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Lea diagrammea auivanta llluatrent la m^thoda. y errata id to nt ne pelure, ipon A 12 3 3M 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE AMERICAN CRISIS, AND {^LETTER TO SIR OVY CARLETON, * » vfl fcjvhr 1^^.. tJSr irHE MtfkDER or caSI^ A30to>» or the guards. tmtmt* «**■*■» -^2.:. >•'' ^ THOMA& pik^ AUTHOU 6r COMMON ftBNU — K^HTS 0» MAN^ AOB 0» KBASON — ^AND THB miCLINB AND FALL or THB BNOLISM SYSTBM Of FINAKCB. •.'.1 -^ \ ■c'l'i' ;i .---nmr L (7 Jy D ^« PRINTBD AMD SOLO BY DANIEL ISAAC EATON, No. 74, NBWOATB^TREBT. h \ »' In CoNCRitif August ifi, 1785* Rbsolvio, That the early, unfolicited and continued lab«uri o£ Mr. Thomas Paini, in explaining and enforcing the principles o£ the late revolution, by ingenious and timely publications* upon the nature of liberty and civil government^ have been well received by the citizens of thefe States, and merit the approbation of Congrefs ; and thatinconfiderationofthefe fervices, and the benefits produced thereby, Mr. Pains is entitled to a liberal gratification from the United States. " OcTOBsji 3, X785. RxsoLviD, That the board of treafury uke order for paying to Mr. Thomas Pains, thefum of three thoufand dollars, for the con- fidentioos mentioned in the refolution of the 26th of Auguft laft. * Common Scale sad American Crifia. ■ ■ 1 V-" .. r ■■ ■- f IMt^fudytfiHl t^lj8e,\^J.FCeldin^ Hatanufitrllmt ( I f I * 5va '< Tki: American crisis** 't '« No. t Projicit impuVas. On fouls of flav'ry more thkn death afraia, G<^« wades h\t pardohs and hi* gofconaJe. UdL General gage's Prodamation lies beforcf hie, though it is tlot si fubjeQ for criticifm, yet it deferves notice ; We may oterlook the ftyle, but mud deteft the do6irine ; with what judgriient the General may command, with what fpirit he nliiy fight, with what prudence he may retreat^ is yet unknown; but it his condiiB in the field is equal to his compofition in the clofet, the fuccef^ of his majefty's abrmi muft be owing more to fate than judgment. This ' miirderotis proclamation opens with gi^at foka^iiity, bold aflertions^ and notorious falfehoods; it proceeds With the perfe- Vering fpirit of the times; but, alas! its im^rious offers of clemency, and its conceited m^naces^ ^ Anfwor to .the Prodamatidh of General Gagcy Atigaft^ 4771, B sttt '\ • ■ i I ' . [ « I are vain alike. The otie \^^ill make no converts for want of confidence ; and the other can make . no cowards for want of power. To fubjugate America entirely, by means of our fleet and Handing army, is impoflible; the thought only proves that adminiftration is as weak as it is wick- ed; fhould they be determined, like their mif- guided mafter, to perfevere, they will, ere long, find it imprafticable either to go forward, or to retreat; they will (let them mark the words of an unknown writer) oblige the people, throughout the empire of Great Britain, to take the power again into their own hands ; even anarchy is pre- ferable to defpotifm, efpecially while the govern- ment is in the hands of fools, madmen, knaves, and tyrants; hard ufage juftifieshard names. — Let .tis now proceed to this alluring proclamation, this flimfy, political trap for antiquated Roman vir- tue. The General thought fit to arraign the condu6i of the Americans as incendiaries and traitors againft the Conftitutional authority of the ftate ; if the Word, incendiary has any meaning in the Eng- lifti la^f|w^;'it can only be applied with propriety to one who is the firft kindler of co|p[imotions in a ftate; according to Our conftitution, the very head that wears the crown may be an incendiaryj by . encouraging a fa^tion^ which may as -well originate in the court as in the cottage, if the King and his Parliament, i^^^HP"W^p"^p' ■ ..^dStL. C 3 ] Parliament, devoted to a vite adminiftration, com- bine to perfcvere in carrying any one point againft the conftitution, they are from that moment a fac- tion (incendiaries) and not a government; they are traitors, traitors to the people. Let me now afk, whether faQion firft took rife in America, or the mother country? In that fpot (wherever it may be) we muft look for thefe incendiaries and traitors. I have put the queftion fairly; it is fimple, plain, and determinative.— I paufe for a reply-— not from the mouth of a haughty penfxoner, a Scotch placeman, or a fawning courtier; but by the decifion of a true conlUtutionaliib I am willing to abide. In the interim, I (hall declare my own opinion — That the mother country, reprefented as (he is by a corrupt majority, firft formed a facr tion herfelf againii the laws and liberties of Ame- rica; nay, (he has done more, die has artfully formed even a religious faQion (the worft of all others) upon that gieat continent. Her govern- ment has of late been adminiftered upon fuch mif. taken, narrow,> rotten principles, that (he did not think herfelf fecure till (he had efta1bli(hed Popery by a6l of Parliament at Quebec, by way of fo- menting di(rentions and enmity in thofe dominions (he would enflave, or adminiftration knew and feared the principles of the people upon that con«^ tinent. They had read that their anceftors were Puritans, and no friends to tyranny or popery; B a they [ 4 ] they knew their defigns, and planted Papiffs irt their rear to keep their rebellious fubjeds, as they call them, between two fires, and to deter them from taking refuge in the back fettlements ; but they have numbers and vhtue fufficient to enable them to keep, or at lead to recover their grounds Thus have a corrupt majority, falfciy called the Great Council of the Nation, themfelves departed, and encouraged Goyernment to depart, in this as well as numb^rlefs other inftances, from the line of right laid down at the Revolution^ a period but little reverenced by our State-pilots, Bute and Mansfield;, thefe two men, with their lacqueys in and oiit of Parliament, are the real and only incen- diaries of America. The wretched Americans^ unjuftly branded by every hireling with the name of traitors, are only buiied, and juilly bufied, in extinguifbing thofe flames, which fuch a govern- ment (if it deferves the name of one) has kindled, whether the Americans are traitors, or unhappy fubjeBs making a lawful refiftance to repeated tyrannies, muft be determined, not by hirelings, who aifaifinate for pay, but by thofe who pay them with relu6lance, by the colleQivc body of the people, in whom all ^ower virtually refides, from whom it originates, and to whom it mud perhaps (horily diifolve again. What the General calls treafon, this colle£Uve body (an awful tri- bui)^) will pronounce con^itutional refiftance. ^ Tht C 5 ] The Americans are next accufcd of a fatal pro- greflion of crimes againft the conftitutional autho- rity of the ftate. — By the term conftitutional, if the General means an authority conftitutionally exer- cifed, I deny his aflertion; it is as little founded on truth, as our minillerial meafures are upon found policy, juflice and humanity; when the principles of the ponflitution are abandoned (as they have lately been) the ftate may proceed au- thoritively, or rather defpotically, but it cannot be faid to aft conftitutionally.— That the Amerii. cans avow rebellion, I deny like wife; that they avow refiftance (as their brave anceftors once did, and as all true Revolutionifts will do) every Brit> ton, as an enemy to flavery, muft rejoice. For the patience and lenity of the King's (in truth of Lord Bute's and Lord Mansfield's) ^. vernment, 1 appeal to fa6ls. Thofe, who are mafters of the difputes between £ngland and Ame^ rica, and ftand unbiafled by corruption, will pafs an impartial judgment betwepn the oppreftbrs and opprefled ; we doubt not but the Sovereign's pa^ tience is equal to his other godlike attributes; but we know that the patience of America has been feverely tried ; among other ipvafions Ihe has been ftripped of the moft valuable privilege, the birth- right of a Britiiii fubje£i, trial by juries. In many other inftances government has attempted to en- (Is^ve tb^ip; and fhall th^ aggreifprs prefume to J P 3 ' boaft [ 6 J boad thus of their patience and lenity? At what time, in what particulars, were they exerted ? Were the humble fupplications and remonftrances of Ame- rica received by either, and by whiclrof thethree> great eilates of this kingdom P If fo, a Norton and Apfley, or fome miniilerial paricide, can in- form us ; but if they were (and they really were) rejeded witfi contempt by all, yhat pretence, what effrontery Jiave' the tools and fycophants of power^ to infult the underftandings of mankind with founds ? What hopes (lOr fuchxthe General talks of) could America eyer entertain of fuch an Ad-, miniftration, fuch a Parliament, and fuch a Sove- reign? She has, alas ! been driyen to defpair by all; nay, her fupplications have been finally an- fwered by thofe divine effefts of patience and lenity — Famine and the fword. Thus have thofe who are entrufted (as the General fays), with fu- preme rule, manifeiled to all the world, that they bear not the fword in vain. Could George the Third, that mirror of perfeyerance, that idol of an abandoned Miniftry, prefent the fword of juf- tice, like the old heathen emperor, to the people9 and'bid them ufe it for hiin^ or againft him, ac cording to his deferts ? If he pouid, he then bears not the fword in yain, but in defiance of heaven and earth, in defiance of all laws human and divine; nor can he b^ar k long. [73 Bnat the moft facred rights of the crown and people of Great Britain (iays the General) have been infringed. It is a moft audacious piece of miliiary infolence, after the late a£l of tyranny aifented to by the fteady Sovereign, to join die names of crown and people together, as if their views and intereft were ftill, as in truth they ought to be, the fame. Blind to its own intereft, to its honour, to its eftabUlhment, to its facred engage- ments at the altar, has the crown, whole fole aim is plainly defpotic power, confulted the intercfts of the people in its difputes with America ? The rights of the crown and people were ftipulated anew at the Revolution. But has the crown kept its com- pact with the people of America ? If not, by whom have the rights of the people been infringed ? — As to the rights of tlie crown, as ftipulated at the Re*- volution, they are well known, and have been reli- gioufly Aibmjtt^d to both at home and abroad, even in rebellious America; but when it begins to ftretch out the arm of ufurpation, it is time that its defpotic finews Ihould b^ flirunk. That the Americans have been guilty (and bravely guilty) of premeditation and confpiracy is moft true. They h^ve been provoked to a6iion, And they were too wife to a6l without think;ng. They have moft yirtuoufly confpired againft ty- rants, and difdained to wear the chains of the moft pious Kin^, the wifeft Adminiftration, and moft Hi jnpor* "Mt f 8 J incorrupt Parliament (hat Great Britain ever knew.— For thefe demerits the fulnefs of chaftife^ ment is threatened, fiat fuppofe the chaftifers fhould be chaftifed? I have always underftood that true courage was ever accompanied by the greateft modefty. Hiftory is foil pf thefe exam- ples. But our M iniftry (like their Sandwich and their Denbigh) have idly thought that America may be fubdued by gafconade. Such corrupt wretches afe ilrangers to the great eiFe6ts of virtue. Sad experience will inform them foon that all human fouls are not as abje£i as their own. The Americans are next accufed of an unna- tural revolt. If by this expreflion is meant a revolt againft their natural allegiance, I anfwer, that when protedion is firft unjuHly withdrawn on the Sover,eign s part, all allegiance ceafes on the fub- jeft's. The fubjefcl muft then recur to the rights of nature.; refiftance may enfue, but no revolt ; for the Sovereign, by breaking his compad, has fet the fubjeft free. A politician would reafon thus ; but a foldier has no idea of any mode of government but by the fword.« — We are then told that our colonics dared not tri^il their caufe to the impartial judgment of the public, or even to the difpaflionate refleftion of their followers.— But with what truth ? Were not the General Congrefles throughout the continent of America fo many open (ippeals teethe judgment of an impartial public? Were u ' X 9 1 Were not the flagitious prints, the popular ha- rangues, the declamation from the pulpits (which the General complains of) fo many incitements to the cool, difpaflionate reflexion of their follow^ ers ? Indeed, General, you (hould always reafon fword in hand. The pen is not your fort. You are loft upon paper, and muft at laft fubmlt to be vanquilhed in the field. Putnam is in earnefl. , The poor Americans are charged in the next place with a fuppreffion of truth; with obflrufiing every appeal to the real interefl of the people; with the gFoflefl forgeries, calumnies, and abfur- dities. To fay that the Ameiicans have been guilty of fupprefling truth, forging falfehoods, venting calumnies, and impofing abfurdities upon their party, is but a kind of petulant recrimination. Thefe difhonourable proceedings, if true, are but the common flratagems of war. They are not pe* culiar to one fide only, for the King*s party has pra£iifed them; all the infidious fpies of Go- vernment have pradifed them; General Carle- ton has pra£l)fed them mofl bafely ; you your- felf. General Gage, have pradifed them as dif^ honourably; but after all, is this malicious fplenetic recrimination a proof of treafon and rebellion s|gainfi thefe injured people ? In fpite of all this foul language, the world will think that there is as much veracity, virtue, candour* jionour^ 9pd true courage on the pari of free- men , h I to J meii ytho defend^ as on the part of tyrants ^'/ho invade their liberties. I now wiOi to be in- formed of thefe appeals which have been made (if the General fays true) to the real intereit of America. Through what channels have they palTed P Have cither of the three great eftates of this kingdoms pr has the Mipiiler, or even a fmgle tool or lac- quey ofAdminillratiOnY has a North, a Sandwich, or a Denbigh) once condefc^nded to advife, adr moniih, or expoitulate with America? Has the Secretary of State for that department ever had orders to write in fuch a flrain P Have not all Lord Bute s fervile clan endeavoured, on the con- jtiary, to carry every thing with a high hand, an4 a menacing audacious front? Have they not (hut their eyes, ears and hearts, againd every humble approach, every filial interceflion of America? Thefe infolent invaders of royal charters, human fights, and eftabliihed Jaws, have be^n too much flufhed with the hopes of conqued, to wiQi corr fiially for a reconciliation with America. They ]bave induftrioufly ftopped up every opening to, wards it. The p?ouths cf our patriots and our citizens have been ftopped by corrypt vot^s and inajeftic infults; as to the propof^l made by Lor4 IKorth in his Houfe of Commons, it wasi ^a)cu« lated for the contempt it met with. His Lordihip i¥as not quite fool enough to thipH it could take phee. By whom then has any appeal to the real intereft of America been made by thofe who would exterminate the people ? The proftitution of the prefs makes the next item in the General's catalogue of complaints* If the American prefs has been proftituted, I pray that Do£ior Johnfon may be called upon to declare, upon the honour of a court-peniioner, how glori- oufly the Engliih prefs has been employed in the caufe of truth by his brpther Garreteers; even the eloquence of the laity and clergy has been exerted (fays the General) to excite and juftify deyallation and maifacre. Can a foldier, who fliould be a man of honour, aflert fo grofs a falfehood ? It is notorious that no one popular harangue, as the General calls them, has been made in America^ with any other view than that of animating, their gallant countrymen to a juft defence of their liber-: ties, properties, and lives; the nobleil purpofe of yihich the diftinguiflied gift of the fpeech can ferve. That the brave and virtuous Americans have animated each other in fupport of their national rights, will be recorded in hidory to their immor^- tal honour; that oi;r perfidious government has armed the Papifts, >rhom they patronize at Que* be^9 with a yiew of deftroying their Proteftanf fubjeBs, is a circumliance which will make a. ^gure of a different caft in hjftory, and will moft f fluredly bring the adyifers of that meafure to aq igno- f « ] ignominious death, in fpite of the Handing army employed and paid at prci'ent for no other purpofe than that of protefiing tyrants ; whether popular harangues made in one cafe, or arms fupplied in the other, is moil chara6ieri(lic of; national honour and virtue, may eafily be determined. And to this the bafe, the cowardly, the traiterous defign of government, after all the parade and military blufr ter, of furrendering Canada to the French, a vaft province acquired laft war, at the expence of fo much blood and treafure. This pufillanimous thought has been luggefted to gratify a defpairing tyrant. I now accompany the General to the ac- count he gives of the igth of April laft, refpe6iing an attack upon the King's troops from behind walls, and lurking holes. Beitfo; yet who can believe that the King's troops fhould have been unprepared for ambufcade, or any a6ts of hoftil^ frenzy, as the General calls it? Have not the Americans been driven to this frenzy ? Is it not common for an enemy to take every advantage? Is it not uncommon, nay impoflible, that troops, charged with vengeance, ihould be unprepared to t&ke it ? Thay could not be unprepared for uking it, if they were armed ; nor would they decline taking it, if they were Scotchmen. Their not taking it, therefore, muft be owing either to a want of fpirit or want of condu6t, or a want of power. Sinc^ (hat pefioc) (of the loth of April) fays the Gene r^ £ «3 ] General, the rebels have derived confidence froifl impunity .-^Is It a matter of merit tlien, with a mei*" cenary foldiery^ that they did not execute what they were unable to effed ? This is talking like a driveller, General! But thefe rebels, thefe trailer^ ous Revolutionifls in America, have dared to fii-e upon the King's (hips and fubjeQs — Granted-r-but have not thefe fliips invaded them^ have not thefe Aibje£ls (why did you not fay foldiers and ttiarineft) threatened their de(lru6tion ? Is the do£trine of paflive obedience, and non-refiftance to the divine will of tyrants, to be obferved by the itiiulted and enflaved Americans, till they felt their Sovereign's bayonet in their bofoms? — ^Thefe rebels have prd- ceeded even farther; they have a0e£led (fays ouf General) to hold the King's army befieged — HaVe they ? May heaVens profper fuch a glorious piece of affefiation ! Every conftitutionalift throi^hout the Britifh empire hopes (hey will not only affeCl it, but effeft it : eVery true born Briton longs to fee the final triumph of America marked as an epocha in the future annals of his countiy ; not Would their joy be checked by the appearance df another blell'ed martyrdom in the calendar. Ty- ranny and martyrdom, like reprefentlition and tait- ation, (hould go togethef. The charge of invafion upon private property, and a wantodnefs of cruelty, is not only indecent, but imprudent, from that mouth which commands the C »4 ] • the King*s banditti in America^ who have fo dar- ingly themfeWes invaded the liberties, the proper* ties, the laws and lives of a free people with the fword, merely becaufe they claim, and will main-t tain, the rights of Englifhmen. ' As to the a£lions of the nineteenth of April laft, which fo .often haunt the General's mind, they ought to (land for ever recorded in the calendar^ to the eternal honour of America, who that day not only totally difappointed, but bravely refifted no confiderable party of the King*s military alfaf- fins. If any improprieties were committed on that nineteenth of April by the American troops, which cannot eaiily be pardoned by fo confummate a foU dier as General Gage ; yet their gallant behaviour on the feventeenth of June following muft furdy have deferved his admiration* They did not fire then from behind walls and lurking holes, bui; bravely faced, attacked and defeated the tyrant's forces. This appears fufRciently, even from the letter which has been artfully impofed on the pub- lic for General Gage's genuine account of that aClion ; but let the Minifter fhew forth the Gene- ral's real letter, if he dares. His mailer loft his colour when he read it ; and I verily believe that even Lord North (the oftenfible. Minifter) is not , himfelf entrufted with the true contents of it. His Lordftiip is but the drudge. He has the i^ame without the confidence of a Minifteri and meanly fubmits fubmits to be refponfible for iniquities not his own The real genuine letter (fo dreadful are its tidings) is a fecret to all but the tyrant, and his gemini^ the Cailor and Pollux of his cabinet, Bute and Mansfield. They dare not publifli it. i am now come to the laft effort within thd bounds of the General's duty, to fpare the effufioii of blood, which he is itridly charged to fhed with- out mercy or reluctance. The General, according to his orders, moil dutifully difpatched his blufter-^ ing Colonel Smith to commence the intended car- tiage. This bully failed ; yet blood was unnatu- rally and unjuftifiably drawn by our hireling cut- throats at Concord; and then the General, lA commiferation of the calamities which his murder- ous army had occaiioned, moft humanely offers^ two months afterwards (when he found himfelf un- equal to the ta(k of conqueft) his Majefty's moft gracious pardon to thefe unhappy fufierers* Vour treacherous offer is difdained-^away with it!— ^ and malfacre (if you can) but without an infult^ the braveii men in the Britifh empire. Did not the anceftors of thefe brave fpirits fpurn the infi- dious proclamation of that tyrant Charles, and fhall their fons fall a prey to the delufive orders of a weaker tyrant, and a more confummate hypo- crite ? — ^Will not the gallant Adams, ^nd the me- ritorious Hancock fall with their country, if it h her fat^ to fall ? Or fhould they be unfortunately t&ken prifonersy t i6 ] I ^j^rifoners, will they not call an indignant fmtl pious : for fo unlimited a power can belong only to God. . WhcAer r «9 J Whether the independence of the continent wu declared too foon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument: my own (imple opinion is, that had it been eight months, earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper ufe of lad winter; neither could we, while we were in a dependent iituation. How* ever) the fault, if it were one, was all our own : we have none to blame but ourfelves *. But no great deal is loft yet: all that Howe has been doing for this month paft, is rather a ravage than a con* queft, which the fpirit of the Jerfeys A year ago^ would have quickly repulfed, and which time and ^ little refolution will foon recover. I have as little fuperftition in me as any man living : but my fecret opinion has ever been, and Aill is, that God will not give up a people to mili* tary deftru6lion, or leave them ^nfupportedly to periih, who had fo earneftly and fo repeatedly ibught to avoid the calamities of war, by every de- cent method whicli wifdom could invent Neither have I fo much of the infidel in me, as to fuppofit that he has relinquifhed the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils: and as I do not, I capnot fee on what grounds the king • The ^reTent winter is worth an i^, if rightly employ. «d : but if Id^, or ncglcacd, the whole continertt will par- take of the evil : ani ^ere is no puoifhmei^t, tlwit man 4oes not defervei be he who, or wbat, or where he will, that may fee the flseatts of facriicin^ a fcafon fo prcdou abd idefBi. ♦. Ca can f .0 ] can look up to heaven for help againft us. A com- mon murderer, a highwayman, or a houfebreaker, has as good a pretence as he. 'Tis filrprifing to fee how rapidly a panic will fometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been fubje6l to them. Britain has trem- bled like an ague, at the report of a French fleet of Hat-bottomed boats : and in the fourteenth cen- tury, the whole Englifh army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back, like men petrified with fear: and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces, collefted and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might infpire fome Jerfey maid to fpirit up her countrymen, and fave her fair fellow fufferers from ravage and ravifhment! Yet panics, in fome cafes, have their ufe^ : they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always ihort: the mind foon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchftones of fincerity and hypocrify, and bring things and men to light, %'hich might otherwife have lain fdr ever undifco- vered. In faQ, they have the fame effe6l upon fecret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would upon a private murderer. They fift out the pri- vate thoughts of man, and hold them up in public, to the world. Many a difguifed tory has lately ihown his head^ that ihall penitenti^lly folemnizQ ^ith [ «« ] with curfes the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware. As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge of Pennfylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumftances, which thofe, who lived at a diftance, know but little or nothing of. Our fituation there was exceed- ingly cramped, the place being on a narrow neck of land, between the North river and the Hackin- fack. Our force was inconfiderable, being not one fourth fo great as Howe could bring againil us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrifon, had we (hut ourfelves up, and itood on the defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, &/id the bell part of our (lores, had been removed, upon the appre- hcnfion that Howe would endeavour to penetrate the Jerfeys, in which cafe Fort Lee could have been of no ufe to us: for it muft occur to every think- ing man, whether in the army or not, that thefe kinds of held-forts are only fit for temporary purpofes, and laft in ufe no longer than the enemy direfU his force againft the particular obje£l which fuch forts were raifed to defend. Such was our fitu- ation and Condition at Fort Lee, on the morning of the twentittn of November, when an officer arrived with information, that the enemy, with two hundred boats, had landed about feven or eight miles above. Major-general Green, who com- manded the garrifon, immediately ordered them C 3 under t " 1 4 under arms, and fent exprefs to his ExctWcncf General Wafhington, at the town of Hackinfack, diftant, by way of the ferry,- fix miles. Our firft obje6i Was to fecure the bridge over the Hackin- fack, which lay up the river, between the enemy and us, about fix miles from us, and three from ihem. General Wafhington arrived in about three quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops to the bridge, which place I expe£led we fhould have a brufli for: however, they did not chaofe to difpute it with us: and the greateft part of our troops went over the bridge, the reft . over the ferry, except fome which paifed at a mill, on a fmall creek, between the bridge and the ferry, «nd made their way through fome marfhy grounds, up to the town of Mackihfack, and there pafled the fiver. We brought off as much baggage as the waggons could, contain: the reft was lofl. The 'fimple obje6i was to bring off the garrifon, and to 'inarch them on till they could be flrengthened by the Jerfey or Penniylvania militia, fo as to be en- bled to make a fiand. We flaid four days at New- -A>i^k^ collected in our out-pofls, with fome of the Jerfey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on information of their being advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. General Howe, in my opinion, committed a great ^rorin generalfhip,innot throwing a body of forced off from Staten illand through Amboy, by which means C «3 1 means he might have feized all our floret at Brunf. wick, and intercepted our march into Pennfylva- nia. But if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we muft likewife believe that their agenu are under fome providential controul. I (hall not now attempt to give all the particu* lars of our retreat to the Delaware. Suffice it for the prefent to fay, that both officers and meny though greatly harraffed and fatigued, frequently without reft, covering, or provifion, the inevitable confequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and a martial fpirit. All their wiffies were one ; which was, that the country would turn out, and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked, thai king William never appeared to full advantage, but in difficulties and in a£lion. The fame remark may be made on General Wafh- ington, for the character iks him. There is a na- tural firmnefs in fome minds, which cannot beun* locked by trifle^; but which, when unlocked, dif- covers a cabinet of fortitude: and I reckon it among thofe kind of public bleffings which we do not immediately fee,* that God hath blefled him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourifh upon care. I fhall conclude this paper with fome mifcella- neous remarks on the ftate of our affairs; and fliall begin with alking the following queftionl Why is it that the enemy hath left the New England pro- C 4 vlncca C «4 ] vinces, and made thefe middle ones the feat of war ? The aiifwer is eafy : New England is not infefted with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raifing the cry againft thefe men, and ufed numberlefs arguments to fhow them their danger: but it win not do to facrifice a world to either their folly or their bafenefs. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we muft change our fen- timents, or one or both muft fall. And what is a tory ? Good God I what is he ? I fhould not be afraid to go with an hundred Whigs againft a thou- fand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms* Every Tory is a coward; for a fervile, flavifh, felf-interefted fear is the foundation of toryifm; and a man under fuch influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave. But before the line of irrecoverable feparation may be drawn between us, let us reafon the matter together: your condud is an invitation to the enemy; yet not one in a thoufand of you has heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you, as the American caufe is injured by you. He expeds you will all take up arms, and flock to his ftahdard with mufkets on your ftioulders. Yout opinions are of no ufe to him» unlefs you fupport him perfonally; for it is foldiers, and not tories, that he wants. I once felt all that kind of ianger, which a man ought to ^el, againft the mean principles that are held I »5 1 held by the Tories. A' noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was (landing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as mod I ever faw ; and after fpeaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finifli- ed with this unfatherly expreflion, " Well, give me peace in my days." Not a man lives on the continent, but fully believes that feparation muft fome time or other finally take place, and a gene« rous parent would have faid, ^' if there, muft be *' trouble, let it be in my days, that my child may *' have peace ;" and this (ingle refle6iion, well ap- plied, is fufHcient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be fo happy as Ame- rica. Her (ituation is remote from all the wrang- ling world, and (he has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man may eafily diftinguiih in hint- felf between temper and principle, and I am as confident as I am that God governs the wojrld, that America will never be happy till (he gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without cea(ing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent niuft, in the end be conqueror; for, though the flame of liberty may fometimes ceafe to (bine, the ^oal never can expire. America did not, nor does not want force; but fhe wanted a proper application of that force. Wifdom is not the purchafe of a day, and it is no wonder we fhould err pt firft fetting off. From an excefff €%eeti of tendemefst ^e were unwilling to, raife an army, and truiled our caufe to the temporary defence of a well meaning militia. A furomer^s experience has now taught, us better; yet with thofe tfoopSy while they were coUe^ed, we were able to let bounds to the progrefs of the enemy; and, tkasnk Godl they are again aflembling. I always confidered a militia as the beft troops in the world for a fudden exertion, but they will not do for a long campaign. Howe, it is' probable, will make an at- tempt on this city ; (I)ould he fail on this fide the Delaware, he is ruined; if he fucceeds, our canfe is not ruined. He (lakes alt on his iide againd a part on ours; admitting he fucceeds, the conle* quence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to aflift their fuifering friencU in the middle ftates ; for he cannot go eVcry where: H is smpo£(ible. I condder Howe as the greateii enemy the tories have; he is bringing a war into their own country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themfelves, they had been clear of. Sbould he ilow be expelled, 1 wiih, with all the devotion of a chriftian, that the names of whig and tocy may never ipore be mentioned; but ihould the tories give him encouragement to come, or ailift. aoce if become, I as (incerely wifli that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent^ gnd. the congrefs appropriate their poffeilions to tbe fclief of tbofe whp^ have fufi'ered m wellrdoing. A fingli^ C A7 3 A finglc fuccefsful battle next year yiiW fettle ditf vhole. America will carry on a two-years war by ihe confifcation of the property of difafFefted per- fons, and be made happy by their expulfion. Say not that this is revenge: call it rather the Toft ire- iemment of a fufFering people, who, having ho object in view but the good of all, have ftaked their own all upon a feemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue againft determined hardnefs : eloquence may (Irike the ear, and the language of forrow draw forth the tear of compaffion, but nothing can reach the heart that is fteeled with prejudice. Quitting this clafs of men, I turn, with the warm ardour of a friend, to thofe who have nobly Hood, and are yet determined to ftand the matter out. I call not upon a few, but upon all; not on this ftate, or that (late, but on twery date. Up and help us. Lay your fhoulders to the whetL Better have too much force than too litde, when fo great an obje6l is at flake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could furvive, that tht city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, 'came forth to meet and to repulfe it. Say not that thoufands are gone: turn out your tens of thoufands : throw not the burden of the day upon providence, but Ihow your faith by your good worksy that God may blefs you. It matters not whew ■"^ wlicfe you live, or what rank of life you hold ; the cvi> or the blcfling will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, (hall fufler or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now, is dead. The blood €if his children (hall curfe his cowardire, who Jhrtnks back at a time when a little might have •fiived the whole and made them happy. I love Ae man that can fmile in trouble — that can gather firength from diftrefs, and grow brave by reflec- tion. It is the bufmefs of little minds to flirink; ^Imthe, whofe heart is firm, and whofe confcienee approves his condu6l, will purfue his principles irotO" death. My own line of reafoning is to my- lelf, asJlrait and clear as a ray of light. Not all the .ireafures of the world, fo far as I believe, could have induced me to fupport an ofFenfive war;, for I think it murder: but if a thief break into my houfe-r-burn and deftroy my property, and kill, or threaten to kill me and tbofe that are in it, and to " bind me in all cafes whatfoever,** to his abfalute will, am I to fuiferit? What fignifies it to me,, .whether he who does it, is a king or a com- mon man; my countryman, or not my country, man ; whether it is done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reafon to the root of things we ihall find no difference; neither can any jult caufe be afligned, why we (hould punifli in the one cafe and pardoo in the other. Let thero call . me [ *9 ] wc rebel, and welcome ; I feel no concern from it; , but 1 (hould fufFer the mifciy of devils, wcic 1 to make a whore of my foul, by fwearing allegi- ance to one whofe charaQer is that of a fottiih, ftupid, ftubborn, worthlefs^ brutifh man. I con- ceive likewHe, a horrid idea in Teceiving mercy from a being, who at the laft day, fiiall be Shriek- ing to the rocks and mountains to cover him, ar^d fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the flain of America. There are cafes which cannot be overdone bf language ; and this is one. There are perfol^s too^ who fee not the full extent of the evil that threatens them. They folace themfelves with hopes, thiiit the enemy, if they fucceed, will be merciful. It tfi the madnefs of folly, to expeft mercy from thole who have refufed to do juftice-. and even mercy, where conqueft is the objeft, is only a tri-ck of war. The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of- the wolf, and we ought to be equally on our guard againft both. Howe's firll objeft is partly by threats, and partly by promifes, to terrify or feduce the people to give up dici arms, and receive mercy. The miniftry recom- mended the fame plan to Gage: and this is what the tories. call making their peace — ** « peace " which paifeth all underllanding," indeed. A peace which would be the immediate forerunner 6* a worfe ruin than any we have yet thotight of. ' Ye • men [ 80 3 inen of Pennfylvania, do reafon upon thofe things! Were the back counties to give up their arms, they Vould fall an eafy prey to the IndianS) who are all armed. This, perhaps, is what fome tones ^vould not be forry for. Were the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be expofed to the refentment of the back counties, who would then have it in their power to chaftife their defection at pleafure. And were any one date xq give up its arms, that ftate mud be gairifoned by all Howe*s army of Britons and Hellians, to preferve it from the anger of the reft. . Mutual fear is a principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that ftate that breaks the compaEt. Howe is mer* cifuUy inviting you to a barbarous deftru6lion, and men muft be either rogues or fools that will not fee it. I dwell not upon the vapours of imagination^ I bring reafon to your ears ; and in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes. I thank God, that I fear not. I fee no real caiife for fear. I know our fituation well, and can fee the way out of it. While our army was col- leBed, Howe dared not rift a battle: and it is no credit to him, that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to ravage the defencelefs Jerfeys: but it is great credit to US| that, with an handful of men^ we fuftained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought ^ oiir ammunition^ all our field pieces, the greateft { 3> ] greatell part of our ftores, and liad '"jur riven lo pafs. None can fay, that our retrcai was p ^c'tpi^ late;* for we were near three weeks in per^rniing it, that the country might have time to C(i«ne in* Twice we marched back to meet tlie enemy, and remained out till dark. The fign of fear was noi (een io our camp : and had not fome of the cow- ardly and difafFe^led inhabitants fpread falie alarms through the country, the Jerfeys had never been .ravaged. Once more^ we are again colle^ed ami collc£ling. Our new army, at both ends of the continent, is recruiting faft ; and we (hall be able to open the next campaign with (ixty thou£uid men, well armed and cloathed. This is our fituatioti-** and who will, may know it. fiy perfeverance and fortitude, we have the pro%e6t of a> glorious iflue ; by cowardice and fubmiflion, the lad choicp of a variety of evils — a ravaged country — a depo- pulated city — ^habitations without fafety-* <* footh), all fuch perfons as are affembled toge- ** ther under the name of general or provincial ** congreffes, committees, conventions, or other <^ aEbciations, by whatever name or names known ^^ or diftinguifiied, to defift and ceafe from aH ^^ fuch treafonable actings and doings." You introduce your Proclamation by referring to your declarations of the 14th of July and 19th of September^ In the laft of thefe, you funk yourfelf below the charader of a private gentle- man. That I may not feem to accufe you un- juftly, 1 (hall ftate the circumftance : By a verbal invitation of yours, communicated to congrefs by General Sullivan, then a prifoner on his parole, you (ignified your deftre of conferring with fome membera of that body as private gentlemen. It Da was [ 36 ] ,was beneath the dignity of the American congrefs to pay any regard to a meflage that at beft was but a genteel affront, and had too much of the miniderial complexion of tampering with private -perfons ; and which might probably have been the cafe, had the gentlemen, who were deputed on that bufinefs, poffeffed that eafy kind of virtue which ^n Englifli courtier is fo truly diflinguifhed by. %a\ir requeft, however, was complied with, for honeft men are naturally more tender of their civil than their political fan^e. The interview ended as every fenfible man thought it would ; for your LordChip knows, as well as the writer of the Cridst ^hat it is impoilible for the King^ of England to promife the repeal, or even the revifal> of any aBs of parliament ; wherefore, on your part you had nothing to fay, more than to requeft, in the room of demanding, the entire furrender of the continent; and then, if that was complied with, to promif^^ that the inhabitants fhould efcapewith their lives. This was the uplhot of the conference. You informed the conferees that you were two- months in foliciting th-fe powers. We afk, what powers ? for, as commiflioner^ you have none. If you mean the power of pardoning, it is an oblique proof, that your mailer was determined to iacri. fice all before him i and that you were two month^ in diffuading him from his purpofe. Another evi- dence of his favage obftinacy I From your own account m f« I • ir ^'J^n^l v|^^^| a 't^lfl^l ti ^H <( C 37 ] account of the matter, we may juftly draw thefe two cbnclufions : firft, that you ferve a monfter ; and fecondly, that never was a commiflioner fcnt on a more foolifli errand than yourfdf. This plain language may perhaps found uncoothly to an ear vitiated by courdy refinements; but words were made for ufe, and the fault lies in deferving them, or the abufe in applying them unfairly. Soon after your return to New- York, you pub- liihed a very illiberal and unmanly hand bill againlt the congrefs ; for it was certainly ftepping out of the line of common civility, firft to fcreen your national pride by foliciting an interview with them as private gentlemen, and in the conclufion to en- deavour toelieve moft men have more courage than they know of- nd that a Utile at firft is enough to begin with. I knew the time when 1 thought that the whiltling of a cannon ball would have frightened me almod to death: hut I hav« fince tried it, and find I can Hand it mth as little difcompofure, and (I believe) with a^ i(nuch ealier confciepcq than your Lordihip. The fame dread wouM -*r.. I 4» 3 u i& would retum tone again, were I in your fituationt lor my folemn belief of your eaufe, is, that it is helUfii and damnable : and under that conviQiop, every thinking man's heart mull fail him. From a concern, that a good caufe fhould be difhonoured by the lead difunion among us, I laid in my former paper. No. II. that, ^^ ihould the ene- my now be expelled, I wifh, with all the ftnce- rity of a chriTiian, that the names of whig and *^ tory might never more be mentioned :'* but there is a knot of men among us, of fuch a venomous caft, that they will not admiteven one*s good wilhes to aB in their favour. Inftead of rejoicing that heaven had, as it were, providentially prefervcd this city from plunder and de(lru6iion, by deli- vering lb great a part of the enemy into our hands, with io little effufion of blood, they flubbomly a,fle^d to di (believe it, until within an hour, nay half an hour of the prifoners arriving: and the Quakers * put forth a tellimony, dated the twentieth of I>ecember, figned John Pemberton, declaring their attatchment to the Britifh government. Thefe ♦ I have ever been careful of charging offences upon wbole (bcieties of men) bat as the paper referred to is put fortKby ttn unknpivn (kt of men» who claim to tbem&lves the right of repr^fenting the whole; and while the whole fdciety of Qiiak- er» ^mit its validity by a iilcnt acknow)edginent« it is im- fOflib)^ that any difiintlxon can be msude by the public ; arid the more fo> lyecaufe the New- York paper, of the joth of SttecAibt»» painted by permilfion of our enemies, fays, that *' thie Quai»rs begin to fpeak openly of their attachment to *' the Bntilh conttituiion.*' We are certain that we have maoy^fiiends among them, and wifli to know them. men [ 43 J men are continually harping on the gfeat iin of our bearing arms: but the king of Briton may lay waftc the world in blood and famine, aad they, poor fallen fouls, have nothing to fay. In fome future paper, I intend to diftinguifli be.-> tween the different kinds of perfons who have been; denominated tories: for this I am clear in, that alt are not fo< who have been called fo, nor all meit whigs, who were once thought fo: and as I mean not to conceal the name of any true friend, when there (hall be oc(iaiion to mention him; neither will I that of an enemy, who ought to be known^ let his rank, ftation, or religion be what it may. Much pains have been taken by fome to let your Lordfhip's private character in an amiable light r but as it has chiefly been done by men who know nothing about you, and who are no ways remark- able for their attachment to us, we have no juft- authority for believing it. George the Third was impofed upon us by the fame arts : but timh has at length done him juitice: and the fame fate mayr probably attend your Lordihip. Your avowed purpofe here, ,is, to kiU, conquer, plunder, par- don, and enflave : and the ravages of your army^ through the Jerfeys, have been marked with as "^ much barbarifm, as if you had openly profeife4 yourfelf the princ^ of ruffians. Not even the an* pearance of humanity has been preferved either on, the march or the retreat of your troops. No ge« neral r 44 3 neral order, that I could ever les^rn, has ever beeri iflued to prevent or even forbid your troops froirt robbery, wherever they came: and the only in- ftance of juftice, if it can be called fuch, which has diftinguilhed you for impartiality, is, that you treated and plundered all alike. What could not be carried away, have been deftroyed : and maho« gany furniture has been deliberately laid on the fire for fuel, rather than the men fhould be fatigued with cutting wood *• There was a time, when the whigs confided much in your fuppofed candour, and the tories reiled themfelves on your favour. The experiments have now been made, and failed: and every town, nay every cottage, in the Jerfeys where your arms have been, is a teftimony againll you. How you may reft under this facrifice of character, I know not: but this I know, that you fleep and rife with the daily curfes of thoufands upon you. Perhaps, the mifery which the tories have fuffered by your proffered mercy, may give them fome claim to their country's pity, and be in the end the beft favour you could fhew them. In a folio general order book belonging to Co- 4onel Rahl's battalion, taken at Trenton, and now w * As fome people may doobt the trath of fuch wanton de- ft ru^ioni I think It neceuary to inform, that one of the people called Q^akersi who lives at Trenton, gave me this informa- tion at the houfe of Mr. Michael Hutchmfon (one of the fame profeifion), who lives near to Trenton ferry, on tjic PennfyU Tania fidei Mr. HutchinfoQ b^ing prefent* now [ 45 ] now in the poffeffion of the council of faftiy for this (late, the following barbarous order is fre- quently repeated: '' His excellency the commander in chief orders that all inhabitants which fhall be found with atrms, not having an officer with them» fhall be immediately taken and bung up." How many you may thus have privately facrificedy we know not ; and the account can only be fettled in another world. Your treatment of prifoners, ia order to diftrefs them to enllft into your infernal fervice, is not to be equalled by any inftance ia Europe. Yet this is the humane Lord Howe, and his brother, whom the tories, and their three-quarter kindred, the quakers, or (broe of them at leaft, have been holden up for patterns of juftice and mercy! ^ A bad caufe will ever be fupported by bad meansi and bad men: and whoever will be at the pains of examining ilri6ily into things, will find that one and the fame fpirit of oppofition and impiety, more or lefs, governs through your whole party in both countries. Not many days ago, I accidentally fell in company with a perfon of this city, noted for efpoufing your caufe ; and on my remarking to hii9, that it appeared clear to me, by the late providen- tial turn of affairs, that God Almighty was vifibly on our fide; he replied, we care nothing for that^ you may have him, and welcome; if we have but enough of the devil on our fide, we fhail do. However carelcLly this be fpoken, mauers noij 'tis *.; I 46 3 Itis ftill the infcnfible principle that dire^ all your condufi, and will at laft mod afluredly deceive and ruin you. If ever a nation was mad and foolifh, blind to its own intereft) and bent on its own deftru£iion, it is Britain* There are fuch things as national finS: and though the punifhment of individuals may be referved to another world, national punifhment can <)nly b^ indited in this world. Britain, as a na- tion, is^ ill my inmoft belief, the greateft and mod ungrateful offender againfl God, on the face of the whole earth. Bleffed with all the commerce fHe could wifh for, and furnifhed by a vaft extent of dominion, with the means of civilizing both the eaflern and weflern world, fhe has made no other* ufe of both, than proudly to idolize her own *^ thunder," and rip up the bowels of whole coun- tries^ for what fhe could get. Like Alexander^ file has made war her fport, and infliQed mifery for prodigality fake. The blood of India is not yet repaid, nor the wretchednefs of Africa yet rC'r quited. Of late, fhe has enlarged her lifl of na- Ipnal cruelties, by her butcherly definition of &e Cafibbs of St. Vincent's, and in returning an ftnfwer by the fword,to the meek prayer for " peace, •' liberty, and fafety." Thefe are ferious things > and whatever a foolifh tyrant, a debauched court, a trafficking legiflature, or a blinded people, may think, the national account with heaven mufl fome day t 47 ] day or other be fettled. All countries have iboiicr or later been called to their reckoning. The proudeft empires have funk, when the balance was (truck : and Britain, like an individual penitent, muft un- dergo her day of forrow, and the fooner it hap- pens to her the better. As I wifh it over, I wifli it to come, bu^ withal wifh that it may be as light as poffible. Perhaps your Lordfliip has no tafte for feriom things. By your connexions in England, I fliould fuppofe not : therefore I ftiall drop this part of the fubjed, and uke it up in a line in which yoil. will better underftand me. By what means, may I aik, do you expcd to conquer America ? If you could not efie6t it ink the fummer when our army was lefs than yoursy nor in the winter, when we had none, how artt you to do it ? In point of generalfhip, you have been outwitted; and in point of fortitude, outdone : your advantages turn out to your lofs, and fhew ut that it is in our power to ruin you by gifts. Like a game of drafts, we can move out of one fquare^ to let you come in, in order that we may after-^ wards take two or three for one ; and as we can always keep a double corner for ourleives, we can always prevent a total defeat. Vou cannot be fo inienfible, as not to fee that we have two to one the advantage of you, becaufe we conquer by a drawn gan^e, and you loie by it. Burgoyne might » * have t 48 3 liave taught your Lordfhip this knowledge; he his been long a ftudent in the dodrinfe of chances. I have no other idea of conquering countries than by fubduing the armies which defend them : have you done this, or can you do this P If you have not, it would be civil in you to let your pro- clamations alone for the prefent ; otherwife, you will ruin more tories by your grace and favour than you will whigs by your arms. Were you to obtain poif^^flion of this city, youf would net know what to do with it, more than to plunder it. To hold it) ia the manner you hold New York, would be an additional dead weight upon your hands : and if a general conqueft is yovLt objefi, you had better be without* the city than with it. When you have defeated all our armies, the cities will fall into your hands of them- ielves ; but to creep into them in the manner you got into Princetown, Trenton, <&c. is like robbing an orchard in the night, before the fruit be ripe, and running away in the morning. Your experi- ment in the Jerfeys is fufRcient to teach you that you have fomething more to do than barely to get into other people's houfes ; and your new converts to whom you promifed all manner cC prote6tion, and feduced into new guilt by pardoning them from their former virtues, muft begin to have a very contemptible opinion both of your power and policy. Your authority in the Jerfeys is now re- duced [ « 3 duced to the fmall circle which your army occtt- pies, and your Proclamation is no where elfe feen, Unlefs it be to be laughed at. The mighty fub- ducrs ofthecontigteni are retreated into a nutihell^ and the proud forgivers of our fins are fled from thofe they came to pardon ; and all this at a time 'when they were-difpatching veflel after velfel to England, with the great news of every day. In ihort, you have managed your Jerfey expedition fo very dexteroufly, that the dead only are con- querors, becaufe none will difpute the ground with tiiem. In all the wars you have formerly been concerned in, you had only armies to contend withV in this cafe, you have both an army and a country to combat with. In foi*mer wars, the countries followed the fate of their capitals ; Ca* nada fell with Quebec ; and Minorca, with Port Mahon or St. Philips ; by fubduiiig thofe, the con- querors opened a way into, and became mailers of the country: here it is otherwife : if you get pofleflion of a city here, you are obliged to fliut yourfelves up in it, and can make no other ufe of it, than to fpend your country's money in. This is all the advantage you have drawn from New- York; and you would draw lefs from Philadelphia, becaufe it requires more force to keep it, and is much farther from the fea. A pretty figvire you and the Tories would cut in this city, with a river full of ice, and a town full of fire; fur the immc* K diate C 50 ] dkte confequcnce of your getting here would be, that you would be cannonaded out again, and the tories be obliged to make good the damage ; and tbis) fooncr or later, will be the fate of New York. I wifh 10 fee iht city (aved, not fo much from^ military, as from natural motives. It is the hiding- place of women and children, and Lord Howe*ff proper bufinefs is with our armies^ When I put all the circumftances together which ought to be taken, I hugh atyoornotion of conquering Ame- rica. Becaufe you lived in a tilde country, where an army might run over the whole in a few days^ amd where a (ingle compatly of fbldiers might put a multitude to the rout^ you expe^ke^ to find it the fame here. It is plain that you brcu;^ at over with you all the narrow notions you ih, i bred up with, and imagined that a proclamation in the kings name was to do great things; but Englifhmen always travel for knawiedge, and your Lord (hip, I hope^ will retar% ifl you return at alb^ much wifer than you came. We may be furprifed by events we did not ex* peO:, and ki that interval of recolleftion you may gain fome temporary advantage : fucn was the cafe a few weeks ago: but we foon ripen again into reafon, collect our (Irength,. and while you are preparing for a triumph, wc Come upon you with a defeat. Such it has been, and fuch it would be were you to try it an himdred times over. Were you t Si 3 you to garrifon tht places you might march ov^^ in order to feciire their fubjedion (for remember you can do it by no other means), your arm^ would be liM a ftream of water running to no^ thing. By the time you reached from New York to Virginia, you would be reduced to a firing of drops not capable of hanging together; while we by retreating from ftate to date, like a river turn« ing back upon itfelf, would acquire ftrength in the fame proportion as you loft it, and in the end be capable of overwhelming you. The qountrf in the mean time would fuiFer ; but it is a day of fuffering, and we ought to exped it. What we contend for is worthy the affli^ion we may go through. If we get but bread to eat, and 2iuf Kind of raiment to put on, we ought, not only to be contented, but thankful : more than that we ought not to look for ; and lefs than that, heaven has not yet fulfered us to want. He that would fell his birth-right for a little fait, is as worthlefs as he who fokl it for porrage without fait : and he diat would part with it for a gay coat, or a plain eoat, ought for ever to be a flave in buff. What »re fait, fugar, and finery, to the ineftimable blcf- fings of ** Liberty and Safety?" Or what are the inconveniences of a few months to the tributary bondage of ages ? The meancft peafant in Ame- rica, blefled witfi thefe fentiments, is a happy mw^ compared with a New York tory; he can eat his /£ ft morf((l [ 5« 1 morfer without repining, and when he has ddncy can fweeten k with a repaft of wholefome air; he can take his child by the hand and blefs it, with- out feeling the conscious fhame of negle&ing a parent's duty. In publifhing thefe remarks, I have feveralob- jeQs in view. On your part they are, to expofe the folly of your pretended authority, as a commif- fioner — the wickednefs of your caufe in general-^ and the impo£Oibility of your conquering us at any rate. On the part of the public, my meaning is, to fhew them their true and folid intereft; to en- courage them to their own good; to remove the fears and falfnies^ which bad men had fpread, and weak men had encouraged ; and to excite in all men a love for union, and a chearfulnefs for duty. I ihall fubmit one more cafe to you, refpe6ling your conqueft of diis country, and then proceed to new obfervations. Suppofe our armies in every part of the conti- nent immediately to difperfe, every man to his home, or where elfe he might be fafe, and engage to re-aifemble again on a certain future day. It is clear that you would then have no army to con- tend with ; yet you would be as much at a lofs as you are now : you would be afraid to fend your troops in parties ovei* Uie continent, either to dif- arm, or prevent us frotn aiSembling, left they fhould not return: and while you kept them togethert having [ 53 ] faaving no army of t)urs to difpute with, you conld not call it a conqueft. You might furnifti out a pompous page in the London Gazette, or the New York paper : but when we returned at the appointed time, you would hare the fame work to do you had at firft. It has been th^ folly of Britain to fappofe her- felf more powerful than (he really is, and by that means have arrogated to herfelf a rank in the world fhe is not entitled to : for more than this century paft (he has not been able to carry on a war without foreign afliftance. In Marlborough's campaigns, and from that day to this, the number of German troops and officers aflliding her, have been about equal with her own. Ten thoufand Heflians were fent to England laft war, to proteft her from a French invafion : and (he would have cut but a poor figure in her Canadian and Weft Indian expeditions, had not America been lavifh of her men and money to help her along. The only inftance, in which fhe was engaged fingly, that I can rccolleQ, was againft the rebellion in Scotland in 1745 and 1746, and in that, out of three battles, (he was twice beaten, till by thus re- ducing their numbers (as we (hall yours), and tak> ing a fupply (hip, that was coming to Scotland, with clothes, arms, and money (as we have often done); (he was at laft enabled to defeat them. £ngland was never famous by land. Her of- E 3 licew r 54 ] ficers have generally been fufpe^fced of cowardice^ have more of the air of a dancing mailer than a foldier ; and by the fample we have taken prifon-* 6rs, we begin to give the preference to ourfelves. Her ftrength of late has laid in her extravagance : but as her finances and her credit are now loW) her finews in that line begin to fail fad. As a nation, ihe is the pooreft in Europe : for were the whole kingdom, and all that is in it, 'to be put up to (ale^ like the eftate of a bankrupt, it would not fetch as vnuch as ihe owes. Yet this thoughtlefs wretch viafl go to war, and with the avowed deiign^ too^ of making us beads of burden, to fupport her in riot and debauchery, and to a{fi(l her afterwards in diftreffing thofe nations who are now our beft liriends. This ingratitude may fuit a tory, or th^ unchridian peeviihnefs of a fallen quaker, but nqne •Ife. It is the unhappy temper of the £ngli(h, to hti pleafed with any war, right or wrong, be it but fuccefsful : but they foon grow difcontented with ill fortune : and it is an even chance, that they are IS clamourous for peace next fummer, as the king and his minifters were for war lail winter. In this natural view of things, your Lordihip (lands in a Very ugly critical fituation. Your whole charac* ter is (laked upon your laurels : if they wither, you wither wilh them. If they flourifh, you cannot Hve long to look at theiii : and at any rtte, the £4 l>lack t 55 ] < bbck account hereafter is not far off. What lately appeared to us misfortunes, were only blef- £ngs in difguife : and the feeming advantages on your fide have turned out to our profit. Even our lofs of this city, as far as we can fee, might be a principal gain to us. The more furface yon fpread over, the thinner you will be, and the edfier wiped away : and our coiiifolation, under that ap- parent difaiter, would be, that the ^ftates of the tories would be fecurities for the repairs. In fhort, there is no old ground we can fail upon, but forne •new foundaiion rifes again to fupport us. ^ We have put. Sir, our hands totbe plough— ^and curfed he he that looketh back.*' Vour king, in his fpeech to parlianient, laft fpring, declared to them, that ^' he had no doubt but the great force they had enabled him to fend io America would effeBually reduce the rebellious colonies." It has not-^neither can it. J^u^itiias 'done juft enough to lay the foundation of its own next year's ruin. You are fenfible that you left England in a divided diftraded date of politics, and, by the command you had here, you became a prin- cipal prop in the court party : their fortunes reft on yours : by a fingle exprefs, you can fix their valiie' with the public, and the degree to which their fpirits (hall rife or fall. They are in your hands as ftock, and you have the fecret of the al- ley with you. Thus fituated, and conne£led, you £ 4 become t 56 ] i^ become the unintentional, mechanical inftrument of your own and their overthrow. The king and his minifters put conqucft out of doubt, and the credit of both depended. on the proof. To fupport them in the interim, it was neceflary that you (houid make the moil of every thing : and we can tell by Hugh Gaine*s New York paper, what the com- plexion of the London Gazette is. With fuch a lift of vidories, the nation cannot expedyou will afk new fupplies; and to confefs your want of them^ would give the lie to your triumphs, and impeach the king and his minifters of treafonable decep« tion. If you make the neceflary demand at home* your party (inks : if you make it not, you fink yourfelf. To a(k it now, is too late, and to aCk it before, was too foon, and unlefs it ariive quickly, 'will be of no ul'e. In fhort, the part you have to a6i, cannot be a6led: and I am fully perfuaded, that all you have to truft to is, to do the beft with what force you have got, or little more. Though we have greatly excelled you in point of general- fiiip, and bravery of men, yet, as a people, we have not entered into the full foul of enterprize : for I, who know England, and the difpofition of the people well, am confident, that it is eafier for us to effed a revolution there, than you a conqueft here« , A few thoufand men, landed in Engla nd, with the declared defign of depofing the prefent Mng, bringing hi& minifters to qrial} and (etting up the Duk» t ^7 } Duke of Glouccfter in his ftead, would alTuredljr carry their point, while you were gr(»velling here ignorant of the matter. As I fend all ray papers to EngUnd, this, like Common Scnfc, will find its -way there : and though it may put one party on their guard, it will inform the other, and the nation in g^nerjl, of our defign to help them. Thuifar, Sir, I have endeavoured to give you a pidure of prefeat aBairs : you may draw from it what conclufionyou pleafe. 1 wifh as well to the true pofterity of England as you can, but I confi- der independence as America s natural right and intcrett, and never could fee any real diflervice it would be to Britain. If an Ehglifli merchant re- ceives an order, and is paid for it, it fignifies iio« thing to him who governs the country. This is my creed of politics. If I have any where ex- iSkd myfeif over warmly, it is from a fixt im- moveable hatred I have, and ever had, to cruel men and cruel meafures. I have likewife an aver- fion to monarchy, as being too debafmg to the dignity of man; but I never troubled others with my notions till very lately, nor ever publifhed a fyUable in England in my life. What I write is pure nature, and my pen and my foul have evef gone together. My writings I have always given away, relerving only the expence of printing and paper, and fometimes not even that. 1 have ne- ver courted either fame or intereltj and my maa, ner f S8 J ner of life, to thofe who know it, will juftify what I (ay. My (ludy is, to be ufeful, and if your Lordfhip love mankind as well as I do, you would* feeing you cannot conquer us, cad about and lend your hand towards accomplifhing a peace. Our independence, with God*s bleffmg, we will main- tain againfl all the world : but as we wifh to avoid evil ourfclves, we wilh not to inflid it on others. i am never over inquifitive into the fecrcts of the cabinet, but I have fome notion, if you negled the prefent opportunity, that it will not be in our power to make a feparate peace with you aFter- mrards; for whatever treaties or alliances we form, ve (hall moft faithfully abide by : wherefore you may be deceived, if you think you can make it Kfith us at any time. A lafting independent peace is my wilh, end, and aim i and to accomplilh that, « I pray txod the Americans may nfever be de- feated, and I truft while they have good officers, and are well commanded, and willing to be com* inanded) that they never will/' C. S. h'j' i Philadelphia^ Jan* 1 3 j 1 7 7 7. . ' ■ >. 1^4* AMERICAN AMERICAN CRISIS. No. IV. ,3 I N the progrefs of politics, as in t!he coiamon occurrences of life, we are not only apt to forget the ground we have travelled over, but frequeritly negled to gather up experience as we go. We expend, if I may fo fay, the knowledge of every day on the circiimilances that produce it, and journey on in fearch of new matter and new re- finements : but as it is pkafant, and (bmefimes ufeful, to look back, even to the firft periods of infancy, and trace the turns and windings throu^ which we have palTed, fo we may likewife derive many advantages by halting a while in our politic cat career, and taking a review of the wonderous complicated labyrinth of little more than yefter- day. - Truly, may we fay, that never did man grow old in fo ihort a time I We have crowded the bufi- nefs of an age into the compafs of a few montbsi and have been driven through fuch a rapid fuc- ceffion of things, that, for the want of lei(iire to jtihink) we unavoidably wafkd knowk^e a$ we earner [ 6o ] came, and have left nearly as much behind us as we brought with us : but the road is yet rich with fragments, and, before we fully lofe fight of them, will repay us for the trouble of (lopping to pick them up. ' Were a man to be totally deprived of memory, he would be incapable of forming any jufl opinion; every thing about him would Teem a chaos ; he would even liave his own hiftory to afk from every one; andby not knowing how. the world went on in his abfencej he would be ata lofs to know how it OUGHT to go on when he recovered, or rather returned to it again. In like manner, though in a tefs degree, a too great inattention to pad occur- rences retards and bewilders our judgment in every thing ; while, on the contrary, by comparing what is pad with what is prefent, we frequently hit on the true charaftcr of both, and become wife with very littfc trouble. It is a kind of counter- march, by which we get into the rear of Time, and mark the movements and meaning of things as we make our return. There are certain circumftances, which, at the time of their happening, are kind of middles; and as every riddle is to be followed by its anfwer, fo thofe kind of circumftances will be followed by their events, and thofe events are al. ways the trVie folution. A confiderable fpace of trm^ mray- lapfe between, and unlefs we continue our obi^ivationr from the one to the other, the f-**'^' harmony t 6i : btrmony of them will pafs away unnoticed : but the misfortune is, that partly from the prefling ne^ ceflity of fome inftant things, and partly from the impatience of our tempers, we are frequently in fuch a hurry to make out the meaning of every thing as faft as it happens, that we thereby never truly underftand it; and not only Hart new di£B- culties to ourfelves by fo doing, but» as it werci embarrafs Providence in her good defigns. I have been civil in Haling this fault on a large fcale ; for, as it now elands, it does not appear to be levelled againft an/ particular iet of men ; but were it to be refined a iitt!c fu. ther, it might after- wards be applied to the Toues wjiU a degree of flriking propriety : thofe men ha e been remark- able for drawing fudden corvclulions fr .ui (ingle £i£U. The lead apparent miiiiap on our fide, or the leaft feeming advantage on the part of the en«^- my, have determined the fate of a whoje cam- paign. By this hafty judgment they have con- verted a retreat into a defeat; miftook generalfhip for error: while every little advantage purpofely given the enemy, either to weaken thqir ftrength by dividing it, envv rafs their councils by multi- plying their obje6b, or to fecure a greater poft by the furrender of a lefs, has been inftantly mag- nified imo a conquell. Thus, by quartering ill policy upon ill principles, they have frequendy promoted t «» ) promoted tlie caufe ihty defigned to itijitref and injured that which they intended to promote. It is probable the campaign may open before this number comes from the prefs. The enemy have long lain idle, and amufed themfelves with carrying on the war by proclamations only. While they continue their delay, our ftrength increafes t and were they to move to a£lion now, it is a cir- cumftantial proof they have no reinforcement com^ ing ; wherefore, in either cafe, the comparative advantage will be ours. Like a wounded difa* bled whale they want only time and room to die in; and though in the agony of their exit, it may be unfafe to live within the flapping of their tail, yet every hour ihortens their date, and leffens their power of mifchief. If any thing happens while this Number is in the prefs, it will afford me a fubje€i for the latl pages of it At prefent I am tired of waitings and as neither the enemy, nor the ftate of politics, have yet produced any thing new, I am thereby left in the field of general matter undireBed by any ftriking or particular object. This Crifis, therefore, will be made up rather of variety than novelty, and conlift more of things ufeful than things wonderfuL The fuccefs of the caufe, the union of the peo* pie, and the means of fupporting and lecuring both, are points which cannot be too much attended to. He who doubts of the former is adefponding cow- ardj t 68 ] ardf and he wha fitfully difturbs the latter is a traitor. Their characters are eafily Axed, and ' under thefe ihort dtfcriptions I leave them for the t>rerent. ' One of the greateft degrees of fentimental uni- on which America ever knew, was in denying the right of the Britifli Parliament** to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever.'* The declarat*'"n is in its form an almighty one, and is the loftieft ftretch of arbitrary power that ever one fet of men, or one country claimed over ano- ther. Taxation was nothing more than putting the declared right into pra£lice ; and this failing, re- courfe was had to arms, as a means to eftablifli both the right and the praClice, or to anfwer a worfe purpofe, which will be mentioned in the courfe of this Number. And in order to repay themfelves the expence of an army, and to profit by their own injuftiee, the Colonies were, by ano- ther law, declared to be in a ftate of a£lual rebel- lion, and of confequence all property therein would fall to the conquerors. The Colonies, on their part, firft, denied the right ; fecondly, they fufpended the ufe of taxable articles, and petitioned againll the praBice of tax- ation : and thefe failing, they, thirdly, defended their property by force, as foon as it was forcibly invaded; and in anfwer to the declaration of re- bellion and non-prot^£tion, publifhed their decla- ration [ 64 3 mtioD of Indepetidcncc) and lif^t to tc\t-pioitU lion. Thefe, in a few words, are the different ftagea of the quarrel ; and the parts are fo intimately and neceflarily conne6ted with each other, ii to admit of no feparation. A perfon, to ufe a trite phrafe^ mud be a Whig or a Tory in the lump. His feeU ings, as a man, may be wounded ; his charity, as a Chriftian, may be moved : but. his political prin- ciples mud go through all the cafes on one iide of the other. He cannot be a Whig in this (lage, and a Tory in that. If he fays he is againft the United Independence of the Continent, he is, to all in* tents and purpofes againd her in all the reft; be* caufe THIS LAST comprehends the whole. And he may juft as well fay, that Britain was right in declaring us rebels ; right jn taxing us ; and right in declaring her " right to bind the Coi.o«> MIES tN ALL CASES whatsoever." It fignifiea nothing what neutral ground, of his own creationi he may ikulk upon for (helter ; for the quarrel in no ftage of it hath afforded any fuch ground ; and either we or Britain are abfolutely right or abfo- lutely wrong through the whole. Britain, like a gamefter nearly ruined, hath now put all her lofles into one bet, and is playing a defperate game for the total. If (he win it, Ihe wins from me my life; ihe wins the Continent as the forfeited property of rebels ; the right of ux- ing [ 65 1 ing thofc that are left as reduced fubjefb ; and (he powerof binding them as flaves : And the fingle die which determines this unparaUeled event is, whether we fupport our independence or ihe overturn it. This is coming to the point at once. Here is the touch-ftone to try men by. He that is not a Juf^ porter of the independent ftates of ^mericai in the fame degree that bis religious and political principles would fuffer him to fupport the government of any lot her country, of which he called himfelf a fubjeSfi \isy in the American fenfe of the word, A TORY j ind theinflant that he endeavors to bring hit toryifm )into praSfice, he becomes A TRAITOR. The r(l man can only be deteded by a general te(l» [and the law hath already provided for the latter. It is unnatural and impolitic to admit men who [•would root up our independence to hare aiiy fhare |in our legiflation, either as eledbocs or reprefenta- ivesi becaufe the. fupport of our independence rcfts in a great meafure on the vigour and purity of )ur public bpdies. Would Britain, even in time )rpcacc, inuchlefsin war, fuffer aneleftionto be carried by men who profefTed themfclves riot to be ler fubjcd*, or allow fuch to fit in parliament ? Cer- [tainly not. > , But there area certain fpecies of torics widi [whom confciencc or principle hath nothing to do, [and who are ^io frpm avarice only. Some of the firft fortunes in the <;on?incm, on the part of the ^ whigs. [66 ] whigs, are ftaked on the ifTue of our prefent mea- forcs. And (hall difafFeAion only be rewarded with fecurity ? Can any thing be a greater inducement to a miferly man, than the hope of making his mammon fafe I And though the fcheme be fraught with every character of folly, yet, fo bng as he liippofest that by doing nothing materially crimi- nal againfl America on one part, and by exprefling his private difapprobation againd independence, as a palliadve with the enemy on the other part, he flandstherebyina fafe line between both, while, I fay, this ground be fufFered to remain, craft and the fpirit of avariee will point it out, and men will not be wanting to flU up this moft contemptible of all character*. • ^>^* 'J ^^^ Theie meti, alhafffed to own the fordid caufc from whence their difaffedion iprings, and thereby atdd meannefs to meanne^, by endeavouring to fhel- ter thcmfelves under thie mafic of hypocrify j that is, they had rather be thought to be tories from/, but muft fet them down a$ toriesofthe laft. '4 <•..'. f Inthefecond numtifcroftheCrinsI endeavoured to (hew the inipoflibilirf of the enemy making any conqucft [ «7 1 conqued of America that nothing was wandng on our part but patience and perfeverance, and that» with thefe Tittues^ our fuccefs, as ^ as humaii fpe- culacion could difcern^ Teemed as certain as fete. But as there are many among tis^ who^ influenced by others^ have regularly gone back from theprin* ciples they once held, in proportion as we have gone forward ; and as it is the unfortunate lot of many a good man to live within the neighbourhood of dif^ affeded ones; I fhall dierefore, for the fake of confirming the one and recovering the other^ en- deavour, in the fpace of a page or two, to go over fome of the leading principles in fiipport of inde« pendence. It is a much pleafanter tafk to pre** vent vice than to punifh it -, and however our tern- pers may be gratified by rcfentment, or our nati- onal expenccs eafcd by forfeited eflatcs, harmony and friendfhip is neverthelefs the happieft condition a country can be bleft with. The principal arguments in fupport of indepen- dence may be comprehended under the four fol- lowing heads. Firft,— The natural right of the conti/iciit to independence. Secondly,— Her intereft in being independent Thirdly —The neccirity,--and Fourtiily,— The moral advantages arifmg therefrom. Fa I. Th« r 69 I I. The natural right of the continent to indepen* dence, is a point which never yet was called in queftion. It will not even admit of a debate. To deny fuch a rights would be a kind of atheiim againft nature : And die beft anfwer to fuch an ob-» jedion would be, ** The fool batbjaid in bis beartt tbere is no God.** II. The intereft of the continent in being inde- pendent is a point as clearly right as the former. America, by her own internal induftty, and un- known to all the powers of Europe, was at the be- ginning of the difpute, arrived at a pitch of great- nefs, trade and population, beyond which it was the intereft of Britain not to fufier her to pafs, left (he (hould grow too powerful to be kept fubordinate. She began to view this country with the fame un- eafy malicious eye, ^th which a covetous guardian would view his ward whole efbte he had been en- riching himfelf by for twenty years, and faw him juft arriving to manhood. And America owes no more to Britain for her preient maturity, than the ward would to his guardian for being twenty -one years of age. That America hath flourilhed at tbe time ftie was under the government of Britain, is ,true I but there is every natural reafon to believe, that had (he been an independent country from the •lirft fctdement thereof) uncontrouled by any foreign power, free to make her own laws, regulate and tncourage her own commerce^ (he had by this . . time t 69 ] time been of much greater worth than how. Thie cafe is fimply this. The firft fettlers in the different colonies were left to fhift for thcmfelves, unnoticed and unfupported by any European government $ but as the tyranny and perfecution of the old world daily drove numbers to the new, and, as by the fa- vor of Heaven on their induflry and pcrfeverance, they grew into importance, fo, in^ a like degree, they became an objeft of profit to the greedy eyes of Europe. Ic was impoilible in this flate of in- fancy, however thriving and promifing, that they could reiifl the power of any armed invader that ihould feck to bring them under his authority. In this iituation Britain thought it worth her while to claim them, and the continent received and ac- knowledged the claimer. It was, in reality, of no very great importance who was her mafler, feeing that from the force and ambition of the different powers of Europe fhe mufl, till fhe acquired flrength enough to affert her own right, acknow- ledge fome one. As well, perhaps, Britain as ano- ther; and it might have been as well to have been under the flates of Holland as any. The fame hopes of engrofling and profiting by her trade, by not opprefTing it too much, would have operated alike with any mafler, and produced to the colo- nies the fame efiefts. The clamour of protedtion likewife, was all a farce 3 becaufe, in order to make that protedion neceflary, fhe muftfirfty by her own F3 quarrels [ 7e ] quarrels create us enemies. Hard terms indeed ! ' To know whether it be the intereft of thie con- tinent to be independent) we need only afk this cafy) iimple queftion : Is it the intereft of a man to be a boy all his life ? The anfwer to one will be the anfwer to both. America hath been one con- tinued fcene of legiflatire contention from the firft king's reprefentative to the laft ; and this was una- voidably founded in the natural oppofition of intereft between the old country and the new. A governor fent from England, or receiving his authority there- from, ought never to have been confidered in any other light than that of a genteel commiflloned fpy, whole private bufinefs was information, and his public bufmefs a kind of civilized oppreflTion. In the firft of theie charadters he was to watch the tem- pers, fentiments and difpofidonof the people, the growth of trade, and the incrcafe of private for- tunes j and in the latter, to fupprefs all fuch a6ts of the aflfemblies, however beneficial to the people, which did not dircdlly or indireftly throw fome in- creafe of power or profit into the hands of thofe who fent him. America, till now, could never be called ^fret country i becaufe her legiQation depended on the wUl'of a man three thoufand miles didant, whoie intereft was in oppofition to ours, and who by a fipgle "no," could forbid what law he pleafed. The freedom of trade, likewife^ is, to a trading country, I 7« ] country, an article of fuch vaft importance, that the principal fource of wealth depends upoiv it ; and it is impofCble that any country can flourifli, as it ouherwife might do, whofc commerce is engroflcd cramped and fettered by the laws and mandates of another — ^yet thefe evils, and more than I can here enumerate, the continent has fufFered by being un- der the government of Great Britain. By an inde- pendence we clear the whole at once — put an end to the bufmefsof unanfwered petitions and fruideis remonflrances — exchange Britain for Europe — Ihake hands with the world — live at peace with mankind — and trade to any market where we belt can buy and fell. III. The necelfity, likewiie, of being independ- ent, even before it was declared, became fo evident and important, that the continent ran the riik of be- ing ruined every day fhe delayed it. There were reafons to believe that Britain would endeavour to make an European matter of it, and rather than loie the whole, would difmember it like Poland, and difpofe of her feveral claims to the higheft bidder. Genoa, failing in her attempts to reduce Coriica, made a lale of it to the French, and fuch traffics have been common in the old world. We had at that time no AmbalTador in any part of Europe, to counteradt her ncgociations, and by that means -ihe had the range of every foreign court uncontradifted on our part. Wc even knew nothing of the treaty F4 for t r« 3 Ibr the Heflians till it was concluded, and the troops ready to embark. Had we been independent be- fore, we had probably prevented her obtaining them. We had no credit abroad, becaufe of our rebellious dependency. Our (hips could claim no protection in foreign ports, becaufe we afforded them no jufti- liable reafon for granting it to us. The calling ourfclves fubjedts, and at the fame time fighting igainfl the power we acknowledged, was a danger- ous precedent to all Europe. If the grievances juftified our taking up arms, they juftified our fe- paratioDi if they did not juflify our feparation, neither could they juflify our taking up arms. All Europe was interefled in reducing us as rebels, and all Europe (or the greatefl part at leafl) is interefled in fupporting us as independent flates. At home our condition was flill worfe : Our currency had no foundation, and the fall of it would have ruined whig and tory alike. We had no other law than a kind of moderated pafTion; no other civil power than an honcft mob j and no other proteftion than the temporary attachment of one man to another. Had independence been delayed a few months lon- ger, this continent would have been plunged into irrecoverable confudon : Some violent for it, fomc againfl it, till in the general cabal the rich would have been ruined, and the poor deflroyed. It is to independence that every tory owes the prefent fafety he lives ins for by tbaty and that only, we emerged [ u ] emerged from a flate of dangerous fufpenie, and became a regular people. The ncccflity likewife of being independent, had dierc been no rupture between Britain and America, would in a little time have brought one on. The encreafing importance of commerce, the weight and perplexity of legiflation, and the entangled date of European politics, would daily have fliewn to the continent the impoffibility of continuing fubor- dinate ; for, after the cooled reflefbions on the mat- ter, this muft be allowed, that Britain was too jea- lous of America, to govern it juftly ; too ignorant of it, to govern it well i and too diftant from it, to govern it at all. IV. But, what weigh moft with all men of fe- rious refleaion are the MORAL ADVANTA-. GES arifing from independence : War and defbla- tion are become the trades of the old world ; and America neither could nor can be under the go- vernment of Britain without becoming a fharer of her guilt, and a partner in all the difmal commerce of death. The fpirit of duelling, extended on a national fcale, is a proper charadber for European wars. They have feldom any other motive than pride, or any other objeft than fame. The con- querors and the conquered are generally ruined alike, and the chief difference at lafl is, that the one marches home with his honours, and the other without them, 'Tis the natural temper of th« Eng* [ 74 ] EngliHi to fight for a feather, if they fuppofe ibai ftather to be an affront) and America, without the right of afking why, mud have abetted in every quarrel and abided by its fate. It is a (hocking fituation to live in, that one country muft b? brought into all the wars of another, whether the meafurc be right or wrong, or whether (he will or not i yet this, in the fulled extent, was, and ever would be, the unavoidable confcqucnce of the connedlion. Surely ! the Q^kers forgot their own principles, when in their late teilimony they called this conneStion with theie military and miferable appendages hanging to it, « ^he happy tcnfiitution** Britain, for centuries pad has been nearly fifty years out of every hundred at war with fome power or other. It certainly ought to be a confcientious as well as political confideration with America, not to dip her hands in the bloody work of Europe. Our fituation affords us a retreat from their cabals, and the prefent happy union of the flates bids fair r extirpating the future ufe of arms from one quarter of the world j yet fuch have been the irre- ligious politics of the prefent leaders of the Quakers, that, for the fake of they fcarc^()i|tj||ll^at, they would cut off every hopeoffuch ableffing by ty- ing this continent to Britain, like He£tor to the chariot-wheel of Achjflles, to be dragged through aU the miiertes of.endiefs European wars. Tht [ 75 ] The connc6kion, viewed from this ground^ is di(^ trefTing to every man who has the feelings of hu- manity. By having Britain for our mafter, we be- came enemies to the greateft part of Europe, and they to us ; and the confequence was war inevitable. By being our own mailers, independent of any fo- reign one, we have Europe for our friends, and the profpedt of an endlefs peace among ouriclves« Thofe who were advocates for the Britifh govern- ment over thefe colonies, were obliged to limit both their arguments and their ideas to the period of an European peace only : The moment Britain be- came plunged in war, every fuppofed convenience to us vanilhed away, and all we could hope for was not to be ruined. Could this be a defirable condi- tion for a young country to be in ? Had the French purfued their fortune immedi- ately after the defeat of Braddock, laft war this city and province had then experienced the woeful ca- lamities of being a Britilh fubje^. A fcene of the fame kind might happen again j for America, con- fidered as a fubje6b to the crown of Britain, would ever have been the feat of war and the bone of con- tention between the two powers. On the whole, if the future expulfion of arms from one quarter of the world be a defirable objed to a peaceable man j — if the freedom of trade to every part of it can en^ge the attention of a man ofbufincli 5 — if the fupport or fall of millions of curfcncy [ 76 J currency can affed our intercft ;- —if the entire poi"- iefTion of cftates, by cutting off the lord)y claims of Britain over the foiJ, deferves the regard of landed property ;— and if the right of making our ownlaws> uncontrouled by royal or minifterial fpies or man- dates, be worthy our care as freemen j — then are all men intereded in the fupport of independence; and may he that fupports it not, be driven from the blefI]Dg> and live unpticd beneath the fervile fuf- ferings of fcandalous fubjedlion ! We have been amufed with the tales of ancient wonders s we have read, and wept over, the hif- tories of other nations ; applauded, cenfured or pi- tied, as their cafes affefted us. — The fortitude and patience of the fuffcrers— the juftnefs of their caufe —the weight of their oppreflions and opprelTors — the objeft to be favcd or loft — with all the confc- quences of a defeat or a conqueft — have, in the hour of fy mpathy, bewitched our hearts and chained it to their fate ; But where is the power that ever made war upon petitioners ? Or where is the war on which a world was ftaked tiU now i We may not, perhaps, be wife enough to make all the advantages we ought of our independence; but they are, neverthelefs; marked and prefented to us with every charafter of GREAT and GOOD and v/orthy the hand of Him who fent them. I look through the prefent trouble to a time cf tran- quility, when we fhall have it in our power to fet. an [ 77 ]■ ^n example of peace to all the world. Wcr€ the Quakers really imprefled and influenced by the quiet principles they profefs to hold, they would, hov ever they might difapprove the means, be the firil of all men to approve of INDEPENDENCE, bccaufc, by feparating from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, it affords an opportunity, never given to man before, of carrying their favourite principle of peace into general praftice, by cftahlifhing go- vernments that Ihiill hcreafrer cxift without wars. Oh ye Men, cringing pricft and Pemberton-rid- den people ! what more can we fay of ye than that a religious Quaker is a valuable character, and a political Quaker a real Jefuit. Having thus gone over fome of the principal points in fupport of independence, I mufl now re- queftthe reader to return back with me to the pe- riod when it firft began to be a public dodtrine, and to examine the progrefs it has made among the various clafTes of men. The sera I mean to begin at, is the breaking out of hoftilities, April 19th, 1775. Until t^i5 event happened, the continent fcem^d to view the difpute as a kind of law-fuit for a maiter of right, litigating between the old coun- try and the new ; and fhe felt die fame kind and degree of horror, as if Ihe had feen an oppreflTive plantifF, at the head of a band of rufHans. enter the court, while the caufe was before it, and put the judge, the jury, the defendant and his council to the fword» t 78 1 ' • fword. Perhaps a more heart-felt convulfion ne- ver reached a country with the fame degree of pow- er and mpidity before, and never may again. Pi- ty for the fufFerers, mixed with indignation at the violence, and heightened with apprehenlions of un- dergoing the fame fate, made the affair of Lex- ington the affair of the continent. Every part of it felt the lliock and all vibrated together. A gener- al promotion of fentimcnt took place : Thofe who had drank deeply into whiggifti principles, that is, the right and neceffity not only of oppofing, but wholly fetting afide che power of the crown as foon as it became praftically dangerous (for in theory it was always fo) ftept into the firfl ftage of indepen- dence } while another clafs of whigs, equally found in principle, but not fo fanguine in enterprizc, at- tached themfelves the ftrongcr to the caufe and fell clofe in with the rear of the former ; their partition was a mere point. Numbers of the moderate men whofe chief fault, at that ttme, arofe from their en- tertaining a better opinion of Britain than Ihe de- Icrved, convinced now of their miftake, gave her up and publicly declared themfelves good whigs. While the tories, feeing it was no longer a laughing matter, either funk into filent obfcurity, or con- tented themfelves with coming forth and abufing General Gage: Not a finglc advocate appeared to juftify the adtion of that day ; it icemcd to appear to every one witli the fanic magnitude, Itruck every one [ 79 3 one with the fame force, and created in every one the fame abhorrence. From this period we may date the growth of independence. If the many circumftances, which happened a( this memorable time, be taken in one view, and compared with each other, they will juftify a con- clufion which feems not to be attended to, I mean afixtdefign in the king and miniftry of driving America into arms, in order that they might be furnifhed with a pretence for fcizing the whole con- tinent, as the immediate property of the crown, A noble plunder for hungry courtiers! It ought to be remembered, that the firft peti- tion from the congrefs was at this time unanfwercd on the part of the Britiih king. That the motion called Lord North*s motion, of the aoth of Fe- bruary, 1775, arrived in America the latter end of March. This motion was to be laid by the feveral governors, then in being, before the aflembly of each province j and the firft aflembly before which it was laid, was the aflembly of Pennfylvania in May following. This being a juft ftate of the cafe, I then aflc, why were hoftilities commenced be- tween the time of pafllng the rcfolve in the houfe of commons, of the 20th of February, and the time of the aflemblies meeting to deliberate upon it ? Degrading and infamous as that motion was, there is, neverrhelefs, reafon to believe that the king and his adherents were afraid the colonics would agree 5 '-' [ to J agree to it, and left they Ihould, took effc£hial care they fliould not, by provoking them with hoftilitics in the interim. They had not the leaft doubt at that time of conquering America at one blowf and what they expedled to get by a conqueft being infinitely greater than any diing they could hope to get either by taxation or accommodation, they fcemed determined to prevent even the pofTibility of hearing each other, left America fhould difad- point their greedy hopes of the whole, by liftening even to their own terms. On the one hand they refufed to hear the petition of the continent, and on the other hand took efFedual care the continent fhould not hear them. That the motion of the 20th of February and the orders for commencing hoftilities were both con- certed by the fame perfon or perfons, and not the latter by General Gage, as was falfely imagined at ill ft, is evident from an extrad of a letter of his to adminiftration, read among other papers in the houfe of commons J in wh«ch he informs his mafters. That though their idea of his dijarming certain coun^ ties was a right oney yet it required him to be mafter L^the country y in order to enable him to execute it, I ills was prior to the commencement of hoftilities a ^d confcquendy before the motion of the 20th of F bruary could be deliberated on by the feveral aflemblies. Perhaps [ 8i ] Perhaps it may be a(ked> why was the motion pad, if there was at the fame time a plan to aggra- vate the Americans not to liften to it ? Lord North afligned one reafon himfelf, which was, a hope of dividing them. This was publicly tempting them to rejedb it ; that if, in cafe, the injury of arms fhould ^il of provoking them fufficiently, the in« fult of fuch a declaration might Rll it up. But by pafllng the motion and getting it afterwards rejeAed in America, it enabled them, in their wretched idea of politics, among other things, to hold up the colonies to foreign powers with every poffible mark of difobediencc and rebellion* They had applied to thofe powers not to fupply the continent with arms, ammunition, &c. and it was neceffary they fliould incenic them againft us by afTigning on their own part fome fccming reputable reafon why. By dividing, it had a tendency to weaken the ftatcs, and likewife to perplex the adherents of America in England. But the principal fchemc, and tliat which has marked their character in every part of their conduft, was a defign of precipitating the colonies into a (late which they might after- wards deem rebellion, and under that pretence put an end to all future complaints, petitions or rc- monftrances, by fcizing the whole at once. They had ravaged one part of the globe, till it could glut them no longer; dieir prodigality required new plunder, and through the Eaft-India article TEA, Q they i« [ 81 ] they hoped to transfer their rapine from that quar- ter of the world to this. — Every defigned quarrel has its pretence ; and the fame barbarian avarice accompanied the plant to America, which ruined the countfy which produced it. That men never turn rogues without turning fools, is a maxim, fooner or later, univerfally true. The commencement of hoftilities, being in the be- ginning of April, was, of all times the word cho- fen : The congrefs were to meet the tenth of May following, and the diftrefs the continent felt at this unparalleled outrage gave a (lability to that body, which no other circumftance could have done. It fuppreflcd too, all inferior debates, and bound them together by a neceffitous afFeftion, without giving them time to differ upon trifles. The fuffering likewife, foftened the whole body of the people in- to a degree of pliability, which laid the principal foundation-ftone of union, order and government ; and which, at any other time, might only have fretted and then faded away unnoticed and unim- proved: But providence, who beft knows how to time her misfortunes as well as her immediate favors, chofe this to be the time. And who dares dif- pute it ? It did not feem the difpofition of the people at nliis crffis to heap petition upon petition, while the former remained unanfwered: The meafure, how- e> er, was carried in congrefs, and a fecond petidon was [ 83 ] was fent ; of which I fhall only remark, that it was fubmiflTivr even to a dangerous fault, becaule the prayer of it appealed folely to, what it called, the prerogative of the crown, while the matter in dis- pute was confefTed to be conftitutioiial. But even this petition, flattering as it was, was ftiU not fb harmonious as the chink of cafh, and confequendy not fufficiently grateful to the tyrant and his minif- try. From every circumftance it is evident, that it was the determination of the Britifh court to have nothing to do with America but to conquer it fully and abfolutely. They were certain of fuccefs,and the field of batde was to be the only place of treaty. I am confident there are thoufands and tens of thou* fands in America who wonder now they (hould ever think otherwife j but the fin of that day was the fin of civility, yet it operated againft our pre- fent good in the fame manner that a civil opinioQ of the devil would againft our future peace. Independence was a do6trinc fcarce and rare even towards the conclufion of the year feventy-five : All our politics had been founded on the hope or expedtation of making the matter up — a hope, which, though general on the fide of America, had never entered the head or heart of the Britifh court. Their hope was conqucft and confifcation. Good Heavens ! what volumes ot tiianks does America owe to Britain ! What infinite obligations to the G 2 tool /TV * W •[ 84 ] t6o)> that fills, with paradoxical vacancy, the throne ! Nothing but the (harpeft eflence of vil- lainy, compounded with the ftrongeft diiUllation of folly, could have produced a mcnftruum that would have efFedcd a reparation. The congreis in fcvcnty-four adminiftcred an abortive medicine to independence, by prohibiting the importation of goods, and the fuccceding congrefs rendered the dofe dill more dangerous by continuing it. Had independence been a fettled fyftem with America (as Britain has advanced) fhe ought to have dou- bled her importation, and prohibited in fome degree her exportation. And this fmgle circumftance is fufficient to acquit America, before any jury of na- tions, of having a continental plan of independence in view : A charge, which had it been true, would have been honourable, but is fo grofsly falfe, that either the amazing ignorance, or the wilful difhon- efty of the Britilh court, is efFedtually proved by it. The fecond petition, like the firft, produced na arifwer : it was fcarcely acknowledged to be recei- ved ; the Britifh court were too determined in their villany even to ad it artfully, and in their rage for conqueft, negleded the neceflary fubtilties for ob- taining it. They might have divided, diftradted, and played a thoufand tricks with us, had they been as cunning as they were cruel. This [ 8j ] . This laft indignity gave a new fpring to indepen- dence. Thofe who knew the favage obftinacy of the king and the jobbing gambling fpirit of the court predidled the fate of the petition, as foon as it was fent from America ; for the men being known, their meafures were eafily forefeen. As politicians, wc ought not fo much to ground our hope on the rea- fbnablenefs of the thing we a(k, as on the reafon- ableneis of the perfon of whom we aflc it ; Who would expe6^ difcretion from a fool, candor from a tyrant, or juftice from a villain ? As every profpeft of accommodation feemed now to fail fad, men began to think ferioufly on the matter 5 and their reafon being thus ftript of the falfe hope which had long encompafled it, became approachable by fair debate j yet ftill the bulk of the people hefitated j they ftartled at the novelty of independence, without once confidering that our getting into arms at firft was a more extraordinary novelty, and that all other nations had gone through the work of independence before us. They doubted, likcwife, the ability of the continent to fupport it, without reflefting, that it required the fame force to obtain an accommodation by arms as an inde- pendence. If the one was acquirable, the other was the fame ; becauie to accomplifh either, it was ne- ceflary that our ftrength fhould be too great for Britain to fubdue ; and it was too unreafonable to fuppofe, that with the power of being mailers, wc G 3 fhould [ 86 ] ihould fubmit to be {eryznts^. Their caution at this time> was exceedingly iniiplaced; for if they were able to defend their property and maintain their rights by arms, tiiey confequently were able to de- fend and fupport their independence ; and in pro- portion as thefe men faw the necelTity and rightnefs of the meafure, they honel>!y and openly declared and adopted it, and the pitrt they have adled fince, has done them honour, and fully eftablifhed their characters. Error in opinion has this peculiar ad- vantage with it, that the foremoft point of the con- trary ground may at any time be reached by the I' * In this ftate of political fufpenfe, the pamphlet Com- mon Senfe, made its appearance, and the fuccefs it met with does not become me to mention. Dr. Franklin, Mr. Samuel and John Adams were fevcrally fpoken of as the fiippofed author: I had not, at that time, the pleafure either of perfonally knowing or being known to the two lad gentlemen. The favor of Dr. Franklin's friendfliip I poiTefled in England, and my introduction to this part of the world was through his patronage. I happened, when a fchool boy, to pick up a pleafing natural hiftory of Virginia, and my inclination trom that day of feeing tt^e weftern fide of the Atlantic never left me. In Octo- ber, feventy-five. Dr. Franklin propofed giving me fuch materials as were in his hands, towards completing a hif- tory of the prefent tranfa£tions. and Teemed defirous of having the firft volume out the next fpring. I had then formed the outlines of Common Senfe, and finiflied near- ]y the firft part; and as I fuppofed the Dodor's defien in getting out a hiftory, was to open the new year with a new fyftem, I expe£ted to furprifc him with a produCVion on that fubjeCt, much earlier than he thought of; and without informing him of what I was doing, got it ready for the prefs as faft as I conveniently could, antfC ent him the firft pamphlet that was printed off. fudden 4 [ 87 ] fudden exertion of a thought ; and it frcquentjy happens in fentimental differences that fome (Inking circumftance, or fome forcible reafon, quickly conceived, will effedt in an inftant what neither ar- gument nor example could produce in an age. I find it impoffible in the fmall compafs I am limited to, to trace out the progrefs which inde-i pendence has made on the minds of the different clafles of men, and the feveral reafons by which they were moved. With fome, it was a paflionate abhorrence againft the king of England and hb mi- niftry, as a fet of favages and brutes ; and thefe men governed by th gony of a wounded mind, were for trufling every thing to hope and heaven, and bidding defiance at once. With others, it was a growing conviftion that the fcheme of the Britifh court was to create, ferment and drive on a quar- rel for the fake of confifcated plunder : Men of this cafl ripened into independence in proportion as the evidence increafed. While a third clafs concei- ved it was the true intereft of America, internally and externally, to be her own mafter, gave their fupport to independence, ftep by ftep, as they faw her abilities to maintain it enlarge. With many, it was a compound of all thefe reafons ; while thofe who were too callous to be reached by either, re- mained, and dill remain tories. The legal neceflity of being independent, with feveral coUater^ reafons^ is pointed out in an ele- G4 gant. m i \>)!(' V? ^, ^ ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^^ ^ ^ Uii 122 1.25 £ |4£ 12.0 Wuu U il.6 6" Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WBT MAIN STRUT WIBSTIR.N.Y. MSM (716)t72-4S03 ^t^ ** ^ . [ 8« 1 gant, maftcrly manner, in a charge to the grand jury for the diftridt of Charleftown, by the Hon. William Henry Drayton, Efq. chief juftice of South-Carolina. This performance, and the ad- drcfs of the convention of New-York, are pieces, in my humble opinion, of the firft rank in Ame- rica. The principal caufes why independence has not been fb univerfally fupported as it ought, are fear and indolence, and the caufes why it has been op- pofed, are, avarice^ downright villainy ^ and lufi of perfinal power. There is not fuch a being in Ame- rica, as a tory from confcience j Ibme fccret defedb or other is interwoven in the charader of all thofe, be they men or women, who can look with pa- tience on the brutality, luxury and debauchery of the Britiih court, and the violations of their army here. A woman's virtue muft fit very lightly on her, who can even hint a favourable fendment in their behalf. It is remarkable that the whole race ► of proflitutes in New- York were tories; and the fchemes for fupporting the tory caufe, in this city, for which feveral are now in gaol, and one hanged were concerted and carried on in common baudy- houfes, affifted by thofe who kept them. , The conne£tion between vice and meannefs is a fit object for fatire, but when the £itire is a fad, it cuts with the irre0ftible power of a diamond. If a Q^aker> in defence of his juli: rights^ hb property, and [ 89 ] and the chaflity of his houfe, takes up a mufket, he is expelled the meeting j but the prefent king of England^ who feduced and took into keeping a fifter of their fociety, is reverenced and fupported with repeated tefl^imonies, while the friendly noo- dle from whom fhc was taken (and who is now in this city) continues a drudge in thefervicc of his ri- vals, as if proud of being cuckolded by a creature called a king. ••Our fupport and fuccefs depend and conceive it our duty to endeavour t# [ 92 ] to fecure that facred right to others^ as well as to defend it for ourfelvcs j for we undertake not to judge of the religious re6bitude of tenets> but leave the whole matter to Him who made us. ' « We perfccute no man, neither will we abet in the perfecudon of any man for religion fake ; our common relation to others, being that of fellow citizens and feljow-fubjeftsof one civil community; and in this Ime of connexion we hold out the right hand of fellowship to all men. But we fhould con- ceive ourfelvcs to be unworthy members of the FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA, were we unconcernedly to fee or fufFer any treafonable wound, public or private, diredly or indiredly, to be given againft the peace and fafety of the fame. We enquire not into the rank of the of- fenders, nor dieir religious perfuafion j we have no bufinefs with either, our part being only to Hnd them out, and exhibit them to juftice. " A printed paper, dated the aoth of November, and figned " John Pembertofty* whom we fuppofe to be an inhabitant of this city, has lately been dif- perfed abroad, a copy of which accompanies this. Had the framers and publilhers of that paper con- ceived it their duty, to exhort the youth, and others, of their fociety, to a patient fubmiflTion under the prefent trying vifitations, and humbly to wait the event of heaven towards them, $hey had therein ihewn a Chriili^ temper, and weha4 been filent; but I 93 1 but the anger and political virulence with which their inftruftions are given, and the abuie with which they (ligmatize all ranks of men, not think- ing like themfelves, leave no doubt on our minds from what fpirit their publication proceeded : And it is dilgraceful to the pure caufe of truth, that men can dally with words of the moft ikcred import, and play them as mechanically off, as if religion con- fided only in contrivance. We know of no inilance in which the Quakers have been compelled to bear arms, or do any thing which might ftrain their confcience -, wherefore their advice, '* to withftand ** and refufe to admit to the arbitrary inilruAions and '' ordinances of men," appear to us a falfe alarm* and could only be treafonably calculated to gain fa- vour with our enemies, when they were feemingly on the brink of invading this ftate, or what is flill worfe, to weaken the hands of our defence, that their entrance into this city might be made pradi- calandealy. " We difclaim all tumult and diforder in the punilhihent of offenders ; and wifh to be governed not by temper but by reafon, in the manner of treat- ing them. We are fenfible that our caufe has fuf- fered by the two following errors j firft, by ill- judged lenity to traiterous perfons in fome cafes; and fecondly, by only a pafTioriate treatment of them in others. For the future we difown both> and 1 yi I I I £ 94 ] and wifh to be fteady in our proceedings, and fcrious in our punifliments. " Every ftate in America has by the repeated voice of its inhabitants, diredted and authorized the continental congrefs to publifh a fornxal declaration of independence. of; and ieparation from, the op- preflive king and parliament of great Britain ; and we look on every mjin an enemy who does not in fomeline or other give his afliftance towards fup* porting the fame j at the fame time we confider the ©fFence to be heightened to a degree of unpar- donable guilt, when fuch perfons, under the fhew of religion, endeavour, either by writing, fpeaking, or otherwife, to fubvert, overturn, or bring re- proach upon the independence of this continent, as declared by congrefs. " The publifliers of the paper, figned " John Femberton," have called in a loud and paflTionate manner on their friends and connexions, " to with- ftand and refufe" obedience to whatever " inftruc- tions or ordinances" may be publilhed, not war- ranted by (what they call) " that happy con- " ftitution under which they and others long « enjoyed tranquillity and peace." If diis be not treafon, we know, not what may properly be called by that name. ** To us it is a matter of forprifc and aftoniih- ment, that men with the word " peace, peace", Continually on their lips, fhould be fo fond of living under /■ [ 9S ] under> and Aipportlng a government, and at the fame time calling it " happy," which is never bet- ter pleafed than when at war — that hath filled In- dia with carnage and famine — Africa with flavery — and tampered with Indians and Negroes to cut the throats of the freemen of America. We conceive it a difgrace to this ftate, to harbour or wink at fuch palpable hypocrify. But as we feek not to hurt the hair of any man*s head, when we can make our- felves fafe without, we wifh fuch perfons to reftorc peace to themfclves and us, by removing themfelves to fome part of the king of Great Britain's domi- ' nions, as by that means they may live unmolefted by us, or we by them ; for our fixed opinion is, that thofe who do not deferve a place among us, ought not to have one. s " We conclude, with requefting the council of fafety to take into their confideration the paper figned " John Pemberton ; and if it Ihall appear to them to be of a dangerous tendency, or ofatrea- fonable nature, that they would commit the figner, together with fuch other perfons as they can difco- vcr were concerned therein, into cuft'idy, until fuch time as fome mode of trial (hall afcertain the full degree of their guilt and punilhment 5 in the doing of which, we wifh their judges, whoever they may be, to difregard the man, his connexions, intcreft, riches, poverty, or principles of religion, and to attend to the nature of his oflfence only." THE i 1 Hi [ 96 ] THE mod cavilling feftarian cannot accufe the foregoing with containing the Icaft ingredient of pcrfecution. The free fpirit on which the Ameri- can caufe is founded, difdains to mix with fuch an impurity, and leave it a rubbifh fit only for narrow and fufpicious minds to groVel in : Sufpici6n and perfecution are weeds of the fame dunghill, and flourifh bed together. Had the Quakers minded their religion and their bufinefs, they might have lived through this difputc in enviable cafe, and none would have molefted them. The common phrafe with thefe people is, *' Our principles art peace** To which may be replied, and your prac-- tices are the reverfe j for never did the conduft of men oppofe their own doftrine more notorioufly than the prefent race of the Quakers. They have artfully changed themfelves into a different fort of people to what they ufed to be, and yet have the addrefs to perfuade each other they are not altered j lik6 antiquated virgins they fee not the havoc de- formity hath made upon them, but pleafantly mif- taking wrinkles for dimples, conceit themfelves yet lovely, and wondtr at the fhipid world for not ad- miring them; Did no injury arife to the public by this apoflacy of the Quakers from themfelves, the public would have nothing to do with it : but as both the defign and confequences are pointed againft a caufe in which the whole community are interefled, it is therefore [ 97 ] therefore no longer a fubjedl confined to the cogni- zance of the meeting c ily, but comes as a matter of criminality before either the authprity of the parti- cular ftate in which it is adtcd, or of the continent againfi which it operates. Every attempt now to fupport the authority of the king and parliament of Great Britdn over America, is treafon againft every ftate; therefore it is impoflible that any one can pardon or fcreen from punilhment, an offender againft tf//. But to proceed : While the infatuated tories of this and other ftates were laft i^nng talking of com- miflionen, accommodation, making the matter up,' and the Lord knows what ftuflfand nonfenfe, their good king and miniftry were glutting themfelvcs with the revenge of reducing America to uncondi- tional Juhmiffiony and folacing each other with the certainty of conquering it in 0;;^ campaign: The following quotations are from the parliamentary re-' gifter of the debates of the houfe of lords, March 5th, 1776. •'The Americans," fays Lord 5tfM^/* "have been obftinate, uhdutiful -and ungovernable from the very be^ning, from their Hrft early and infant fettlements ; and I am every day more and more convinced that this people will never be brought back to their duty, and the fubordinate relation they * Steward of the king's houfliold. H ftand \ II •«! t, i i i I S8 ] (huid in to this country » till reduced (9 aft unrondi^ iioml effcSiualfubmiffioni m concejfioi/i, ot/i our fart^ no Unity, no endurance ^ will have any other cffcft but that of incrc^Gng their inrolcncc." *< The ftruggle," iays Lord 7'ownftnd-f " is now a ftruggle for power j the die is caft, and the ONLY POINT whicb npw remains to be determined, isy in what manner the war can be moft e0edtualljr proftcuted and fpeedily finiihed, in ofdcr to. pro- cure t\i2Lt unconditional fuBmiffiony which hfks been fo ably ftated by the noble Earl with the white ftafF' (meaning lord Talbot); " and I have no roafon to doubt that the meafures now purfuing will put an end'to the war in thecourfe of a SINGLE CAM- P AIQN. Should it linger longer, wc jQial} thca have rcafpii to expert that Tome foreign pow^r will interfei^e, and take advantage of our dome(tic trou^ bles and. civil diftradions." . isfx-y^ hord Littleton^ *5 My fentiments are precty well "known. , I fhall only obferve nowi that le-. nient meafures have had no other efFeft than to produce infult after infultj that the more we> con- ceded, the higher America rofe in her demands^ and the more infolent fhe has grown. It is for thiii reafon that I am npw- for the vapUt efFcdtive and decifiv€ meafures J ^nd aiji^ of opinion, that no, al- t Hortwerly Geiter^l I'Powflfend at Quebec, ^d. latfl Lord Lieutenaut of Ireland^ tcrnativc [ 99 ] ' J I. ternative is left us, but to relinquifh America for ever, or finally determine to compel her to ac- knowledge the legiflative authority of this country; and it is the principle of an untonditional Jubmijfioti I would be for maintaining." Can words be more expreflive than thede. Surely the tories will believe the tory lords ! The truth is, they do believe them, and know as ^lly as any whig on the condnent knows, that the king andi miniftry never had the lead defign of an accomoio*. dationwith America, but an abfolute unconditional conqueft. And the part which the tories were to a6l, was, by downright lying, to endeavour to put the continent off its guard, and to divide and fow difcontentin the minds of fuch whigs as they might gain an influence over. In fliort, to keep up a diftradlion here, that the force fent from England might be able to conquer in " one campaign," They and the miniftry were, by a different game^ playing into each others hands. The cry of the tories in England was, " No reconciliation, no ac* eommodation,** in order to obtain the greater military^ force s while thofe in America were crying nothing but <^ reconciliation and accommodation," that the Ibrce fent might conquer with the lefs refiftance. But this ''^fingle campaign" is over, and America nat con<|uered. The whole work is yet to do, and the fpree much lefs to do it with. Their condition Hz is '* (1, -% # [ lOO J is both dtfjtlcable and drplorabk : Out of calh — out cf fiearty and out of hope. A oountiy fumiOicd with arms and ammunition, as America now is, with diree millions of inhabitants, and tliree thou- fand miles diflant from the neareft enemy that can approach her, is able to look and laugh them in the face. • 3H^d ■ " ! . : Howe appears to have two objefts . in view, dther to go up the Nordi-rrivcr, or come to Phila-; delphia. Bygoing upthcl^orth-river, hefetures a retreat for his army through Canada, but the (hips muO; return, if they return at all, the fame way they went; and as our army would be in the rear, jche fafety of their pafllage down is a doubtful matter. By fuch a motion, he ihuts himfelffrom all fupplies from Europe, but through Canada, . and expoles his army and navy to the danger of perifhing. The idea of his cutdng off the communication between the eailern and fouthem flates, by means of the North-river, is merely viGonary. . He cannot do it by his (hipping ; becaufe nq fliip can lay long at anchor in any river within reach of the (hore; a (ingle gun would drive aiirft rate frojtn fuch a (la- tion. This was fiilly ptoved laft O^ober, at fort Wafhington and Lee, where one gun only, on each fide the river, obliged two frigates to cut and be towed off in an hour's dme« .{ tt cannot be charged en chofe who are out of it. fiat the grievance is now become too general ta be remedied by partial methods, and the only tffec* Coal ctire is to reduce the quantity of money; with 6a]f the quantity we fhould be richer than we are sowy becaufe the value of it would be doubled, and cofife<|uently our attachment to it increaied ; for it 15 iiotthe number of dollars a man has, but how lor they will go, that makes him either rich or poor* Thefe two points being admitted, viz. that the quantity of money is too great, and that the prices of good» can be onfy efieduaUy reduced by redu^ cing the quantity of the money s the next point to be conMered is, the method how to rechice it I The circumftances of the times, as before ob- frrved, require that the public charadcrs of all men Ihciviid now be fully underilood^ and the only gene- ral method of afcertaining it, is by an oath or affirr snatdony renouncing all allegiance to the king of Great Britain j and to fuppOrt the independency of the United States, as declared by Congrefs. Lct> at rtt fame time, a tax of ten, fifteen or twenty per cent per annum, to be cdleded quarterly, be levied en all property* Thefe alternatives, by being per- fectly vpluntary> will take in all forts of people. Here is the teft ; here is die tax. He who takes tfie former, confcicntioufly proves his affedion to the > [ «07 I the caufc, and binds himfelf to pay his quota by the bed/ervices in his power, and is thereby juft]y exempt from the latter; and thofc who chufe the latter, pay their quota in money, to be excufed from taking the former, or rather 'tis the price paid to us for their fuppofed, though miftaketi infurance with the enemy. But this is only a part of the advantage which would arife by knowing the different characters of men. The whigs (lake every thing on the ifliie of their arms, while the tories, by their difaffeftion, are fapping and undermining their ftrength, and» of confequence, the property of the whigs is the more expofed thereby; and whatever injury their cftates may fuftain by the movements of the enemy* muft either be bOrne by themfelves, who have done every thing which has yet been done, or by the to- nes, who have not only done nothing, but have, by their difaffedion, invited the enemy on. In the prefent crifis, we ought to know fquare by fquare, and houfe by houfe, who are in real allegi- ance with the United Independent States, and who are not. Let but the line be made clear and dif- tind, and ail men will then know what they are to truft to. It would not only be good policy, but ftrift juftice, to raife fifty or a hundred thoufand pounds, or more, if it is neceflary, out of theeftatcs afid property of the king of England's votaries, reli- dent [ 108 ] ^knt in Philadelphia, to be diftribuccd, as a reward no thofe inhabitants of the city and flate, who fhould turn out and repulfe the enemy, (hould they at> eempt their march this way; and likewife, to bind the property of all fuch perfons to make good the d'amages which that of the whigs might fuftain. In the undiftinginfliabre mode of conduding a war, we frequendy make repmfals at fca, on the veficls of perfons in England who are friends to our caoie^ compared with the refidentary tories among us. In every former publication of mine, from Com- mon fenfe down to tlie lad Crifis^, I have generally gone on the charitable fuppofition, that the tories were rather a millaken than a criminal people, and have applied argument after argument with all the candor and temper I was capable of, in order to fct every part of the cafe clearly and fairly before them> and if pofTible^ to reclainvthem from ruin to rea-^ flon; I fiav« done my duty by them, and have now done with that doftrine, taking it for granted, that thofe who yet hold their difaffcdion, are either a fet of avaricious mifcreants, who would facri'nce the" continent to fave themfelves,. or a banditti of hungry traitors, who are hoping for a dSvifion of the ^ih To which may be added, a lift of crown «r proprietary dependants, who, rather than go mchout 21 portion of power, would be content to fiare it with the devil. Of fuch men there is no hopCi t ^09 I hope; and their obedience will only be acpctfding t3 the danger that is let before them^ and the power that is exercifed over them. A time will fhordy arrive, vk which by afccrtaln- ing the charadters of perfons now, we (ball be guarded againil their mifchiefs then; fo in pro- portion as the enemy defpair of conqueft, the/ will be trying the arts of fedu^ion and the force of fear, by all the raifchie& they can inflid. But ia war we may be certain of thefe two things, viz. that cruelty in an enciny» and motions xi^ade with more than ufual parade, are always figns of weak- neis. He that can conquer, finds his mind top %tt and pleafant to be brudfh ; and he that intends to coisquer, never makes too much fhow of his ilrength. We now know the enemy we have to do with. While drunk with the certainty of victory, they difdained to be civil ; and in proportion as difap- pointment makes them fober, and their apprehen*. dons of an European war alarm them, they will be- come cringing and artful; honeft they cannot be. But our anfwer to them, in either condition they may be in, is fhort and full, <' As free and inde- pendent dates, we are willing to make peace with you to-morrow, but we can neither hear nor reply in anv other charadcf." If 11 W pa^^ ■Km t no 1 IfBiitain cannot conquer us, it proves, that fhc IS neither able to govern or protect us, and our par. dcular fituation now is fuch, that any connexion with her would be unwifely exchanging a half de- feated enemy for two powerful ones. Europe, by every appearance and information, is now on the eve, nay, on the morning twilight of a war, and any alliance with George the Thini, brings France and Spam upon our backs; a feparation from him at- tach them to our tide; therefore, the only road to peace, honour, and commerce, is INDEPEND- ENCE. Written this fourth year of the UNION, wfiifb GOD preferve I * ni X • ■ di.i i 1^:. ' '!:''■'/ t iJ^-- H THE L ::X ^ ¥ ^ J ■• ri5V3 -ml THE • "•7/ - '.a C R I 1 s I s. ' .ii ' •1 , No. IV, "• i ', O^V/.^'jji^^j 'lo io- ')f;ov. Fhiltgdelphidi Sept. 12, 1777, LifJOyil T7ijW! JMi 1. 1 HOSE who cxpeft to reap the bleflings of freedom, muft, like men, undergo ;hc fatigues of iupporting ic. The event of Yefterday is one of thofc kind of alarms which isjuft fufiicierit to roufe tis to duty, without being of cpnicquchcc enough to deprefs our fortitude. It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cauie we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, . or. )>j degrees, the confequenqc will be the fame J '^'. 'Look back at the events of laft winter md ^ J)i'efbTt yeai-V there you wilt find that tliQ eherhy'* fuGceflcs havfealWays cpntributed to reduce them. What they have gained in ground, they piaid fb dcarfy for in numbers, that their vidtories have In die end amounted to defeats. We have always beeh mafters at the laffc pulh, and always ihaUi whUe we do our duty. Howe has been o;icc on the banks of the Delaware, and fi-om thence driven back with lofs and difgrace ; dhd why not be again driven from the Schuylkill? His condition and ours m lit Tf' ' . v.« m>i [ 112 ] ours arc very different. He has every body to fight> we have only his one army to cope with, tnd which wafteskwayat every engagement; we can not only reinforce, but can redouble our num- bers; he is cut off from all fupplies, aild muO: fooner or later inevitably fall into our hands. Shall a band of ten or twelve thoufand robbers, who are this day fifteen hundred or two thoufand men lefs in flrength than they were yeflerday, con- quer America, or fubdue even a fingle (bte ? The thing cannot be, unlefs we fit down and fuflfer them to do it. Another fuch a brufli, notwidiilanding we loll tlie ground, would, by (till reducing the enemy, put them in a condition to be ^^tcrwards totally defeated. Could our whole army have come up to the at- tack at one time, the confequences had probably been otherwife ; but our having different parts of the firandywine-creek to ^rdi^^ and the uncertainty which road to Philadelphia the enemy would at^ tempt to take, naturally afforded them an oppbrtu^ luty of paffing with their main body at a place where only a part of ours could be polled ; for it muft ftrike every thinking man with convidbion, that it requires a much greater force to oppofe an enemy in feveral places, dian is fufficient to defeat in any one place. Men It. [ "J J Men who arc fincerc in defending their rrccdom, "will always feel concern at every circumftancc which feems to make againd them ; it is the natural and honed confcqucnce of all aflfedionace attach- ments, and the want of it \> a vice. But the dc- jeftion lafls only for a moment ; they foon rife out of it with additional vigour; the glow of hope, courage and fortitude, will, in a little time fupply the place of every inferior paffion, and kindle the whole heart into heroifm. There is a myftery in the countenance of fome taufes, which we have not always prefcnt judg- ment enough to explain. It is didrelTmg to fee an enemy advancing into a country, but it is the only place in which we can beat them, and in which we have always beaten them, whenever they made the attempt. The nearer any difeafe approaches to a critis, the nearer it is to a cure. Danger and de- liverance make their advances together, and it is only the lad pu(h, that one or the other takes the lead. There are many men who will do their duty when it is not wanted ; but a genuine public ipirit always appear rnod, when there is mod occadon for it. Thank God ! our army, though fatigued, is yet eiitire. The attack made by us yederday, was un- der many difadvantages, naturally arifing from the uncertainty of knowing which route the enemy would take i and from that circumdance, the whole of our force could not be brought up togedier I time Lil [ n4 J time enough to engage all at once. Our ftrength is yet refcrvcdj and it is evident that Howe does not think himfelf a gainer by the afFair> otherwife he would this morning have moved down and at- tacked General Wafhington. Gentlemen of the city and country, it is in your power, by a fpirited improvement of the prefent fcircumftance, to turn it to a i*eal advantage. Howe is now weaker than before, and every (hot will con- tribute to reduce him. You are more immediately intcrefted than any other part of the continent; your all is ataftake; it is not fo with the general caufe J you are devoted by the enemy to plunder and deftrudion : It is the encouragement which Howe, the chief of plunderers, has promifed his army. Thus circumftanced, you may fave your- felves by a manly refiftance, but you can have no hope in any other condu6t. 1 never yet knew our brave general, or any part of the army, officers or men, out of heart, and I have fcen them in circum- flances a thoufand times more trying than the pre- fent. It is only thofe that are not in adion, that feel languor and heavinefs, and the beft way to rub it off, is to turn oiif . and make fure work of it. Our army muft Lndoubtedly feel fatigue, and want a reinforcement of refl:, though not of valour. Our own intereft and happinefs call upon us to give them every fupport in our power, and make the burden [ "J ] burden of the day^ on which the fafety of this city depends, light as poffible. Remember, gentle- men, that we have forces both to the northward and fouthward of Philadelphia, and if the enemy be but ftopt till thofe can arrive, this city will be fared, and the enemy finally routed. You have too much at ftake to hefitate. You ought not to think an hour on the matter, but to fpring to adtion at once. Other ftates have been invaded, have like- wife driven off the invaders. Now our tinic and turn is come, and perhaps the finifhing flroke is referved for us. When we look back on the dangers we have been faved from, and reflefb on the fuccefs we have been bleffed with, it would be finful either to be idle or dcfpair. I clofe this paper with a Ihort addrefs to General Howe. You, fir, are only lingering out the period that ihall bring with it your defeat. You have yet fcarce began upon the war, and the farther you enter, the fatter will your troubles thicken. What you now enjoy is only a refpite from ruin j an in- vitation to deftrufbion : fomething that will lead on to our deliverance at your vxpence. We know the caufe we are engaged in, and though a paffion- ate fondnefs for it may make us grieve at every injury that threatens it, yet, when the moment of concern is over, the determination to duty returns. We are not moved by the gloomy fipile of a worth- I 2 Ids t • •■A'U' \'t^ '\ I ««6 1 kfs king, but by the ardent glow of generous patriotifm. We fight not to enllave, but to let a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honcft men to live in. In fuch a cauie, we are fure we are right 9 and we leave to you, the de-* (pairing reflexion of being the tool of a mi&rable tyrant. THE THS CRISIS. No. VI. i To General St'r William Howe. X. O argue with a man who has renounced the ufe and authority of rcaibn, and whoie philolbphy confifts in holding humanity in contempt, is like adminiftering medicines to the dead, or endeavour- ing to convert an atheift by fcripture. Enjoy, fir, your inlcnfibility of feeling and rcGefting. It is the prerogative of animals. And no man will en-» yy you thofe honours, in which, a lavage only can be your rival, and a bear your mailer. As the gcncrofity of this country, rewarded your brother's ferviees lad war with an elegant monu- ment in Weftminfter Abbey, it is confident that Ihe fhould beftow fome mark of diftindtion upon you. You certainly delcrve her notice, and a con- fpicuous place in the catalogue of extraordinary perfons. Yet it would be a pity to pafs you from the world in date, and confign you to magnificent pblivion among the tombs, without telling the fu- I 3 ture [ "8 ] turc beholder why. Judas is as much known as John, yet hiftory aicribes their fame to very differ- ent anions. Sir William hath undoubtedly merited a monu- ment: But of what kind ? or of what infcription ? where placed ? or how embelliftied ? is a queftion that would puzzle all the heralds of St. James's, in the profoundcft mood of hiftorical deliberation. We are at no lofs, fir, to afcertain your real charac- ter, but fomewhat perplexed how to perpetuate its identity, and preferve it uninjured from the tranf- formations of time or miftake. A ftatuary may give a falfc cxpreffion to your buft, or decorate it with fome equivocal emblems, by which you may happen to fieaA into reputation, and impofe upon the hereafter traditionary world. Ill nature, or ridicule may confpire, or a variety of accidents com- bine to IcfTen, enlarge or change Sir William's ^me i and no doubt, but he who has taken fo much pains to be fingular in his conduft, would choofe to be as (ingular in his exit, his monument and his epitaph. Th'' ufual honours of the dead, to be furc, are not fufHciently fublime to efcort a charader like you to the republic of dull and aihes ; for however men may differ in their ideas of grandeur or government here, the grave is neverthelefs a per- fq5b republic. Death is not the monarch of the dead, N I! "9 ] dead, but of the dying. The moment he obtains ' a conqucft, he lofcs a fubjeA, and, like the foolilh king you ferve, will, in the end, war himfelf out of all dominion. As a proper preliminary towards the arrange- ment of your funeral honours, we readily admit your new fank of knighthood. The title is perfcAly in chara^er, and is your own, more by merit than creation. There are knights of various orders from the knight of the windmill, to the knight pf the poft. The former is your patron for exploits, and the latter will affift you in fetding your accounts. No honourary tide could be more happily applied ! The ingenuity is fublime ! And your royal mailer hath difcovered more genius in fitting you there-* with, than in generating the moft finiflicd figure for a button, or defcanting on the properties of a button mould. But how, fir, fhall we difpoie of you? The invention of a Ibhjary is exhaufted, and Sir Wil- liam is yet unprovided with a monument. America is anxious to bellow her funeral fevours upon you, and wifhes to do it in a manner that fhall dillinguilh you from all the dcceafed heroes of the laft war. T^e Egyptian method of embalming is not known to the prefent age, and hieroglyphical pageantry hath out lived the fciencc of dccyphering it. Somic ether method, therefore, mull be thought of to 1 4 immoral* !|||^ f1 ^1-^ !«< [ I20 ] immortalize the new knight of the windmill and pod. Sir William, thanks tohisftars, isnotop- prefled with very delicate ideas. He has no am- bition of being wrapt up and handed about in myrrh, aloes, and caflia. Lefs chargeable odours will fuffice J and it fortunately happens, that the fimple genius of America, hath difcovered the art of preferving bodies, and cmbellifhing them too, with much greater frugality than the ancients. In a balmage, fir, of humble tar, you will be as fecure as Pharoah, and in a hieroglyphic of feathers, rival in finery all the mummies of Egypt. As you have already made your exit from the moral world, and by numberlefs afts both of paf- donate and deliberate injuftice engraved an " Here Lyeth'' on your deceafed honour, it muft be mere afFeftation in you to pretend concern at the hu- mours or opinions of mankind refpedting you. Wjjat remains of you may expire at any time. The fooner the better. For he who furvives his reputation, lives out of fpite to himfelf like a man liflcning to his own reproach. Thus entombed and ornamented I leave you tp the infpe^ion of the curious, and return tp the hiflory of your yet furviving adions. .--^--- The charadcr of Sir William hath undergone fome ex- traordinary revolutions fince his arrival in America, It is now fixed and known } and we h^vc nothing to to hope from your candour or to fear from your capacity. Indolence and inability have too large a Iharc in your compofition ever to fuffer you to be any thing more than the hero of little villaniei and unfinifhed adventures. That, which to fome perfons appeared moderation in you at firft, was not produced by any real virtue of your own, but by a contraft of paiHons dividing and holding yon in perpetual irrefolution. One vice will frequent- ly expel another without the lead merit in the mai^ as powers in contrary directions reduce each other to reft. It became you to have fupported a dignified folemnity of character j to have ihewn a fuperior liberality of foul ; to have won refpeft by an ob- flinate perleverance in maintaining order, and to have exhibited on all occaflons, fuch an unchange- able gracioufnefs of conduit, that while we beheld in you the refolution of an enemy, we might ad- mire in you the fincerity of a man. You came to America under the high founding titles of com- mander and commiflioner ; not only to fuppreft what you called rebellion by arms, but to fhame k put of countenance by the excellence of your ex- ample. Inftead of which, you have been the pa- tron of low and vulgar frauds, the encourager of Indian cruelties, and have imported a cargo of vices blacker than thofc you pretend to fupprefs. Mankind 'I m * :';• ¥*,• t »" ] Mankind arc not univcrfally agreed in their de- tercmnation of right and wrong ; but diere are cer- tain a£bions which the confent of all nations and in- dividuals hath branded with the unchangeable name of MEANNESS. In the lift of human vices wc find fome of fuch a refined conftitution, that they cannot be carried into pra^bice without feducing iomt virtue to their afTiflance ; but meannefs hath neither alliance nor apology. It is generated in the duft and fwcepings of other vices, and is of fuch a hateful figure that all the reft confpire to difown it. Sir William, the commiffioncr of George the Third, hath at laft vouchfafed to give it rank and pedigree. He has placed the fugitive at the council board, and dubbed it companion of the order of knighthood: The particular a6b of meannefs which I allude to . in this dcfcription^ is forgery. You, fir, have abet- ted and patronized the forging and uttering counter- *^it continental bills. In the lame New-York hewfpapers in which your own proclamation under your maftcr's authority was publilhed, offering, or pretending to offer, pardon and proteftion to the inhabitants of thefe ftates, there were repeated ad- vcrtifements of counterfeit money for fale, and perfons who have come officially from you and under fandion of your flag, have been taken up in attempting to put them off*. A con- [ ?23 ] A condu6b fo bafely mean in a public chara£ler is Without precedent or pretence. Every nation on earth, whether friends or enemies, will unite in defpifing you. 'Tis an incendiary war upon fo- ciety which nothing can excufe or palliate — An improvement upon beggarly villany^-and (hews an inbred wretchedncfs of heart made up between the venomous malignity of a ferpent and the ipitefql imbecility of an inferior reptile. The laws of any civilized country would con- demn you to the gibbet without regard to your rank or tides^ becaufe it is an adkion foreign to the uiage and cuftom of war ; and fhould you fall into our handsj which pray God you may, it will be a doubtful matter whether we are to conHder you as a military prifoner or a prifoner for felony.. Befides, it is exceedingly unwife and impolitic in you, or any perfons in the Englifti fcrvice, to pro- mote, or even encourage, or wink, at the crime of forgery in any cafe whatever. Becaufe, as the riches of England, as a nation, ar^ chiefly in paper, and the hr greater part of trade among individuals is carried on by the fame medium, that is, by nbtes and drafts on one another, they, therefore, of all people in the world ought to endeavour to keep forgery out of fight, and, if poiTible, not to re- vive the idea of it. It is dangerous to make men familiar with a crime which they may afterwards pradifc [ »24 ] jjra6ti(fe to much greater advantage againft thofe who firft taught them. Several officers in the Englilh army have made their exit at the gallows for forgery on their agents ; for we all know, who l^now any thing of England^ that there is not a more neceflltous body of men, taking them ge- ncfaHyf thai* what the Englifh officers are. They contrrve to make a fhew at the expence of the taylor, and appear clean at the charge of the wafher-woman.. England hath at this time nearly two hundred million pounds flerling of public money in paper, for which flie hath no real property, bcfidr^s a large circulation of bank notes, bank pofl: bills, and promiflbry notes and drafts of private bankers, merchants, and tradcfmen. She hath the greateft quantity of paper currency and the leafb quantity of gold and filver of any nation in Europe ; the real ^ecie, which is about fixtecn millions ftcrling> Jerve only as change in large fums, which are al- ways made in paper, or for payment in fmall ones. Thus circumftanced, the nation is put to its wit's end, and obliged to be fevere almoft to criminality, to prevent the praftice and growth of forgery. Scarcely a feffion paffes at the Old Bailey, or an execution at Tyburn, but witneffeth this truth. Yet you, fir, regardlefs of the policy which her necef- fity obliges her to adopt, have made your whol^ army the the t "5 ] army intimate with the crime. And as al arniTi«, at the conclufion of a war, are too apt to ca ry intd practice the vices of the campaign, it will probably happen, that England will hereafter abound in for- geries, to which art, the praditioners were firfl: initiated under your authority in America. You, fir, have the honour of adding a new vice to the military catalogue; and the reafon, perhaps, why the invention was referved for you is, becaufe no general before was mean enough even to think of it. That a man whofe foul is abforbed in the low traffic of vulgar vice, is incapable of moving in any Superior region, is clearly (hewn in you by the event of every campaign. Your military exploits have been without plan, objed): or decifion. Can it be pofllble that you or your employers can lup- pofc the pofTcffion of Philadelphia to be any ways equal to the expence or expedtation of the nation which fupports you ? What advantages does En- gland derive from any achievements of yours? To Ji^r it is perfefbly indifferent what place you are in, fo long as the bufineis of conqucft is unperformed, and the. charge of maintaining you remains the fame. If the principal events of the three campaigns be attended to, the balance will appear ilrongly agatnft you at the clofe of each ; but the lad, in point of importance to us, hath exceeded the former twa U r 4'*^ ¥ m %m HHE.A ^^•^ ^R[^jS^.^' "*» &m ^'A ^%^ ml ^.^. [ 126 ] It is pleafant to look back on dangi^rs paO-^ and equally as pleafant to medj^te on prefcnt ones, when the way out begins to appear. That period is now arrived^ and the long doubtful winter of war is changing to the fweetcr profpe6ls of vidtory and joy. At the dole of the campaign in feventy-five, you were obliged to retreat from Bofton. In the fumnicrof feventy-fix, you appeared widi a numer- ous fleet and army in the harbour of New York. By what miracle the Continent was preferved in that feafon of danger is a fubjedt of admiration ! If inftead of wafting your time againft Long Ifland, you had run up the North River, and landed any where above New York, the confequence muft have been, that cither you would have compelled General Wafhington to fight you with very un- equal numbers, or he muft have fuddenly evacuated the city, with the lofs of nearly all the ftores of the army, or have furrendered for the Want of provi - fions, the fituation of the place naturally producing cuie or other of thefc events. The preparations made to defend New York^ were, neverthelefs, wife and^ military i becaufc your forces were then at fca, their numbers uncer- tain; ftorms, ficknefs, or variety of accidents might have difabled their coming, or fo diminiftied them on their paflage, that thofe which furvived, would have been incapable of opening the campaign with any ton plan, i the fea the ar York, fended tained ingof bers r them withd after but tl withe C «27 ] any profpe«5l of fucccfs; in which cafe, the dcfcnctf would have been fufEcient, and the place preferred j for cities that have been raifed from nothing with an infinitude of labour and expence, are not to be thrown away on the bear probability of their be- ing taken. On thefe grounds, the preparations made to oiaintaip New York were as judicious as the retreat afterwards. While you, in the interim, let flip the very opportunity, which feemed to put conqucft in your power. Through the whole of that campaign you had nearly double the forces which General Wafhing- ton immediately commanded The principal plan, |it that time, on our part, was to wear away the ieafon with as little lofs as poflible, and to raife the army for the next year. Long-Ifland, New- York, Forts Wafhington and Lee, were not de-t fended, after your fuperior force was known, under ^|iy expectation of their being finally main- tained, but as a range of out works, in the attack- ing of which, your time might be wafted, your num- bers reduced, and your vanity amufed by poficflmg them on our retreat. It was intended to have withdrawn the garrifon from Fort Wafhington, after it had anfwered the former of thofe purpofes, but the fete of that day put a prize into your hands without much honour to yourfclves. Your >ri •^i \\ m'-\ t >28 1 'S'our piogrefs through the Jerfesy,was accidental ; you had it not even in rontcmplation, or you would not have lent fo principal a part of your force to Rhode Iftand before hand. The utmoft hope of America in the year feventy fix reached no M^her than tliat (he might not iben be conquered. She had no expedlation of defeating you in that campaign. Even the moft cowardly tory allowed, that, could fhe withftand the fhock of that fum- mer> her independence would be paft a doubt. You Iiad then greatly the advantage of her. You were formidable. Your military knowledge was fup- pofed to be complex. Your fleets and forces arrived without an accident. You had neither ex- perience nor reinforcements to wait for. You had nothing to do but to begin, and your chance lay in die firft vigorous onfet, America was young and unfkilled. She was obliged to truft her defence to time and praftice ; and hath, by mere dint of perfeverance, maintained 6cr caufe, and brought her enemy to a condition, in which, fhe is now capable of meeting him on any grQunds^ It is remarkable in the campaign of feventy-fix, you gained no more notwithftanding your great force, than what was given you by confent of evacuation, except Fort Wafhington : while every advantage obtained by us, was by fair and hard fighting* The defeat of Sir Peter Parker was com" t 1^9 ] complete. The conqucft of the Heflians at Tren- ton by the remaina ofa retreating army, which but a few days before, you afFedted to defpife, is an inftance of heroic perfeverance, very feldom tD be met with. And the viftory over the Britilh troops at Princetown, by a ' harrafled and wearied party, who had been engaged the day before, and marched all night without refrefhmcnt, is attended with fuch a fcene of circumftances and fuperiority of general- Ihip, as will ever give it a place on the firfl line in the hiftory of great adions. When I look back on the gloomy days of laft winter, and fee America fufpended by a thread, I feel a triumph of joy at the recolledlion of her de- livery, and a reverence for the charadlers which fnatched her from deftruflion. To doubt now^ would be a ipecies of infidelity, and to forget the inftruments which faved us thetty would be ingrati- tude. The clofe of that campaign, left us with the fpi- rits of conquerors. The northern diftridls were relieved by the retreat of General Carleton over the lakes. The army under your command were hunted back, and had their bounds prefcribed. The Continent began to feel its military importance, and thd winter paffed pleafantly away in prepara- tions for the next campaign. However confident you might be on your firft arrival, the courfe of the year feventy fix, gave K you A* )l r: ti 'M i-:^ ^ [ JI30 1 yrju fome idea of the xiifficiiltT, if not impoHIbirity of cDn>qiicft. To tliis reafon, I afcribc yoiir delay in opening die campaign in feventy feven. The fax:e of matters, on the clofe of the former year, gave yox3 no encouragement to pnrfue a difcre- tionary war as foon as tlie ipiing admitted the ta- king the field : for, though conqueft in that caie, would have given you a double portion of iame, yet the experiment was too hazardous. The mi- niilry, had you failed, would have Ihifted tlic whole blame upon you, charged you with having aiSted without orders, ajid condemned at once, both your pkn and execution. To avoid thofe misfortunes, which might have involved you, and your money accounts in per- plexity, and fufpicion, you prudently waited the arrival of a plan of operations from England, which was, that you Ihould proceed to Philadel- phia by the way of ChefapeaJc, and that Burgoyne, after reducing Ticonderoga, Ihould take his route by Albany, and, if neceflaiy, join you. The Iplend id laurels of lafl: campaign have flou- riihed in the north. In that quarter America hath furprized the world, and laid the foundation of her tliis year's glory. The conqueft of Ticonderoga (if it may be called a conqueft) has, like all your otlier vidories, led on to ruin. Even the provi- fions taken in that fortrelsj (which by- General Bur- goyne's [ i3« ] goyne*s return was fufficent in bread and flour for nearly 5000 men, for ten weeks, and in beef and pork for the fame number of men for one month) ferved onlytohaften his overthrow, by enabling, him to proceed for Saratoga, the place of his de- flrudlion. A lliort review of the operations of the laft campaign, will fhew the condition of affairs on both fides. You have taken Ticonderoga, and marched into Philadelphia. Thefe are all the events which the year hath produced on your part. A trifling cam- paign indeed, compared with the expences of Eng- land, and the conqueft of the continent. On the other fide, a confiderable part of your northern force has been routed by the New York militia, " under General Herkemer. Fort Stanwix hath bravely furvived a compounded attack of foldiers and favagcs, and the befiegers have fled. The battle of Bennington has put a thoufand prifoners into our hands, with all their arms, (lores, artillery and baggage. General Burgoyne in two engage- ments has been defeated ; himfelf, his army, and all that were his and theirs are now ours. Ticonde- roga and Independence are retaken, and not the fliadow of an enemy remains in all the northern diftrift'S. At this inftant, we have upwards of eleven thoufand prifoners, between fixty and Ic- .. venty pieces of brafs ordnance, befides fmall arms, tents, ftores, &c. &c. K2 In tif'T- [ «3^ 1 In order to know the real value of thofe advan- tages, we muft reverfe the fcene, and fiippoie General Gates and the force he commanded, to be at your rrercy as prifoners, and General Burgoyne with his army of foldiers and favages to be already joined to you in Pcnfylvania, So difmal a pidure, can fcarcely be looked at. It hath all the traces and colourings of horror and defpair, and excites the moft fwelling emotions of gratitude, by exhibiting the miferies we are fo gracioufly preferved fi-om. I admire this diftribution of laurels around the continent. It is the carneft of future union. South Carolina has had her day of fuffcring and of fame ; and the other fouthern dates have exerted them- felves in proportion to the force that invaded or in- fulted them. Towards the clofe of the campaign in feventy fix, thefe middle flates were called upon, and did their duty nobly. They were witnefles to the almoft expiring flame of human freedom. It was the clofe ftruggle of life and death. The line of invifibk divifion, and on which, the unabated fortitude of a Wafhington prevailed, and faved the fpark, that has fince blazed in the north with unri- valled luftre. Let me afk, fir, what great exploits have you performed ? Through all the variety of changes and opporunitics which this war hath produced, I know no one aftion of yours, that can be ftiled maf- terly. terly. You have moved in and out> backward and forward, round and round, as if valour confided in a military jig. The hiftory and figure of your movements would be truly ridiculous could they be juftly delineated. They refemble die labours of a puppy purfuing his tail ; the end is llili at the fame diftance, and all the turnings round mufl be done over again. The firft appearance of affairs at Ticonderoga wore fuch an unpromifing afpec^, that it was nccef- fary, in July> to detach a part of the forces to the fupport of that c|uarteF, which were otherwife def- tined or intended to aft againft you, and this, per- haps, has been the means of poftponing yourdown- fal to another campaign. The deftrudlion of one army at a time is work enough. We know, fir, what w. are about, what we have to do, and how to do it. Your progrefs from Chefapeak, was marked by no capital flroke of policy or heroifm. Your prin- cipal aim was to get General Wafliington between the Delaware and Schuylkill, and between Philadel- phia and your army* In that fituation, with a river on each of his flanks, which united about five miles below the city, and your army above him, you could have intercepted his reinforcements and fupplies, cut off' all his communication widi the country, and, if neceffar/, have difpatched afliflance to open a paffige for General Biirgoyne. This K 2 fclieme E ^34 ] fchemc was too vifible to fuccecd, for had General Walhington fuffered you to command the open country above him, 1 think it a very reafonable conje(^ure that the conqueft of Burgoyne would not have taken place, becaufe you could, in that cafe, have relieved him. It was therefore neceflary, while that important victory was in fufpencc, to trepan you into a fituation, in which you could only be on the defcnfive, without the power of affording him afTiftance. The manoeuvre had its efFed, and Burgoyne was conquered. There has been fomething unmilitarily pafllve in. you from the time of your paffing the Schuylkill, and getdng pofleflion of Philadelphia, to the clofe of the campaign. You miftook a trap for a conqueft, the probability of which had been made known to Eu- rope, and the edge of your triumph taken off by our own information long before. Having got you into this fituation, afcheme for a general attack upon you at Germantown, was car- ried into execution on the fourth of Odlober, and though the fuccefs was not equal to the excellence of the plan, yet the attempting it, proved the genius of America to be on the rife, and her power ap- proaching to fuperiority. The obfcurity of the morning was your beft friend, for a fog is always favourable to an hunted enemy. Some weeks after this, you, likewife, pl-inned an attack on Ge- neral flcral Waflii'ngton while at WEitemarHr^ MarcFied out with infinite parade, but on finding; him pre- paring to attack you the next morning, you pru- dently cut about, and retreated to Philadelphia, widi all the precipitadon of a man conquered in imagination. Immediately after the battle of German town, the probability of Burgoyne's defeat gave a new policy to aff^airs in Pcnfylvania,. and it was judged mofb confiftent with the general fafety* of America, to wait the iflue of the northern campaign. Slow and fure is found wofk. The news of diat viflory arrired in our camp on the i8th of 0<5tober, and no fooner did the fhout of joy, and tlie report of the thirteen- cannon reach your ears,, than you re- rcfolved upon a retreat, and the next day, tliat is, on the 19th,, withdrew your drooping army into Philadelphia. This movement was evidendydic* tated by fearj and carried widi it a pofitive confef- fion that you dreaded a fecond attack. It was hiding yourfelf among women and children, and fleeping away the choiceft part of a car paign in expenfive inadlivity. An army in a city can never be a conquering army. The fituation ad- mits only of defence. It is a mere Ihelter; and every military power in Europe will conclude you to be eventualiv defeated- K4 Tiie [ '36 ] The time when you made this retrcit, was the very time you ought to have fought a battle, in order to put yourfelf in a condition of recovering in Penfylvania, what you had loft at Saratoga. And the reafon why you did not, muft be either prudence or cowardice; the former fuppofes your inability, and tlie latter needs no explanation. I draw no conclufions, fir, but fuch as are naturally deduced from known and vifible fads, and fuch as will always have a being while the fads which pro- duced them remain unaltered. After this retreat, a new difficulty arofe, which exhibited the power of Britain in a very contemp- tible light, which was the attack and defence of Mud Ifland. For feveral weeks did that little unfinifhed fortrcfs (land out againft all the attempts of Admiral and General Howe. It was the fable of Bendar realized on the Delaware. Scheme after fcheme, and force upon force were tried and defeated. ^ The garrifon, with fcarce any thing to cover them but their bravery, furvived in the midft of mud, fhot and fhells, and were at laft obliged to give it up more to the powers of time and gunpowder, than to the military fuperiority of the befiegers. It is my fincere opinion, that matters are in much worfc condition with you, than what is generally known. Your matter's fpeech at the opening of par- liament is like a foliloquy on ill luck. It fhews him to be I 137 ] be coming a little to his reafon, for fcnfc of pain is the firft fymptom of recovery in profound ftupefac- tions. His condition is deplorable. He is obliged to fubmit to all the infults of France and Spain, with- out daring to know or refent them, and thankful for the moft trivial cvafions, to the mod humble re- monftrances. The time was when he could not deign an anfwer to a petition from America, and the time now is when he dare not give an anfwer to an affront from France. The capture of Burgoyne*s army will fink his confequence as much in Europe as in America. In his fpecch, he cxpreflcs his fuf- picions at the warlike preparations of France and Spain, and he has only the one army which you command to fupport his charafter in the world with; it remains very uncertain when. Or in what quarter it will be moft wanted, or can be beft em- ployed J and this will partly account for the great care you take to keep it from aftion and attacks, for ihould Burgoyne's fate be yours, which it pro- bably will, England may take her endlefs farewel, not only of all America, but of all the Weft Indies. Never did a nation invite deftrudion upon itfelf with the eagernefs and ignorance with which Britain has done. Bent upon the ruin of a young and un- offending country, fhe hath drawn the fword that hath wounded herfelfto the heart, and in the agony of her refentment, hath applied a poifon for a cure. Her tk f m ^jai ' •'•■.'Hi [ »38 1 Her conduct towards America is a compound of rage and lunacy j fhe aims at the government of it, yet prefcrves neither dignity nor character in her methods to obtain it. Were government a mere -manufa(Sure, or article of commerce immaterial by ■whom it fhould be made or fold, we might as well employ her, as another, but when we confider it as the fountain from whencp the general manners and morality of a country take their rife, that the per- fons entrufted with the execution thereof, are by chcir ferious example, and authority to fupport thefe principles, how abominably abfurd is the idea of being hereafter governed by a fet of men who have been guilty of forgery, perjury, treachery, theft, and every fpecies of villainy, which the lowed wretches on earth could pra(5life or invent. What greater public curfe can befal any country, than to be under fuch authority, and v/hat greater bleffing, than to be delivered therefrom. The foul of any man of fentimcnt, would rife in brave rcbellioa againft them, and fpurn them from the earth. The malignant and venomous tempered General Vaughan has amufed his favage fancy in burning the whole town of Kingfton, in York government, and the late governor of that ftate, Mr. Tryon, in his letter to General Parfons, has endeavoured to jullify it, and declared his wiQi to juftify it, and de- clared his Willi to burn t!ie lioufes of every com- mittee [ ^39 ] mittee-man In the country. Such a confcITion from one who was once entruflcd with the powers of civil government, is a reproach to the character. But it is the wifli and the declaration of a man whom anguifh and difappointment have driven to defpair, and who is daily decaying into the grave with conftitutional rottennefs. There is not in the compafs oflanguage a fuffi- ciency of words to exprefs the bafenefs of your king, his miniflry, and his army. They have refined upon villainy till it wants a name. To the fiercer vices of former ages, they have added the dregs and fcummings of the mofl finifhed rafcalHty, and are fo completely funk in ferpentine deceit, that tliere is not left among them one generous enemy. From fuch men, and fuch mailers, may the gra- cious hand of Heaven, preferve America ! And though her fuITerings are heavy and fevere, they are like draws in the wind, compared to the weight of evils Ihe would feel under the government of your king, and his penfioned parliament. There is fomething in meannefs which excites a fpecies.of refentment that never fubfides, and fome- thing in cruelty which ftirs up the heart to the higheil agony of human hatred. Britain hath filled up both thefe characters till no addition can be made, and hath not reputation left with us to ob- tain credit for the flighted promife. The will of God ^ El-« •An ml E MO ] God hath parted us, and the deed is regiftcrcd for eternity. When (he (hall be a fpot fcarcely vifible among the nations, America fhall ttourifh, the fa- Tourite of Heaven, and the friend of mankind. For the domcllic happinefs of Britain, and the peace of the world, I wifh flie had not a foot of land but what is circumfcribed within her own ifland. Extent of dominion hath been her ruin, and inftead of civilizing others, hath brutalized herfelf. Her late rcdu6tion of India, under Clivc and his fucceflbrs, was not fo properly a conqueft^ as an extermination of mankind. She is the only power who could pradife the prodigal barbarity of tying men to the mouths of loaded cannon and blowing them away. It happens that General Burgoyne, who made the report of that horrid tranfadion in the Houfe of Commons, is now a prifoner with usj and though an enemy, I can ap- peal to him for the truth of it, being confident that he neither can nor will deny ir. Yet Clive received the approbation of the lail parliament. When we take a furvey of mankind, we cannot help curfing the wretch, who, to the unavoidable misfortunes of nature, fliall wilfully add the calami- ties of war. One v/ould think there were evils enough in the world without lludying to increafe them, and that life is fufficiently fhort, v/ithout fhaking the fund that meafurcs it. The hiHories of Alex- [ 14" ] ' Alexander, and Charles of Sweden, are the hifto- ries of human devils ; a good man cannot think of their adions without abhorrence, nor of th?ir deaths without rejoicings. To fee the bounties of Hea- ven deftroyed, the beautiful face of nature laid wafte, and the choiceft works of creation and art tumbled into ruin, would fetch a curfe from the foul of piety itfelf. But in this country the aggra- vation is heightened by a new combination of afFeft- ing circumflances. America was young, and, compared with other countries, was virtuous. None, but a Herod of uncommon malice would have made war upon infancy and innocence j and none but a people of the mod finiflicd fortitude dared, under thofe circumflances, have refifted tyranny. The natives, or their anceftors had fled from the former oppreflions of England, and, with the in- duftry of bees, had changed a wildernefs into a habitable world. To Britain, they were indebted for nothing. The country was the gift of Heaven, and God alone is their Lord and fovereign. The time, fir, will come, when you, in a melan- choly hour, fhall reckon up your miferies by your murders in America. Life, with you, begins to wear a clouded afpedt. The vifion of pleafurable delufion is wearing away, and changing to the bar- ren wild of age and forrow. The poor reflexion of having ferved your king, will yield you no con- folation *(• •^M .1 ■ til* 1 t U2 I fblation in your parting moments. He will crum- ble to the fame undiftinguiihed allies with yourfelf, and have fins enough of his own to anfwer for. It Is not the farcical benedidlions of a bifhbp, nor the cringing hypocrify of a court of chaplains, nor the formality of an a6t of parliament, tliat can change guilt into innocence, or make the punilhment of one pang the lefs. You may, perhaps, be unwil- ling to be ferious, but this deftrudbion of the goods of Providence, this havock of the human race, and this fowing the world with mifchief, muft be ac- counted for to him who made and governs it. To us they are only prefent fufferings, but to him they are deep rebellions. If there is a fin fuperior to every other, it is that of wilful and ofFenfive war. Moft other fins arc circumfcribed within narrow limits, that is, the power o(one man cannot give them a very general tenfion, and many kind of fins have only a mental exiftence, from which no infedion arifes j but he who is die author of a war, lets loofe the whole con- tagion of hell, and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death. We leave it to England and Indians to boaft of thefe honours; wc feel no third for fuch fa- vage glory ; a nobler flame, a purer fpirit animates America. She hath taken up the fword of virtuous defence j ftic hath bravely put herfelf between ty- ranny and freedom, between a curfc and a blefllng, deter- I I determined to expel the one, and protect the otlicr. It is the objed only of war that makes it ho- nourable. And if ever there were ajnjl war lincc the world began, it is this which America is now engaged in. She invaded no land of yours. She hired no mercenaries to burn your towns, nor Indians to maflacre their inhabitants. She wanted nothing from you, and was indebted nothing to you; and thus circumftanced, her defence is ho- nourable, and her profperity certain. , Yet it is not on the jiifiice only, but likewife on the importance of this caule, that I ground my feem- ing enthufiaftical confidence of our fuccefs. The vaftextenGon of America, makes her of too much va- lue in the fcale of Providence, to be caft like a pearl before fwine, at the feet of an European iflandj and of much lefs confcquencc would it be that Britain were Itink in the fea, than that America fhould mifcarry. There has been fuch a chain of extraordinary events in the difcovery of this country at firft, in the peopling and planting it, and afterwards, in the rearing and nuriing it to its pre- fcnt Hate, and in the proteftion of it through the prefcnt war, that no man can doubt, but Provi- dence hath fomc nobler end to accomplifli than the gratification of the petty Elcdor of Hanover, or the ignorant and infignificant King of Britain. As I?. W-^ !'•*■■■; m ( 144 ) As the blood of the martyrs hath been the Iced of the chriftian church, fo the political perfecutions of England, will, and hath already enriched America with induftry, experience, union and importance. Before the prefent sera fhe was a mere chaos of un- ccmented colonies, individually expofcd to the ra- vages of the Indians, and the invafion of any power that Britain fhould be at war with. She had no- thing fhe could call her own. Her felicity de- pended upon accident. The convulfions of Eu- rope might have thrown her from one con- queror to another, till fhe had been the flave of all, and ruined by every one -, for until fhe had Ipirit enough to become her own mafler, there was no knowing to which mafler fhe fhould belong. ^bat period, thank God, is pafl, and fhe is no longer the dependant, difunited colonies of Britain, but the Independent and United States of America, knowing no mafler but Heaven and herfelf. You or your king, may call this *' Delufion," " Re - bellion," or what name you pleafe. To us it is perfedly indifferent. The ifTue will determine the character, and time will give it a name as lafl- ingashisown. You have now, fir, tried the fate of three cam- paigns, and can fully declare to England, that no- thing is to be got en your part, but blows and bro- ken bones; and nothing on hers, but wafle of trade C >4S 3 trade and credit, and anencreafe of poverty and t^- cs. You are now only where you might have bfceii two years ago without the lo(b of a fingle fhip> and yet not a ftep the forwarder towards the conquefl: of the continent ; becaufe, as I have already hinted, *« An army in a city can never be a conquering ar- my." Theftill amount of your loffesfmcc the be^n- ning of the war, exceeds twenty thoufand men, be- fkks millions of treafure, for which you have no- thing in exchange. Our expences, though great, are circulated within ourfelves. Yours is a direct finking of nkmey, and that from both ends at once, firft, in hiring troops out of the nation, aod in paying them afterwards, becaufe the money in nei- ther cafe can return again to Brittun. We are aLeady in poiTeflion of the prize, you only in fuit > it. To us it is a real treafure, to you it would be only an empty triumph. Our expences will repay themfelves with tenfold intereft, while yours en- tail upon you everlalHng poverty. Take a review, fir, of the ground you have gone over, and let it teach you policy, if it cannot ho- nefty. You (land upon a very tottering foundadbn. A change of the mlniftry in England, may proba- bly bring your meafures into queftion, and your head to the block. Clive, with all his foccefles, had fome difficulty in efcaping, and yours, being all a war of lofies, will afford you lefs preteniions, and your enemies more ground for impeachment. L Go jfaj |i Hi \m i H^ ] Ofu^lijli^ : ;Ii -ai^i, A<|)^ ppc 0f thoijb whp i^^iih $o /^ Eur-ojiQ ia:a |larneiitjex;AMife I am i :pcr^ded .-fu^h an e vfcpii y^jl nat: ft^rrefi i^Ji?,) ■^J*^^ 1 1 ]i; Jm rt^UFti at pye^ fent,^, j§i«oi)f}|ie^ be(:^^e4i^th€ two:,pow^r%.pf: Acn^/r ricaT^ Eaglai>d. : ^f^vglaB^ .fiends tl>ef;iEia#W?fi ^pn^ qu^frAp^crka,, an(i,iyperk^ h^sfiiP^fVfifU itp^ijpn- quer.^nglaQ4' ; „Yo\iaf^,fightn\g far wh»t y:QiijC£^n never jobcajn, and wc" dcff rtding-wfeati ^we cdieaji never to part wiriiic :A' few.., ^ordj^, therefore, fetde the. bargain, r. I;et ; JBn^aOi},:^ fflii^ ' her ownjhofmefe,; and wc ^^1) inind o«#s. ^^ G.oyern yoiirfelves ^nd we vfill gpT^^'sa ourlclyes. Ifosu. ai^y th^n trade where you pleafe^nmolelVe^ fey us* and wewill;tradc where we pleafeun^okftedvby you; and iucik ar^idcs as we tan purqhaft ©f e^ch other better tlian elfe wh^f e* v paay be ,«t^utimjjy- ^one- I f .ii; were poffible that yQu c)taild c^rry ©i^ tiie vyar for tweofy, years, you ittuft ftill c(t>ine to this point at laft,:Or wprfc, and the. ioQqer.^ypu ' thioJ? of it the better ii; will be- for yoq,, ./vf^rni'-t - , ;• ■- ^ hh/d A -[r.My <^fiiGiaJ fitu^tion enabte-mc to know (Jip re- peated infottS; which Britain U obliged tP; put up [yj^tk ffPii* foreign poiyers, aqdtjic wretched fhif^s ihe is driven to, to glof$ fhem over, JJer reduced L .. i . .^ ftrength c.) [ '47 1 ftrength, and exhaufted coffers in a three years war with America, have given a powerful fuperiority to France and Spain. She is now a match for them. But, if neither counfels can prevail on her to think, nor fufferings awaken her to reafon, (he muft e*en go on, till the honour of England becomes a proverb of conteinpt^ and Europe dub her the land offooiSi»VC)a2in .0r ' lamiSJr, Withtvery Wijhfor an honourable Peace^ Tour Friend, Enemyy and Countrymany mwrtm COMMON SENSE. .#1 % L 3 n t ks ] T9 the Inbabhanis of America, VV ITH a9 die pkifore with which a man »- changes bad coAi^Miif^goody itidBcinyleaveof Sir William and return to you. It is now nearly three years fincc the tyranny ofj Britain received its firil repulfe by the arms of America. A period^ which has given birth to the New Worlds and ereded a monument of folly to the old. I cannot help being ibmedmes furpriled at the complimentary references, which I have leen and heard made to ancient hiftories and tranlafbions. The wifdom of civil governments, and ienle of ho« nourof the States of Greece and Rome, are fre- quently held up as obje6b of excellence and imita- tion. Mankind have lived for very litde purpofe, iG at this period of the world, they mtifl go two or three thoufand years back for lefTons and examples. We do difhonourary injuftice to ourfelves by pla- cing them in fuch a fuperior line. We have no jud: authority for it, neitiier can we tell why it is that we (houldfuppofe ourfelves inferior. Could the mifl of antiquity be taken away, and men and things viewed as they then really were, it is more than probable diat they would admire us, rather dian we diem. America has furmounied a greater £ M9 ] yc ar c r YZtxtjznd combinatioaof difEadcies^tban, ] be)ieve> ever fell to the fhare of any oine peo- ple ID the ^me fpace of time, and has repknifhed the world with moreufeful kRoii^dge> and IbciiKler lEKtxtms of etvil govcrmnent than were ever pro* duced m any- age before. Had k not hcca for America^ there had been no fuck thmg as freedom left throtighout the whole univerfe. England hath loik h£rs> in a kxng chain of rig)it reafbning from wrong principles, and k is from this, now (he muAr learn, the refQlutioiQtaiedrels herfelf]k and the wif^ dom how» The Grecians and Romans were ftrongly pof- JeflTcd of the fpirif of Ebertjr, but U9t the priucifle, for at the time they were determined not to be (laves thcmfelvcs^ they employed their power to enflave the reft of mankind. But this diftir^jailhcd sera is blotted by no one mrfanthropical vice. Iq Ihort, if die principle on which the cauie is founded, the uniyerlal bleflings tliat are to arife from « it, the difRcukies that accompanied k> the wif- dom with which it has been debated, the fortitude by which it has been fupported, the ftrength of tlie power we liad to oppofe, and tl^e condkion in which we undertook it, be all taken in one view, we may juftly ftile k, the moft virtuous and illiArious revolution thiat ever graced the hif- tory of mankind. A good opinion of ourfelves is exceedingly peccfl&ry in private life, but abfolutelv neccflary in L 3 public M' ^1 [ '50 ] public lite; and of the utmoft importance In fupr porting national charadler. I have no notion ot yielding the palm of the United States tq any Gre- cians or Romans that were ever born. We have equalled the braveft in times of danger, J^nd ex- celled the wifeft in the conftrudion of civil go- vernments, no one in y^merica excepted. From this agreeable eminence, let us take a re- view of prefent affairs. The fpirit of corruption is fo infeparably interwoven with Brltifh politics, that their miniftry fuppofe all mankind are go- verned by the fame motive. . They have no idea of people fubmitting even to a temporary inconveni- ence, from an attachment to rights and privileges. Their plans of bufincfs are calculated l^y the hour, and /or the hour, and are uniform in nothing but in the corruption which give them birth. They never had, neither have t! ev at this time, any re- gular plan for the conqueft of America by arms. 'J" hey know not how to go about it, neither have they the power to effe6l it, if they could know. The thing is not within the compafs of human practicabi- lity, for America is too extenfive either to be fully conquered, or pajflvely defended. But (he may be a8Uvdy defended, by defeating or making prifoners of the army that invades her. And this is the only fyftem of defence that can be cffedlual in a large country. There f 551 ] . There is fomething in : a ^ar carried oa hf^ln- vaftoti, wlitcli; mal^s it differ in circuratfenccs from any odier mode of war, bccaafe, be ttho condudls it cannot teU-wiicdicr the ground he gains, be for him, or agaioft; him* when he fixft makes it. In the winter of feventjr fix» General Howe, marched with an air of vtclory throtighi the Jer- feys, the confequcnce of which, was his defeat, . and General Biirgpync, at Saratoga: experienced the fame iatef front the fame cauie* The Spaniards, about two years, aga^ were defeated by the Alge- L fines m the fame manner, iliat is, their firft; tri- i iimphs becarrke a trap^ in wliich they were totaHy : routed. ArBi> whoever wiR attend to the ctrctmi- fiances;, and events of a war carried on by iavafion, . will )find> that any invader^iia order to. be finally . conquered,, muft .begin firft' to conquer. t , I confeG myfelf one of thofe who believe the lofs of Philadelphia to heattemkd widi more ad- vantages than injuries^ - The cafe ftood thus. The enemy imagined Philadelpiiia to be 'of more im- portance to us, than it ceallyiwasi for we alt know that it had long ceafcd to be a port, not a ca^go of goods had been broughiC' into, it for near a twelvemonth, nor any fixejd i^ianuiadloriesi -.^n^r even fhip-building carried on in it; ye tv as, the enemy beheved the conquell^ of it m be prac- ticable, and, to that bdicf, added the abfurd idea, that the foul of all America was centered; thete, and would be conquered there, it naturally follows, L 4 that m :<„'**■ ^ H>|V: [ i5» ] that their poflcflion of it, by not anfwcring the end propofed, mud break up the plans they had fool« iibly gone upon, and either oblige them to form a new one, for which their prefent ftrength is not fufficient, or to give over the attempt. We never had fo fmall an army to fight againft, nor fo fair an opportunity of final fuccefs as now. The death wound is already given. The day is our own, if we follow it up. The enemy by his fituation is within our reach, and by his reduced ftrength is within our power. The miniders of Britain may rage as they pleafe, but our part is to conquer their armies. Let them wrangle and welcome, but let it not draw our attention from the one thing needftd. Here» in this fpot is our bufinefs to be accomplifhed ; our felicity fccured. What we have now to qo, is as clear as light, and the way to do it is as ftrdit as a line. It needs not to be commented upon, yet, in order to be per- fe<5lly underftood, I will put a cafe that cannot ad- mit of a miftake. Had the armies under Generals Howe and Bur- goyne been united and taken poft at Germantown, and had the northern army, under General Gates, been joined to that under General Walhington, at Whitemarfh, the confequence would have been a general aftionj and, if in thataftion, we had killed and taken the fame number of officers and men, that is, between nine and ten thoufand, with the fame t »« 3 fame quantity of artillery, arms, (lores, &c. as have been taken at the northward, and obliged General Howe with the remains of his army, that is, with the fame number he now commands, to take fhelter in Philadelphia, we fhould certainly have thought ourfelves the greateft heroes in the world j and fhould as foon as the feafon permitted, have col- kfted together all the force of the continent, and laid fiege to the city, for it requires a much greater force to befiege an enemy in a town, than to defeat them in the field. The cafe now is juft the fame, as if it had been produced by the means I have here fuppofcd. Between nine and ten thoufand have been killed and taken, all their (lores are in our polTeflion, and General Howe in confcquence of that vidlory, has thrown himfelf for fhelter into Philadelphia. He, or his trifling friend Galloway, may form what pretences they pleale, yet no juft reafon can be given for their going into winter quarters fo early as the 19th of Odlober, but their apprehenfion of a defeat if they continued out, or their confcious inability to keep the field widi fafety. I fee no advantage which can arife to America, by hunung the enemy from State to State. It is a triumph without a prize, and wholly unworthy the attention of a people determined to conquer. Neither can any State promife to itfelf fecurity, while the enemy remains in a condition to tranlport themfelves from one part of the continent to )!*•! I '54 ] 10 another. Howe, like wife, cannot conquer where wc have no army to oppofc, therefore any fuch re- movals In him are mean and cowardly, and reduces Britain to a common pilferer. If he retreats from Philadelphia, he will be defpifed ; if he flays, he may be fhut up and flarved out, and the country, Jf he advances into, may become his Saratoga. He , has his choice of evils, and >ye of opportunities. If he moves early, it is not only a fign, but a proof that he cxpedls no reinforcement, and his delays win prove that he either waits for the arrival of a plan to go upon, or force to execute it, or botFi : in which cafe, our ftrength will encreafe more than his, therefore, in any cafe, we cannot be wrong, i( we do but proceed. The particular condition of Penfylvania, deferves ^he attention of all the other States. Her military ftrength muft not be eftimated by the number of inhabitants. FIrre are men of all nations, charac- ters, profcflfons, and inrcrefts. Here are the firmeft whigs, furviving, like fparlcs in tiie ocean, un- quenched and uncoolcd, in the miJfl ofdlfcouragc - ment and difafTeflion. Here are men lofing their all with cheerfulnefs, and coll'edting fire and forti- tude, from the flames of their own efiates. I lere are others flailking in fccret i many making a mar- ket of the times; and numbers, who are changing whig and tory with the circuiuftancbs of every dav. h It is by mere dint of forcicude an \ perfevcrance, that the whigs of this (late, have been able to main- tain fo good a countenance, and do even what they have done. We want help, and the fooner it can arrive, the more efFedlual it will be. The invaded ftate, be it which it may, will always feel an ad- ditional burthen UDon its back, and be hard fet to fupport its civil pow«tr with fufficient authority: and this difficulty' will always rife or fall in proportion as the other dates throw in their afliftance to the common caufe. The enemy will mod probably make many ma- noeuvres at the opening of this campai^^n, to amule and draw off the attention of the feveral ft tes from 't\\t one thuig neeiiful. We may expert to he^' uf alarms, and pretended expeditions to thi- place, and that place j to tlie fouthward, the ea1:w;.-d, and the northward, all intended to prevent our forming into one formidable body. The lefs the enemy's ftrength is, the more fubtlcties of this kind will they make ule of. I'heir exiftence depends upon it, becaufe the force of America, when coliefled, is fufficient to fwailow their prefent army up. It is therefore our bufinefs to make ilj ort work of it, by bending our whole attention to this one principal point J for the infl:ant that the main body, under Ge- neral Howe is defeated, all the inferior, alarms throughout the continent, like fo many fhadows, will follow hio downfal. ' The -i? U •'•*!b f ! I- % . " '■ '<':,' *! I '56 ] The only way tx> fjnifti a war with the Icaft pot- fible hloodihe<^ or perhaps without any, is to col- led an army, againft the power of which, the enemy ihall have no chance. By not doing this, we pro- long the war, and double both the calaniities and the cxpences of it. "What a rich and happy coun- try woold America be, were flie, by a vigourous exertion, to reduce Howe, as fhe hath reduced Burgoyne. Her currency would rife to millions beyond its prefent value* Every man would be fich, and every man would have it in his power to be happy. And why not do thefe things ? What is there to hinder ? America is her own miflrefs, and can do what (he plcafes. If we had not at this time a man in the field, we could, neverthelefs, raife an army in a few weeks, fbfficicnt to overwhelm all the force which General Howe at prefent commands. Vigour and determi- nation will do any thing and every thing. We be- gan the war with this kind of fpirit, why not end it with the feme ? Here, gentlemen, is the enemy. Here b the army. The intc ;e(l, the happinefs of all America is centered in this half ruined fpot. Come on and help us. Here are laurels, come and (hare them. Here are torics, come and help us to expel them. Here are whigs that will make you wel- come, and enemies that dread your coming. The worft of all policy, is that of doing things by halves. Penny wife and pound foolilh, has been the I »57 ] the mm of thoufands. The prcffent fpring, if rightly improved, will free us from all our trouble^ and fave us the expence of millions. We have now only one army to cope with. No opportu- nity can be fairer; no profpeft moir promifing. I (hall conclude this paper^ with a few outlines of a plan, either for filling up the battalions with expe- dition, or for raifing an additional force, for any fimited time, on any fudden emergency. That in which everv man is interefted, is creiy man's duty to fupport. And any burthen which falls equally on all men, and, from which every man is to receive an equal benefit, is confillent with tlie moft perfcft ideas of liberty. 1 would wifh to revive fomething of that virtuous ambition which firft called America into the field. Then every man was eager to do his part, and perhaps the principal reafon why we have in any degree fallen therefrom, is, becaufe we did not fet a fufficient value by it at firft, but left it to blaze out by itfelf^ inflead of regulating and prefcrving it by juft pro- pordons of refl and fcrvice. Suppofe any (late, whole number of efTeftive inhabitants was 80,000, (hould be required to fur-> nifh 3,200 men towards the defence of the conti« nent on any fudden emergency. Firft, Let the whole number of efredlive inhabi- tants be divided into hundreds ; then if each of thofe hundreds i^■ '. > ^^ m 3;- hundreds turn out four men, the whole humber of 3,/200 will be had. Secondly, Let the names of each hundred men be entered in a book,^ and let four dollars be coUcfled from each man, with as much more as any of the gentlemen whofe abilities can afford it, fhall plcafe to throw in, which gifts (hall likewife be entered againft the donors namesi Thirdly, Let the fums fo collefled be offered as d prefcnt, over and above the bounty of twenty dollars, to any four who may be inclined to pro- pofe themfelves as volunteers ; if more than fqur offer, the majority of the fubfcribers prclcnt fhall determine which ; if none offer, then four out of the hundred (hall be taken by lot, who (hall be en- tided to the faid fums, and (hall either go, or pro* vide others that will, in the fpace of fix days. Fourthly, As it will always happen, that in the fpace of ground on which an hundred men (hall live, there will be always a number of perfons, who^ by age and infirmity, are incapable of doing per- fonal fervice, and as fuch per(bns are generally pof- felTed of the greatefl part of the property in any county, their portion of fervice, therefore, will be to furnilh each man with a blanket, which will make a regimental coat, jacket and breeches, or cloatl > in lieu thereof, and another for a watch cloak, and two pair of (hoes — for however choice people may be of thcfe diings, matters not in cafes of this kind-~ t '59 1 kind— Thole who live, always, inHttufcs, can -find many ways to keep themfclvcs wamn, but it is 4 fliame and u fin to fiifFer a foldier in the fkld -to want a blanket while there is one in the country. '■■' Should the cloathing not be wanted, the fuperan* nuated or inrirm perfoni poflcfrmg property, may, m lieu thereof, throw in their money fubfcriptions towards cRCresifing the bounty-, for th(^ugh age wili naturally exempt a perfonal fcrvice, it cannot ex- empt him from his fha-re of the charge, becaufe the men are raif to puniQi, will become an ofEce of charity. While your fleet lay lail winter in the Delaware, I offered my fervice to the Penfylvanian navy- board, then acTrenton,as one who would make a party with them, or any four or five gentlcrhen, on an expedi- tion down the river, to fet fire to it, and though it was not then accepted, nor the thing pcrlbnally attempted, it is more than probable, that your own folly will provoke a much more vulnerable part. Say not, when tlie mifchief is done, tliat you liad warning, and remember that we did not begin it, but mean to repay it. Thus much for your favage and impolitic threat. In another part of your proclamation you fay, " But if the honours of a military life, are become the objeft of the Americans, let them leek thofe honours, under the banners of their rightful fove- reign, and in fighting the battles of the united Bri- tifh empire, againft our late mutual and natural enemies." Surely ! The union of abfurdity with madnels, was never marked with more diftinguilh- able lines than thefe. Your rightful fovereign as you call him, may do well enough for you, who dare not enquire into the humble capacides of the man J but we, who eftimate perfons and things by their real worth, cannot fufFer ©ur judgments to be fo impofcd upon ; and, unlefs it is your wifh to fee him ^xpofed, it ought to be your endeavour to M 4 keep I] I Mi,. 'i^\l^^ if m If M In ! I.. i n [ i68 ] keep him out of fight. The lefs you have to fay about him the better. \Vc have done with him, and that ought to be anfwcr enough. You have often been told fo. Strange ! that the anfwer mud be fo often repeated. You go a begging with your king as with a brat, or with fome unfalcable com- modity you were tired of; and though every body tells, no, no, ftill yoa keep hawking him about. But there is one who will have him in a little time, and as we have no inclination to difappoint you of a cuftomer, we bid you nothing for him. The impertinent folly of the paragraph I have juft quoted, deferve no other notice than to be laughed at, and thrown by, but the principle on which it is founded, is deteftable. We are invited to fubmit to a man who has attempted by every cruelty to dcftroy us, and to join him in making war againft France, who is already at war againft him for our fupport. Can Bedlam, in concert with Lucifer, form a more mad and devilifh requeft ; Were it poflible a people could fmk into fuch apollacy, they would deferve to be fwept from the earth, like the inhabi- tants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The propofition is an univerfal affront to the rank which man holds the creation, and an indignity to him who m placed him there. It fuppofes him made up with- out a fpark of honour, and under no obligadon to God or man, ' What ous [ '69 ] What fort ofmen or Chriftians miift you fuppofc the Americans to be, who, after feeing their mod humble petitions infultingly rejeded, the moil griev- ous laws palTed to dillrefs them in every quarter, an undeclared war let loofc upon them, and Indians and negroes invited to the flaugliter ; who afcer feeing their kindred murdered, their fellow citizens ftarved to death in prifons, and their houfes and property deftroyed and buried ; who after the moft fcrious appeals to heaven, the mod folemn abjura- tion by oath of all government conneftcd with you, and the moft heart-felt pledges and proteftations of feith to each other j and who, after foliciting the friendfhip, and entering into alliances with other nations, fliould at laft break through all thefe obli- gations, civil and divine, by complying with your horrid and infernal propofal. Ought we ever after to be confidered as a part of the human race ? Or, ought we not rather to be blotted from the fociety of mankind, and become a fpeftacle of mifery to the world ? But there is fomething in corruption, which, like a jaundiced eye, transfers the colour of of itfelf to the objedt it looks upon, and fees every thing ftained and impure ; for unlefs you were capable of fuch'condu<5l yourfelves, you could never have fuppofed fuch a character in us. The offer fixes your infamy. It exhibits you as a nation without faith, with whom daths and treaties arc confidered as trifles, and the breaking them, as the breaking 9 • :K^ ■ t- m ti [ '70 ] breaking of a bubble. Regard to decency or to rajnk, might have taught you better, or pride in- Ipircd you, though virtue couki not. There is not left a ftcp in the degradation of charader to which you can now icfcend; you have put your foot on the ground floor, and die key of the dungeon is turned upon you. That the invitation may want nothing of being 3 complete nionfter, you have thought proper to riniih it v;ith an aflertion which has no fcindaticn, cither in fad: or philofophy j and as Mr. Fergufon, your fccretary, is a man of letters, and has made civil fociety his ftudy, and publifhed a treatife on that fubjed, I addrefs this part to him. In the clofe of the paragraph which I laft quoted,. France is ftiledthe " natural enemy" of England, and by way of lugging us into fomc ftrange idea, fhc is ftilcd the " late mutual and natural enemy" of both countries. I deny that flie ever was tlie na- tural enemy of either, and tliat there does not exiil in nature fiich a principle. The expreffion is an . unmeaning barbarifm, ^nd wholly unphilofophical> when applied to beings of the fame fpecies, let their tlation in the creation be what it may. We have a perfed idea of a natural enemy mien we think of the devil, becaufe the enmity is perpetual, unalter- able, and unabateable. It admits neither of peace, truce, or treaty ; confcquenrly the warfare is eternal^ tad therefore it is natural. But man with man cannot [ i7« ] cannot arrange in the fame oppofitlon. Their quarrels are accidental and equivocally created. They become friends or enemies at the change of temper, as the caft of inte re ft inclines them. The Creator of man did not conditute them the natural enemy of each other. . He has not made any one order of beings fo. Even wolves may quarrel, ftill they herd together. If any two nations are fo, then muft all nations be fo, otherwife it is not nature, but cuftom, and the offence frequendy originates with the accufer. England is as truly the natural enemy of France, as France is of England, and, perhaps, more fo. Separated from the reft of Eu- rope, ftie has contracted an unfocial habit of man- ners, and imagines in others the jealoufy ftic creates in hcrfelf. Never long fatisfied with peace, (he fuppofes the difcontent univerfal, and buoyed up with her own importanc.*, conceives herfelf the only object pointed at. The expreffion has been often ufed, and always with a fraudulent defign ; for when the idea of a natural enemy is conceived, it prevents all other enquiries, and the real caufe of the quarn l is hidden in the univerfality of the con- ceit. Men ftart at the notion of a natural enemy, and afk no other qucftion. The cry obtains credi like the alarm of a mad dog, and is one of thole kind of tricks, which, by operadng on the com- mon paftions, fccures their intcrcit through their folly. But ,\.y i^.^\''V K '" "31 '■ ' '^1 ■ " • i»i .'' ^% ii' ^: !fe»' '^1 ■KM, f V!'. m [ ^V- ] But v/e, f:r, are not to be thus Impofed upon. Wc live in a large world, and have extended our ideas beyond the limits and prejudices of an ifland. We hold out the right hand of friendfliip to all the iiniv'':rre, nnd we conceive there to be a fociality in the manners of France, which is much better dif- po fed to peace and negociation than that of Eng- land, and uniil the latter becomes more civilized, file cannot exped to live long at peace with any power. Her common language is vulgar and of- fenfive, and children, with their milk, fuck in the rodiments of infult. — " 1 he arm of Britain ! The " mighiy arm cf Britain! Britain that fhakes the «' earth to its center and its poles ! The fcourge of ** France! The terror of the world! That governs *"" with a nod, and pours clown vengeance like a God." Tills language neither makes a nation great ' or little ; but it fliews aflivagencfs of manners, and has a tendcnry to keep national animofity alive. , The entertainments of the ftage are calculated to the fame en.!, and almoll every public exhibition is tinctured witli infult. Yet England is always in ilread of I-'rance. Terrified at the apprehenfion of iin inva'jon. Sufpicious of being outwitted in a treaty and privat.'ly wringing, though flie is publicly of- fL'nding. Let her therefore, '-eform lu r manners, and d > jnf/ice, and Ihe will find the idea of a natur i enemy, to be only a phanrom of her own ima- Little [ »7j ] Little did I think, at this period of the war, to lee a proclamation which could promife you no one ufeful purpole whatever, and tend only to expofe you. One would think you were jull awakened from a four years dream, and knew nothing of wliat had pafled in the interval. Is this a time to be offering pardons, or renewing the long forgot- ten fubjedls of charters and taxation ? Is it worth your while, after every force has failed you, to re- treat under the fhelter of argument and pcrfuafioii? Or can you think that we, with nearly half youi* army prifoners, and in alliance with France, are to be begged or threatened into a fubmiffion by a piece of paper .^ But as commifHoners, at a hun- dred pounds Herling a week each, you conceive yourfelves bound to do lomething, and the genius of ill-fortune told you, you muft vv^rite. For my own part I have not put pen to paper thefe icveral months. Convinced of your fuperio- rity by the iflue of every campaign, I was inclined to hope, that that which all the reft of the world now fee, would become vifible to you, and there- fore felt unwilling to ruffle your temper by fretting you with repetitions and difcoveries. There havL* been intervals of hefitation in your conduct, from which it feemed a pity to difturb yju, and a cha- rity to leave you to yoi'rfclvcs. You have often ftopt, as if you intended to think, bu: your thoughts have ever been too early or too ^atc. There if H > .il '.-■■♦.-it'f !^^42 t; r t74 1 There was a time when Britain difdained to an- fwer, and even to hear a petition from America. Thatt me is paft, and flie, in her turn, is petitioning our acceptance. We now (land on higher ground, and offer her peace j and the time will come, when Ihe, perhaps in vain, will aflc it from us.. The latter cafe is as probable as the former ever was. She cannot refufe to acknowledge our independence with greater obftinacy than Ihe before refufed to repeal her laws i and if America alone could bring her to the one, united with France Ihe will re- duce her to the other. There is fomething in obftinacy which differs from every other paffion, whenever it fails it never recovers, but either breaks like iron, or crumbles fulkily away like a fradlured arch. Moft other paffions have their periods of fatigue and reft -, their fufferings and their cure ; but obftinacy has no refjurce, and the firft wound is mortal. You have already begun to give it up, and you will, from the natural conftrudion of the vice, find yourfelves both obliged and inclined to d<. ^o. If you look back you fee nothing but lofs and difgrace. If you look forward, the fame fee re con 'nues, and the clofe is an impenetrable gloom. Y .u may plan and execute little mif- chicfs, but arc they worth the expcnce they coft you, Of will fuch partial evils have any effeft oil t '75 ] on the general caufc ? Your expedition to Egg- Harbour, will be felt at a diftance like an at- tack upon a hen-rooft, and expofe you in Eu- rope with a fort of childifh phrenfy. It is well worth while to keep an army to protedl you in writing proclamations, or to get once a year into winter quarters? PoffefTing yourfclves of towns is not conqueft, but convenience, and in which you will, one day or the other, be tre- panned. Your retreat from Philadelphia was only a timely efcape, and your next expedition may be kfs fortunate. It would puzzle all the politicians in the unlverfc to conceive what you (lay for, or why you fhould have (laid fo tong. You are profecuting a war in which you confcfs you have neither object nor hope,' and that conqueft, could it be ef- fe£bcd, would not repay the charges : In the mean while, the reft of your affairs are running into ruin, and a European ^var kindled againft you. In fuch a fituation, there is neither doubt or difficulty i the firft rudiments of rcafon v/ill de- termine the choice, for if peace can be pro- cured with more advantages than even a con- queft can be obtained, he muft be an ideot indeed that hefitates. But you are probably buoyed up by a fet of wretched morta's, who, having deceived them- fclves, are cringing with the duplicity of a fpaniel for ri. il f* „>*ti i-' ♦ i sS [ 176 ] for a little temporary bread. T'lofc men will tell you juil what you plcafe. It is their in- tereft to amufc, in order to lengthen out their prote(flion. They fludy to keep you amongft them for that very purpofe j and in proportion as you difregard their advice, and grow callous to their complaints, they will ftretch into improba- bility, and pepper off their flattery the higher. Characters like thefe are to be found in every country, and every country will defpife tliem. Thiladelphia^ Odi. 20, 1788. THE C 177 ] THE CRISIS No. VIII. To the People of England, %.. m wr* %i ^ . 3t E JL HERE are flagcs in the bufinefs of ferious life in which to amufe is cruel, but to deceive is to dcftroyj and it is of little confequence in the conclufion, whethermen deceive themfelvcs or fub- mit by a kind ofmutualconfcnr, to the impofitions of each other. Thar England has been Jong under the influence of delufion or miflake, needs no other proof than the unexpected and wretched fitiiation Ihe is now involved in : And fo powerful has been the influence, that no provifion was ever made or thought of againft the misfortune, becaufe the pof- fibility of its happening was never conceived. The general and fuccefsful refiftance of Ame- rica, the conqucft of Burgoyne, and a war with France, were treated in parliament as the dreams of a difcontented oppofition, or a distempered ima- gination. They were beheld as objeds unworthy of a ferious thought, and the bare intimation of N them m [ «78 ] them afforded the miniftry a triumph of laughter. Short triumph ihdeed ! For every thing which has been predicted has happened, and all that was pro- mifed have failed. A long feries of politics fo re- markably diftinguifhed by a fucceflion of misfor- tunes, without one alleviating turn, muft certainly have fomething in it fyftematically wrong. It is fufficient to awaken the moft credulous into fulpi- cion, and moft obftinate into thought. Either the means in your power are infufficient, or the mea- fures ill-planned i either the execution has been bad, or the thing attempted impradicable j or to fpeak more emphatically, either you are not able, or Heaven is not willing. For, why is it that you have not conquered us ? Who, or what has pre- vented you ? You have had every opportunity you could dcfire, and fuccceded to your utmoft wilh in every preparatory means. Your fleets and armies have arrived in America without an acci- dent. No uncommon misfortune hath intervened. No foreign nation hath interfered until the time you had allotted for vidory was paft. The oppo- fition either in or ouc of parliament, neither difcon- certed your meafures, retarded or diminifhed your force. They only foretold your fate. Every mi- nifterial fchcme was carried with as high a hand as if the whole nation had been unanimous. Every thing wanted was aiked fol*, and every thing afked '^ for [ ^79 ] for was granted. A greater force was not within the compafs of your abilities to fend, and the time you fent it was, of all others, the mod favourable. You v/ere then at reft with the whole world befide. You had the range of every court in Europe uncon- tradi(5led by us. You amufed us with a tale of commiffioners of peace, and under that difguife coUcfled a numerous army and came almoft unex- pe6bedly upon us. The force was mud. greater than we looked for ; and that which we had to cp- pofe it with was unequal in numbers, badly armed and poorly difciplined j befides which, it was em- bodied only for a fhort time, and expired within a few months after your arrival. We had govern- ments to form ; meafures to concert ; an army to raife and train, and every neceflary article to im- port or to create. Our non-importation fcheme had exhaufted our (lores, and your command by fea, intercepted our fupplics. We were a people un- known, and unconneded with the political world, and ftrangers to the difpofition of foreign powers. Could you poflibly wifh for a more favorable con- juniStion of circ mftances ? Yet all thefe have hap- pened and palled away, and, as it were, left you with a laugh. They are like wife events of fuch an original nativity as can never happen again, unlefs a new world fhould arife fKom the ocean. If any thing can be a Icflbn to prefumption, furcly the circumftances of this war will have their . N a effbft. r » p. i 3 ■ "i. 1H k . .il ^: K: i'hi 1 .'.'' [ i8o ] cffcft. Had Britain been defeated by any Euro- pean power, her pride would h we d/ iwn confola- tion from the importance of her copqutrorsj but in die prcfent cafe, flic is excelled by thofe (he afFedcd to dtfpife, and her own opinion retorting on herfcif, become an aggravation of her difgracc. Misfor- tune and experience are loft upon niankind, when they produce neither refleilion nor reformation. Evils, like poifons, have their ufes, and there arc difcafcs which no other remedy can reach. It has been the crime and folly of England to fuppofe herfelf invincible, and that, without acknowledging or perceiving that a full third of her ftrength was drawn from the country flie is now at war with. The arm of Britain has been fpoken of as the arm of the Almighty, and fiie has lived of late, as if flic thought the whole world created for her diverfion. Her politics, inftead of civilizing, has tended to brutalize mankind, and under the vain unmeaning title oi " Defender of the Faith," fhe has made war, like an Indian, againft the religion of liuma- nity. Her cruelties in the Eaft Indies, will NEVER, NEVER be forgotten; and, it is Ibmewhat re- markable, that the produce of that ruined country, tranfported to America, fliould there kindle up a war, to punilh th^ deftroyer. The chain is cond- nued, though with a kind of myfterious uniformity, both in the crime and the punilhment. The latter runs r i8i ] nms parallel with the former ; and time and fdtc will give it a perfed illuftration. Where information is withheld, ignorance be- comes a reafonable excufe ; and one would ehanca- bly hope, that the people of England do not encou- rage cruelty from choice, but from miftake. Their reclufe fituation, furrounded by the fca, prefl'rves them from the calamities of war, and keeps tliein in the dark as to the conduift of their own armies. They fee not, therefore they feel not. They tell the tale tlut is told them, and believe it, and ac- cuftomed to no other nev than their own, they re- ceive it, flript of its honors, and prepared for tlie palate of the nation, through the channel of the London Gazette. They are made to believe that their generals and armies differ from thofe of other nations, and have nothing of rudencfs or bar- barity in them. They fuppofe them what tliey wifli them to be. They feel a difgrace in thinking, otherwife, and naturally encourage the belief from a partiality to themfclves. There was a time when I felt 'die fame prejudices, and reafoned from the fame errors : but experience, fad and painful expe- rience, has taught me better." What the conduct of former armies was, I know not, but what the condu6l of the prefent is, I well know. It is lov/^ ' cruel, indolent, and profligate : and had the people pf America no other caufc for fcparatlon than what N 3 '■ the 4 fit X 111 ■* •'■■■■ 1 '^m ^ .^^1^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 LI LilM 125 ■tt iiii 12.2 1^ IIIIIL25 m III 1.6 ^ 6" ► ■7^ >> I^togFaphic Sciences Corporation ^ •SJ V <^ 4^/V o^ 23 WBT MAIN STRUT \WIUTn,N.Y. USM (71«)t73-4S03 [ '82 ] the army has occafioned, that alone is caufe enough. The field of politics in England is far more cx- tenfive than that of news. Men have a right to rea- fon for thcmfelves, and though they cannot contra- dict the intelligence in the London Gazette, they can frame upon it what fentiments they pleafc. But the misfortune is, that a general ignorance has prevailed over the whole nation refpeding Ameri- ca. The miniftry and the minority have both been wrong. The former was always fo j the latter, only lately fo. Politics to be executively right, muft have a unity of means and time, and a dcfe6t in cither overthrows the whole. The miniftry re- jeftcd the plans of tht minority while they were pradlicable, and joined in them, when they became imprafticable. From wrong meafures, they got into wrong time, and have now completed the circle of abfurdity by clofing it upon themfelves. It was my fate" to come to America a fewmonths ^ before the breaking out of hoftilities. 1 found the difpofition of the people fuch, that^they might have been led by a thread, and governed by a reed. Their fufpicion was quick and penetrating, but their attachment to Britain was obftinate, and it was, at that time, a kind of treafon to fpeak againft it. They difliked the miniftry, but they efteemed the nation. Their idea of grievance operated without refentmcnt, and their fingle objcd was re- . cor^- ■ [ 183 ] conciliation. Bad as T believed the miniftry to be, I never conceived them capable of a meafure fo fafh and wicked as the commencing of hoftiliticsj much lefs did I imagine the nation would en- courage it. I viewed the difpute as a kind of law- fuit, in which I fuppofed the parties would find a way either to decide or fettle it. I had no thoughts of independence, or of arms. The world could not then have perfuaded me, that I Ihould be ei- ther a foldier or an author. If I had any talents for either, they were buried in me, and might ever have continued fo, had not the neceffity of the times dragged and driven them into adion. I had formed my plan of life, and conceiving myfelf hap- py, wifhed evei"y body elfe fo. But when the country into which I had juft put my foot, was fct on fire about my ears, it was time to flir. It was time for every man to ftir. Thofe who had been long fettled and had fomething to defend ; thofe who had jud come had fomething to purfue j and the call, and the concern was equal and univer- fal. For in a country where all men were once ad- venturers, the difference of a few years in their arri- val, could make none in their right. The breaking out of hoftilities, opened a new fufpicion in the politics of America, which, though at that time very rare, has been fmce proved to be very right. What I allude to, is, " A fccrct and fixt determination in the Britifh cabinet to annex N 4 America |*!f : .*H{ i^l ; r' m |l 'I m 4- ■'■ITS''. . u . [ '84 ] America to the crown of England as a conquered country." If this be taken as the objed, then the whole line of condudl purfued by the miniftry, though rafh in its origin, and ruinous in its confe- quences, is neverthelefs uniform and confident in its parts. It applies to every cafe, and refolves every difficulty. But if taxation, or any thing eife taken in its room, then there is no proportion be- tween the objedand the charge. Nothing but the whole foil and property of the country can be placed as a poflible equivalent againft the millions, which the miniftry expended. No taxes raifed in America could poffibly repay it. A revenue of two millions fterling a year, would not difcharge the fum and interefi accumulated thereon, in twenty years. Reconciliation never appears to have been the wifh or the objedt of adminiftration, they looked on conqueft as certain and infallible, and under that perfuafion, fought to drive the Americans into what they might ftile, a general rebellion, and then crulhing them with arms in their hands, reap the rich harveft of a general confifcation, and filence them for ever. The dependants at court were too numerous to be provided for in England. The market for plunder in the Eafl Indies were overj and the profligacy of government required that a a new mine fhould be opened, and that mine, could be no other than America conquered and forfeited. in [ iS5 ] • forfeited. They had no where elfc to go. Every other channel was drained ; and extravagance with the thirft of a drunkard, was gaping forfupplies. If the miniftry deny this to have been their plan, it becomes them to explain what was their plan. For either they have abufed us in coveting pro- perty they never laboured for, or they have abufed you in expending an amazing fum upon an incom- petent objedl. Taxation, as I mentioned before, could never be worth the charge of obtaining it by arms j and any kind of formal obcKiience which America could have made, would have weighed with the lightnefs of a laugh againft fuch a load of expence. It is, therefore, moft probable, that the miniftry will at laft juitify their policy by their dif- honefty, and openly declare, that their original de- fjgn was conqueft: And in this cafe, it well becomes the people of England, to confider how far the na- tion would have been benefited by the fuccefs. In a general view, there arc few conquefts that repay the charge of making them, and mankind al-e pretty well convinced, that it can never be worth their while to go to war for profit fake. If they are made war upon, their country invaded, or their exiftcnce at ftake, it is their duty to defend and preferve themfelves, but in every other light, and from every other caufe, is war inglorious and deteftable. But to return to the cafe in quellion — When conquefts are made of foreign countries, it is fuppofcd that the COMMERCE and DO- MINION f •4 ,. ...(,1 \;\ ^^1 ;?■■ 111 m m i87 ] "War never can be.the interell ofa trading nation, any more than quanelling can be profitable to a man in bufinefs. But to make war with thofe who trade with us, is like fetting a bull-dog upon a cuftomer at the fhop door. The lead degree of common fenfe fhews the madnefs of the latter, and it will apply with the fame force of convidion to the former. Piratical nations, having neither commerce or commodities of their own to lofe, may make war upon all the world, and lucratively find their account in it. But it is quite otherwife with Britain. For, befides the ftoppage of trade in time of war, fhe expofes more of her own property to be loft, than (he has the chance of taking from others. Some minifterial gentlemen in parliament have mentioned the greatnefs of her trade, as an apology for the greatnefs of her lofs. This is mife- rable politics indeed ! becaufe, it ought to have been given as a reafon for her not engaging in a war afc firft. The coaft of America commands the Weft India trade, almoft as effeftually as the coaft of Africa does that of the Streights, and England can no more carry to the former, without the confent of America, than ihe can the latter without a Me- diterranean pafs. In whatever light the war with America is con- fidered upon commercial principles, it is evidently the intereft of the people of England not to fup- port it; and why it has been fupported fo long ' againft fl^ V . '"i ",:>"■ ■m if % V ■ ' 4 : i '1 1 =1 ■*•■ < l^.; ' ^i l " -'HI i ^: M \h mi [ i58 ] agakift the cleared demdnftrations of troth and na- tional advantage, is to me, and muft be to all the ireafonable world, a matter of adonifhment. Per- haps, it may be faid, that I live in America, and write this from interell. To thivS I reply, that my principles are univerfaL My attachment is to all the worlds and not to any particular part, and if what I advance is right, no matter where, or who it comes from. Wc have given the proclamation of your Gommiflioners a currency in our newfpa- pers, and I have no doubt but you will give this a place in yours. To oblige and be obliged is fair. Before I difmifs this part of my addrcfs, I fhall mention one more circumftance in which I think the people of England have been equally miftaken; and then proceed to other matter. There is fuch an idea exifling in, the world, as that of NATIONAL HONOUR, and this felfely underftood, is oftentimes the caufe of war. la a chriftian and philofophical fenfe, mankind feem to have flood ftill at individual civilization, and to retain as nations, all the original rudenefs of nature. Peace by treaty, is only a ceffation of vio- lence, for a reformation of fentiment. It is a fub- ftitute for a principle that is wanting, and ever will be wanting till the idea of TSfATIONAL HO- NOUR be righdy underftood. As individuals, we profcfs ourfelves chriftians, but as nations, we are heathens, Romans, and what not. I remember the late t '^ 3 late Admiral Saunders declaring in the Honfe t)f Commons, and that in the time of peace, " That the city of Madrid laid in afhes, was not a fufEcicnt atonement for the Spaniards taking ofFthe rudder of an Englifh floop of war." I do not aik whether this is chriftianity or morality, I a(k whether it is decency? whether it is proper language for ana* tion to ufe ? In private life we fhould call it by the plain name of bullying, and the elevation of rank cannot alter its chara6ter. It is, I think, exceed- ingly eafy to define, what ought to be underftood by national honour, for that which is the bed character for an individual, is the beft charadter for a nation ; and wherever the latter exceeds or falls beneath the former^ there is a departure from the line of true greatncfs. I have thrown out this obfervation with a defiga of applying it to Great Britain. Her idea of na- tional honour fecms devoid of that benevolence of heart, that univerfal cxpanfion of philanthropy, and that triumph over the rage of vulgar prejudice, without whichi man is inferior to himfelf, and a companion of common aLiinab. To know- whom fhe fhall regard or diflike, fhe a{ks what coilntry- they are of, what religion they profefs, and what property they enjoy* Her idea of national honour' feems to confift in national infult, and that to be a gr^at people, is to be neither a chriftian, a philofo- phcr, or a gentleman, but to threaten with the rude*-: ncls rm but no (hare of it would have fallen to you. Your taxes would not have been leflencd, becaule, Ihc would have been in no condition to have paid . any towards your relief. We are rich by a contrivance of our own, which would have ceafed, as foon as you became matters. Our Paper money will be of no ufc in England, and filver and gold we have none. In the laft war you made many conqucfts, but were any of your taxes Icflcned thereby ? On the contrary, were you not taxed to pay for the charge of making them, and have not the fame been the cafe in every war ? To the parliament, I beg toaddrefs myfelfina particylar manner They appear to have fiippofed themfelves partners in the chace, and to have hunted with the lion from an expedlation of a right in the booty j but in this, it is mofl probably they would, as legiflators, have been difappointed. The cafe is quite a new one, and many unfore- feen difficulties would have arifcn thereon. The parliament claimed a Icgiflative right over America, and the war originated from that pretence. But the army is fuppofed to belong to the crown, and if America had been conquered through their means, the claims of the legiflature would have been fufFocated in the conquefl. Ceded, or con- quered countries, arc fuppofed to be out of the au- O 3 thority [ 198 ] thority of parliament. Taxation is excrcifed over them by prerogative and not by law. It was attempted to be done in the Grenades a few years ago, and the only reafon why it wa§ not done, was, becaufe, the crown had made a prior relinquilhment of its claim. Therefore, parliament have been all this while fup- porting meafures for the eftablifhment of their au- thority, in the ifliie of which, they would have been triumphed over by prerogative. This might have opened a new and interefting oppofition between the parliament and the crown. The crown would have faid that it conquered for itfelf, and that to conquer for parliament was an unknown cafe. The parliament might have replied, that America not being a foreign country, but a country in rebel- lion, could not be faid to be conquered, but reduced i and thus continued their claim, by difowning the term. The crown might have rejoined, that how- ever America might be confidered at firft, fhe be- came foreign at laft, by a declaration of indepen- dence, and a treaty with France; and that her cafe being by that treaty, put within the law ot nations, was out of the law of parliament. The parlia- ment might have maintained, that as their claim over America had neverbeen furrendered, fo neither could it be taken away. The crown might have infilled, that though the claim of parliament could not be taken away, yet being an inferior, might be fuper- .[ 199 ] fuperccded ; and that, whether the claim was with- drawn from the object, or the object taken from the claim, the fame ieparation enfued ; and that America being fubdued af-er a treaty with France, was to al) intents and purpofes a regal conqucft, and of courfe the fole property of the king. The pailiament, as the legal delegates of the people, might have con- tended againft the term " inferior," and refted the cafe upon the antiquity of power; and this would have brought on a fet of very intereliing and ration- al queftions. Firft, What is the original fountain of power and honor in any country ? Secondly, Whether the prerogative does not be« long to the people ? Thirdly, Whether there rs any fuch thiitg as the Engliih conftitption ? Fourthly> Of what uik is the crown to the people ? Fifthly, Whether he who invented a crown was not an enemy to mankind ? Sixthly, Whether it is not a fhame for a man to ipend a million a year, and do no good for it, and whether the money might not be better applied ? Seventhly, Whether fuch a man is not better dead than alive ? Eighdily, Whether a congrefs conftituted like that of America, is not the moft happy and confift- / ,04 ent >!''••■« ' :»i'-"d n UM [ 200 ] ent form of government in the world ? — ^With a number of others of the fame import. In (hort, the contention about the dividend might have diftrafted the nation i for nothing is more common than to agree in the conqueft and quarrel for the prize j therefore it is, perhaps, a happy circumftance, that our fuccciles have pre- vented the difpute. If the parliament had been thrown out in their claim, which it is moft probable they would, the nation likewife would have been thrown out in their expeftation j for as the taxes would have been laid by the crown, without the parliament, the revenue arifing therefrom, if any could have arofe, would not have gone into the exchequer, but into the privy purfe, and fo far from leffening the taxes, would not even have been added to them, but ferved only as pocket money to the crown. The more I refleft on this matter, the more I am afton- ilhed at the blindnefs and ill-policy of my coun* trymen, whofe wifdom feems to operate without difcernment, and their ftrength without an objedt. To the great bulwark of the nation, I mean the mercantile and manufafburing part thereof^ I like- wife pxefcnt my addrefs. It is yout intereft to fee America an independent country, and not a con- quered one. If conquered, fhe is ruined j and if ruined, poorj confequently the trade will be a trifle, and her credit doubtfuU V independent, ihe £ 2»i 3 (he flourifhes, and from her flourilhing, muft ypur profits arife. It matters nothing to you, who go- verns America, if your manufafhires find a con- fumption there. Some articles will confequently be obtained from other places, and right theyfliould; but the demand of others, will increafe by the great influx of inhabitants which a ftate of independence and peace will occafion, and on the final event you may be enriched. The commerce of America is perfcftly free, and ever will be fo. She will confign away no part of it to any nation. She has not to her friends, and certainly will not to her enemies, though it is probable that your narrow-minded poli- ticians, thinking to pleafe you thereby, may fomc time or other make fuch an unneceflary propofal. Trade flourifhes beft when it is fr«e, and it is weak policy to attempt to fetter it. Her treaty with France is on the mod liberal and generous princi- ples, and the French in their condu6t towards her, have proved themfelves to be philofophers, politi- cians, and gentlemen. ' To the miniftry I likewife addrefs myfelf. You, gentlemen, have ftudied the ruin of your country, from which it is not within your abilities to rcfcue her. Your attempts to recover are as ridiculous as your plans, which involved her, arc deteftable. The commiflloners being about to depart, will pro- bably bring you this, and with it my fixth number to them i and in fo doing they carry back more COM- [ 202 ] COMMON SENSE than they brought, and you will likewife have more than when you fent them. Having thus addreffed you fcverally, I conclude by addrcfiing you collectively. It is a long lane that Fias no turning. A period of fixteen years of mifconduft and misfortune, is certainly long enough for any one nation to fufier under ; and upon a fup- poHtion that war is not declared between France and you, I beg to place a line of condud: before you that will eafily lead you out of all your trou- bles. It has been hinted before, and cannot be too much attended to. Suppofe America had remained unknown to Europe till the prefent year, and that Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, in another voyage round the world, had made the firft difcovery of her in the fclf fame condition fhe is now in, of arts, arms, numbers, and civilization. What, I afk, in ^-hat cafe, would have beer your conduft towards her, for THAT will point out what it ought to be now ? The problems and their folutions are equal, and the right line of the one is the parallel of the other. The queftion takes in every circum- ftance that can poffibly arife. It reduces politics to z fimple thought, and is moreover a mode of in- veftigation, in which, while you are ftudying your intereft, the fimplicity of the cafe will cheat you into good temper. You have nothing to do but to fup- pofc you have found America, and (lie appears found out, ratioi men,! ieourl »,-; [ 203 ] found to your hand, and, while in the J07 of your heart you ftand ftill to admire her, the path of politics rifes ftraight before you. Were I difpofed to paint a contraft, I c6uld eafily let off what you have done in the prefent cafe againft what you would have done in THAT cafe, and, by juftly oppofing them, conclude a pidlure that would make you blufh. But, as when any of the prouder pallions are hurt, it is much better phi- lofophy to let a man flip into a good temper* than to attack him in a bad one; for that reafon, there- fore, I only ftate the cafe, and leave yourfclves to refle6t upon it. To go a little back into politics, it will be found that the true interefts of Britain lay in propofing and promoting the independence of America immedi- ately after the laft peace ; for the expencc which! Britain had then incurred by defending America, as her own dominions, ought to have Ihewn her the policy and neceflity of changing the STILE of the country, as the beft probable method of preventing future wars and expence, and the only method by which fhc could hold the commerce without the charge of fovereignty. Befides which, the title fhe affumed of parent country, led to, and pointed out, the propriety, wifdom and advantage of a fcpa- ration ; for as in private life, children grow into men, and, by fetting up for themfelves, extend and Secure the intereft of the whole family, fo in the fettle- I* f 204 I ftttlement of colonics large enough to admk of maturity, the fame policy (hould be purfued, and the (ame confequenccs would follow. Nothing hurts the afFe6bion$ both, of parents and children fb much, as living too clofely connedbed, and keep- ing up the diflin^lion too long. Domineering will not do over thofe^ who by a progrefs in life are become equal in rank to theirparcnts, that is, whea they ha^e families of their own ; and though they may conceive themfclves the ftibjedEs of their ad- vice, will not fuppofe them the objedts of their government. I do not, by drawing this parallel,, mean to admit the title of PARENT COUN- TRY, becaufe, if due anywhere, it is due to Eu- rope colledivcly, and the firfl: fetders from Engf land were driven here by profecution. I mean only to introduce the term for the fake of policy,, and to fhow from your title, the line of yoi«: interell. When you faw the (late of flrength and opuv lence, and that by her own induftry, which America had arrived at, you ought to have advifcd her to have fet up for herfelfj and propofed an alliance of intereft with her, and, in fo doing, you would have drawn, and that at her own expence, more real ad- vantage, arid more military fupplies and affiftance, both of fhips and men, than from any weak and wrangling government you could exercife over her. In fhortji had you iludied only the domeflic poli- tics tics of a family, you would have learned how to govern the (late ; but, inftead of this eafy and na^ tural line, you Bew out into every thing which was wild and outrageous, till by following the pafTion and ftupidity of the pilot, you wrecked the vcficl within fight of the fhore. Having fhown what you ought to have done, t now proceed to fhew the reafon why it was not done. The caterpillar circle of the court, had an interefl to purfue diftindl from, and oppofed to yours, for though by the independence of America, and an alliance therewith, the trade would have continued, if not increafed, as in many articles neither country can go to a better market, and, though by defend^ ing and prote6ling herfelf^ (he would have been no cxpence to you, and confequendy ycur national charges would have decreafed, and your taxes might have been proportionally leflened thereby ; yet the llriking off fo many places from the court calendar was put in oppofidon to the intereft of the nation. The lofs of thirteen government fhips, with their appendages here and in England, is a fhocking found in the car of a hungry courtier. Tour pre- Jent king and minijler. will be the ruin of you ; and you had better rijk a revolution and call a congrefs^ than be thus led on from madnejs to defpairi and from defpair to ruin, jimerica has fet you the ex* ample, and may you follow it and be free* ^ I now : m 'm C 206 J I now come to the laft part — a war with France. This is what no man in his fenfcs will advli^ you to^ and all good men would wilh to prevent. Whether France will declare war againft you, is not for me in this place to mention, or to hint even if I knew it, but it muft be madnefs in you to do it firft. The matter is now coine to a full crifis, and peace is eafy, if willingly fet about. Whatever you may think, France has behaved handfomely to you. She would have been unjuft to herfelf to have adled otherwife than fhe did ; and having accepted our offer of alliance, ihe gave you genteel notice of it. There was nothing in her condu6l rcfcrved or in- delicate ; and, while fhe announced her determina- tion to fupport her treaty, (he left you to give the firft offence. America, on her part, has exhibited a charafter of firmnefs to the world. Unprepared and unarmed, without form or government, fhe iingly oppofed a nation that domineered over half the globe. The greatnefs of the deed demands re(pe6b ; and, though you may feel refentment, you are compelled both to WONDER and AD- MIRE. Here I reft my arguments, and finifh my ad- drels, fuch as it is : it is a gift, and you are welcome. It was always my delign to dedicate a CRISIS to you, when the time (hould come that would pro- perly MAKE IT A CRISIS 5 and when, likewife, I Ihould catch myfelf in a temper to write it, and fuppofe any tl the wi whicl tutioni king not. [ 207 ] fuppofe you in a condition to read it. THAT time is now arrived, and with it the opportunity of conveyance. For the commiffioners — POOR COMMISSIONERS ! having proclaimed, that " YET FORTY DAYS AND NINEVEH SHALL BE OVERTHROWN" have waited out the date , and, difcontented with their God, arc returning to their gourd. And all the harm I wifli them, is, that it may not WITHER about their ears, and that they may not make their exit in the belly of a whale. COMMON SENSE. P. S. Though, in the tranquility of my mind, I have concluded with a laugh, yet I have Ibmething to mention to the COMMISSIONERS, which to them is fcrious, and worthy their attention. Their authority is derived from an aft of parliament, which likewife defcribes and LIMITS their OF- FICIAL powers. Their commiffion, therefore, is only a recital, and perfonal inveftiture, of thofc powers, or a nomination and defcription of the pcr- fons who are to execute them. Had it contained any thing contrary to, or gone beyond the line of, the written law from which it is derived and by which it is bound, it would, by the Englilh confti- tution, have been treafon in the crown, and the king been fubjeft to an impeachment. He dared not, therefore, put in his commiffion what you , * have tl n. f.M i'li We put in your proclamation, that is, he dared noft havie authorilcd you, in that commifllon, to burn and deftroy, or to threaten to burn and deftroy, any thing in America. You are both in the ACT, and in the COMMISSION, ftilcd COMMISSION- ERS FOR RESTORING PEACE, and the tncthods for doing it are there pointed out. Your laft pro as commifllon- ers UNDER THAT ACT. You make parlia- ment the patron of its contents. Yet in the body of it, you inlert matters contrary both to the fpirit and letter of the aft, and what like wife your king dared not have put in his commifllon to you. The ftate of things in England, gentlemen, is too tick- lifli for you to run hazards. You are ACCOUNT* ABLE TO PARLIAMENT FOR THE EX- ECUTION OF THAT ACT ACCORDING TO THE LETTER OF IT. Your heads may pay for breaking it, for you certainly have broke it by exceeding It. And as a friend, who would wifli you to efcape the paw of the lion as well as the belly of the whale, I civilly hint to you, TO KEEP WITHIN COMPASS. Sir Harry Clinton, ftriftly fpeaking, is as ac- couL.iole as the reft ; though a general, he is like- wife a commiflioner, afting under a fupcrior autho- rity. His firft obedience is to the aft ; and his plea cf being a general, will not and cannot clear him as a commUnoner^ for that would fuppofe the crown, in '■II [ 209 ] in Its fingle capacity, to have the power of difpcn- fing with a fingle aft of parliament. Your fitua- tions, gentlemen, are nice aiid critical, and the more fo, becaufe England is unfettled. Take heed ! Remember the times of Charles the Firft I For Laud and Stafford fell by trufting to a hope like yours. Having thus (hewn you the danger of your pro- clamation, I now (hew you the folly of it. The means contradift the defign. You threaten to lay wafte, in order to render America a ufclcfs ac- quifition of alliance to France. I reply, that the more deftrudion you commit, (if you could do it,) the more valuable to France you make that alli- ance. You can deilroy only houfes and goods i and by fo doing you encreafc our demand upon her for materials and merchandize -, for the wants of one nation, provided it has FREEDOM and CREDIT, naturally produces riches to the oiher ; and as you can neither ruin the land, nor prevent the vegetation, you would encreafe the exportation of our produce in payment, which, to her, would be a new fund of -.vealth. In Ihort, had you caft al^out for a plan on purpofe to enrich your enemies, you could not have hit upon a better. P C. S. ■Ml M ■p. "U ^'M [ i»o 1 ■•iU i'.i THE C R I S I S. 1 il;''':^ r.j ' "'tii.: vd -^^''Mdreffed to the People of England. airf}^ lio ^niiii'v' • I' RUSTING, (fays the kmg of England in * and fyrnifti i;ew pretences for new extravagance. " Can Britain failV" Has been proudly aflced lit the commenqcmcnt, of every enterprize* and tliat "i^hiiiever Jbei wills is/ate^," ha^ been given with the folcmnity of prophetic confidence, and though the queftion has been cpnftantly replied tp, by difappointmeipLt,^ and the predi and the n)i- * fcries it inflids. Fire, fword and want, as far as the arms pf Bri- tain could extend them, have been fprcad with wanton cruelty alpng the- qoaft of i\meHca j and while you, remote from the fcene pf fuffering, had nothing to lofe, and as little tp dread, the informa- tion reached you like a talc of antiquity, in which the diftance pf UQxe defaces the conception, apd * Whiteheads New Year*8 Ode, 1776. -jr Ode at the inftallation of lord North^ for chancellor of th# Univerfity of Oxford. P2 changes K • \ ■#! Mm ^ m -I, ;j ^ m f* 'Ml IP-. i «?, w [ 2^^ 3 changes die fevered: forrows into converfable amufe- ment. . , This makes the fecond paper, addrefled, per- haps in vain, to the people of England. That ad- vice fhould be taken, wherever example has failed, or precept be regarded, where warning is ridiculed, is like a pidure' of hope refting on de- ipair: But when time (hall ftamp with univerfal currency, the fadts you have long encountered with a laugh, and the irrefiftable evidence of accumula- ted lofles, like the hand writing on the wall, ihall add terror to diftrefs, you will then, in a conflift of fufFerings, learn tofympathize with others by feel- ing for yourfelvcs. The triumphant appearance of the combined fleets in the channel, and at your harbour's mourtii? and the expedition of captain Paul Jones, on the weftern and eaftern coaft of England and Scotland, will, by placing you in the condition of an endan- gered country, read to you a ftronger ledlure on the " calamities of invafion, arid bring to your minds a truer piftiire of promifcuous diftrefs, than the moft finiflicd rhetoric can defcribe, or the kecneft imagi- nation can conceive. Hitherto, you have experienced the expences, but nothing of the miferies of war. Your difap- ^ pointments have been accompanied with no im- mediate fuffering, and your loffcs came to you only by intelligence. Like fire at a diftancc, you heard not i 213 ] not even the cry j you felt not the danger, you faw not the confufion. To you, every thing has been foreign, but the taxes to fupport it. You knew not what it was to be alarmed at midnight with an armed enemy in the ftrcets. You were ftrangers to the diftrefling fcene of a family in flight, and the thoufand reftlefs cares, and tender forrows that inceflantly arofc. To fee women and children wandering in the fe verity of winter with the broken remains of a well furnifhed houfe, and feeking fhelter in every crib and hut, were matters you had no con- ception of. You knew not what it was to ftand by and fee your goods chopt up for fuel, and your beds ript to pieces to make packages for plunder. The mifery of others, like a tempeftuous night, ad- ded to the pleafures of your own fecurity. You even enjoyed the ftorm, by contemplating the dif- ference of conditions^ and tj^at which carried for- row into the brcaft of thoufands, ferved but to heighten in you a fpecies of tranquil pride. ■ Yet thefe are but the fainter fufferings of war, when compared with carnage and flaughter, the miferies of a military hofpital, or a town in flames. The people of America by anticipating diftrefs, had fortified their minds againft every fpecies you could inflift. They had refolved to abandon their homes, to refign them to de(lru(5lion, and to ieek new fctdements, rather than fubmit. Thus fa- miliarized to misfortune, before it arrived^ they P 3 bore 'Mi lili [ 2«4 ] hove their portion wkK hferegre't: Thfe jyfthcft of dieircaufc, ^as Bi^dtitittiMl fotifce of confola- tioni and the hope of final vidtonry, which never left diem, ktved to lighten the k>ad, and fwcctcn the cap allotted tlicm to (frink* ' But when thfeir ftiffehng ihall become yoiil^, ahd invasion be transferred to the invaders, you will rhaVie neither an extended wildernefs to fly to, their caiife to Gonrrfort you, nor their hopes to reft on. Diftrefs with them was iharpeiied widi nb fclf- reflection . They had not brought it on themfelves. On the contrary, they had by every proceeding endeavoured to avoid it, aiKl had de^ fcended eVen below the mark of congrcffional charader to prevent a war. The national honour, or the advafitagcs of independence, were matters, which, at the commencement of the dilpute, they had never ftudied^-and it Was only ait the laft moment that the mcafure was risfolved on, : Thus circum- ftanced, they naiturally aitKir-cbn'fiflentioufly felt a de- pendanee upon Prdvidence. They had a clear pre- tention to it,, and had they failed therein, infidelity had gained a (riHcnph, , . But your Condition is the reverfe of theirs. ■Every thing you fiiiffer you have fought j nay, had you created mifchicfs oia pu'rpofe to inherit them, you could not have feCiired your title by a firmer deed. The world awakens with no pity at your complaints. You felt iTone ^or others; you de- .- ] I 'i - fcrve [ "$■ ] /crve none for yourfelves. Natnrc doth not inter- eft herfelf in cafes fikc yours, but, on the contrary, turns from them with drflikc, and abandons them to puniihmcnt. You may now prcfcnt memorials to what court you pleafe, but fo far as America is tfie objcd, none will llften. The policy of Europe, and the propenfity there isin every mind to curb inAilcing ambition, and bring cruelty to judgment, are unitedly agaiiift you j and where nature and in- tereft reinforces each odicr, the compaft is too in- timate to be dHTolved. . Make but the cafe of odiers your own, and your own theirs, and you will then have a clear idea of the whole. Had France adted towards her colo- nies as you have done, you would have branded her with every epithet of abhorrence j and had you like her, ftept in to fuccour a ftruggling people, all Europe muft have echoed with your own applaufes. But entangled in the paffion of difpute, you fee it not as you ought, and form opinions thereon which fuit with no iritereft but your own. You wonder America does not rile in union with you to im- pofc on herfelf a portion* of your taxes, and reduce herfelf to unconditional fubmiflion. You are amazed that the fouthern powers you m&Yy with all the pride of criminal haj^inefe, expire wienvied, and unrivalkd. — But when the tunwilt of war (hall ceafc, and the tempcft of pre- fcnt j>affions be luccecded by calm refk(3:ioR, or w^en thofe,. who furviving its fory, (hall inherit from yoij, a legacy of debts and misfortunes, wheh the yearly revenue fhallfcarcely be able todiicharge the intereft of the one, and no poffiblc remedy be kft for the other : Ideas, far different t^ the pre- fent, will arife, and embitter the remembiancc of former follies. A mind difar :ned o^ its rage, feels, no pleafure in contemplating a frantic quarreL Sickncfs of thought, the fure con^quence of con- du6fc like yours, leaves no ability for enjoyment, no relifli for refcntment ; and though,, like a man in a. fit, you feel not the 'tyury of the ilruggle, nor dif- tinguifh between ftrcngth and difeafe, the weaknefs, will, neverthelels, be proportioned to the violence? and the fenfe of painj encreaie with the recovery. To what perfons, or to whofe fyflem of politics you owe your prefcnt ftate of wretchednefs, is a matter of total indifference to America. They have contributed,^ however unwillingly, to let her above theiufelves ; and fhe, in the tranquillity of conqueft^ rcfigns the enquiry. Tl»e cai« now, is not fo properly, who began the war, as who conti- nues i^ I' hat there are *?nen in all countries to whom II l\ [ 219 1 whom a date of war is a mine Ui v^ealr^ is a fai^ ne<- ver to be doubted. Charaftcrs like thcfr naturally breed in the putrefadlion of diftempered vimes, md after fattening on the difeafe, they pcrilh with c, or impregnated with the ftench, retreat into ob* pu- rity. But there are feveral erroneous notions, to which you likewife owe a (hare of your misfortunes, *nd which, if condnued, will only increafe your trouble and your lof&s. An opinion hangs about the gentlemen of the minority, that America would relifh meafures under THEIR adminiftration, which fhc would not from the prefcnt cabinet. On this rock lord Chatham would have fplit had he gained the helm, and feveral of his furvivors are fleering the fame courfe. Such diftindlions in the infency of the argument, had fbme degree of foun- dation, but they now ferve no other purpole than to lengthen out a war, in which the limits of the difpute, being fixt by the fate of arms, and guaran- ried by treaties, are not to be changed, or altered by trivial circumftances. The miniftry and many of the minority facrifioe their time in difputing on a queftion, with which, they have nothing to do, namely, whether America (hall be independent or not ? Whereas, the only queftion that can come under their determination, is, whether they will accede to it or not ? They confound a military queftion with a political one, and * -i 'I'll "Hi • '4 M [ 220 ] and undertake to fupply by a vote, what they loft by a battle. Say, (he fhall not be independent, and it will fignify as much, as if they voted againfl: a decree of fate, or fay that fhe fhall, and ihe will be no more independent than before. QH^ftions, which when determined, cannot be executed, fervc only to ihew the folly of difpute, and the weaknefs of the difpurants. From a long habit of calling America your own, you fuppofe her governed by the fame prejudices and conceits which govern yourfclves. Becaufc you have fet up a particular denomination of reli- gion to the exclufion of all others, you imagine fhe muft do the fame; and, bccaufe you, with an unfociable narrownefs of mind, have chcrifhed againft France and Spain, you fuppofe her alliance muft be defeftive in frlcndfhip. Copying her no- tions of the world from you, fhe formerly diought as you inftru6ted, but now feeling herfelf free, and the prejudice removed, fhe thinks, and acfts upon a different fyftem. It frequendy happens, that in proportion as we are taught to diflike perfons and countries, not knowing why, we feel an ardour of efteeni upon a removal of the miftake : It feems as if fomething was to be made amends for, and we eagerly give into every office of friendlhip, to atone for the injury of the error. But [ 211 ] But, perhaps, there is fomcthing in the extent of countries, which, among the generality of peo- ple, infenfibly communicates extenfion of the mind. The foul of an iflander in its native (late, fcems bounded by the foggy confines of the water's edge, and all beyond, affords to him matters only for profit or curiofity— not for friendfhip. His ifland is to him, his world, and fixt to that, his every thing centers in it j while thofe, who are inhabi- tants of a continent, by calling their eye over a larger field, take in likewife a larger intelle(5kual circuit, and thus approaching nearer to an ac- quaintance with the univerfe, their atmofphere of thought is extended, and their liberality fills a wider fpace. In fhort, our minds feem to be meafured by countries when we are men, as they are by places, when we are children, and until fomething happens to difcntangle us from the prejudice, we ferve under it without perceiving it. In addition to this, it may be remarked, that men who ftudy any univcrfal fcience, the principles of which are univerfally known or admitted, and applied without diftindtion to the common benefit of all countries, obtain thereby a larger fhare of philanthropy than thofe who only ftudy national arts and improvements. Natural philofophy, mathematics and aftronomy, carry the mind from the country to the creation^ and give it a fitnefs fuited 4\ as 'I ' ''Hi "ij 'fn^'' .■.Pi Jo/« viF^Qi-r-'- .i}'U: d:. Philadelphia y "L»,..j4i. •ar.^*^ ^^.^-i„ ^ 'i,.> «»^ . i^iW,y>#i^iii$^:^-- ; ; ,')fft lu M ui^^l.fcMm miC5■|^'J4|I0:||l■ ■'■Sn*'**-' ' .li bna; jn-^ ■.....-' :3:;|{:^»/ ^.,, / , . .:d':^ ^1 THE I ^23 3 \l\i ^ l-^r^ i>'-' t.,.^ -.._.. .o f,. r f .*,ri *i,'. ^*7 CRISIS. ij/:;* ^il? but, ^w ^»,'^«J^ iV No. X. K n. •» « n,.. .AD America purfued her advantages with half the fpirit Ihe rcfifted her misfortunes, flic would, before now, have been a conquering, and a peaceful people; but lulled in the Jap of foft tranquillity, Ihc refted on her hopes, and ad^^ verfity only has convulfed her into afHon. Whe- ther fubtkty or fincerity, at the dole o( t^ lafl; year, induced the enemy to an appearance (ot peace, is a point not material to know; it fufH-^ cient that we lee the effc(fh it has had oa our politics, and that we (lernly rife to refent th9 deluliou. . ., .. The war, on the part of America, lias been a \\'zr of natural feelings. Brave in diftrefsj fcrene in conqueft; drowfy while at reft; and in every fituation generoufly difpofcd to peace. A danger- ous calm, and a mod heightened zeal, have, as cir- cumftances varied, fucceedcd each other. Every paflion, but that of defpair, has been called to a tour of duty j and fo miftakcnhas been the enemy, of II " 1 •i y ' ,:--H |. * ■ ; " ^Ij ^ii ■ ^ ' ikff i m 'M :;4 . nff 9> . i' ' V [ 224 i of our abilities and difpofition, that when fhe fup- pofcd us conquered, we rofe the conquerors. The cxtenfivencfs of the United States, and the variety of their refourcesj the univei^fality of their caufe, the quick operation of their feelingF^ and the fimi- larity oftheirfentiments, have, in every trying fitu- ation, produced a /otnething, which favoured by Providence, and purfued with ardour, has accom- plifhed in an inftant the bufinefs of a campaign. Wc have never deliberately fought viftory, but fnatched it; and bravely undone in an hour, the plotted operations of a feafon, ^'^^ t^--.^ The reported fate of Charleftown, like the mis- fortunes of feventy-fix, has at laft called forth a Ipirit, and kindled up a flame, which, perhaps, no other event could have produced. If the enemy has circulated a falfliood, they have unwifely ag- gravated us into life, and if they have told us a truth, they have unintentionally done us a fervice. Wc were returning with folded arms from the fa- tigues of war, and thinking and fetting leifurely down to enjoy repole. The dependancc that has been put upon Charleftown, threw a drowfmefs over America. We looked on the bufinefs done — The confli<5k over— the matter fettled—or that all which remained unfiniftied would follow of it- fclf. In this ftate of dangerous relax, cxpofed to the poifonous infufions of the enemy, and having tio ;--^ [ 225 j ho common danger to attradl our attention, we v.erc extinguifliing by ftages the ardour we began with, and furrendering by piece meals the virtue that defended us. Afflifting as the lofs of Charleftown iilay be, yet if it univerfally rouze us from the flumber of a twelvemonths paft, and renew in us the fpirit of former days, it will produce an advantage more important than its lofs. America ever is what (he thinks hcrfelf to be. Governed by fentiment, and ading her own mind, (he becomes, as (he pleafes, the viftor or the victim. It is not the conqueft of towns, nor the acci- dental capture of garrifons, that can reduce a coun- try fo extcnfive as this. The fufFerings of one part can ever be relieved by the exertions of another, and there is no fituation the enemy can be in, that does not afford to us the fame advanj^ages (he feeks herfelf. By dividing her force, (he leaves every poit attackable. It is a mode of war that carries with it a confefTion of weaknefs, and goes on the principle of diftrefs, rather than conqueft. The decline of the enemy is vifible, not only in their operations, but in their plans ; Charleftown originally made but a fecondary objedb in the fyC- tern of attack, and it is now become their princi- pal one, becaufe they have not been able to fuccced clfewhere. It would have carried a cowardly ap- Q* pear- 0^ >. i ■;.fi| l' i' ^ '::i -'$ m ■J: ■CM ^■ [ 226 ] pearancc in Europe, had they formed their grand expedition in feventy-fix, againft a part of the con- tinent> where there was no army, or not a fufficicnt one to oppofe them; but failing year after year in their impreflions here, and to the eaftward and northward, they deferted their firft capital defign, and prudently contenting themfelves with what they can get, give ^.flourifli of honour to conceal dilgrape. But this, piecemeal work is not conquering the continent. It is a difcredit in them. to, attempt it, and in us to fuffer it. It is now full time to put an cn^ to a w^r, of aggravations, which, on one fide, has no pofTible objefl, and on the other, has. every inducement which honour, intereft, fafety and hap- pinefs can infpire. If we fuffer them much longer tp ren)a,in among us, we fhall becoipeas bad as themfelves. An aflbciation of vices will reduce us more than the fword. A nation hardened in the practice of iniquity knows better how to profit by it, than a young country newly corrupted. We are not a match for them in the line of advantage- ous guilt, nor they to us on the principles we bravely fet out with* Our firft days were our days of honour. They have marked the charader of America, wherever the ftory of her wars are told j and con- vinced qf this, we have nothing to do, but wifely and unitedly to tread the well known track. The t 227 ] The progrefs of a war is often as ruinous to indi- viduals, as the iflue of it is to a nation ; and it is not only neceflary that our forces be fuch, that we be conquerors in the end, but that by timely ex- ertions we be fecure in the interim. The prefent campaign will afford an opportunity which has never prefented itfelf before, and the preparations .for it are equally neceffary, whether Charlilown (land or falL Suppofe the firft, it is in that cafe only a failure of the enemy, not a defeat. All the conqueft a befiegcd town can hope for, is, not to be conquered ; and compelling an enemy to raife the fiege, is to the befieged a vidory. But there muft be a probability, amounting almoft to certainty, that would juftify a garrifon marching out to attack a retreat. Therefore, fliould Charleftown not be taken, and the enemy abandon the ficgc, every other part of the continent fhould prepare to meet them ; and on the contrary, fliould it be taken, the fame preparations are neceffary to balance the lofs, and put ourfelves in a condition to co-operate with our allies, immediately on their arrival. We are not now fighting our battles alone, as we were in fevcnty fix. England, from a malici- ous difpofition to America,has not onh^ .^t declared war againft France and Spain, but the better to prolecutc her paffions here, has afforded thofe two powers no military objedt,. and avoids them, to diftrcfs us. She will fuffer her Weft India iflands 0^2 to •H ''fit v'''| ■ ■■>; Ml ■It'J Hi* "•■'fhif [ i28 3 to be over-run by France, and her fouthern fettle- ments taken by Spain, rather than quit the objedl that gratifies revenge. This condud, on the part of Britain, has pointed out the propriety of France fending a naval and land force to co - operate with America on the fpot. Their arrival cannot be very diflant, nor the ravages of tjft enemy long. In the mean time the part neceflary to us needs no illuftration. The recruiting the army, and procu- ring the fupplics, are the two things needful, and a capture of either of the enemy's divifions, will re- ftore to America peace and plenty. At a crifis, big, like the prefcnt, with expectation and events, the whole country is called to unani- mity and exertion. Not an ability ought now to fleep, that can produce but a mite to the general good, nor even a whilper to pafs that militates againft it. The neceflity of the cafe, and the importance of the confequences, admit no delay from a friend, no apology from an enemy. To Ipare now, would be the height of extravagance, and to con- fult prefent eafe, would be to facrifice it, perhaps, for ever. America, rich in patriotifmand produce, can want neither men nor fupplies, when a ferious neceflity call them forth. The flow operation of taxes, owing to the extenfivenefs of colledion, and their depreciated value before they arrived in the trea- fury, have in many inftances, thrown a burthen upon [ 229 ] upon government, which has been artfully inter- preted by the enemy into a general decline through- out the country. Yet this, inconvenient as it may at firft appear, is not only remediable, but may be turned to an immediate advantage -, for it makes no real difference, whether a certain number of men, or company of militia (and in this country, every man is a militia man) are diredled by law to fend a recruit at their own expence, or whether a tax is laid on them for that purpofe, and the man hired by government afterwards. The firft, if there is any difference, is both cheapeft and beft, becaufe it faves the expence which would attend collecting it as a tax, and brings the man fooner into the field, than the modes of recruiting formerly ufed. And on this principle, a law has been pafled in this ftate, for recruiting two men from each com- pany of militia, which will add upwards of a thou- fand to the force of the country. But the flame, which has broke forth in this city fince the report from New York, of the lofs of Charleflown, not only does honour to the place, but, like the blaze of feventy wx, will kindle into ^£tion the fcattercd fparks throughout America. — The valour of a country, may be learned by the bravery of its foldiery, and the general cad of its in- habitants, but conBdence of fuccefs is beft difcovered by the adtivemeafurespurfuedby men of property; ^ni when the ipirit of enterprizc becomes fo uni- Qj verfaj W !| ■, 'il V'^ I [230] verfal as to aft at once on all ranks of men, a war may then, and not till then, be (liled truly popular. In feventy-fix, the ardour of the enccrprifing part was c6nfiderably checked, by the real revolt of /bme, and the coolnefs of others. But in the pre- fent cafe, there is a firmnefs in the fubftaice and pro- perty of the country to the public caufe. An afib- ciation has been entered into by the merchants, tradefmen, and the principal inhabitants of diis city, to receive and fupport the new ftate money at the value of gold and (ilver; a meafure, which, while it does them honour, will likewife contribute to their intereft, by rendering the operations of the campaign convenient and efFeftual. Neither has the fpirit of exerdon ftopt here. A voluntary fubfcription is likewife began, to raife a fund of hard money to be given as bounties to fill up the full quota of the Pennfylvania line. It has been the remark of the enemy, that every thing in America has been done by the force of govern- ment^ but when ihe fees indivkiuals throwing in their voluntary aids, and facilitating the public mea- fures in concert with the cftablilhed powers of the country, it will convince her that the caufe of America (lands notoii the wiUof afew, but on the broad foundation of property and popularity. Thus aided, aipd thus fupported, difaffeftion will decline, and the withered -head of tyranny ex- * pirc [ 231 ] » pire in America. The ravages of the enemy will be fhort and limited, and like all their former ones, will produce a vidtory over themfelves. COMMON SENSE. ^ At the time of writing this number of the Crifis, the lofs of Charlcftown, though believed by fome, was more confidently dilbelieved by others. But there ought to be no longer a doubt on the matter. Charleftown is gone, and I believe, for the want of a fufficient fupply of provifions. The man that does not now feel for the honour of the beft and nobleft caufe that ever a country engaged in, and exert himfelf accordingly, is no longer worthy a peaceable refidcncfe amohjg a people de- termined to be free, C. S. •;j'i ■'di ■M 0.4 Thb :'*;■ < I siK" **1 '''St™ [ 23i ] THE CRISIS EXTRAORDINARY, ( On the SubjeB of Taxation, ) It is impofTible to (it down and think ferioufly on the affairs of America, but the original principles on which ihc refifted, and the glow and ardour they infpired, will occur like the undefaced remem- brance of a lovely fcene. To trace over in imagi- nation the purity of the caufe, the voluntary facri- fices made to fupport itj, and all the various turnings of the war in its defence, is at ot\cc both paying and receiving refpcft. The principles dcferve to be remembered, and to remember them rightly, is repoflcffing them. In this indulgence of gene- rous recoUcdion, we become gainers by what we feem to give, and the more we beftow the richer wc become. So extenflvely right was the ground on which America proceeded, that it not only took in every juft and liberal fentiment which could imprefs the heart, but made it the direft intereft of every clals ^nd order of men to defend the cpuntrjr. The war. [ 233 J on the part of Britain, was originally a war of covet- oufneis. The fordid, and not the fplendid palTions gave it being. The fertile fields, and profperous infancy of America, appeared to her as mines for tributary wealth. She viewed the hive, and difrc- garding the induflry that had enriched it, thiriled for the honey. But in the prefent flage of her affairs, the violence of temper is added to the rage of ava- rice i and therefore, that, which at the firft fetting out proceeded from purity of principle and public intereft, is now heightened by all the obligations of neceflity j for it requires but litde knowledge of hu- man nature, to difcern what would be the confe- quence, were America again reduced'to the fubjec- tion of Britain. Uncontrouled power, in the hands of an incenfed, imperious, and rapacious conqueror, is an engine of dreadful execution, and woe be to that country over which it can be exercifed. The names of whig and tory would then be funk in the general term of rebel, and the oppreffion, whatever it might be, would, with very few inftances of ex- ception, light equally on all. Britain did not go to war with America for the fake of dominion, becaufe fhe was then in pofleflion j neither was it for the extenfion of trade and com- mercj^, becaufe (he had monopolized the whole and the country had yielded to it j neither was it to extinguifh what Jhe might call rebellion, becaufe, before fhe bcgan^ no rcfiftance exifted. It could then I: b if'-- "11 ■ m ■ i m M ■■■A'4 C 234 1 then be from no other motive than avarice, or a dclign ofeftablifhing, in the firftinftancc, the fame taxes in America as are paid in England ^ which, as I fhall prcfcntly (hew, are above cbven times heavier than the taxes we now pay for the prefent year, 1780), or in the fecond inflance, to confifcacc the whole property of America, in cafe of refiftancc and conqiicft of the latter, of which Ihe had then jio doubt. I fhall now proceed to Ihew what the taxes in England are, and what the yearly expence of the prefent war is to her, — What the taxes of thi« country amount to, and what the annual expence of defending it efFedcually will be to us j and fliall en- deavour concifcly, to point out the caufc of our difficulties, and the advantages on one (ide, and the confequences on the other, in cafe we do, or do not put ourfelves in an efFedual ftate of defence. I mean to be open, candid and fincere. I lee a uni* verfal wilh to expel the enemy from the country, a murmuring becaufe the war is not carried on with more vigour, and my intention is, to (hew, as ihortly as poffible, both the reafon and the remedy, . The number of fouls in England (cxclufive of Scotland and Ireland) is feven millions*, and the number of fouls in America is three millions. * This is taking the higheft number that the people of England have been, or can be rated at. The [ 235 ] The amountof the taxes in England (exclufive of Scotland and Ireland) was, before the prcfcnt war commenced, eleven millions lix hundred and forty-two thoufand fix hundred and fifty-three pounds fterling, which on an average is ho kfs a fum than one pound thirteen (hillings and three pence ilerling per head, per annum, men, women and children ; be fides county taxes, taxes for the fupport of the poor, and a tenth of all the produce of the earth for the fupport of the bifhops and the clergy*. Nearly five millions of this fum went annually Iff' >' * The following is taken from Dr. Price's ftatc of the taxes of England, pages 96, 97, 98. An account of the money drawn from the public by taxes annually, being the medium of three years before the year 1776. Amount of cuiloms in England, Amount of the excife in England, - - 4,649,892 y'i Land tax at 3s. • • • - Land tax at is. in the pound, •Salt duties, ...... Duties on (lamps, cards, dice, advertifements, bonds, ieafes, newfpapers, almanacks, &c. Duties on houf«s and windows, Foil ofiice, feizures, wine licence, hackney coaches, &c, . - • • 2^0,000 Annual profits from lotteries, - . - - 150,000 Expcnce of colleifting the excifes in England, 397,887 }£xpen€t of coUe^ing the cuftoms in England, 468,703 ;^.2,528,375 4,649,892 1,300,000 450,000 218,739 280,788 385,369 m m 'k Carried over, ;^. 10,979,633 %^g^' [ 236 ] annually to pay the intcreft of the national debt contracted by former wars, and the remaining fum of (ix millions fix hundred and forty two thoufand fix hundred pounds was applied to defray the yearly expence of government, the peace eftablilh- mentofthe army and navy, placemen and penfion- crs, &c. confequently the whole of her enormous taxes being thus appropriated, (he had nothing to fpare out of them towards defraying the expences of the prefcnt war, or any other. Yet had Ihe not been in debt at the beginning of the war, as we were not, and like us had only a landj and not a na-> val war to carry on, her then revenue of eleven millions and a half pounds (Icrling would then defray all her annual expences of war and government within each year. But this not being the cafe with her, ihe is ob- liged to borrow about ten million pounds flerling £, 10,979,653 Ex. Brought forward - ■- Intereft of loans on the land tax at 4s. pences of colle£lion, militia, &c. - . 250,000 Perquifites, &c. on cuftom houfe officers, &c. fuppofed - - - . . 250,000 Expence of collecting the fait duties in Eng- land, io| per cent. ..... 27,000 Bounties on fifli exported, - . . . 18,000 Sixpence of collecting the duties on (lamps, pards, advertifenients, &c. at 5} percent. 18,000 ( . Total, ^i 1,542,653 yearly, yearly, (this y( taxes to the pre ling, th two mi her tax< an avei per he: nation, borrow and as comme rable w fhe, by fuch a c her to li I no\ Iha\ ca to b made, ficienth fupport cdfort on an 2 per h( eftablif quartei t 237 1 yearly, to profecute the war Ihe is now engaged in (this year Ihe borrowed twelve), and lay on new taxes to difcharge the intereft : and allowing that the prefcnt war has coft her only fifty millions fter- ling, the intereft thereon at five per cent, will be two millions and an half, therefore the amount of her taxes now muft be fourteen millions, which, on an average, is not lefs than forty (hillings fterling per head, men, women and children throughout the nation. Now as this expence of fifty millions was borrowed on the hopes of conquering America, and as it was Avarice which firft induced her to commence the war, how truly v/retched and deplo- rable would the condition of this country be, were Ihe, by her own remiflhefs, to fufFer an enemy of fuch a difpofition, and fo circumftanced, to reduce her to fubjedtion. I now proceed to the revenues of America. I have alreadyftatedthenumberof fouls in Ameri- ca to be three millions, and by a calculation I have made, which I have every reafon to believe is fuf- ficiently right, the whole expence ofthewarand the fupport of the feveral governments, may be defray- ed for two million pounds fterling, annually; which, on an average, is thirteen ftiillings and four pence per head, men, women, and children, and the peace eftabliftiment at the end of the war, will be but three quarters of a million, or five fhillings fterling per head. i i. 'I n i ''in . :•«] !li' SI 4 ■ * I [ 238 ] head. Now, throwing out of the queftion every thing of honour, principle, happinefs, freedom and reputation in the world, and taking it up on the fimple ground of intercft, I put the following cafe. Suppofe Britain was to conquer America, and as conquerors, was to lay her uiider no other con- ditions than to pay the fame proportions towards her annual revenue which the people of England, pay J our Ihare in that cafe, would be fix mil- lion pounds fterling yearly ; can it then be a quef- tion, whether it is beft to raife two millions to de- fend the country and govern it ourfclves, and only three quarters of a million afterwards, or pay fix millions to have it conquered, and let the enemy govern it. Can it be fuppofed that conquerors would chif" to put themfelves in a worfe condition than wl /. they granted to the conquered. In England, the tax on rum is five (hillings and one penny fterling per gallon, which is one filver dollar and fourteen coppers. Now would it not be laughable to ima- gine, that after the expence they have been at, they would let cither whig or tory in America drink it cheaper than themfelves. Coffee, which is lb con- fiderablc an article of confumption and fupport here, is there loaded with a duty, which makes the price between five and fix fhillings fterling a pound, and 81 penalty of fifty pounds fterling on any perfon de- tedcd [ 239 3 tc6led in roafting it in his own houlc. There is fcarce an article of life you can eat, drink, wear, or enjoy, that is not there loaded with a tax; even the light from heaven is only permited to fhinc into their dwellings by paying eighteen pence fter- ling per window annually j and the humbled drink of life, fmall beer, cannot there be purchafed with- out a tax of nearly two coppers a gallon, befides a heavy tax upon the malt, and another on the hops before it is brewed, excluHve of a land tax on the earth which produces them* In fhort, the condi« tion of that country in point of taxation is fo op- preflive, the number of her poor fo great, and the extravagance and rapacioufnefs of the court fo enor- mous, that were they to efFed a conqueft of Ame- rica, it is then only that the diflrefles of America would begin. Neither would it fignify any thing to a man whether he be whig or tory. The peo- ple of England, and the miniftry of that country know ys by no fuch diftinftions. What they want is clear folid revenue, and the modes they would take to procure it, would operate alike on all. Their manner of reafoning would be fhort, becaufc they would naturally infer, that if we were able to carry on a war of five or fix years againft them, we were able to pay the fame taxes which they do. I have already ftated that the expence of condu(5l:- ing the prefent war, and the government of the fe- veral dates, may be done for two millions fterlliig, and n \'-^l ^ 3 T s ' M ''f -m m t 24b ] and tiie cftablilhment in time of peace, for thre^ quartersof a million*. As to navy matters, tliey flourifh {o well, and are fo well attended in the hands of individuals^ that I think it confident on every principle of real life and oeconomy, to turn the navy into hard mo- ney, (keeping only three or four packets) and ap- ply it to promote the fervice of the army. Wc fhall not have a (hip the lefs 5 the ufe of them, and the benefit from them, will be gready increafed, and their expcnce faved. Wc are now allied to a for- midable naval power, from whom we derive the afiiftance of a navy. And the line in which wc can profecute the war, fo as to reduce the common enemy, and benefit the alliance moft effedtually, will be, by attending clofely to the land fervice. I eftimate the charge of keeping up, and main- taining an army, officering them, and all expences included, fufficient for the defence of the country, to be equal to the expence of forty thoufand men at thirty pounds fterling per head, which is one million two hundred thoufand pounds. * I have made the calculations in fterling, becaufe it is a rate generally known in all the dates, and becaufe, likewife, it admits of an eafy comparifon between our expences to fupport the war, ^nd thofe of the enemy. Four filver dollars and an half is one pound (ierltng, and three pence over. I likcwife I 11] for coi And port o will th For Con (jOV Ital to be a the que and fifi thoufai port ai at homi the fup Ino which followii Pern five th( dren, \ habitan two hu be rail thoufar [ 241 ] I like wife allow four hundred thoufand pounds for continental expences at home and abroad. And four hundred thoufand pounds for the fup- port of the (everal (late governments, the amount will then be. For the army, ■ ■ ■ 1,200,000 Continental expences at home and abroad. Government of the feveral dates. 400,000 400,000 Total, 2,000,000 m I take the proportion of this ftatc, Pcnnfylvania, to be an eighth part of the thirteen United States, the quota then for us to raife will be two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds fterling; two hundred thoufand of which, will be our fhare for the fup- port and pay of the army and continental expences at home and abroad, and fifty thoufand pounds for the fupport of (late government. In order to gain an idea of the propordon in which the r^fing fuch a fum will fall, I make the following calculation : Pcnnfylvania contains three hundred and (eventy five thoufand inhabitants, men, women, and chil- dren, which is likewife an eighth of the whole in- habitants of the whole United States : therefore two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds (lerling to be raifed among three hundred and leventy five thoufand perfons, is, on an average^ thirteen (hil- R lings * .H ' I ! / ■If , j;* v:. 'ill if '["■■ u . I"' '' ' ' .1; \m h I •■! I! M'i / . ■• t 242 ] lings and four pence fterling, per head, per annum, or fomediing more than one Ihilling fterling per month. And our proportion of three quarters of a million, for the government of the country, in time of peace, will be ninety three thoufand feven hundred and fifty pounds fterling, fifty thoufand of which will be for the government expences of the ftate,and forty three thoufand feven hundred and fifty pounds for continental expences at !iOme and abroad. The peace eftablifhment then, will, on an ave- rage, be five (hillings fterling per head. Whereas, was England now to ftop, and the war to ceafe, her peace eftablifhment would continue the fame as it is now, viz. forty fhillings per head ; therefore, was our taxes neceffary for carrying on the war as much per head, as her's now is, and the difference to be only whether we fhould, at the end of the war, pay at the rate of five fhillings per head, or forty fhillings per head, the cafe needs no thinking of. But as we can fecurely defend and keep the coun- try for one third kfs than what our burthen would be if it was conquered, and fupport the govern- ments afterwards for one eighth of what Britain would levy on us, and, could I find a mifer whofe heart never felt the emotion of a fpark of princi- ciple, even that man, uninfluenced by every love, but the love of money, and capable of no attach- ment but to his intereft, Would, and muft, from the frugality which governs him, contribute to th« de» fence t 243 1 fei^ce of the country, or he ceafes to t3e a itiitcr, and becomes an ideot. But when we take in with it, tvery thing that can ornament mankind; when the line of our intereft becomes the line <^ eur happineis; when all that can cheer and animate the heart P when fenfe of honour, fame^ character at home and abroad, are interv/oven, not only with the fecurity, but the increafe of property 5 there exifls not a man in America, unlefs he be a hired emiflary, who does not fee that his good is connected widi keeping up a fufficient defence, I do not imagine that an inftance can be pro-^ duced in the world, of a country putting herfelf to fuch an amazing charge to conquer and enflave another, as Britain has done. The fum is too great for her to think of with any tolerable degree of temper ; and when we confider the burthen fhe fuilains, as well as the difpofitiqn fhe has fhewn, it would be the height of folly in us, to fuppofe that fhe would not reimburfe herfelf by the moft fapid means, had fhe once more America within her power. With fuch an oppreffion of expencc, what would an empty conquefl be to her ? what relief under fuch circumftances could fhe derive from a viftory without a prize ! It was money, it was revenue fhe firfl went to war for, and nothing but th^t would fatisfy her. It is not the nature of avarice to be fatisfied with any thing clfe. Every pafHon that afts upon mankind has a peculiar mode of operation. Many of them are temporary and R 2 . fiudtuating i « i ■■■■ :1| Hi [ 244 ] flu£hiatingj they admit of ceflation and variety. But avarice is a fixed uniform paflfion. It neither abates of its vigour, nor changes its objeftj and th^ reafon why it does not, is founded on the nature of things, for wealth has not a rival, where avarice is a ruling paflion. One beauty may excel another, and extinguifh from the mind of a man the pidured remembrance of a former one : But wealth is the phoenbc of avarice, and therefore cannot feek a new objedt, becaufe there is not another in the world. I now pafs on to fhew the value of the prefent taxes, and compare them with the annual expence $ but this I fhall preface with a few explanatory re- marks. There are two diilinffc things which make the payment of taxes difficult; the one is the large and real value of the fum to be paid, and the other is, the fcarcity of the thing in which the payment is to be made ; and, although theie appear to be one and the fame, they are in feveral inflances, not only different, but the difficulty fprings from differ* cnt causes. Suppofe a tax was to be laid, equal to one half of what a man's yearly income is, fuch a tax could not be paid, becaufe the property could not be 4>ared ; and on the other hand, flippofe a very trifling tax was laid to be collected in pearls, fuch a tax likewife could not be paid, becaufe it could not be had. Now any perfon may fee that thefe are C ^45 ] are diftirw^ cafes, and the latter of them is a rcprc- fcntation of ours. ' That the difficulty cannot proceed from the former, that is, from the real value or weight of the tax is evident at firft view, to any pcrfon who will confider it. The amount of the quota of taxes for this (late, fortheprefent year, 1780, (and fo on in proportion for every other ftate) is twenty millions of dollars, which at feventy for one, is but fixty four thou(and two hundred and eighty pounds three (hillings fter- ling, and on an average, is no more than three (hil- lings and five pence fterling, per head, per annum, per man, woman, and child, or 3I pence per head, per month. Now here is a clear pofitive fa6b, that cannot be contradifted, and which proves that the difficulty cannot be in the weight of the tax, for in it(elf it is a trifle, and far from being adequate to our quota of the expencc of the war. The quit- rents of one penny fterling per acre, on only one half the ftate, come to upwards of fifty thoufand pounds, which is almoft as much as all the taxes of the prefent year, and as thofe quit-rents made no part of the taxes then paid, and are now difconti- nued, the quantity of money drawn for public (cr- vice this year, exclufive of the militia fines, which I (hall take notice of in the procefs of this work, is lefs than what was paid, and payable in any year preceding the revolution, and fmcc t}ic laft war . R 3 what 11' i\ 1r m '■Kf* what I mean, is^ that the quitrrents and taxes taken together, came to a larger fum then, than the prcfent taxes without the quit-rents do now. My intention by thefe arguments and calcula- tions is, to place the difficulty to the right caufe, and (hew that it does not proceed from the weight or worth of the tax, but from the fcarcity of the medium in which it is paid : and to illuftrate this point dill farther, i (hall now (hew, that if the tax of twenty millions of dollars, was of four times the real value it now is, or nearly fo, which would be about two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds Iterling, and would be our ful) quota, that this fum would have been raiied with more eafe, and lefs felt, than the prefcnt fum of only fixty four thoufand two hun- dred and eighty pounds. j The convenience or inconvenience of paying a tax in money arifcs from the quantity of money that can be fpared put of trade. When the emiffions ftopt, the continent was leftin poflbfiipn of two hundred millions of dollars, perhaps as equally difperfcd as it was pofTible for trade to do it And as no more was to be iflued, the rife or fall of prices could neither increafenor diminilh the quantity. It therefore remained the i^me through all the fluftuations of trade and exchange. Now N whicl they I [ H7 ] Now had the exchange flood at twenty for one, which was the rate Congrefs calculated upon when they quoted the flates the latter end of lafl year, trade would have been carried on for nearly four times lefs money than it is now, and confequently the twenty millions would have been (pared with much greater eafe, and when colledled would have been of almoft four times the value they now are. And on the other hand, was the depreciation to be ninety or one hundred for one, the quantity required for trade would be more than at fixty or feventy for one, and though the value of them would be lefs, the difficulty of (paring the money out of trade would be greater. And on thefe fadls and ar- guments I red the matter, to prove that it is not the want of property, but the fcarcity of the me- dium, by which the proportion of property for tax- ation is to be meafured out, that makes the embar- ralTment we lie under. There is not money enough, and what is equally as true, the people will not let there be money enough. While I am on the fubjedt of the currency, I Ihall offer one remark, which wiJl appear true to every body, and can be accounted for by nobody, wnich is, that the better the times were, the worfe the money grew j and the worfe the times were, the better the money flood. It never depreciated by any advantage obtained by the enemy. The trou- R 4 bles iri, '4 ril Ml ■ m \'JI';a ■% [ 248 ] bics of (cvcnty-fix, and the lofs of Philadelphia, in fcventy-fcvcn, made no fcnfiblc imprcflion on it, and every one knows, that the furrcndcr of Charlcftown did not produce the lead alteration in the rate of exchange, which, for long before, and for more than three months after, ftood at fixty for one. It fecms, as if the cefrtainty of its being our own, made us carelcfs of its value, and that the moft diftant thoughts of lofing it, made us hug it the clofcr, like fomething we were loth to part with j or that we depreciate it for our paftime, which, when called to ferioufnefs by the encmy,we leave ofF to renew again at our leifure. In fhort, our good luck fcems to break us, andour bad make us whole. Faffing on from this digreffion, I fhall now en- deavour to bring into one view, the fcvcral parts I have already ftated, and form thereon fomc propo- iitions, and conclude. I have pkced before the reader, the average tax per head, paid by the people in England j which is forty fhillings ftcrling. And I have (hewn the rate on an average per head, which v. ill defray all the expcnce of the war to us, and fupport the feveral governments, without running the country into debt, which is thirteen fhillings and four pence. I have Ihewn what the peace eftablifhment may be conduced for, viz. an eighth part of what it would be if under the government of Britain. A head and their four Wh< wiih I 249 ] And I have likrwife (hewn what the average per head of the prcfint taxes are, namely, three Ihillings and five pence Veiling, or jf^ per month; and that their whole yearly value, in fterling, is only fixty four thoufand two hundred and eighty pounds. Whereas, our quota, to keep the payments equal with the cxpenccs, is two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds. Confequently, there is a deficiency of one hundred and eighty-five thoufand fcven hundred and twenty pounds, and the fame proportion of defed, according to the feveral quotas, happens in every other ftate. And ti lis dcfeft is the caufe why the army has been fo indiflPerentiy fed, cloathed and paid. It is the caufe, lik^wife, of tl :? nervelefs ilate of the campaign, and t infecurity of the country. Now, if a tax cqua' to thir- teen and four pence per h< nd, will rempve all thefe difHcudes, make people fecure in their hoine% leave them to follow the bufmels of their (lores and farms unmolefted, and nor only keep out, but drive out the enemy from the country 5 and if the negleft of raifing this fum will let them in, and produce the evils which might be prevented— on which fide, I afk, does J^f wiftJom, intereft and policy He ; Or, rather, would it not be an infult to reafon to put the queftion ? The fum, when proportioned out accordiDg ^o the feveral abilities of the people, can hurt !i i;ni ..J .,1 5 m I 1 «i [ 250 ] hurt no one, but an inroad from the enemy ruins hundreds of families* Look at the deflrudbion done in this city. The many houfes totally dcftroyed, and others damaged; the wafte of fences in the country round it, befides the plunder of furniture, forage and provifion. I do not fuppoie that half a million flerling would reinftate the fufferers; and does this, I afk, bear any proportion to the expence that would make us fe- cure. The damage, in an average, is at leaft ten pounds (lerling per head, which is as much as thir- teen (hillings and four pence per head comes to for fifteen years. The lame has happened on the fron- tiers, and in the Jerftys, New Yqrkj and other places where the enemy has been — Carolina and Georgia are likewiie fufFering the fame fate. \ That the people generally do not underfland the infufficiency of the taxes to carry on the war, is evi- dent, not only from common obfervation, bMt from the conftrudtion of feveral petitions, which were prefented to the affembly of this itate, againft the recommendation of Congrefs of the i^th of March laft, for taking up and funding the prefent currency at forty for one, and ifluing new money in its ftcad. The prayer of the petition was, That the currency might be appreciated by taxes (meaning the prefent taxes) and that part of the taxes be applied to thejiipport of the army, if the army could not be ether- be ( 25« 3 otherwije Ju^torted, Now it could not have been pofiible for fuch a petition to have been pre- fented, had the petitioners known, that fo for from fart of the taxes being fiifficient for the fupport of the army, the whole of them falls three fourihs Ihort of the year's expences. Before I proceed to propofe methods by which a fufficiency of money may be raifed, I fhall take a Ihort view of the general ftate of the country. Notwithftanding the weight of the war, the ra- vages of the enemy, and the obftrudkions fhe has thrown in the way of trade and commerce, fo fooh does a young country outgrow misfortune, that America has already furmounted many that once heavily oppreffed her. For the firft year or two of the war, we were fhut up within our ports, fcarce venturing to look towards the ocean. Now our rivers are beautified with large and valuable vcflcls, our (lores filled with merchandize, and the produce of the country has a ready market, and an advanta- geous price. Gold and filver, that for a while feemed to have retreated again within the bowels ©f the earth, is once more rifen into circulation, and every day adds new ftrength to trade com- merce, and agriculture. In a pamphlet written by Sir John Dalrymple> and difperfcd in America in the year 1775, he aflcrted, that, two twenty gun fi)ipy hay, fays he, tenders ofthofejhipsy ft at toned between Albemarle Joundy and Chef apeak bay would Jhut I- 1 .1 m ti' ■ "* HI •.'■■ ■) 1.1 [ ^5^ ] Jhut up the trade of America for 600 mileil How little did Sir John Dairy mple know of the abilities of America I tf^-r While under the government of Britain, the trade of this country was loaded with reftridions. It was only a few foreign ports we were allowed to fail to. Now it is otherwife ; and allowing that the quantity of trade is but half what it was before the war, the cafe muft fhew the vaft advantage of an open trade, becaufe the prcfent quantity under her reftridions, could not fupport itfclf; from which I infer, that if half the quantity without the reftridtions can bear itfclf up nearly, if not quite, as well as the whole when fubjcdt to them, how prof- perous muft the condition of America be when the whole Ihall return open with all the world. By trade, I do not mean the employment of a mer-^ chant only, but the whole intereft and bufinefs of the country taken colle6lively. It is not fo much my intention, by this publica- cation, to propofe particular plans for railing mo-f ney, as it is to fhew the neceflfity and the advanta- ges to be derived from it. My principle defign is to form the difpofition of the people to fuch mea- fures which I am fully perfuaded is their intereft and duty to adopt, and which needs no other force to accomplifh them than the force of being felt. But as every hint may be ufeful, I fhall throw out a ikctch I '^S3 1 ft llcctdi, and leav« others to make fuch improve - mcnts upon it as to them may appear reafonable. The annual dim wanted is two millions, and the average rate in which it fails is thirteen ihillings and ibur pence per head. J r - Suppofe then, that we raife half the fum, and fixty thoufand pounds over. The average rate thereof, will be feven Ihillings per head. Cj In this cafe, we Ihall have half the fupply we want, and an annual fund of fixty thoufand pounds, whereon to borrow the other million ; be- cauie fixty thoufand pounds is the interefl of a million at fix per cent, and if at the end of another year, we fhould be obliged by the continuance of the war, to borrow another million, the taxes will be increafed to feven Ihillings and fixpence, and thus for every million borrowed, and an additional tax equal to fixpence per head mufl be levied. The fum then to be raifed next year, will be one million and fixty thoufand pounds; one half of which I would propofe fhould be raifed by duties on imported goods and prize goods, and the other half by a tax on landed property and houfes, or fuch other means as each flate may devife. But as the duties on imports and prize goods mufl be the fame in all the flates, therefore the rate per cent, or what other form the duty fhall be laid, miift ' be afccrtained and regulated by Congrefs, and ingrafted in that form into the law of each ilate ; and the monies arifmg therefrom carried into the trca- if) Si'' ! J iK ! i m ■'H m Ml M m ' -lit i. t t'i ( 254 ) treafury of each fbte. Th6 duties to be paid in gold or filver. -a There arc many reafohs why a duty on imports is the mod convenient duty or tax diat can be coU leded ; one of which is, becaufe the whole is pay- able in a few places in a country, and it likewiie ope- rates with the greatefl: eaie and equality, becauie as every one pays in proportion to what he confumes, fo people, in general, confume in proportion to what they can afford, and therefore the tax is regu- lated by the abilities which every man fuppofes himfelf to have, or in other words every man be- comes his own afleflbr and pays by a little at a time, when it fuits him to buy. Befides, it is a tax which jeople may pay or Jet alone, by not confu- ming the articles ; and though the alternative may have no influence on their conduft, the power of choofing is an agreeable thing to the mind. For my own part, it would be a fatisfadion to me, was there a duty on all forts of liquors during the war, as in my idea of things, it would be an addition to the plcafure of fociety, to know, that when the health of the army goes round, a few drops from every glafs become theirs. How often have I heard an emphatical wiib, almoft accompanied with a tear, " Ob, that our pocr fellows in the field bad Jqtm of this /'• Why then need we fuffer under afruitlefs ( ^^l^<^.•i| ,>'« :''! No. xir\ E ()« the prefent State of Hews. S INCE the arrival of two, if not three packets, ^n quick fuccelTion, at New York from England, a variety of uhconne^ed news has circulated through the couiotry, and aiSbrded as great a variety of fpe- culation. That fbmething IS the matter in the cabinet and councils of our enemies, on the other fide of the water is certain — that they have run their length 'of madnefs, and are under the necefllty of changing their meafures may eafily be feen into ; but to what this change of meafure may amounts or how far it may correfpond with our intereft, happinefs and duty, is yet uncertain i and from what we have hi« * No. It, Tht publifliers have not been able to procure after the mod diligent fearch and enquiry in the principal cities and towns, &c. in America. S 2 iherto €1 tA [ 260 ] therto experienced, we have too much reaCon to fufped them in every thing. I do not addrefs this publication fo much to the people •( America ts to the Britiilh miniftry, who- ever they may be, for if it is their intention to pro- mote any kind of ncgociatioh, it is proper they Ihould know before hand, that the United States have as much honour as bravery ; that they are no more to be feduced from their alliance, than their allegiance j that their line of politics is formed, and not dependant, like that of their enemy, on chance, and acci(^ent. ^ ■■■■ On our part, ih order to know, at any time, what the Britifh government will do, we have only to find out what they ought not to do, and this laft will be their conduft. For ever changing, and for ever ^rong i tob difent from America to im- prove circumftances, and too uny/ife to forefcc them ; fchertiing without principle, and executing without pi'obability i their whole line of manage- ment has hitherto been blunder and bafcnefs. Every camp^gn has added to their lofs, and every ybar to their difgrabe ; till ^na^ble to go on, and alhamed to go back, their politics have come tO a halt, and all their fine profpeds to the halter. Could our afFedions forgive, or humanity for- get the wounds of an infant country— we might, under the influence of a momentary oblivion, (land m ' ^ ' IN m [ a6i ] dill and laugh. But they are engraven where no amufement can conceal them, and of a kind for which there is no recompencc. Can ye reftore to us the beloved dead? Can ye fay to the grave, give up the murdered ; Can ye obliterate from our memories thofe who are no more ? Think not then to tamper with our feelings by infidious contrivance, nor fuflfocate our humanity by redu- cing us to diihonour. In March 1780, I publifhed part of the Crifis, No. IX, in the newfpapers, but did not conclude it in the following papers, and the remainder has lain by me till the prefent day. There appeared about that time fom^ difpofition in the Britifh cabinet to qeafe the further profecu- tion of the war, and, as I had formed my (pinion, that whenever fuch a defign ihould take place, it would be accompanied with a dilhonour^ble pro- portion to America, refpefting France, I had fup*- prelTed the remainder of that number, not to exr pofe the bafenefs of any fuch prcpoHtion. Bu( the arrival of the next news from England, declared her determination to go on with the war, and con^ fequendy as the political obje6b I had then in view was not become a fubje<5b, it is unneceflary in me to bring it forward, which is the reaTon it was never publifhed. The matter which I allude to in the unpubliflied part, I ihall now make a quotadon of, and apply it V S3 ^ as 4)11 ■iu H m •"in as the more enlarged (late of things, at this day^ fhall make convenient or neceflary. It was as follows : " By the fpeeches which have appeared from the Britifh Parliament, it is eafy to perceive to what impolitic and imprudent exceiles their paflions and prejudices, have, in every inftance, carried them during the prefem war. Provoked at the upright and honourable treaty between Arfiericaand France, they imagined nothing more was neceffiiry to be done to prevent its final ratification, than to pro- mife through the agency of their commiflioncrs, (Carlifle, Eden, and Johnfton) a repeal of their once ofTenfive adts of parliament. The vanity of the conceit was as unpardonable, as the experiment was impolitic. And fb convinced am I, of their wrong ideas of America, that I fhall not wonder, if in their lafl flage of political phrenzy, they propofe to her, to break her alliance with France, and en- ^r into one with them. Such a propofmon, fhould it ever be made, and it has already been more than once hinted in parliament, would difcover fuch a difpofition to perfidioufnefs, and fuch difregard of honour and morafs^ as would add the finifhing vice to national corruption. — I do not mention this to put America on the watch, but to put England on her guard, that (he do notj in the loofcnefsof her . „. «- ^.,_>_^-i-u. heart \'' "i y. t c .'h [ 263 ] ..A^ •& ficart, envelope in dilgrace, every fragment of re- putation." — Thus far the quotation. By the complexipn of fonie part of the news» which has tranfpired through the New York pa- pers> it feems probable that this infidious sera in the Britiih politics, is beginning to make its appear- ance, I wi(h it may not ; for that which is a dif- grace to human nature, throws foipcthin^ofa (hade over all the human chara^^r, and the individual feels his fhare of (he woupd, t]iat is given to the whole. The policy of Britain has ever been to divide America in fome way or other. In the beginning of th^ di(})ute, (he pradifed every art to prevent or deftroy the iinion of the dates, well knowing, |hat could fhe once get them to (land fingtyi fliC could conquer them unconditonally. Failing in this projed in America, fhe renewed it in Europe j and after ^h^ alliance li^d taken place, (he made fe« cret offers to France to inducQ her to give up Ame- rica, and what is ftjU more extraordinary, fhe at the fame time> made propofidons to dodor Frank- lin, then in Paris, the very court to which fhe was fecretly applying, to dn^w off* America from France* But this is not all. On the 14th of September, 1778, the Britifh ^ourt, through their fccretary, lord Wcymouthi>, ^nade application to the Marquis D'Almadovar the S 4 Spanifh hi R M •-■Jh t'4 I i >4> t 264 1 O" Spanifii AmbafTadpr, at London, to *< a(k the MEblAtldK,'* for thcfc were die words cf t!:e court of Spain, for the purpofe of negociation a peace with France, leaving America (as I fhall hereafter fhewj out of the quettion. Spain readily o^ered her Mediation, and like wife the city of Ma- drid ais the place of conference, but withal, propofed pat the united States of America fhould be invited to the treaty, and confidered as independent during jthe time the buHnefs was negociadng. But this was not the view of England. She wanted to draw France from the war, that (he might uninterruptedly pour out all her force and fury upon America: and }}eing difappointcd in this plan as well through the open ahd generous conduct of Spain, as the deter- mination of France, fhe refufed the mediation fhe nad folicited. I fliall now give fome extracts from the juftifying memorial of the Spanilh court, in which (he has fet the conduft and charader of Britain with refpedk to America, in a clear and fcriking point of light. The memorial fpeaking of the rcfufal of the Bri-. tifh court to m^ et in conference, with commif- fioners from the United States, who were to be confidered as independent during the time of the conference, fays, «It u .*i: V V *■ " ** It IS a thing very extraordinary and ev t lidicu- culous, that the court of London, who treats the colonies as independent, not only in a6ling, but of right, during the war, fhould have a repugnance to treat them as fuch only in adting during a truce of fuipenlion of hoftihties. The convention of Sara- toga j the reputing general Burgoyne as a lawful prifoner, in order to fufpend his trial j the exchange and liberating otherprifoners made from the colonies ; they having named Commiflioners to go and fuppli- cate the Americans, at their own doors, requeft peace of them,and treat with them and the Congrels, and finally by a thoufand other adis of this fort, au- thorifed by the court of London, which have been, and are true figns of the acknowledgement of of thcur independence. ** In aggravation to all the foregoing, at the fame time the Britifn cabinet anfwered the king of Spain in the terms already mentioned j they were infinua- ting themfelves at the court of France by means of fecret emiffaries, and making very great offers to her to abandon the colonies and make peace with England. But there is yet more ; for at this fame time the EngUfh minidry were treating by means of another certain emilTary, with dodor Franklin, miniftcrplcnipotcntiary from the colonies, redding at Paris, to whom they made various pro- pofals ■ P m t I 266 J pofals to difunite them from FrancCj and accommo-* 4ate matters with England." *' From what has been obferyed it evidently fol- lows, that the whole of the Britilh politics was toj difiinite the two courts of Paris and Madrid, by> ipeans of the fuggeftions and offers fl^e feparately made to them ; and alfo to feparate the colonies from their treaties and engagements entered inta with France, and induce them to arm againft thp houfe of Bourbon or !^ORE PROBABLY TO OPPRESS THEM WHEN THEY FOUND FROM BREAKING THEIR ENGAGE- MENTS, THEY STOOD ALONE AND WITHOUT PROTECTORS,"' " This therefore is the i>et they laid for the Ame- rican dates J that is ^o f;^y> to temp" them with flat- tering and very magnificent promifes to come t will bring forth a moufe as to its fize, and a monfter in its make* They will try on America the fame infidious arts they tried on France and Spain. We fomedmes experience fenfations to which language is not equal. The conception is too bulky to be born alive, and in the torture of thinking we ftand dumb. Our feelings, imprifoned by their ..,;. ., '^rlT .br.vv*'>j magnitude '^ t 271 ] tnagnitude, find no way out— and. In the ftruggle of cxprcflion every finger tries to be a tongue. The machinery of the body fcems too little for the mind, and we look about for helps to Ihew our thoughts by. Such mufl be the fenfation of America, whenever Britain, teeming with cor- ruption, (hall propofe to her to facrifice her faidi. But, exclufivc of the wickedncfs, there is a pcr- fonal offence contained in every fuch attempt. It is calling us villains ; for no man afks another to aft the villain unlefs he believes him inclined to be on and has been nobly executed— that by its afTrflance we are enabled to preferve our country from conqueft, arid expel thofe who fought our deftruftion— that it is oor true intereft to maintain it unimpaired, and that while we do fo no enemy can conquer us i — are matters which ex- perience has taught us, and the common good of ourfelves, abftradted from principles of faith and honor, would lead us to maintain the con- nedion. But over and above the mere letter of the al- liance, we have been nobly and generoufly treated, and have had the fame refped and attention paid us, as if we had been an old eflablifhed country. To oblige, and be obliged, is fair work among mankind, and we want an oppor-^ tunity of fliewing to the world that we are a people ienfible of kindnefs, and worthy of con-- lidence.— — Chara(5ber is to us, in our prefent circumftances, of more importance than intereft. We are a young nation, juft ftepping upon the ftage of public life, and the eye of the world is upon us to (ce how we adt. We have an ene-* toy that is watching to deftroy our reputation, and who will go any length to gain fome evi-i; dence againft us, that may ferve to render our conduft fufpedled, and our character odious ; bccaid^, could (he accomplifh tJiis, wicked as it is. IS, H IS m, icr It lis, [ 273 ] is, the world would withdraw from us, as from a people not to be traded, and our tafk would then become difficult. There is nothing fets the charafter of a nation in a higher or lower light with others, than the faith- fully fulfilling, or perfidioufly breaking of treaties. They are things not to be tampered with j andfhould Britain, which feems very probable, propofe to feduce America into fuch an aft of bafenefs, it would merit from her fome mark of unufual dctcf- tation. It is one of thofe extrordinary inftances in which we ought not to be contented with the bare negative of congrefs, becaufe it is an affront on the multitude as well as on the government. It goes on the fuppofition that the public are not honeft men, and that they may be managed by contrivance though they cannot be conquered by arms. But, let the world and Britain know, that we are neither to be bought nor fold. That our mind is great and fixt, our prolpefl clear, and that we will fupport our chara6ter as firmly as our independence. But ! will go ftill farther, general Conway, who made t!ie motion in the Britifh parliament, for dif- continuing offenfive war in America, is a gentleman of an amiable charadler. We have no perfonal quarrel with him. But he feels not as we feel; he isnot in our fituation, nnc* that alone, with out any other exohnation, is enough, T The i. : I I 1 1 1 i ■ J" ,t i [ml The Britlfti parliament llppofcs they have many friendi in America, and chat when all chance of conqiieft is over, they wiJl be able to draw her from her alliance with France. Now, if I have -.my conception of the human heart, they will fail in this, more than in any ching they have yet tried. This part of the biiTuieis is not a queflion of poll* cy only but of honour and honcfty j and the propo- fition will have in it Ibmething fo viAbly low and bale that thfir parfi..ans, if they have any, will be afhamed of ir. Men arc often hurt by a mean ac- tion who are r^ot llarted at a wicked one, and this will be iiich a confeflion of their inability, llich a iieclaration of iervile thinking, that the fcandal of it will rain all their hopes. In ihort, we have nothing to do but to go on ^^ ith vigour and determination. The enemy is yet in our country. 1 hey hold New-york, Charlef* ton and Savannah, and the very being in thofc pla- ces is an oftcnce, and a part of ofFenfive war, and until they can be driven from, or captured in them, it would be foUy in us to liften to an idle tale. T take it for granted that the Britifh miniftry arc fink- ing under the impoflTibility of carrying on the war. Let them come to a fair and open peace with France, Spain, Holland and America in the manner flic^ ought to do; but until then we can have nothing to fay to them. Pkiadelpbia . COMMON SENSE. ^Jay^ 1782. , It misf ofar on h army crini4 anexi oughi whicii in exii I /halll fcquei Cap in a {n gees in togtth and lo< weeks down t •'igain u tht pra on a tr< pie, wii :nse. 1 [ 27S ] ^ V, ., : , ■»»- ,» . V r .• «r ' 'nt. ^» la . 1 7b 5/> Guy Carlton. ' ■ -r -r^r I now on his way to the Ivead quarters of the American army, and unfortunately doomed to death for a crime not his o i. — A fcntence fo extraordinary^ an execution fo repugnant to every human fenfation^ ought never to be told without the circumftances which produced it ; and as the deflined victim is yet in exiilence, and in your hands reft his life or deaths 1 fhall briefly (late the cafe and the melancholy con- fcqucnce. Captain Huddy of the Jerfey militia, was attacked in a fmall fort on Tom's river, by a party of refu- gees in theBritilh pay andiervice, was made prifoner together with his company, carried to New-York and lodged in the provoft of that city : about three weeks after which, he. was taken out of the Provoft down to the water-fide, put into a boat and brought again upon the Jerfey Ihore, and there, contrary to the practice of all nations but favages, was hung up on a tree, and left hanging until found by our peo- ple, wlio took him down and buried him. Ta The m m -fit ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lis ■o lii 12.2 E m "^ £ ■£ 12.0 la |M| 1 ik |L25 II ,.4 u^ < 6" ► PhotogFaphic Sciences Corporation ¥^ •SJ \ <^ ^. ••\ ^.V 23 WIST MAIN STMIT WIBSTIR,N.Y. MSM (716)t72-4S03 ;\ Sf 4^ '/.. ^ [ 1'^16 ] The inhabitants of that part of the country where the murder was committed, fent a deputation to General Walhington with a full and certified ftate- ment of the fadt* Struck, as every human bread muft be, with fuch brutifh outrage, and determined both to punifh and prevent it for the future, the ge- neral reprefcnted the cafe to General Clinton, who then com martdcd, and demanded that the refugee officer, who ordered and attended the execution, and whofe name is Lippincut, Ihould be delivered up as a murderer j and in cafe of refufal, that the perfon of fome Britifli officer (hould fuffer in his (lead. The demand, though not refufcd, has not been complied with; and the melancholy lot, (no^ by felcdion, but by calling lots) has fallen upon Captain Afgill of the guaq^s, who, as I have already menrioned, is on his way from Lancafter to camp, a martyr to the general wickednefs of the caufe he engaged in, and the ingratitude of thofe he has ferved. The firfi reflcdion thatarifes on this black buH- nefs, is, what fort oi: men muft Englifhmcn be, and what fort of order and difcipline do they pre- fcrve in their army, when, in the immediate place of their head quarters, and under the eye ahdnofe of their commander in chief, a prifoner can be ta- ken at pleafure from his confinement, and his death made a matter of fport. The The C 277 1 The hiftory of the mod favage Indians does nor produce inftanccs exaftly of this kind. They, at . lead, have a formality in their punilhments. With . them it is the horridnefs of revenge, but with your army it is the (lill greater crime, the horridnefs of diverfion. ■ The Britifh generals who have fucceedcd each other, from the time of General Gage to yourfclf, have all afFeded to fpeak in language they have no right to. In their proclamations, their addreffes, their letters to General WaQiington, and their fup- plications to Congrefs (for they dcferve no other name), they talk of Britifh honour, Britifh generc- fity, and Britifh clemency, as if thofe things were ' matters of fafl J whereas, we, whofe eyes are open, who fpeak the fame language with yourfelves, many of whom were born on the fame fpot with you, and who can no more be miflaken in your words, than in your adions^ can declare to all- the world, that fo far as our knowledge goes, there is not a more deteflable charader, nor a meaner, or more barbarous enemy than the prefent Britifh one. With us, you have forfeited all pre- tentions of reputation, and it is only holding you like a wild beafl, afraid of your keepers, that you can be made mana'geable— But to return to the point in qucflion : T 3 Though [ 278 ] Though I darl think ho man intiocent who has lent his hand to deftrOy the country which he did not plant, and to ruin thofe he could not enflave^ yet abftradted from all ideas of right or wrong on the original queftion^ Captain Afgyll, in the prefent cafe, is not the guilty man. The villain and th6 victim lare here feparated charafters. You hold the one and we the other. You dilbwft or afFeft to difowh and reprobate the condud of LippenCut^ yet you give him fandkuary, and by (b doings you as effectually become the executioner of Afgill, 85 if you put the rope round his neck, and difmiflcd him from the World. Whatever your feelings on this extraordinary occafion may be, are beft known toyburfclf. Within the grave of our own mind lies buried the fate of Afgill. He becomes the corpfe of your will, or die furvivor of your juftice, Pelirer up the one» and you fave the other j with- held the one, and the other dies by your choice. On our part the cafe is exceeding plain ; AN OFFICER HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM HIS CONFINEMENT AND MURDERED AND THE MURDERER IS WITHIN YOUR LINES. Your army have been guilty of a thoufand inftances of equal truelty, but they have been rendered Equivocal, dnd Jhcltcred from perfonal detection. Here the crime is fixt j and is tmc df thofe extraordinary cafes, which can nei- ther [ 279 ] dier be denied nor palliated, and to which the cullom of war does not apply ; for it never could be iuppofed, that fuch a brutal outrage would ever be committed. It is an original in tne hillory of civilized barbarians, and is truly Britilh. On your part, you are accountable to us for the perfonal fafety of the prifoners within your walls. Here can be no miftake : they can neither be fpies nor fufpefted as fuchj your fccurity is not endan* gercd, nor your operations fubjefted to mifcarriage, by men immured widiin a dungeon. They differ in every cirumftancc from men in the field, and leave ho pretence for Icverity of punifliment. But if to the difmal condidon of captivity with you, mud be added the conftant apprchenfions of death ; if to be imprifoned is fo nearly to be entombed, and, if after all, the murderers are to be prote<^cd, and thereby the crime encouraged, wherein do you differ from Indians, eiuher in condud or chara6^er. We can have no idea of your honour, or your juftice in any future tranfaftion, of what nature it may be, while you flielter >^ ithin your lines an out- rageous murderer, and facrifice in his ftead, an officer of your own. If you have no regard to us at leaft fpare the blood which it is your duty to fave. Whether the puilhment will be greater on him, whom in this cafe innocendy dies, or on him whom fad neceffity forces to retaliate, is, in the T 4 nicety i I 'm Ml I l ^80 ] r nicety of fenfation, an undecided Queftion ? It refts with you to prevent the fufFerings of both* You have nothing to do but to give up the murdcrr cr, and the matter ends. .^ But to protefl him, be he who he may, is to pa- tronize his crime, and to trifle it off by frivolous and and unmeaning enquiries is to promote it. There is no declaration you can make, no promife you can give that will obtain credit. It is tlie man and not the apology that is demanded. .. uvYoufec yourfelfprefTcd on all fides to fpare the life of your own officer, for die he wiH if you with- hold juftice. The murder of captain Huddy is an offence not to be borne with, and there is no fecurity we can have that fuch adions, or fimilar ones fhall not be repeated, but by making the punifhment fall upon yourfelves. To dellroy the laft fecurity of captivity, and to take the unarmed, the unrefifting prifoner to private and iportivc execution, is carry- ing barbarity too high for filence. The evil muft be put an end to, and the choice of perfons refts with you. But if your attachment to the guilty is ftronger than to the innocent, you invent a crime that muft deftroy your charafler, and if the caufe of your King needs to be fupported, for ever ceafe, fir, to torture our remembrance with the wretched phrafes of Britifh honour,- Britifh generofity, and Britilh clemency, From [ail ] From this melancholy circumftance, learn, fir, a Icffon of morality. The refugees are men whom your predcceflbrs have inftrudled in wickedncfs, the better to fit them to their matter's purpofe. To make them ufefulthey have made them vile, and th^ confequence of their tortured villainy is now defen- ding on the heads of their cncouragers. They have been trained like hounds to the fcent of blood, and cherilhed in every fpecics of diffolute barbarity. Their ideas of right and wrong are worn away in the conftant habitude of repeated infamy, till like men pradtifed in executions, they feel not the value of another's life. The taflc before you though painfijl is not diffi- cult i give up the murderer, and fave your officer, as the firft outfetof a neceflary reformation. 'il if COMMON SENSE. Pennfyhaniai May''^\, 1789. m ki rom ( »«« ] THE CRISIS. No. XIV ♦. \ The times that tried mens fouls,"t arc over and the greateft and completed revolution the world ever knew^ glorioufly and happily, accom- plifhed. But to pafs from the extremes of danger to fafety, from the tumult of war to the tranquility of peace* though fwcet in contemplation, re- quires a gradual compofure of the fpnfcs to re- ceive it. Even calmnefs has the power of dunning when it opens too inftaritly upon us. The long and raging hurricane that (hould ceafc in a mo- ment, would leave us in a ftate rather of won- der than enjoyment ; and fome moments of recol- leflion muft pafs, before ^c could be capable of tailing the full felicity of repofe. There are but * The fame diligent fearch and enquiry was made for the 13th as for the nth number— without fuccefs. t *« Thefe are the times that try mens fouls." Crifis ■ No. X, publiflied December 19, 1776. few I ^^3 1 few inftances, ifi which the mind is fitted for fudden tranfitions: It takes in its pleafures by tt" fledtion and comparifbn^ and thofe muft have time to z£t before the relifli for new fcenes is complete. In the prelcnt cafe— the mighty magnitude of the objcd -the various uncertainties of fate it hasundergone»--9^the numerous and complicated dangers we have fuffered or efcaped— — the emi- nence we now ftand on, and the vaft profpcfb before us, mud all confpire to imprefs us with con> templadon. To fee it in our power to make a world happy •i—to teach mankind the art of being fo— to ex- hibit on the theatre of the univerfe, a chara6ler hi- therto unknown—and to have, as it were, a new creation entrufted to our hands, are honors that command reflection, and can neither be too highly , eftimatcd, nor too gratefully received. In this paufe then of recoUcfbion— while the ftorm is ceafmg, and the long agitated mind vi- brating to a reft, let us look back on the Icent : vve have pafled, and learn from experience what is yet to be done. Never, I fay, had a country fo many openings to happinefs as this. Her fetting out into life, like the rifing of a fair morning, was unclouded and promifing. Her caufc was good. Her princi- pals C 2«4 ] pals juft and libtral. Her temper fc rcnc and firm. . Her conduft regulated by the niccft fteps, and. every thing about her wore the mark of honour. It is not every country (perhaps there is not ano- ther in the world) that can boaft fo fair an origin. Even the firft fettlement of America correfponds with the charadtcr of the revolution. Rome, once the proud miftrefs of the univerfe, was originally a band of ruffians. Plunder and rapine made her rich, and her oppreffion of millions made her great. But America rieeds never be afhanicd to tell her bii tl), nor relate the ftages by v;hich (he rofc to empire. The remembrance then of what is pad, if it operatifs rightly, mud infpire her •with the moft laudable of all ambition, that of adding to the fair fame fhe began with. The vv^orld has feen her great in adverfity. Struggling without a thought of yielding beneath accumulated difficukies. Bravely, nay proudly, encountering difirefs, and rifing in refolution as the fiorm encreafed. All this is juflly due to her, for her foititude has merited the charader. Let then the world fee that. fhe can bear profperity : and that her hcntft virtue in t me of i-cace, is equal to the bravt ft virtue in time of war. She is now defcending to the fcenes of quiet and domeftic life. Net beneath the cyprefs, ihade of difap- [ 285 ] dlfappointmcnti but to enjoy in her own land, and under her own vin^, the fwcct of her labors, and the reward of her toil. In this lituation, may ihc never forget that a fair national reputation is of as much importance as independence. That it pofleflcs a charm which wins upon the world, and makes even enemies civil. That it gives a dignity which is often fuperior to power, and commands a reverence where pomp and fplendor fail. It would be a circumftance ever to be lamented and never to be forgotten, were a fingle blot, from any caufc whatever, fuffcred to fall on a revolution, which to the end of time muft be an honor to the age thataccomplilhed it : and which has contributed more to enlighten the world, and difFufe a fpirit of freedom and liberality among mankind, than any human event (if this may be called one) that ever preceded it. It is not among the leaft of the calamities of a long continued war, that it unhinges the mind from thofe nice fenfations which at other times appear fo amiable. The continual fpedacle of woe, blunts the finer feelings, and the neceflity of bearing with the fight, renders it familiar. In like manner, arc many of the moral obligations of fociety weakened, till the cuPwpm of afling by neceflity, becomes an apology, where it is truly a crime. Yet let but a nation conceive rightly of its charafbcr, and it will be ^i! [ a86 3 he chaftjy juft in protcding it. None evtr began with a fairer than America, and none can be under a greater obligation to prefervc it. The debt which America has contra^ed> com- pared with the caiife (he has gained, and tlie ad" vantages to flow from it, ought fcarcely to be nien- tioned. She has it in her choice to do, and to live as happily as £be pleofes. The world is in her hands. She has no foreign power to mooopoli^e her commerce, perplex her legiflation, or con- troul her profperity. The druggie is over, which imift one day Ixave happened, and perhaps, never could. have happcndcd at a better time*^^ And inr • That the revolution began at the c»aft period of time bed fitted to the purpofe, is fufficiently proved by the event— But the great hinge on which the whole ma> chine turned is the UNION OF THE STATES: and this union was naturally produc^ed by the inability of any one (late to fupport itfelf agaioil any foreign enemy with- out the affiftance of the reft. Had Hie flatcs fevcrally been iefa able than they were when the war began, their united ilrength would not have ^ecn equal to the undertaking, and they mufl, in all hu- layn ffobability have failed— And. on tbe other ht»d, liad tbey feveraiJy been more able, they might not hav^ feeti, or what is more, might not have felt the neceffity of linitijig; and either by attempting To ftand alone, or m fi^ali confederacies, would bave b^n feparatcJy con- Now V [ 287 ] inftead of a domineering mafter^ (he has gained an allyt whofc exemplary greauiefs, and imiverial ii* berality, have extorted a confeifion even from her enemies. With Now, as we cannot fee a time (and many years muft pafs away before it can arrive) when the ftrength of any one date, or feveral uaited, can be equal to the whole of the prefent United States, and as we have feen the ex- treme difficulty of colle^ively profecuting the war to a luccefsful ifliie, and preferving our national importance in the world, therefore, from the experience we have had, and the knowledge we have gained, we raui^, unlefs we make a waXle of wifdom, be ftrongly impreifed with the advantage, as well as the neceflity of Hrengthening that happy union which has been our falvation, and without which, we fhould have been a ruined people. While I was writing this note, I caft my eye on the pamphlet CoMMOsr Sxiise, from which I fliaJl make an extra^, as it applies exA^Iy to the cafe. It is as follows : ** I have never met with a man, either in England or America, who hath not confefled his opinion that a fepa* ration between the countries would take place one time or other; And there is no inftance in which we have Ihewn lefs judgment, than in endeavouring to defcrihe, what we call, the ripenefs or fitnefs of the continent foi* independence. " As all men allow the meafure, and diflfer only in their opinion of the time, let us, in order to remove millakes, take a general furvey of things, and endeavour, if poihble, to. find out the very timi. But we need not go far, the enquiry ceafes at once, for, the time hath FOl(ND r 288 ] ' With the bleflings of peace, independence, Snd an univerfal commerce, the ftates individually, and coHeftively, will have leifure and opportunity to re- gulate and eftablifli their domeftic concerns, and to put it beyond the power of calumny to throw the leaft reflcdion on their honor. Charader is much eafier kept than recovered, and that man, if any fuch there be, who, from any finifter views, or littlenefs of foul, lends unfeen his hand to injure it, contrives a wound it will never be in his power to heal. As we have eftablilhed an inheritance for pof- tcrity, let that inheritance defcend, with every mark of an honourable conveyance. The little it will coft, compared with the worth of the dates, the greatnefs of the object, and the value of national character, will be a profitable exchange. • But that which mull more forcibly ftrike a thoughtful penetrating mind, and which includes and renders eafy all ir^fcrior concerns, is the FOUND US. The general concurrence, the g'.orious union of all things prove the fa£b. " It is not ill numbers, but in a union, that our great ftrength Ijes, The continent is juft arrived at that pitch pi Rrengtb, in which no fingle colony is able to fupport itffclf, and the whole when united, can xccomplifti the matter ; and either more or lefs than this, might be fatal in its efFc6ls." .- UNION [ 289 ] UNION OF THE STATES. On this, our great . national charadcr depends. It is this which mud give us importance abroad and fccurity at home. Jt is through this only, that we are> or can be nationally known in the world. It is the flag of the United States which renders our Ihips and commerce fafe on the feas, or in a foreign port. Our Mediterranean pafTes muft be ob- tained under the fame ftile. All our treaties, whe.ther, of alliance, peace or commerce, are formed under the (bvereignty of the. United States, and Europe knows us by no other name . or title. The diviQon of the empire into dates is for , our own convenience* but abroad this diftinftion , ceafes. The affairs of each ftatc are local. They can go no farther than to itfelf. And were the whole worth , of even the richeft of them expended in revenue, it would not bp fuf- ficient to /\ipport fovereignty againft a foreign attack. In fhort, we have no other national fo- vereignty than as United States. It would even be fatal for u? if we had— too cxpenfive to be .^j maintained, and impoflible to be fuppprted. In- dividuals or individual ftates may call thcmfclvcs what they . plcafej J)i!( the world, and efpecially the world of enemies, is not to be held in awe by the whittling of a name. Sovereignty muft have U power [ 290 ] power to protc6k all the parts that compofc and conftitute it: and as UNITED STATES we arc equal to the importance of the title, but otherwifc we are not. Our union well and wifely regulated and cemented, is the cheapeft way of being great, the eafieft way of being powerful, and the hap- pieft invention in government, which the cir- cumftances of America can admit of— Becaufe it coUeds from each ftate, that, which, by being in- adequate, can be of no ufe to it, and forms an ag- gregate that fcrves for all. The ftates of Holland are an unfortunate inftancc of the eflPcdts of individual fovereignty. Their disjointed condition expofes them to numerous in- trigues, lofles, calamities and enemies; and the almoft impoflibility of bringing their meafures to a decifion, and that decifion into execution, is to them, and would be to us, a fource of endlefi mis- fortune. It is with confederated ftates, as with individuals in fociety i fomething muft be yielded up to make the whole fecure. In this view of things, we gain by what we give, and draw an annual intereft greater than the capital.— —I ever feel myfelf hurt when I Jicar the union, that great palladium of our liberty and fafcty, the leaft irrevercndy fpokcn of. It is the moft facred thing in the conftitution of America, and that, which every man fhould be moft [ 291 ] ' moft proud and tender of. Our citizenfhip in the United ftates is our national character. Our citi- zenfhip in any particular (late, is only our local dif- tindtion. By the latter, we are known at home, by the former to the world. Our great title is, AMERICANS — our inferior one varies with the place. * * So far as my endeavours could go, they have all been dire6bed to conciliate the afFcdions, unite the interefts, and draw and keep the mind of the coun- try together j and the i)etter to affift in this founda- tion work of the revolution, I have avoided all places of profit or office, either in the (late I live in, or in the United States; kept myfelf at a dif- tance from all parties and party connections, and even difregarded all private and inferior concerns: and when we take into view the great work we have gone through, and feel as we ought to feel, the juft importance of it, we fhall then fee, that the little wranglings, and indecent contentions of perfonal party, are as difhonourable to our characters, as they are injurious to our repofe. It was the caufe of America that made me an author. The force with which it flruck my mind, and the dangerous condition of the coun- try appeared to me in, by courting an impofli- ble and unnatural reconciliation with thofe who were determined to reduce her, inilead of ftriking U 2 out , [ 292 V out into the only line that could cement and fave her, A DECLAR'ATION OF II^Dt- PEl^DENCE, made it impoffible for me, feeling ' as I did, to be filent: and if, in the courfe of more than feven years, 1 have rendered her any fervice, I have likewife added fomething to the reputation of literature, by freely and difintereftcdly ' employing it in the great caufe of mankind, «nd Ihe wing there may be genius without prof- tituHon. -qm. \: , 't »■'• * •r - Independence always appeared t6 rdii pradti- . cable and probable ; provided the fcntiment of the country could be formed, and held to the objcft; and there is no inflance in the world, wiierc a people To extended, and wedded to for- mer habits of thinking, and under luch a variety of circumftanccs, were fo inftantly and inefFedu- ally pervaded, by a turn in politics, as in the cafe of independence, and who fupported their opinon, undiminifhed, through fuch a fuccellioh of good and ill-fortune, till they crowned it with fuccefs. But as thefcenesof war are doled, and every man preparing for home and happier times, I thei^efore take iny leave of the fubje^l. I have mpft imcercly followed if: frdm beginning to end, and thrbiigli all its tiirtis aJncI windmgs: aihd what-^ crer' [ ^93 1 ever country I may hereafter be in, I fhall always feel an honefl pride at the part I have taken and aded, and a gratitude to Nature and Providence for putting it in my power to be of