily wifh the Gentleman had been permitted to vifit the country ^ and make acquaintance with the illuftrwui charadters it has pro- duced } he might then, perhaps, have ob- tained better information than the inhabi- tants of Philadelphia, or the prifoners in the gaol, could give him; and inftead of anarchy and tyranny) he might have feen. that, he will in vain look for at home, a fair and equd reprefehtation of the people, en- joying that plenitude of power, which a wife, a moderate, and a difinterefled exer- cife of it can alone fecure, in a free and un- corrupted country. To fuppofe that they would not recede from their treaty with France without ftrong exertions on our part, is certainly paying them a con.pliment \ but that force Jhould accompany concejpon, and C terms !p fli ( 10 ) terms offered with the bayonet at their throats, affords a flrong prefumption that fuch terms were either repugnant to their intereft, or that we knew, that, circum- (lanced as they were, they could not accept them with honour. I have nothing to fay againft the Gentle- man's plan for regimenting the Canadians and Americans ; if, indeed. Frenchmen and Americans can be found to be regimented in the fervice of the Miniftry, againft France and America, the meafure is perfectly con- fident with that of coercion ; I would only recommend, for the honour of the army, that the negroes and Indians (hould be re- gimented at the fame time, and obtain an adt of naturalization in their favour for the fame meritorious purpofe. Jf two thirds of th piopJe of North America wijh to return to their connexion with Great Britain, in God's name what hinders them ? They are all in arms ; they all have votes in the ele^ion; and if there is any truth in arithmetic, in war and in politics, two to one are odds as well as at football. For breaches of faith and ' ( " ) end violation ofjolemn agreements^ the Con- grefs have, I prefume, given at leaft plau- fible reafons. We have this obligation to them, hov^rever, that they have not retali- ated upon us the treatment of Colonel Allen 5 that they have not obliged their prifoners to fight againll their country, and have not fent tbem to defpair and die, far from their friends, their families, and their country, in the Eaft and Weft-Indies, and upon the more unwholefome coaft of Africa. It becomes us, indeed, to talk of chicane, who have obferved for three years paft no other law than that of the ftrongeft, and who have left no other alternative to our late fellow-fubjcfts than death or ruin, or unconditional fubmidion. I now come' to a part of the Gentle- man's fpeech, which I think deferving of the moft rigorous animadverflon^ He fays, it was ten to one that Admiral Keppel, with fo fuperior a force, would have dejlroyed half, or the greatejl part of the French fleet. I wi/h to God the officers of this country would leave gaf- conading to the inhabitants of that where the Garonne flows, and not invade the pri- C 2 vilcgc Ifl Ml; [i; V ■ii ( i^ ) vilege of their neighbours. I wifh too that he would be perfuaded by his own reafon, if a thoufand iiiO^ances have not taught it him, that an Englishman, or even a Scotch- man, oppofed againfl a Frenchman, is but a man ; that one gun and one (hip is as good as another ; and that, however neceffary it may be to delude the forecaflle with fuch an idea, whenever the fate of this country ihall depend upon the event, it will be the height of temerity to fuppofe, that with equal numbers, or with one or two more, the advantage will be on our fide in the proportion of ten to one, I believe I have anfwcred above, in (peak* ing of the Congrefs, the article about the mock Parliament, and Committees oj Major" Generals, I fee tlie Gentleman alludes to the times of Cromwell; but the circumllances differ widely 5 where all are foldiers, and all iare armed, it is natural to fuppofe that fenfe and valour will take the lead, and Major* Generals are more likely to be at the head of a Committee, than thofe of inferior rank* talents, and abilities; but in this Com- mittee, which, like every other part of the republic, is eleSllve, there is a Poliih Veto \; e lo < >3 ) by the fide of every Member, which, if reafon and argument (hould fail, would be re^y to aflert the rights of the republic. Under the article of probable events^ we are certainly more indebted to fortune than France or America ; and it is evidently ow- ing to chance alone that our fleet and army " efcaped from Philadelphia ; that they were neither ftarved nor taken at New -York ; and that the garrifon of Rhode-Ifland had not fufFered the fame fate as the men of war and tranfports. But we muft refohe to per-- fevere^ and to die in the loft ditch, fays this new advocate for bloodshed and battery. If we are ever drove to the laft ditch, I think it will be by fuch violent Councils ; in the mean time, I think there would be no harm in afking the gracious Congrefs, as he calls them, whether they, and their new ally, will leave us in quiet Ipoffeffion of what we now poffefs ? Or, if this pill is too bitter, fuppofe we afk the queftion of France, by the mediation of Count Almo- davar ? For if there is to be no peace in Jfrael, till we have conquered France, and Spain, and America, we have a flone to roll 11 n !1 •t! 1/ !»■ I' >• I, 1 1 . ill i >•• .'■il i: If t! 1 < 14 ) roll upwards, which, like that of Sifiphus, muft needs recoil and overwhelm us ; and thofe, who are ambitious of fuch an ho- nour, will foon find an opportunity of dying in a ditch. Before I reply to any more of this gentleman's arguments, I muft beg leave to obferve, that the nature of the war is now changed, and that we are in every part of the world entirely upon the defen- five. It is not neceflary to be a foldier, to know the difadvantages of fuch a war ; every body muft know that the enemy will ftrike, where, and when, he pleafes ; and that you will not know where, or when, he will ftrike. In the firft place, I will mention what places you have to garrifon and defend: In North America, Newfound- land, the forts in Hudfon's Bay, Quebec, and the iitland forts dependent upon it; Halifax, Annapolis, Fort Cumberland, and the fmaller dependent ports in Nova Scotia; Rhode Ifland, New York, Long and Staten Iflands, St. Auguftine, Penfacola. In th;: Weft-Indies, Darbadoes, Tobago, St. Vincent's, Antigua, St. Chriftopher's, Montferrat, igo. :rat. ( '5 ) Montferrat, and Jamaica. In Africa, Se- negal, and other forts. In India, Bencoolen, Bombay, Madrafs, and Calcutta, with all the dependent forts and fad:ories. In the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and Minorca j Ireland, with Jerfy and Guernfey; and laftly, the vital parts, Britain herfelf. In all thefe places we are chained like a bear at the (lake, without knowing at which we are to be baited. We ought to thank God, that we have not an army and a garriibn in every one of the Thirteen United States j which we certainly muft have, if we are fo unfortunate as to conquer them : In what a multitude of places (hould we be vul- nerable ; and how weak muft we be in each place. After the bead-roll of garrifbnsi have mentioned, I fancy no man will pretend to fay, we can fend an army to attack any part of the dominions of our enemies ; for, be- fides the troops that will be neceffary to occupy all thefe pofts, there muft be upoa the defenfive plan, a fquadron of /hips in North America ; another in the Weft -In- dies; a third in the Baft-Indies; a fourth in the Mediterranean ; befides a fifth, fuperior to what F;rance and Spain an mufter, for Channel II ' ( 16 ) Channel fervice 5 not to mention the numef- ous convoys that will be neceflary to protcdl your trade, and a frigate to windward and to leeward of every port in America. Are we equal to all thefe eE^orts ? And mud we de- ftroy ourfelvci "n making them for the worft of all purpofes, the conqueft of our coun- trymen ? I fee nothing like a carte blanche to France in the Independence of America; America has till now been in our pofTefnon, and yet we have not hitherto given the law to France ; why then (hould France, who is not in pofleffion oi America (and I truft never will be) give the law to us ? It is true (he claims a free trade with a free people ; but (he has declared, it is not an exclufive one ; and, indeed, from the very nature of the country, it is almofl impoflible it {hould be fo; befides, it is the intereft of the Americans to trade with all the world, and all the world are intereded in keeping open her trade. I come now to what has been faid about our army in America; that they were confident ofviSloryt and that they de» (Ired nothing but to be led againfl the enemy. I will not difpute but that this language ( '7 ) language maiy hitve been held by thofe who knew where it would be ag^reeable, and that there may be men in this army, as in all bthcrs, who would facrifice their honour and confcicnce for pay and promotion ; but from all the letters I have feen, and all the accounts I have heard^ I am perfuaded that the Engliih army is averfe to the American war, not only in its principle, but the mode of carrying it on ; and that they re- gard it as the grave pf their paft, and the infuperable obftacle to their future glory. But to judge of this queftion, fays the Gommiflioner, we muft know the dijpofition of Holland^ the Northern Powers, Portugal and Spain^ the re/our ces of this country, as well as the difficulties to encounter in America^ To thefe points I can only offer con- jectures, which appear to me to be founded on reafon* With regard to Hol- land, you have already fhewed her what you would do, if you dared. You have attempted to fhackle her trade with every, power with whom you (hall be at warj and as you are fo fituated as to command the navigation of the channel^ whilfl you are D the ■•'■1 ( i8 ) the ftrongefty (he muft needs wt(h a dimt* nution of your power» as the only probable check to your overbearing inibknce; (he will i^ot be for you for that rea^bn^ and if you meddle with her> (he will be againfi you. As to the Northern Powers, it cer- tainly i» not their intereft that you (hould get a barrel of tar, or pitch, or a maft, or a yard, or a fpar, or a (hingle, or a pipe- ilave« or, in (horty one (ingle article of naval (lores or lumber from America. The(e are the flaples of their country, and there you muft go to market for them, when you cannot get them elfewhere, and you cannot get them elfe where, except in America ; and if you are in pofltdion of America* you can get thtm from thence > and if you are the mafters at (ea, you may not only get your own naval ftores, &c. from thence, but you may prevent every fouthern power in Europe from getting naval (lores, either from America or the Baltic ; and thus be- coine the great tyrannical!, commercial mo« ftopolift of Europe. The northern powers are too enlightened to fuffer this. Portu* gal produces Tcry good Port wine, whicli no ( 19 ) no nation in Europe, except England* will cither purchafe or drink. Their oranges and lemons too find a market here, and are a drug every where elfe ', you may, therefore, exped a peace with Portugal. She will be neutral, unlefs France and Spain bid her call upon you for an army and a fubiidy, to carry on a mock war upon her frontiers, as you did fome years ago, to no manner of purpofe, but to exhauH: and weaken your- selves. Spain is now a reipedable mari* time power, and the Spaniards are an ho- nourable people : they are bound by treaty fo aflift the French with ten fail of the line and twenty thoufand land forces. It canoot be doubted but that they will ful£l their engagements, and what fuch a force will be in the fcale againfl you, for ever compleated and recruited, whatever they may fuifer, employed here or there, as times or contingencies may require, I need not fay ; but fetting her engagements alide» can it be fuppofed by any man in his fenfes, that Spain will fland by an idle fpedator, and fee the naval power of France anni- hilated, (the only means by which you ca» D 2 conquer i ■l I ( 20 ) conquer America) when from that epoch (he muft hold Peru and Mexico under the good pleafure of Great Britain, without any other fecurity than your moderation. It muft be with very different views to her own fecurity, that (he has equipped a fleet of (ixty fail of the line and thirty frigates j the French have fixty-feven fail of the line and forty-five frigates. If mutual interefts, alliance, and found policy, fhould ever combine thefe formidable fleets, we mull not exped to conquer them with rhodomontades of ten to one, I am not ac- quainted with the refources of France; I fhould fuppofe they were aflifted by the treafures of Spain ; I am aflured, at leaft, that they borrow money at five per cent, whilft we pay more than feven j and if the landholder, the ftockholder, the merchant, and the manufacturer are confulted, I be- believe there will be found more embarrafl*- ment in our finances, and lefs ability, as well as lefs inclination, to carry on a war than at any period fince we were a nation. Is it really neceflary at this time to dwell upon the dijicuhies we ar^ to encounter in America I ! ■ S ( 2: ) America ? Can there be a greater proof of their exiftencc, than that with fixty-thrce thoufand land forces, with twenty-two thoufand feamen, and near a hundred men of war, you have not furmounted them; that in this fatal conflid: with your late fel- low-fubjedls, you have already loft above twenty thoufand of our land forces, befides between five and fix thoufand taken pri- foncrs ; near five thoufand feamen, and fc- veral men of war, even before France had appeared in the quarrel. * In the firft place, I think it an exer- tion abfolutely beyond cur ftrength to put General Clinton at the head cf 25,000 men, after providing for the fe- curity of the feveral pofts at prefent in our pofTefilion. Attacked in all our de- pendencies, an invafion hanging over our heads, can we fend another fleet and another army to America ? (for we cannot fend an army without a fleet to convoy them) can we, I lay, io totally difmantle our own country, in hopes to recover another irre- coverably loft ? But for the fake of argu- ment, let us fuppofe (as the Gentleman defires) that Sir Henry Clinton can take the field I % I ( ^2 ) licld with £ve and twenty thaufand men, which way will be turn himfelf ? He can- not move up the North River beyond the highlands. It is impradticable ; both the Mini/lry and tkeir Generals know it to be fo, though they do not know above half the difii'^ulties ; it remains then to march, or to fail, to the Eaft or to the Weft. Will he advance through the Jerrys with lefs difficulty than he retreated i Will he crofs the Delaware in the face of an enemy» as Alexander pafled the Granicus ? Or wil he attempt the navigation of the Delaware, the pafTage of the chev^UK de frize, and the attack of Mud liland ^ He will not find them more defenceless than they were be- fore French frigates and French engineers had found their way tlicre. Will he return to Chefapeak Bay, march to Philadelphia by the route which Sir William Howe has traced out for him, and carry provi^ons enough to fubfift his army when he arrives there ? And when he does arrive there, will he leave a good garrifon in the place, and condud his army, his magazines, and his hofpitals, towards the Alleghenny Moun- tains ( 23 ) tains and the River Ohio ? Or will he fit down contented with the poiTeflion of this city, which we arc told ought never to have been evacuated? I throw out thefe queftions for the choice of thofe who choofe to meddle with them, declaring that I fee no profpedt of advantage in any one ilep I have been fpeaking of. To fail up the different rivers in Virginia, to be pelted from every point, without finding a town to burn, or an ai'my to conquer, is certainly an employ- ment quite unworthy of a Britifh fleet and a Britifh army; and there remains only to try once more our luck at Sullivan's Mand and Carolina. Whether the French have levelled the fortifications there, or ilrengthened them with additional works ; whether the inhabitants will oppofe you, or dcfire you to land, in order to protedl them from thcmfelvcs, is more than I can pre- tend to determine, and mufl therefore leave it to Sir Henry Clinton and the Gazette to inform tis ; I mean if he goes there a le- cond time. Liet ns now fuppofo that we have conquered the ibuth wefl provinces, and placed Il'f ti'. i ■ ' 1 { 24 ) placed girrifons in our conquefts; or tha^ we have been batHed in the attempt, as we have hitherto been, or that we have made no attempt upon them (which would be better than either). Let us turn our eyes and our forces to the north-eaftward : what ihall we be able . to do in that quarter ? I think we fhall be able to burn the remainder of the houfes at Bedford j and, if the enemy is not beforehand with us, perhaps we fhall get all the (heep we have left upon Mar- tha's vineyard ; nay, we may burn the pri- vateers at New London -, but this will not finifti the war. Before that bufmefs is done, you muft difarm Connedicut, and you muft take Bofton 5 before, therefore, you land in Connedlicut, and march into that coun- try from New- York, whether it be with the remains of a vidlorious army, or the entire unbroken number of 25,000, 1 would recommend it to the confideration of the General who commands them, that there are in Connedticut alone 40,000 men bear- ing arms, fupported on one fide by the province of New- York, where there are more than 30,000, and pn the other by Providence, where there are 14,000 more, whether ^':\ I'i ( 25 ) whether it be advifeable to conquer thefe people, en pajfantf or to proceed flrait to Bodon, the General's difcretion muft deter- mine; however, when he comes before Bofton, (to get there is his affair) he may cxpcdt to find a v£ry formidable army up- on his bands, and a town by no means de- fencelefs. By the laft mufter of the Maf- (achufetts militia, they amounted to $9,000, and thofe of their neighbours, in New Hampihire, to 1 8,000 ; when the tar-bar- rel is fet on fire upon Beacon-Hill, at Boflon, all thefe fellows begin their march, with lixty rounds of powder and ball, a mufquet upon their flioulders, a week's provifions, a blanket, and a Bible, at their backs I all covenanted to one another, and all fworn to obey their own Aflenibly and their Congrefs.. Half of this number can be affembled at Bofton in eight '^nd forty houis, and the whole in twice that time. In the war before laft, when Duke D'An- ville's fquadron was expe(^ed at Bofton, the whole . country was upon the march, and 10,000 men had adtually reached Bofton (in lefs than twenty-four hours, as I have E been ['it ■I' I II I) : If t^- ■ ( 26 ) been informed) before it was found to have been a falfe alarm. Indeed^ the late block*? ade> and confequent evacuation of Bofton, after our vidory at Bunker's Hill, are the beft proofs of the numbers that New Eng- land can bring together. Whether it is probable that General Clinton will defeat ifuch an army, and afterwards take the town of Bofton, 1 leave to the judgment of gen- tlemen of the profeflion. But it is faid, tp encourage us, that the greater exertions we make ourfelvesj the more laefhall be refpeSled hy others^ Now it is my opinion, and I flatter myfelf I am not iingular, that the more we exert ourfelves in this quarrel, the more odious we (hall make ourfelves, and the more enemies we fhall bring upon our backs ; we have feen the w cnce they can be collected, I leave any one to judge. The few troops they have amongft them (admitting that Grant arrives) muft be thrown into their forts, with a view, if poffible, to proted the harbours, (though I much queflion if they will be equal to their defence) but be that as it may, there is not one of our iflands upon which a landing may not be eifedled, without either danger or difficulty ; in fuch a cafe, the Negroes, and whatever is of any valu« upon the plantations, are at the mercy of an enemy. I aver, that nothing but a fu^ perior fleet in the Weft-Indies, or a very large body of troops diftributed amongft the iflands, can prevtiu your poffeffions from being fwept away. If the Marquis de Bouille chufes to continue his tour, there is nothing to ftop him, from Barbadoes to Jamaica ; and all this mifchief may have happened, whilft you are perfifting to take a bull by the horns in North America ; a method of pro- ceeding, which does fome honour to the F Ji hearts |M »1 :| ( 1- i t'i it ( 36 ) hearts of your foldiers, but very little tq the heads of your Minifters. It is, however, fome comfort to thof« who wifh to defend their own country, ra- ther than to invade America, that the 14,000 men devoted to this flaughter-houfe are not yet raifed, or likely to be raifed ; that the militia cannot be fent there ; and that the fe\/ regiments of regulars remain- ing amongfl us cannot be parted with, but at the rifk of the Minifter's head ; which I heartily wifli, both for his own fake, and that of his country, may never be forfeited. How (land our affairs in Africa ? Small demand, J fancy, for Birmingham guns, or Liverpool gun-powder ; the misfortune is, that we make ufe of thofe commodi- ties in Hiooting one another. The flave trade to the Weft-Indies, I believe, is at an end, unlefs we mean to fupply the French. We need not import them into this country, we have but too many of that complexion already. The Levant trade too, I fhould fuppofe, might labour under fomc little interruption. I do not find that a fqua- dron is ordered upon the JMediterraneaa fervice i ( 37 ) fervice; we are bound by treaty to Spam not to fend more than a fingle fixty-gun /hip into the Mediterranean, md I fancy? as matters fland, we fball as foon take a bear by the tooth as infringe an iota of that treaty. What invaluable pofTeflions then are Gibraltar and Minorca, Port Mahon, and the Mole at Gibraltar ; a fafe afylum for Admiral Mann, and two or three frigates. 1 underfland that a fquadron is deftined for the protedjon of our fettlements in the Eaft-lndies, where, at prefent, we have only two fliips of the line, and two or three frigates. This great branch of our com- merce feems to have been negleded in the fame manner as the Weft-Indies. The fa- vourite projedt, the conqueft of America!, feems to have abforbed every other concern. Before Sir Edward Hughes arrives in the Eaft-Jndies, it is highly probable we may have little left there to proted. The French have been long accumulating a force at the Mauritius. Their plan is to attack our fet- tlements, or elfe, as an Honourable Gen- tleman afferted in the Houfe of Commons, they r hi '1: :■<$. ^ tn I . ; I ii ( 38 ) have no plan at all. Perliaps, wc rely ppon the af/ej^ion of the country powers for our defence. I wiih, for the honour of the nation, yvQ had any claim to their affiftance and fupport ; but the injuflicc and oppreflion of our Government has been fuch, that fo far from being entitled to their affedion or efteem, we are become the obje(fl:s of their hatred and deteflation* How melancholy is the cpnfidcration to the friend? pf their country, that in the Eaft and in the Weft, in Afia and in Ame- rica, the name of tn Engliihman is becomf a reproach. In Europe we are not loved enough to have a fingle friend ; from fuch a fituation there is but a ftep to hatred or contempt. But to return for a moment to our own country, (about which I am not lefs anxious than for our dependencies) I think we are in danger every where, and moft fo where we are lea ft prepared againft it. Lord Amherft, the Fabius of our times, (who refcmbles the Roman in every thing but his delay) will, it is true, throw him- fclf and the militia between the capital and ift IS > g { 39 ) the iFrench; and if Gcneralfliip only WaA in queftion, whether our enemy was com-* manded by Hannibal or by Broglio, the event would not be doubtful. But our conftitutional army is but green, though their General is grey ; and a militia (though the heft in Europe) is not infallible againft an army of veterans. A kingdom is at ftake, and the odds are againft the defend- ants. But of all parts of the kingdom, I fuppofe Newcaftle and Shields to be in the Hioft danger. It is well known to many people in this country, that part of Mr, Broglio's plan, in his intended invafion of this country, is to hazard 7 or 8000 men at Newcaftle. I addrefs myfelf to the coal owners, to the (hip owners, and to the pot boilers, of London and fifty other places, and afk them, what extreme defolation fuch a forco landed in the North mufl occafion ? (For that they might and would land is certain, though Lord Percy, or Hannibal himfelf, was at the hesi of two battalions of militia to oppofe them). I fay, I leave all thefe fufFerers to declare what efFedts the deflruc- tion ^ if III ■r: ( 40 ) tion of their waggon ways and engines, trie filling up of their coal pits, the burning of their (hips, and laftly, (to ufc a new-coined and elegant Scotch phrafe) the ftarvation of London, and every town where the meat is roafled, the pot boiled, and the hands warmed with Newcaftle coal, muft produce. It (hould be obferved, that Sunderland, its , quay, its (hipping, and its contiguous coal pits, will all, in fuch an event, fhare the fame fu: I affert, that the fort and bat- tery at '^i. mouth, are not equal to the defence of the harbour ; from their fitua- tion and other circumflances, they muft be taken in a few hours. I need not fay, that 'a French engineer will be at no lofs on what fide to attack them ; and it is not by way of expofing the weak parts of our. country that I fay thus much, but to urgo the expedience of ftrengthening them, and to fhew the neceflity of giving Lord Percy, at leaft, ten thoufand men to defend the North. I fay the North, for the bufinefs may be done from Newcaftle to White- haven, and many miles North and South of each, before the exprefs fl:all have reached ( 4« ) reached Coxheath and Warlcy, or a fingic battalion have made an efie(ftual move from either to prevent it; and let it not be fuppofed that the French wrill heiitate to make a pu(h of this fort. Their lofs cannot be great, and the damage they may occafion may be infi- nite; eight thoufand landfmen killed or made prifoners; rate them as the Land- gr ve of HefTe does, j61. a man (which by the by is 15I, more than they coft) it is only 128,0001. loft to them, if they mif- carry ; it is a million millions, perhaps, loft to us, if they fucceed. What gamefter would not play upon fuch terms ? (But now we are upon the price and value of foldiers, I cannot help faying, that I think it (hould be part of General Faucit's inftrud:ions, when he contrafts for another drove of Ger- mans, to infift upon an abatement in the price.) I do not think that the freight and in- furance of the above-mentioned body of French troops, from Havre or Dunkirk to the North-eaft coaft of England, would coft a twentieth part of the money as the fame number of Hcftians or Highlanders export- G ed I ill V, k • f i:i ;■' i I ( 4* ) cd to America. But it is a mere bluftefr under our prefent apprehenfions, to talk of fending armies and fleets abroad ; and I wi(h Miniflcrs to be aware of the confe- qucnces of detaching fuch confiderable fqua- drons as we are doing, whilft England itfelf is infecure. Admiral Hughes is about to fail with fix fail of the line ; and it is faid he is to be convoyed 300 leagues to the weftward by ten fail more. I hope the remainder of our Iket at Portfmouth and at Plymouth are equal to every effort of the French and Spaniards. It (hould ^'i a maxim, how- ever, with every wife Vlinifter, as well as with every experienced Admiral and Gene- ral, to fuppofc that an enemy ws'// adually do what he may or can do; and under this idea, I would afk the Firft Lord of the Admirahy, whether the Breft fleet may not take the advantage of the firft fouth- weft wind to anchor along-fide our (hips at Spithead 3 and whether, in fuch a cafe, moft of our (hips there might not be funk, burnt, or taken ? (even though the odds are ten- to oae in our f?."Our.) Whether any num- ber ber of tranfports and troops might not comcf along with the Breft fleet ; whether all the bravery and experience of General Monck- ton, with the Invalids, and Lincolnihire Militia to back him, are equal to the de- fence of Portfmouth ; whether in an^tcafe your docks, ftorehoufes, &c. might not be deftroyedj and, if after all, the French might not proceed uninterrupted to the Thames, and the Medway : in (hort, whe- ther fuch a coup would not annihilate the naval and commercial flrength of this na- tion. I throw out thefe ideas, not merely as hints or fuggeftions of what is within the reach of poffibility, but as what I am firmly perfliadcd will be realifed, if there be an enterprizing minifler in France ; and if he can find an Admiral and a General adequate to the execution of his proj-edls. But, perhaps, I have exaufted your pa- tience, and fpent my own time to no pur- pofe, in dwelling upon a worn-out fubjedt; perhaps I (hall be called a feditious, fadli- Gus, rebellious republican, for having ad- vanced my own opinion, in opofition to that of the Miniftry. Be that as it may, I do i 1: ■d: ; i ( 44 ) do from my heart believe, that the profecu- tion of this war will be attended with the ru'.n and downfall of this country j that, in«^ ftead of recovering North America, we (hall lofe all of which we are at prefent poiTeifed there, together with the Weft-Indies, and all the trade depending upon theoi; and that we might, by treaty, fecqrc what by an infatuated perfeverence in the war we are upon the brink of loiing. I have the honour to be. lM Dear Sir, i*. Your very humble fervant. AN ENGLISHMAN. I' A