WILLIAM L. CLEMENTO

Stevens collection, no. 53.
By John Cartwright, 1740-1827,




30

107

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,
WITH A
COPIOUS APPENDIX,
A
POST SCRIPT,
&c. &c. &c.



35
50
Lake of the Woods
Lake Aleminigon
CAMANESTIGONIA
Hudfon's
}
Bay
Ouabaougetan R
Lake
MIS SISAGANIA,
45
Falls of
St Anthony
Long L
Lake
Mifsisagan
StCharles's B.
Qualeda R.
River
PUANIA
Quisconsin R.
Outagamis
R.
Superior
MASCOUTENIA
Mifsifsipi
Illinois R.
L. Michigan
MENS IS.
R.S. Jofeph
MIAMIS
Fork
Theakiki
WAUWAUTANIA
R.Miamis
Miome H
Mensisi
Falls of St Mar
L.Abitibis
I Temiscaming
CANADA
Lake
Huron
L.Nipifsin
French R
Little
L.Huron
HUR ONIA
Lake St Claire
Lake Erie
ERIE LAND
Ohio R.
Du Quesne
St Peters L
L.Mistafsin
TADO
St Johns
Saguenay
R.
Wolf R
QUEBEC Quebec
Atanas R
M. Real
MONTREAL
Lake
Ontario
Oswego
Allegany Mountains
SENEKANIA
Fort
Frontenac
GASPESIA
Ristigouchi R
SJohns
S.John's
LABRADOR
Gulf
of
NEW-
FOUNDLAND
50
St Lawrence
SPeters
NOVA
SCOTIA
Miramichi B.
St John's I.
StLawrence R.
CHAMPLAINLA
Lake Champlain
SAGADAHOCK
La Prarie
Catarakui R
CATARAKUA.
Grown
Point
L.George
Richlieu
River
NEW
HAMP-
SHIRE
MASSACHU
SETS BAY,
CONNECT
PICUT
PENNSYLVANIA N. YORK
VIRGINIA
CHICASAWRIA
NORTH CAROLINA
NJE
Long I
MARYLA
ND
ELAWARE COUNTIES
RHODEL..
I C
TI
SPeters Bank
CAPE
BRETONI
OCEAN
Great Bank of Newfoundland
H
40
40-
SOUTH CAROLINA
CHACTAWRIA
WEST FLORIDA
Savannah
GEORGIA
St Marys
R.
EAST
FLORIDA
30-
Gulf of Mexico
Hatteras I.
AT LA
N
BRITISH AMERICA,
Bounded and Divided
as propofed
by the Author of
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
MDCCLXXV.
Poftscript P45
30
35

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
THE
INTEREST AND GLORY
OF
GREAT-BRITAIN.
A NEW EDITION.
To which is added,
A copious APPENDIX, containing two additional Letters
to the Legiſlature; a Letter to EDMUND BURKE, Efq;
controverting his Principles of American Government.
AND
A POSTSCRIPT, containing new Arguments on the Sub-
ject; A Draught for a Bill propofed to be brought into
Parliament for reftoring Peace and Harmony between
Great-Britain and Britiſh America, and for perpetuating
the fame :
Together with
The effential Materials for a propofed Grand Britiſh LEAGUE
and CONFEDERACY, to be entered into by Great-Britain
and all the States of British America.
The whole of which fhews, beyond Denial or Doubt, that by
granting the Coloniſts an unreftrained civil Freedom and
Legislative Independence, we may moft effectually fecure their
future Commercial Dependence upon, and confequently fhall best
promote the Intereft and fupport the Glory of, Great-Britain.
It is not to be hoped, in the corrupt State of human Nature, that
any Nation will be fubject to another, any longer than it finds
its own Account in it, and cannot help itſelf.
* ** * * *
*
* * *
*
*
*
*
* *
No Creatures fuck the Teats of their Dams longer than they can
draw Milk from thence, or can provide themfelves with better
Food; nor will any Country continue their Subjection to another,
only becauſe their great Grand-mothers were acquainted. This
is the Courſe of human Affairs, and all wife States will always
have it before their Eyes.
Trenchard on Plantations and Colonies, in Cato's Letters,
No. 106. Anno 1722.
LONDON:
Printed for the AUTHOR, by H. S. Woodfall.
Sold by J. WILKIE, No. 71, St. Paul's Church-yard;
and at the Pamphlet-Shops.
M.DCC.LXXV.


EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
To Sir GEORGE SAVILE, Baronet.
IT
T is not only as the brighteſt ornament to
the following effays, in the cauſe of inde-
pendence, that the writer ufes the liberty of
prefixing to them your name, but being of
opinion, that your actions will alfo beft illuf-
trate the principles he wishes to inculcate,
he hopes to derive from it all the advantages
of a well-felected motto. Feeling only for
the public, you will fuffer even your own me-
rits to be made the theme of praife, fo long
as the public interefts fhall be thereby pro-
moted. It is thus that your example will
have its due effect; it is thus that your pa-
triotifm will be reflected from a thoufand
mirrors; and that, inftead of exerting a fingle
voice in the fenate, you will harangue from
a thouſand roftrums at once; inciting in all
the nations, to whom are known the Engliſh
laws and language, a love of virtue, and a re-
folution to be free. It is this appeal to diftin-
guiſhed worth in real life, that gives the fureft
efficacy to the precepts of the moralift; it is
this which induces the lips of the orator with
the
powers of perfuafion, and is the kindling
incentive to a virtuous emulation. How glo-
a 2
rious

(iv)
rious the privileges of patriotic virtue! Not
limited by the fcanty meaſure of perfonal la-
bours, not confined to one age or empire,
they extend to unborn times and nations, and
the patriot is the common bleffing of human
kind. As an Ariftides, a Brutus, or a Cato,
hath oft given birth to British patriotifm; fo
fhall Britons, in fome diftant period, and fu-
ture Americans, catch the fame generous
flame from the great example of the Savile of
thefe days.
Such indeed is the prefent low eftate of pub-
lic fpirit amongst us, that a man hath need of
fome fortitude, who, amongst the generality,
would fo much as contend for the reality of
its exiftence. Nay, it hath not been dif-
carded by the bulk of the grofs-minded vulgar
only, but our very philofophers too, fo deep
is the taint, have told us, that wisdom is not
the portion of that man, who can facrifice his
time and his peace, by taking an active part
in public affairs; and yet, notwithſtanding
the doctrines of thefe epicurean fages, and as
little regarding the united ridicule of the
thoufands, and the ten thouſands of their im-
plicit difciples, I am not afhamed to acknow-
ledge myſelf one of thofe weak mortals, who
can believe, that the eafe and luxury of life
are contemptible in the eyes of a good man,
when his country demands his labours, his
counfel, or his fword. Being of opinion then,
that patriotifm is a real, an exalted virtue, I
muft neceffarily think, that to decline its du-
ties,

(v)
ties, is a meannefs unworthy the manly cha-
racter, and that its wilful violation, is the
moft atrocious of crimes. I believe too, that
this virtue burns with no fmall ardour in
many a British bofom; nay, I am credulous
enough to think, that befides the inftance I
have particularly fingled out, it is to be found
even in the Houfe of Commons: there, I
confefs, its growth is not very abundant; for,
it is not of a nature to thrive in the fame foil,
which the occafional occupier muft needs fow
with the noxious feeds of proſtitution and
bribery ere he can fecure poffeffion. Happy,
could we fay of this feed, that it is fown
"in corruption, it is raifed in incorruption;
"it is fown in difhonour, it is raifed in
66
glory:" but we are affured, by unerring
wifdom, that" men do not gather grapes of
"thorns, nor figs of thiftles;" and our own
experience hath invariably taught us, that in
the Houfe of Commons, "a corrupt tree
<s
bringeth forth evil fruit" alone. And un-
til there fhall be opened clean doors into that
Houfe, by which the members may enter un-
defiled, by the bafe arts practifed in elections,
muft we not know, that the real patriot, he
who is incapable of debauching or invading
the rights of his fellow-citizens, is to be
looked for without thofe walls, and not within!
them? And except thefe unpolluted doors
fhall be opened without much farther delay,
will not that Houfe, already the fink of cor-
ruption, inevitably become the putrid grave
of

(vi)
of the conftitution?-though not, I truft, its
annihilation. How fevere, or how lafting
might be this convulfion, this diffolution of
the ftate, it is difficult to imagine, but that,
as heretofore, it would only perish for a fea-
fon, like a grain of feed-corn, and, like that,
be reſtored again, with a reduplication of the
principles of life and vigour; I am happy in
having an affured confidence.
Since I am now addreffing myfelf to the
public, Sir George, no lefs than to yourſelf,
it is fit I fhould remind them, that your par-
liamentary integrity, is only a natural confe-
quence of thofe means by which you became
a member. In one, as in the other, neither
corrupting nor corrupted, you ftand a noble
exception to a general rule; in which, we
clearly fee, how valuable would be an inde-
pendent, an upright parliament. Let but the
whole of the reprefentative body be elected by
the unbribed, and unbiaffed fuffrages of the
freeholders, and we fhould once more behold
the Houfe of Commons an affembly of pa-
triots, the terror, not the tool of bad mini-
fters; the bulwark, not the abufers of the
people.
Perhaps too, the public may be more in-
debted to you than they feem to confider,
for having, by an uniform conduct, through
a ſeries of years, effectually overturned the
darling, but infamous maxim of modern po-
liticians, that every man bath his price, a fen--
timent which could only arife in the bafeft
and

(vii)
and moſt degenerate heart. Notwithstand-
ing the contrary is a truth, far better efta-
bliſhed than any the most notorious hiftorical
fact whatever, all hiftory being enriched with
numerous inftances of it; and that it might
be corroborated in the humble and unrecorded
fcenes of private life, by every man, whofe
friends are felected from the wife and good;
and notwithſtanding every human heart ought
to revolt at fo fhocking a propofition, yet, it
is certain, fuch is the prevalence of any opi-
nion, how ridiculous foever, which falls in
with our fordid devotion to avarice, that maf-
ter-vice of the times! that we continually
find this degrading maxim in the mouths,
even of thoſe whofe characters in the world
are yet refpectable. This ftrange language is
very often to be imputed to a weak intellect,
or extreme ignorance, and very often to an
abfence of thought, or that wretched fupine-
nefs of foul, which, for the fake of eafe, al-
ways adopts the mode of thinking and fpeak-
ing which is moft in faſhion. But when men
of underſtanding, of reflection, and learning,
become the controverfial champions of this
tenet; when they enter the lifts in form,
make a difplay of their armour, and their
arms, and boldly challenge all opponents,
what are we to think? Little do they ſeem to
reflect, that they have no way of coming off
with honour, but by retiring from the field,
and wholly abandoning a bad caufe; for fo
long as they maintain it, do they not, in the
very
2

(viii)
very act, proclaim themfelves villains in grain,
or at beft, only negatively honeft, for want
of temptation to be otherwife, and tacitly
acknowledge, it would be a madneſs in you
to intruft them with any fecret or depofit, by
means of which they could advance their for-
tune, without hazard from your refentment,
or a gibbet?
Theſe unhappy men, do not only forfeit
by this conduct, all title to truft and confi-
dence in fociety, but what is ftill worſe, they
exprefsly exclude themſelves from the bene-
fits of religion, faying, in effect, that our Sa-
viour's miffion, for the purpofes of teaching
morality, and beftowing falvation on man-
kind, fo far from being an inftance of divine
wiſdom and goodnefs, was executed like the
vague fchemes of purblind mortals, to no
manner of purpofe; for, fo long as it is their
affertion, that every man hath his price; fo
long do they affert, that it is impoffible to
obey the laws of Chrift even in a tolerable de-
gree; and to deny, that chriftianity is ca-
pable of infpiring her followers with an incor-
ruptible integrity, is not only to betray a to-
tal ignorance of its doctrines, but to make
war upon fact, and the common confent of
mankind. Thus is this hackneyed propofi-
tion, examined either by the rules of reafon
or religion, evidently involved in palpable ab-
furdity, and in rank impiety.
For the most part, they who propagate this
wretched opinion, know not what they do;
and

(ix)
and would be exceedingly fhocked, did they
perceive, how they were at once fubverting
their own moral principles, and fapping the
very foundations of all integrity in fociety,
both public and private. So dangerous is it,
unthinkingly, to fwim with the ftream of
popular opinion! efpecially fince it is become
the great mafter-ftroke of the arch enemies of
religion and virtue, to turn the courfe of this
current in their favour, and to make it the
vehicle of that poifon they are for ever pour-
ing in at the fountain head, in order to taint
a thoughtless world. They ufe all the arts of
a fubtle and ingenious addrefs, to withdraw
our attention and refpect from authors of fter-
ling merit, and to infinuate themſelves upon us
as our only infallible guides. Under the mafk
of candour, they are moft decifive and dog-
matical, infecting with arrogance thofe duc-
tile minds, which before were adorned with
humility. In a ftile of Attic elegance, they
inculcate a frivolous and vitiated tafte; teach-
ers of intellectual abftraction and refinement,
they promote fenfuality; with an oftentation
of humanity, they loofen the bands of fo-
ciety; profeffors of morality, they demon-
ftrate that it hath no foundation; deep in all
philofophy, they affure us, that truth is the
only thing we ought to purfue; that it is moft
difficult to attain, except with their affift-
ance; and when attained, they fhew us as
clearly, that it is not worth our pains; and,
like fuperior intelligences, fo very refined and
b
fpiritual,

( x )
fpiritual, (as they would have you believe) as
to look down upon human nature as upon a
lower order of beings, and to contemplate,
with an unmoved indifference and compo-
fure, the blindnefs and prejudices, the little
paffions and anxieties of a fretful and miferable
world, they inform us, that wifdom confifts
in this fublime apathetic infenfibility, while
they, all the while are, in reality, facrificing
their own tranquillity, in carrying on perpe-
tual hoftilities against the invincible powers
of truth, religion, and common fenfe, and
yielding up the guidance of their reftlefs and
indefatigable pens to pride, fpleen, vanity,
caprice, and fordid avarice. By proftituting
to the worst of purpofes a flafhy wit and fpe-
cious eloquence, they captivate the fhallow,
the luxurious, and the gay; while, for the
reliſh of thoſe who have underftandings fome-
what fuperior, but more gloom and malevo-
lence in their hearts, they feafon their perni-
cious compofitions with a poignant irony and
ridicule, which is ufually heightened in pro-
portion as the object is facred or divine.
When referring to the Deity, and to the in-
comprehenfible things of heaven and eternity,
one might expect, even of a philofopher, fome
diffidence, fome fobriety and decency; but
this were too great a condefcenfion from the
mad genius of Geneva, the fcribbling buf-
foon of Ferney, or that "fatteft hog of Epi-
"curus's ftye," the "fee-faw fceptic from the
66 re-

(xi)
"remoteft North." With thefe "
"men of
renown, as leaders of the van, and the
Walpolian ftate-proftitute to conduct the rear-
guard; even the diforderly, the coward clans
of vice and feduction, are an overmatch for
the feeble guards of virtue in moſt faſhionable
minds. By ftrengthening the party of the
diffolute, and encouraging the unmanly, un-
principled, impious, and diffipated fpirit,
which marks the character of the times, and
by making a jeft of every thing ferious and
noble; they infinuate themſelves into the un-
guarded bofoms of that clafs of triflers, and
become their oracles. The bufinefs is now
done, for the fafhionable world is the mint,
where common opinion firft obtains its ftamp
and currency; circulating thence throughout
the community like current coin, and, like
that too, giving confequence to its poffeffor,
in proportion to his ftore of this fictitious,
this imaginary wealth. Hence it is, that in
almoft every fashionable circle, from the peer
to the 'prentice, from the profound writer
of ftuff, called Elays on the Origin of Evil,
to the novel-reading mifs in her teens, we
are for ever peftered with trafh, that is the
bane of morality, and the difgrace of rational
beings. And while the polite praters vainly
imagine they are difplaying their own talents
and erudition, their knowledge and liberal
way of thinking; they are only the mere
ecchoes of thofe teachers of falfehood; the
fimple
b 2
*Heroic Epiftle to Sir W. Chambers.

( xii )
fimple and obedient tools, by whofe agency
thofe cunning engineers are undermining all
the defences of religion, of public fpirit, and
of private virtue.
It is matter of no fmall aftoniſhment and
concern, to obferve how much an indifference
to moral rectitude, a habit of evading the toil
of thinking, and this paffive refignation to the
fentiments and principles of others, debili-
tate the human mind, though naturally ac-
tive and vigorous, and fubject it to the re-
proach of yielding to the groffeft credulity,
and even of affenting to manifeft contradic-
tions. Nothing is more common, than for
thofe, who have the Walpolian maxim we
have been fpeaking of always at their tongue's
end, to form to themfelves, I know not how,
an ideal diftinction between public integrity
and private honeſty. While they lay it down,
as a fixed principle, that the fenator may be
corrupted by a court bribe, to injure or op-
prefs his country, they will yet allow, that
he is rigidly juft in all his private dealings;
that he is the kindeft landlord, the gentleft
mafter, the tendereft relation, the trueft
friend; fo very moderate in felf-gratification,
and of fo humane a nature, as to bound his
expences very far within his income, and to
diftribute large fums in fecret charities, with
a minute attention to the meaſures of diftrefs
amongst the objects of his beneficence. And,
is it to be believed, that fuch a man-that a Sa-
vile

(xiii)
vile is to be made a traytor ?-Ye ecchoes of
abfurdity, think and blufh!
But whatever hopes may be entertained of
the ingenuous majority of miftaken perfons,
I know there is yet a party, whofe incapacity
for a generous thought, or whofe malignity
is fuch, that when, by the mention of his
name as a fincere patriot, they have been
ftruck dumb with uneludible conviction, and
obliged, in their own defpite, to confefs his
virtue, have yet fought to tarnish its luftre,
by bafe infinuations, to the prejudice of his
underſtanding. Thefe infidious creatures are
not fparing of cold panegyrics on his general
character; but, with much pity for the weak-
nefs of a well-meaning man, they lament that
he fhould be fo deluded; they are amazed,
forfooth, that he can fancy he is ferving the
public, by oppofing and embarraffing the ne-
ceffary and wife meafures of government;
they are forry, that fuch a man fhould keep
in countenance others, who only act the pa-
triot, in order to obtain their own fooliſh
ends; and they muft needs fay, they think
him fomewhat too much attentive to po-
pular clamours and popular praife, and too
much guided by a blind popular zeal. But
what they are moft anxious to inform
you of, with fome parade they affect to
fupprefs. In tenderness to him, they do not
chooſe to ſpeak freely on that head-there is
no neceffity to explain themfelves-they are
convinced he is ignorant how much he is im-
pofed on-but they take care, however,
before

(xiv)
before they have done, by certain circumlo-
cutions, by broken fentences, and unambi-
guous givings out; to inform you, in pretty
plain terms, that he is no better than the
dupe of a dangerous party, a mere puppet,
played off by the crafty leader of a faction,
attached to his intereft by flattery alone, and
courted, not for his own intrinfic importance,
but merely to grace the caufe with a name,
upon which the filly multitude have thought
fit to beftow an unmerited popularity. What
a return for the labours of a life, devoted to
the fervice of that community, of which thefe
wretches compofe a part! But no benefits can
touch the viprous heart of ingratitude! Nor
fhall malice and envy ever fleep, while a fpark
of virtue remains to blefs mankind! Merit,
however railed to fuch an elevation, is a mark
placed far above the idle efforts of their fever-
fhaken diftempered nerves. Expofing their
own hideous deformity, they aggrandize by
the contraft, that virtue they mean to depre-
ciate, and madden with felf-inflicted torment,
their peculiar curfe. Thefe ingrates to their
benefactor, ftupid as they are, ought to know,
that though his character, like things moft
facred, may be profaned, yet that the broad
ægis of wifdom and virtue renders it invul-
nerable.
Forgive me, Sir George, that I fay thefe
things in an addrefs to yourſelf! As humility
itſelf, in a private ftation, cannot decline to
make thofe honeft boafts which befpeak its
merit, when that is bafely traduced, or un-
gratefully

( xv)
gratefully forgotten; fo the public labourer,
will not be offended, that his honeft fame is
held up to his
his countrymen, for the purpofes
of exalting truth, and fubduing falfehood, as
an incitement to a fteady and high fpirited
patriotifm, and an encouragement to the timid
in the public caufe: while to thofe foul har-
pies, who wallow in the filth of corruption,
and batten at the ever-bleeding wounds of
their country; and to thofe minor mifcreants,
doomed by their dulnefs, and their abject
meannefs, to remain the drudges of wicked-
nefs without its wages; it fhall ferve as an
adamantine mirror, before whofe brightness,
if they have power to open their falcinated
eyes, they fhall fhrink at the withering blaft,
like adders in a confuming fire; praying, but
praying in vain, to lofe the bitter confciouf-
nefs of their own infamy.
I fhall likewife hope for your pardon, on
this occafion, becauſe you underſtand the
world well enough, to know the endleſs ſhifts
and evafions of the difingenuous and perverfe,
who perfift, with unparalleled effrontery, to
deny the moſt undoubted truths, until they
are borne down by the weight of demonftra-
tion and the force of facts. They will deny,
in turn, the exiftence of every command in
the decalogue; and you will difpute with
them in vain, until you open the bible, and
reduce them to the neceffity, of either giving
up their argument or their fenfes. So, when
any one ſhall undertake to reply to theſe ma-
Jigners of mankind, if he content himfelf
with

( xvi)
with proving ever fo clearly from nature, from
reafon, or religion, that a real patriot may be
found, he had as well argue with the ftones
under his feet, unless he produce the man, and
put it upon his adverfaries to difprove the fact.
If by thofe, who are themſelves inca-
pable of a generous fentiment, and cannot be-
lieve a difinterefted affection can warm the
human breaft, I fhould be accuſed of an un-
worthy defign to flatter you in this epiftle; I
fhall be ready to acknowledge the charge,
whenever they prove that I have, in any par-
ticular, exceeded the truth, or endeavoured
to miſlead you into a deviation from the paths
of honour. And I would obferve, that he,
who is the profeffed friend to every virtue,
and the declared enemy of every vice, may
indeed, and ought to be applauded; but
puts it out of the power of even a * Decius
to flatter him-except to acts of goodness.
Not having any favourite vice to be foothed,
he is only affailable on the fide of virtue; and
the exquifite fatisfaction, arifing from the juft
praife of virtue, being one of the rewards de-
figned it by Providence, and intended alfo to
animate it, and urge it onward to its final
goal with unremitting ardour, to beſtow it
where it is due, is therefore as much the
duty of every good man, as it is to "render
"unto Cæfar the things that be Cæfar's."
I am, SIR,
Your grateful Countryman,
The AUTHOR.
*Shakespeare's Julius Cæfar.

PREFACE.
TH
HE fame motives, which first prompted me to
publifh the following letters feparately, have,
upon farther confideration, determined me to do it in a
collective form. To the generality, it may not, per-
baps, be a recommendation of them, when I affure my
readers, they wholly proceed from a strong conviction
of mind, and a zeal for the cause of liberty, and not
from a view of ferving, or of diftreffing any party or
particular perfon whatsoever, except the arguments they
contain fhall make converts to my political creed con-
cerning America; I fear they are not very likely to
pleafe any party, for Britons of all parties, and of al-
most all denominations, feem far too unanimous in wish-
ing to tyrannize over their brethren on the other fide of the
Atlantic. Happy, most happy, fhould the writer efteem
bimfelf, could be entertain any flattering hopes, that
his plain and humble pen might infpire his countrymen
with more generous fentiments! But are not his coun-
trymen the brave fons of freedom? lovers of justice,
and by nature generous? He will then he must enter-
tain thefe pleafing hopes. To know, that he had thus
influenced a fingle individual, would afford him reflec-
tions, that would more than counter-balance the ordi-
mary evils of life. If, however, he had no other fa-
tisfallion on this occafion, it would yet be fufficient,
that his American kindred fhould fay, There was
ONE Englishman an advocate for our freedom; but
I trust there are, in the private and independent walks
of life, many of the fame fentiment; and that their
numbers will daily increase, as a free difcuffion of the
8
par

Parliamentary pretenfions to the fovereignty of Ame-
rica, fhall more and more difcover their total want of
foundation; and, I am very far from defpairing, that
this truth fhall, ere long, be acknowledged, even by
the minifter and the legislature. We may naturally
expect, however, that they will be the last amongst the
intelligent to receive this doctrine; for long and efta-
blifhed habits form, even in liberal minds, very inve-
terate prejudices. Accustomed fo long to govern, and
habituated to the regular exercife of authority, they
will find it very difficult to believe, that it ought to be
lodged in any other bands; and they must be above the
common weaknesses of our nature, could they part with
it without an internal struggle, fince a love of power
is, perhaps, the moft deep-rooted of all the human paf-
fions. But, for the honour of human nature, and the
glory of this free nation, I must believe, that our le-
giflators will, in the end, gain this noble victory over
themfelves. Could I fuppofe a British minister of ftate
to have a few leifure moments, from the drudgery of
his office, and the worfe drudgery of fopping the hungry
bounds that are for ever ready to devour him; from
directing the endless fchemes and maneuvres of the mi-
nifterial campaign, and from fuperintending their ope-
ration. Could I fuppofe a minifter, I fay, to have fo
much leifure from all thefe avocations, for feriously
contemplating the prefent alarming fituation of his
country, and for beftowing a little fore-thought upon
what will probably be its fate, in a very short period
of time, unless fome great reformations take place;
and, could I farther fuppofe this minifter, turning bis
eyes within bimfelf, to meditate upon what it is from
which he can hope to derive any real fatisfaction; to
examine thoroughly the cobwebs of all mysterious and
arbitrary policy, and the rotten pillars of his ftate and
power; and, when fufficiently difgufted with their
leathfomeness and folly, could I then imagine him to
revolve

(iii)
revolve in his mind, how pleafant it would be to carry
on the public bufinefs on a liberal and fimple plan, pure
from corruption, and uniformly friendly to freedom; I
have not a doubt but he would moft ardently wish to
embrace fuch a plan. How gladly, if a man of fenfe,
and a lover of integrity, would be exchange for it, his
toils and perplexities, his provocations, his anxieties,
and distracting cares; but above all, that confciouf-
nefs of criminality, which no ftate-neceffity can effectu-
ally eraze from the mind of a minifter, who, wanting
the fortitude to forfake the wretched fyftem of the bafe-
minded Walpole, continues to work the wheels of go-
vernment by the Streams of corruption, and who, by
being involved in the labyrinths, unavoidable in all fyf-
tems but the right one, and, in order to avoid the most
fatal of all imputations to a minifter, that of doing no-
thing, finds himself obliged to commit frequent viola-
tions on the most facred rights of his fellow-fubjects,
fo that he may get forward at any rate with the work
of the day, and keep the people amufed, by letting them
fee he is doing fomething. Until fair experiment fhall
have convinced me of the contrary, I fhall never, I believe,
think otherwife, than that the most practicable fyftem
of government is, at the fame time the most fimple,
upright, coercive, and immoveable. Founded in free-
dom, and the common good of the people, it will che-
rifh the fpirit of liberty as its vital principle; having
no dangerous or felfifh defigns, it will affect no mystery;
knowing the neceffity of virtue, and the advantages of
integrity, it will difcountenance vice, fupprefs corrup-
tion of every kind, and be inflexible to justice; and
thus, by affording general protection, it will find una-
nimous fupport. But, it being our more immediate
business at prefent, to confine our ideas of reformation
to what regards the North American colonies, which
make, at this unhappy time, no fmall addition to that
burthen which galls the ministerial fhoulder. I have
only

(iv)
only to add, that I must firmly hold my confidence, that
our prefent minifter would, in the following letters,
meet with the neceffary hints and rudiments, from
which, without the fmallest difficulty, he might plan
the means for eafing himself of it; to the infinite ad-
vantage and glory of his country, to his own honour
and fatisfaction, and to the inexpreffible happiness of
the whole people of America.
As I am certain, that no party principles will be-
tray me, to have written from any other motives than
thofe I profefs; fo, when I affure the reader, that the
ftile and manner in which I have done it are my very
beft, I hope he will be convinced, that I have not folly
enough to afpire at literary fame; and that his can-
dour will overlook the very many imperfections of this
little work.
AME-

AMERICA N
INDEPENDENCE, &c.
To the LEGISLATURE.
E
LETTER I.
March 20, 1774-
VEN the moft ignorant perceive this to be a crifis
of the utmoſt importance to Great Britain, and to
North America: but it doth not appear that the
moft fage have yet formed a plan of proceedings that is
likely to give content to both parties. With deference
to the fentiments of others, and with a fincere defire of
rendering a fervice to my country, permit me to offer a
few thoughts on the fubject, and to throw fome hints in
your way, which I do not perceive to have been as yet
ftarted by any political writer. It is moft deeply to be
lamented, that paffion and prejudice, pride and felf-inte-
reft, have evidently too much influence over the minds
of moft men, to fuffer them to decide impartially and
equitably in fuch delicate conjunctures as the prefent,
We want now to difcover, and to eftablifh a principle of
lafting union between our colonies and the mother coun-
try; while the meafures of adminiftration, the delibera-
tions in parliament, the fentiments of political writers,
and the language of the people at large, all tend to prove,
that the moſt probable event will be mutual jealoufy, ani-
mofity,

(2)
mofity, and ftrife. It is the misfortune of this country,
furely without neceffity, that fchemes of reformation,
and plans of a great and comprehenfive nature, for the
general benefit of the people, are rarely or never formed
before-hand in the peaceful clofet of a provident mini-
fter; and, it is as unufual for them to attain their com-
pletion by difpaffionate contemplation, and the calm de-
terminations of wisdom. On the contrary, we fuffer
every trivial error and irregularity to ripen into mifchief
before we think of reformation; when we undertake it
at laft with minds heated to fermentation, and we perform
it with rafhnefs and violence. Let not, however, on
this great occafion, any thing fo intemperate and faulty
mark your deliberations, nor leave a ftain upon your
meaſures. Reflect, that the fate of empires is now in
fufpence, and that the balance is in your hands. No
patriots of any age or country ever had a nobler oppor-
tunity of immortalizing their fame; nor, what is infi-
nitely more to be defired, of obtaining the inward reward
of felf-approbation for having given happiness to mil-
lions. Remember your duty to mankind; remember your
duty to God. Let not the breath of anger or refentment
fully your councils; let not jealoufy or ambition poifon
your breafts, nor hang upon your tongues. Be calm, con-
templative, candid, prudent, wife; let juftice and bene-
volence rule your hearts; in one word, be Chriftians!
embracing with love and charity your American bre-
thren; and confulting their happiness equally with your
own.
The two grand queftions now to be decided are; 1.
Whether or not the British parliament or legiflature, hath
the right of fovereignty over North America? And, 2.
Whether or not a British parliament hath a right to tax
the North Americans *?
Although the latter queftion be properly involved in
the former +, fince taxation is a part of legiflation, yet
being extremely fimple and well understood, I fhall con-
fider it firft, in order to get rid of it; fo as it may not em-
barrafs our difcuffion of the other, which it will be necef-
fary for us to treat with all poffible perfpicuity. As for
thofe who, with great warmth, maintain the right of
parliament to tax the North Americans, furely they are ra-
ther to be pitied than argued with! Muft they not be to-
tally

( 3 )
tally ignorant of the principles of that ineftimable confti-
tution, under which they have the happiness to live?
How then ſhall we expect them to be acquainted with the
principles of the law of nature, from whence they flow?
When I meet a man inclined towards this opinion, I do
not contradict him; and I befeech him to avoid difputa-
tion above all things. I beg of him alfo to diveft him-
felf totally of every previous inclination for feeing the
point in this or in that light; to confult immediately the
great Mr. Locke, and other authors of note, and after a
careful examination of the arguments for and againſt the
queftion, to decide upon it himfelf impartially and ho-
neftly. I remind him likewife, that it is his intereft, as
well as for the advantage of his country, that he fhould
diſcover the truth: but a matter of total indifferency on
which fide it lies. If this fail to fet him right, I do not
difpute with him myfelf, nor do I affume the countenance
or manner of an opponent; but I intimate to him,
that, were he of my opinion, it would afford him great
fatisfaction of mind; fince it gives me a confiftency of
fentiment, by which I fee every right of legiflation per-
fectly confonant with the freedom and the happineſs of
mankind; and I then fimply ftate my reafons for holding
it. I have ever found this appeal to a man's own heart
and underſtanding, the moft fuccefsful way of enlighten-
ing the one, and improving the other. Very few indeed
of thofe with whom I have thus reafoned, on the prefent
fubject of American Taxation, have gone away unfatis-
fied, or found a neceffity of reading, in order to be con-
vinced but ignorance and obftinacy, heated by former
debate, have fometimes rendered my endeavours ineffec-
tual; and fuch as were notorious for a vicious ambition,
or fervility to the ruling powers, have generally remained
immoveable, though without producing one juft or wife
argument in fupport of their fentiments, or rather their
affertion's. Such men are not aware how much they lay
open to the light that part of their characters they always
mean to hide; and that there is as much difhonefty in
that difpofition which denies an evident truth, as in that
which gives a falfe evidence, or takes a purfe. It would
have required no learning, but only common fenfe and
common honefty, to have known that a man hath no pro-
perty in that which another can by right take from him
B 2
without

(4)
without his confent,' had not the world been peftered with
writers of corrupt hearts, who, for wicked ends, have
brought this clear propofition into difpute, and involved
it in a cafuiftical jargon, which perfons of plain fenfe,
and too bufy or too indolent for reflection, are apt to mif-
take for learning and fuperior fkill; and to compliment it,
firft with doubting, and then denying upon truft, what
they once understood and believed. But I truft, that
characters fo weak as thefe, fo profligate as thofe, will
have no influence with the British legiflature; that its de-
liberations will be carried on with too much wifdom and
too much dignity to give a hearing to the drivelings of
fhallow and impudent pratters; or to fuffer the un-
feemly violence of furious and tyrannical fpirits, to dif-
compofe that ferenity and diveſtment from paffion, which
ought ever to be obferved in the prefence of Majefty, and
in the awful councils of the nation. Here I muft exprefs
my concern, that it fhould feem to be thought by very
fenfible men, that it is neceffary to appeal to antient
times, in order to afcertain the right of a free fubject not
to be taxed without his confent, either in perfon or by re-
prefentation. With as much reafon might we go about to
prove, that no ancient King had a right to take from
every fubject at his good pleaſure, an eye or an ear.
is fufficient that we know any maxim in our law, to be
at the fame time a maxim of the law of nature, or demon-
ftrably deducible from its fundamental principles. What
is it to the purpoſe, whether fuch a maxim was received
and acquiefced in only yefterday, or a thoufand years
ago? Truth is not the lefs truth, though mankind were
in ignorance of it until lately. No mathematician, in
demonftrating an aftronomical problem, thinks it necef-
fary to prove the properties of a triangle, a circle, or an
ellipfe; why then fhould the politician wafte his time and
embarrafs his argument, with proving principles and axi-
oms univerfally affented to by all juft reafoners? not but
that a maxim carries more weight and authority with it,
as this of the neceflary connection between taxation and
reprefentation, when we find it has been the uniform fen-
timent of all ages; and references to antient times, and,
to various hiftories, ferve very properly to illuftrate poli-
tical arguments; fometimes facilitating their reception
among the timid and fufpicious, who are apt to fhrink at
It
bold

( 5 )
bold and honeft truths, to which they have not been fa-
miliarized,
NOTES, &c. to LETTER I
Let me recommend to the readers perufal, an excellent
pamphlet, under the title of Letters from a Farmer in Penfyl-
vania, to the inhabitants of the British colonies. It is printed
for Almon.
+ I think a noble Lord has lately afferted the contrary; but
we fhall probably be of the fame fentiment, when we come to
an explanation of our words. I here mean that juft legiflation
only which is founded on liberty, and in which the people, ei-
ther perfonally, or by their reprefentatives, have a fhare.
Every other fpecies of legiflation, being clearly an infringe-
ment on the inherent rights of mankind, is totally excluded
from my ideas of government; fo that confining myſelf to a
free government, where the people have a fhare, it ftill appears
to me, that taxation is a part, and included in the general
idea of legiflation. If it be the fole province and exclufive
right of that branch, which confifts of the people or their re-
prefentatives, to grant money for the fupport of government;
yet taxation is not completed, nor can it be carried into exe-
cution, until the other branches of the conftitution have given
their concurrence. A mere free gift of the Commons, with-
out an act of legiflation, would not be a tax; and we must re-
member, that though it be wifely provided, that in all taxa-
tions, the Commons alone fhall give and grant, yet, that the
Lords are not exempt from paying. May we not therefore fay,
with propriety, that taxation is a part of legiflation.
LET.

(6)
LETTER II.
March 22, 1774.
Tev
O every man of candour, I apprehend it muft be
evident, that Parliament hath not the rights of
fovereignty over his Majefty's American fubjects."
Every fpecies, indeed of declamation and fophiftry, have
been made ufe of in order to fhew that it hath, becauſe it
gratifies the pride of Englishmen in general, to think that
that legiſlature, in which they feel themfelves to have a
fhare, fhould govern half the world: but there are not
wanting an honeft few who think more juftly and more
generously. Amongft this number, a writer who fub-
fcribes himfelf A. B. in the Public Advertiſer of the
22d, deferves the thanks of every friend to freedom. Ex-
cept in his idea of the country of America, having been
by the prerogative the property of the crown, which, in
the fenfe of the paffage, fignifies the King exclufively, I
entirely agree with him in fentiment. He hath clearly
and elegantly refuted the notion of parliamentary fove-
reignty; he has, with a generous warmth becoming an
Englishman, appealed to the manly fenfe and to the vir-
tue of his countrymen *. It would be an endleſs, as
well as an ufelefs work, to follow the many daily writers
along all the mazes they wander through, in order to af-
fert the fovereignty of parliament, and to juftify admi-
niftration in the harfh meaſures they are now carrying
into execution. Notwithstanding their laboured and fine-
fpun performances, there is in reality no difficulty in the
cafe. We have no need of profound learning, nor an
intimate acquaintance with antiquity, nor even of the hif-
tory of the refpective provinces and their different ori-
gins; neither do we want copies of grants, charters, or
acts of parliament, in order to judge of the queftion be-
fore us. If we comprehend but the moſt well-known
principles of the Englifh conftitution; if we comprehend
but a few of the plain maxims of the law of nature, and
the cleareft doctrines of Chriftianity, all which are fo
fimple and plain, as to be underftood by hundreds, nay
thouſands,
2

(7)
thoufands, of plain men who know not that they are pof-
feffed of fo ufeful a treafure, we have knowledge enough
on this occafion. The only requifite wanting beyond
this, is a heart ftrictly devoted to truth and virtue, with-
out which we ſhall never underſtand any doctrine that does
not foothe our paffions.
is
The gofpel of civil as well as religious falvation
hid from the wife and prudent, and revealed unto
babes; that is, unto thofe who are not puffed up
with vanity and falfe learning, nor blinded by pride, am-
bition, and felf-intereft, but whofe minds are in a ftate
of humility and innocence. But we have our political
Popes, who would fain have us diftruft our common
fenfe and our feelings, and believe implicitly in their in-
fallibility; nor do I doubt, but they would prove as faith-
ful guardians of civil, as the Roman Pope is of religious,
liberty, was it once put into their hands.
It is a capital error in the reaſonings of feveral writers
on this fubject, that they confider the liberty of mankind
in the fame light as an eftate or chattel, and go about to
prove or difprove their right to it by the letter of grants
and charters, by cuftom and ufage, and by municipal fta-
tutes. Hence too we are told, that thefe men have a
right to more, thofe to lefs, and fome to none at all. But
a title to the liberty of mankind is not eſtabliſhed on fuch
rotten foundations: 'tis not among mouldy parchments,
nor in the cobwebs of a cafuift's brain we are to look for
it; it is the immediate, the univerfal gift of God, and
the feal of it is that free-will which he hath made the
nobleft conftituent of man's nature. It is not derived
from any one, but original in every one; it is inherent
and unalienable. The moft antient inheritance cannot
ftrengthen this right; the want of inheritance cannot im-
pair it. The child of a flave is as free-born, according
to the law of nature, as he who could trace a free ancef-
try up to the creation. Slavery in all its forms, in all its
degrees, is an outrageous violation of the rights of man-
kind; an odious degradation of human nature. It is ut-
terly impoffible that any human being can be without a
title to liberty, except he himself hath forfeited it by
crimes which make him dangerous to fociety.
Let us then hear no more of a right in our prefent-con-
ftituted parliament to govern the Americans, as being
derived

( 8 )
derived from any former exercife of this fovereignty,
from the original dependence and protection of the
emigrants and infant colonies, or from the tenour of
grants and charters! The refpective governments in
America, are no longer dependent colonies; they are
independent nations.--Not that I allow they ever
were otherways than free (although dependent) in the
moft abfolute fenfe: All their original conftitutions ei-
ther were, or ought to have been on the true principles
of freedom. They are not to be deprived of it as a man
would lofe an eftate, by a flaw in their title; for I have
already proved, that their title can have no flaw. Thofe
who are fo fond of placing them metaphorically in the re-
lation of children to a parent ftate, and thence are childish
enough to argue for a blind filial obedience, fhould re-
collect, that the power of a parent, even during child-
hood, doth not extend to any act of tyranny or injuf-
tice; and totally ceafes when the child arrives at years
of maturity. Then, as to the property of a child, a pa-
rent cannot take it from him even with his confent; and
as foon as his independency puts it in his power to give it
to his parent, he hath alfo the power of with-holding it
if he think proper. In fhort, during infancy, he muft
be protected agreeable to the laws of equity; when ar-
rived at manhood, he is free, and becomes his own pro-
tector. But analogy not being the fafe road of reafon,
we refign it again, after this fhort excurfion, to thoſe
who carelessly range the fields of politics for amufement;
but are not folicitous, as we are, of reaching the abodes
of truth and freedomí.
The Americans, in common with the whole race of
man, have indifputably an inherent right to liberty; and
to be governed by fuch laws as fhall beft provide for the
continuance of that liberty, and for fecuring their pro-
perty. Theſe are the hinges on which turn the welfare
and happineſs of fociety; thefe are the true, the only
ends of civil government. But how are they to be ob-
tained under the fovereignty of a British Parliament? Are
not the legiflators of every free ftate to be bound them-
felves by the laws they make? And, muft they not tax
their own purfes, together with thofe of their conftitu-
ents? Is there any fafety for the people without thefe ties
upon their legiflators? Will a member of the Britiſh par-
liament be bound by any law enacted for, and confined
to,

( 9 )
to, America? Muft the purfes of the Americans be at
his mercy, while his own fhall be exempt from every
taxation he may vote? What English fchool-boy, fo ig
norant of the conftitution, as to admit thefe abfurdities!
He muft first go out into the world, and, by the help of
a little political fophiftry, unlearn his common-fenfe,
and even his AB C.
The fecure enjoyment of liberty and property, in which
confift the welfare and happiness of a people, being the
true ends of all civil government; this is the foundation
alone on which we muft argue concerning who have a
right to govern. The anfwer is obvious and fhort. The
rights of fovereignty refide in the people themfelves; that
is, they have a right to chufe their own governors.
Minds that do not feel the force of felf-evidences may
deny the truth of this fimple propofition: but they may
be affured, that if they fet themſelves about controverting
it, they will only bewilder themfelves in their own fubtle-
ties, without telling us any thing that will benefit man-
kind. Don't we all acknowledge, that the Americans
are a free people? But how are they free, if they cannot
chooſe their own governors; if their laws be not enacted
by their own reprefentatives? In what doth our freedom
confift if not in thefe very rights as the effence of it? In
thefe rights which we have fo often afferted, for which
we have fo often bled! That people cannot be free who
are not governed by their own confent. Thoſe who are
governed by their own confent, choofe their own governors
This is indifpenfably requifite towards the welfare and
happineſs of every people; it is an unalterable law of na
ture; that is, it is the law of God.com
NOTES, &c. to LETTER II.
The letter alluded to, is fo well worth preferving, and fo
much to our prefent purpoſe, that I fhall take the liberty of
tranfcribing it for the ufe of my reader.
THE daily papers abound fo much in idle declama-
tion againſt the northern colonies, that it is not furprif-
ing, fuch admirable reafons are advanced in moft compa-
nies, where the converfation turns upon this important
C
topic,

( 10 )
ence.
topic, why force fhould be uſed to bring them to obedie
Neither is it much to be wondered at, that the
people of England are fo unanimous in their opinions,
The fame motives, which induce their rulers to abridge
their privileges, make the people of England willing to
abridge the liberties of America. The fubjects of the
King of Great Britain confider themfelves as the fove-
reigns of his Majefty's American fubjects; for, if the
Houfe of Commons have a legiflative power over the co-
lonies, the people of England muft have the fame right
ultimately, as the Houfe derive all their power from the
people by election. But it would be worth an enquiry
how the people of England obtained this fovereignty.
Was it by the free conceffions of the American pro-
vinces? By no means; or, did it refult from the fpirit
of the English laws or government upon the migration of
oppreffed religionifts and their fettlement in thofe regions,
which, by the prerogative, were the property of the
crown †, and which the King, by the fame prerogative,
had the power of alienating without the confent of the
people of England, particularly when fuch alienation
was made to a part of his own fubjects? It would be
difficult to fhew that this was the cafe, and I believe it
has never been attempted. That the King fhould have
the fovereignty of the colonies is but reafonable, is con-
fiftent with the fpirit of the Engliſh laws. If English
fubjects fettle upon the lands of the crown out of this
realm, with the King's permiffion and confent, they do
not thereby become a ftate independent of the kingly
power; as they were fubjects in England, fo are they
fubjects in their new country; but they do not become
fubjects of fubjects; defpicable indeed would be their fitu-
ation were fuch the cafe. On the contrary, they have
the fame rights which they had before, and fame fove-
reign executive power. The rights of Englifhmen are
not confined to this little fpot of land; but they follow
the perfon as a fhadow follows the fubftance; however,
it may vary its fituation, whether it goes North, Weft,
Eaft, or South. The Houfe of Commons can claim no
power of impofing laws on the colonifts, for they derive
no fuch power by election. The power of the Com-
mons of Great Britain is circumfcribed; from the fpirit
of the laws, they have only a legiflative power, and that
power

( II )
power bears relation to the purpofe for which it was
given; which was to impofe laws upon the people of
Great Britain, but by no means the people of America,
becauſe the power of the electors extended only to them-
felves. The three orders united, i. e. the parliament have
a moſt extenfive power over the fubjects of Great Britain,
becauſe every power in the ftate meets in that body: but
confidered with refpect to the colonies, their pretenfion
to fuch a power there clafhes with the legislatures of
thoſe colonies, they can never fubfift together in the
fame place. As to the relation of parent and child, in
which Great Britain and the colonies are faid to ftand by
fome ingenious men, I confefs it would be a tolerable
good figure in a rhetorical flourish, or would found very
prettily in metre; but with fubmiffion, when the rights
of many opulent and populous provinces are in queftion,
fomething more than a fimile or allufion ought to decide
it. Let Engliſhmen, who have been admired for ages,
for their regard to liberty, blufh, when it is now faid,
that, by fuperior force, they would deprive three or four
millions of their fellow-fubjects of thofe rights and pri-
vileges to which they are fo attached themfelves. How
depraved a mind would that individual be faid to poffefs,
who would defend his property at the risk of his life, ex-
claim againſt the aggreffor as a lawlefs invader, and
yet, at the fame time, or a moment afterwards, be-
have in the fame unjuftiable manner to his neighbour. Is
this the people, will foreigners cry, who are fo fond of
liberty? No; we have always miftaken them: they are
felfifh, arbitrary, and tyrannical, fond of the privileges
they enjoy; but they would exclude the reft of the world,
nay, their fellow-fubjects, from the fame advantages-
advantages which they have hitherto enjoyed in common
with Engliſhmen, Is this the people fo celebrated for
humanity? No; they are moft inhuman: they invade
the moſt precious rights a human being can enjoy, and
would render the reft of mankind miferable fervile
wretches.-'Tis really ftrange, the national character of
Engliſhmen fhould have been fo much mistaken!
Tuesday, March 22, 1774.
A. B.
C 2
+ Although

( 12 )
Although the King, by his prerogative, be vefted with the
power of making grants, it is only officially; and, I am of opi-
nion, that ever fince a legislative authority bath been establifbed
in any colony, his Majefty's prerogative of making grants within
the Jame, ought, in ftrictness, to have been in his official capa
city, as first magistrate of that colony, and not as first magiftrate
of England or Great Britain. As the people of Great Britain
have no power beyond themfelves, nor a fhadow of a right in the
foil of North America, fo it is inconfiftent with reafon to admit,
that the King can derive from them a power of granting away
thofe lands; more especially on any conditions, which should give
them a title to fovereignty over their American kindred, who have
as good a right to freedom and independency as themfelves.
LET

( 13 )
sd com
LETTER III,
March 24, 1774-
66
T the fame Time that I hold that Parliament
A
hath not the Rights of Sovereignty over his Ma-
jefty's American Subjects," and that thefe rights refide
in themfelves," I do not mean to promote an ungrateful
forfaking of the mother country by her children, to fever
and eftrange the fons from the fathers; but where filial
duty and obedience ceafes, to fubftitute in its ftead a bro-
therly affection, a manly and independent friendship,
which naturally takes place where the parent hath truly
loved and exercifed his authority for the fole end of pro-
moting the welfare of the child, without a view to ſelf-
intereft, or the gratification of pride, ambition, or other
vicious paffion. I would confider the American govern-
ments, like that of Ireland, as fifter kingdoms; and I
would cement a lafting union with them as between the
feparate branches of one great family. We know that it
is impoffible to effect fuch a family union, if the arro-
gance of the elder branch expect to govern the others, or
even demand their homage; and how much more fo, if
it demand the ufe of their purfes at its own difcretion,
as a return for former affiftance, or under pretence of
maintaining the honour and intereft of the whole com-
bined family. But while every one is left independent,
and no other influence is made ufe of but that of fincere
brotherly affection, a reciprocation of good offices, and
a fair reprefentation of the general advantage of the
whole, there is little doubt but that all will be ready to
contribute their refpective fhares, and that due refpect
and deference will ever be paid to the elder houfe.
mily pride, no lefs than thofe advantages which refult
from unions of fuch a nature, will produce this effect,
except we be afhamed of our family. I hope a felfifh and
tyrannical fpirit in the Englifh, will not make the Ame-
ricans afhamed of their defcent: but illuftration is mif-
leading us again into the tempting, but unfure, path of
Fa-
analogy.

( 14 )
analogy. Let us quit it once more before we lofe fight
of the direct road.
Every one of thofe writers, who endeavour to fupport
the pretenfions of parliament to the fovereignty of Ame
rica by any fhew of abftract reafoning, have, fo far as
they have fallen under my obfervation, either fat out upon
defective premifes, or from good ones, have drawn falſe
conclufions; as needs must be in this cafe, until truth
become a changeling. Plain fenfe, and an ingenuous
mind, are fufficient to guard any one against their fophif-
try: but we have need of a little more penetration, and
to be fomewhat converfant in affairs, when we would dif
pute with a different fort, who plunge headlong into the
depths of politics, and hurry us unprepared into all the
intricacies of commerce; placing at once before our eyes,
in an indirect point of view, that multiplicity of wheels
within wheels, pulleys upon pulleys, and fprings upon
fprings, which belong to the complicated machines of
government and trade, inftead of directing our attention
to the firft principles of motion, and the few maſter
fprings, on whofe movements all the reft depend in a re-
gular order and fubordination. By thefe means they en-
deavour to confound, when they cannot convince us.
But thefe are difhoneft arts, the common tricks of defign-
ing men in every fphere. They are too ftale and hack-
neyed, however, to impofe upon men of found and culti-
vated underſtandings. Thefe know, that government and
trade, as well as every fcience whatever, are eftabliſhed
on a very ſmall number of fundamental principles of the
utmoft fimplicity, fince they must be felf-evident, or
they are no principles at all; and they know alfo, that
thofe who mean honeftly, do always ultimately refer every
maxim, by clear inferences, to fome one or other of thefe
fimple, felf-evident principles. All the fubtleties and
refinements, all the arguments that the wit of man can
invent, will never be fufficient to juftify any fpecies of
arbitrary dominion, while we retain a knowledge of this
fhort and fimple propofition- the good of fociety is the
end of civil government;" nor will they ever juftify a
difcretionary taxation by a prince or government, the
people being unreprefented, fo long as we know, that " a
man hath no property in that which another can by right
take from him without his confent,'
One

( 15 )
One of the moft fpecious arguments made ufe of in fup-
port of a fovereign power in parliament over the Ameri
cans, is that drawn from a fuppofed neceffity of equip
ping a powerful armament at a fhort notice, for the pro-
tection of the whole empire, as thefe gentlemen will have
it: hereupon we are afked, if his Majefty is to have im-
pofed upon him the arduous taſk of firft obtaining a majority
in two Houfes of Commons in Europe, and about thirty
provincial affemblies in America, before he can raiſe the
neceffary fupplies? and the interrogators feem to plume
themſelves much upon the impoffibility of carrying on the
executive part of government under fuch reftraints. Let
me, in return, afk how we draw fupplies from Ireland?
Are they voted in the British Houſe of Commons? Then,
in the first place, I anfwer, that if an empire be too large,
and its parts too widely feparated by immenfe oceans, or
other impediments, to admit of being governed on the
principles effentially belonging to all free governments, it
is an over-grown empire, and ought to be divided before
it fall to pieces. The welfare and happinefs of man-
kind fupercede every other poffible claim or pretenfion to
govern. When we find ourfelves fubject to a diftant
power, which cannot poffibly govern us on any other
principles than thofe of tyranny, we have an inherent
right, by the law of nature, and it is an indifpenfible
duty to ourſelves, and to our pofterity, to fhake off fuch
an unjust yoke, and to erect a free government amongſt
ourfelves. Thofe degenerate Englifhmen, who are now
feeking to enflave the Americans, would ill brook the go-
vernment of the Emperor of Germany, if by any means
he fhould lawfully inherit the crown of thefe kingdoms,
and make Vienna the feat of government. Would they
fuffer themſelves to be taxed by German minifters, or
German diets? Would they not fay to their fovereign,
< either come and refide amongft us, or delegate to your
vice-roy all the prerogatives of the crown, and leave
us, in conjunction with him alone, to tax and to go-
⚫ vern ourſelves according to our own juft laws, and
the rights of a free people?' Can any language be
plainer? Can any doctrine be more intelligible or more
equitable? But, in answer to the above interrogatory, I
have another anſwer as intelligible as this.
6
Eftablish

( 16 )
Eftablifh the mode of governing which thefe perfons
contend for, and there will ftill be the fame inevitable
delay, with regard to the American fupplies, as they
would have us believe is peculiar to the mode which the
people there claim a right to exercife. For tho' a Britiſh
parliament might vote them with their ufual alacrity, yet
we muft fend to America to collect them. And if our
armament cannot go on without firft fending fo far for
this collection, its operations may as well be fufpended a
few days or a few weeks longer, in order to obtain it on
British, rather than on Pruffian, principles. But the
truth is, we fhould not defer the equipment of any ne-
ceflary armament one moment on this account +. Do
we at prefent wait for the affembling of parliament, and
a vote of fupplies, before we arm in any juft caufe in
which the fafety, the intereft or honour of the ftate is
concerned? Doth not the executive branch of govern-
ment, by virtue of its own powers, and in difcharge of
its duty, put the ftate in a pofture of defence upon every
alarm without lofs of time, and then apply to parliament
for its approbration and fupport? Is it ever with-held in
a juft caufe? Hath the government no refources, no ways
and means of its own, for difcharging, or contracting
for the future difcharge of, thefe prompt expences of the
ftate? If the uncertainty of meeting with like fupport
from America, as they find in Great Britain, fhould be
clog upon our minifters in their warlike projects, might
it not be fortunate for the people of both countries?
Would it not make them extremely cautious and pru-
dent how they involved us in continental politics and in
German wars? No ingenuous man will, however, enter-
tain a ferious doubt of the readinefs of the Americans to
contribute their fhare to every neceffary expence of go-
vernment, fo long as they fhall find themfelves in pof-
feffion of their freedom 1.
They must contribute their fhare; that is to fay, they
muft preferve their own exiftence as a people, and defend
their own property, under any form of government what-
ever. When men tell us, that an enlightened and free
people are refractory; that they will not contribute their
proportion of taxes; that at the hazard of their lives by
the fword or the halter, they oppofe and feek to fubvert
the government, and this for a fucceffion of years; they
tell

( 17 )
tell us, with a moral certainty, though perhaps without
meaning it, that they feel fome real oppreffions, fome
real invafions made on their rights or liberties; for no
other caufes ever did, or ever will, produce a general and
permanent oppofition in the whole body of a people to-
wards their governors. When we remark likewife, that,
in the prefent conteft, there is no religious zeal of perfe-
cution; no national antipathy or rancour, but quite the
reverfe; no introduction of a new code of laws by a fo-
reign conqueror; no imaginary pretender to weaken the
allegiance of the people towards their fovereign; nor in-
deed any one caufe of diffatisfaction, but the avowed
one; and that, on the part of the people, clearly jufti-
fied on the obvious principles of the Engliſh conftitution,
can we hefitate a moment to pronounce what ought to be
done? We ought to allow the Americans to tax them-
felves as an infeparable adjunct to freedom.
NOTES, &c. to LETTER III.
It is not my meaning, that the American colonies fhould
feel the effects of that narrow, and, may I not call it, barba-,
rous policy, by which this country hath conducted herſelf to-
wards her fifter Ireland. Befides the liberty of raifing her own
taxes, and that fhare of legiflation which fhe enjoys in her
own parliament, I muft confefs, I fee no reafon why her trade
fhould not be as free as that of Great Britain. Nature feems
to have formed her for an union with the greater ifland. This
once effected, on a liberal plan of equality in trade and free-
dom, any future jealoufy would be an inftance of that folly
which is expofed in the fable of the belly and members. Hu-
manity, wildom, and virtue dictate an union. Should Ire-
land then rival us in trade, (which I fear it would never be in
a condition to do) I know of no confequences but good ones.
It might poffibly tend to abate our luxury and extravagance,
by a more equal divifion of wealth, and of circulating money
in the two kingdoms; at the fame time, that it would excite
an induftrious emulation in commerce, to the mutual benefit
of both countries; and, confequently, augment the numbers
of ufeful people, the riches and ftrength of the united ſtate.
+ If the British parliament will not relinquish its arbitrary
fovereignty, let it not, however, double the injury by fuch op-
preffions, needlefs even to its own unjust policy.
D
II make

( 18 )
I make ufe of the word freedom in this place, although
am arguing on a fuppofition of the British parliament conti-
nuing to exercife a fovereign power over the Americans, which
I hold to be tyrannical in its principle; becauſe the Americans
themſelves are as yet not averfe to it, and univerfally breathe
towards it none but fentiments of refpect and fubmiffion, fo
long as it fhall not be exercifed to tax or to opprefs them. Per-
haps I may be afked, why do I, while the Americans are thus
fubmiffively inclined towards parliamentary fovereignty, offici-
oufly endeavour to withdraw their refpect and obedience;
therefore, as a general anfwer on this head, let me fay once for
all, that it is the dictate of my confcience; the fame as it
would be to warn any individual against ignorantly or heed-
lefsly acquiefcing in any felfifh, crafty, or unjust pretenfions
of another perfon, which, in its natural and unavoidable con-
fequences, muft end in his own diftrefs, and the ruin of his
children, and all this without even benefiting his oppreffor;
but, on the contrary, rendering him criminal and unhappy,
and preparing the way for his hafty downfal. If an ordinary
regard to juftice, and the duties of humanity, would have re-
quired this at our hands, in a cafe where only a few individuals
were concerned, how much more is it the duty of a good citi-
zen to found the alarm, when he fees millions, and fucceffions
of millions thro' future ages, in danger of finking into flavery,
with all it's attendant curfes! and I moreover think it my duty,
to feize this occafion, of advancing my opinions againſt the
fuppofed and pretended right of fovereignty in the British par-
liament over America, becauſe too many writers, through mif-
judgment, difingenuoufnefs, or a bafe proftitution to the luft of
tyrannic power, have taken advantage of this acquiefcence on
the part of the colonists, and of this principle with regard to
the fovereignty being fo generally acknowledged, as a good
political axiom; to deduce from it a right in parliament even
to tax the colonies. Thus, by proving too much, they raiſed
a fufpicion, that their first principles were unfound, and their,
leading propofition a mere fophiim; and, upon examination,
the reader, I flatter myfelf, finds them to be fo. Leave our ad-
verfaries but poffeffed of this intrenched ground of parliamen-
tary fovereignty, and the event of the conteft, concerning the
right of taxation will be doubtful; at leaft, they will fo long be
enabled to make a fhew of maintaining the difpute; but when
truth and fair argument have forced this feeble intrenchment,
as I cannot but think they have now done, they will foon be
driven out of the field; and the standard of freedom, fupported
by the hand of juftice, be fixed there for ever.
LET-

( 19 )
LETTER IV.
March 25, 1774-
COME theorifts make a propofal to allow the Ameri-
cans a reprefentation in the British parliament, in
order to juftify our taxation of them; but from the ſmall
number of fuch reprefentatives, which I have underſtood
to be propofed, and their being reftricted from voting, as
fome would have them, in any but American queftions, I
fhould fear that this propofal proceeded from a fenfe of
fhame, as not appearing to preferve even the common
forms of juftice, rather than from a ftrict and facred re-
gard to juftice itself; or on a fuppofition, that this repre-
fentation fhould be an adequate one, how would it be
poffible for the American reprefentatives to ferve their
conftituents in a proper manner. Could they, during
every recefs of parliament, vifit their refpective counties,
as the members can in Great Britain? Could they, by a
poft letter, in a day or two, communicate to, or receive
from, their conftituents all neceffary intelligence? or,
could they meet and confult with them on all emergen-
cies at a fhort notice? Muft they refide a thoufand or fif-
teen hundred leagues from their eftates and compting-
houfes, in order to ferve their country in parliament?
Surely fo weak a fyftem of government must have been
the vifionary fuggeftion of a dream! But we may reft af-
fured, that while the Americans are themfelves awake,
they will never confent to it. Will they truft their pro-
perty, their freedom, their deareft rights, their every
thing, in the hands of exiles, fent half-way to the Anti-
podes, in order to fit in council for their government!
fent to refide in a luxurious, extravagant country, im-
merfed in diffipation and corruption, and expofed to
every temptation to betray them! Believe me, they are
not fo fenfelefs. In the imaginations of thefe vifiona-
ries, the vaft Atlantic is no more, I prefume, than a mere
ferry.
Thoſe who have thought proper to indulge themfelves
in the way of declamation, tell us of the mighty things
D
2
done

( 20 )
done for the Americans by the mother country, and make
a great cry of their rebellion and ingratitude. Nay, they
are filly enough to urge thefe obligations as fo many ir-
refragable reafons why the Americans are bound to obey
the British parliament: on this foundation they build our
right of fovereignty. But whoever heard of a fuit profe-
cuted in any English court of juftice for ingratitude? Is
a frugal fon, out of his little competency, and to the pre-
judice of his own children, obliged, by any law of Eng-
land, or of nature, to minifter to the extravagancies of a
proud, luxurious parent, and in what degree that parent
fhall direct? Do the obligations of friendfhip deprive the
perfon obliged of his future freedom and independency?
Doth not an attempt to enflave, cancel, in a moment,
every former obligation? Thefe declaimers fhould keep
in mind, that voluntary good offices are moral and reli-
gious, not civil or political, obligations. We may fafely
admit the whole catalogue of them in their full force,
without thereby affording parliament the moft fhadowy
pretenfion to the rights of fovereignty over the Ameri-
cans: but, in juftice to the character of that people, we*
muft pofitively deny their exiftence; for they have been
amply repaid in a profitable commerce to this country.
Men muft furely be loft to a fenfe of common decency,
who would impofe upon us as truth, that the part which
government hath ever taken, in fettling and affifting the
American colonies, was folely or primarily to benefit the
fettlers; whereby they have been laid under this vaft load.
of obligation to the mother country, which nothing lefs.
than a furrender of their liberty can conceal. Every
honeft, unprejudiced man, who will reafon, and not
wrangle, muft acknowledge, that government's firft ob-
ject was, as indeed it always ought to be, to extend the
commerce of this kingdom. This was the end: the
countenance and affiftance given to American fettlers,
was only the means, and therefore could be no more than
a fecondary confideration. When the colonies were in
danger of falling a prey to France, was it pure affection
and generofity towards them, or jealoufy of that ambitious
power, which caufed Great Britain to take up arms? Did
not her own exiftence depend on the prefervation of her
American colonies? fo that, though we do not mean to
fay affection, for her kindred had no fhare in moving her
to

( 21 )
to draw her fword, yet, we prefume, it will be admitted,
that her own fafety, her own intereft, her own honour, were
the only motives that could have engaged her to proceed
fuch lengths at that juncture; and this will the more evi-
dently appear, when we confider, that according to her
notions of her right to the fovereignty, fhe faw the pro-
tection of her colonies, literally in the light of felf-de-
fence, and the more heartily undertook it accordingly.
Surely, it must be a very bad title to dominion, which is
built upon an error of her judgment, and a political fel-
fifhnefs. Had the Hanoverians, or Dutch, the Pruffians,
Portuguefe, or Hungarians; had even the very French,
with whom the fought, at that time ftood in the place of
her American colonies, fhe would, on the fame prin-
ciples, have been as lavifh of her blood and treafure in
their fupport, as every one of them hath heretofore experi-
enced; and yet our opponents in argument, would not
have maintained, that fervices of this kind, done to any fuch
ftate, would have entitled this kingdom to the fame right
of ruling and of taxing it, as they contend for upon the
fame principle in the cafe of America. America, there-
fore, is not ungrateful; but is not rather Great Britain
unwife, ambitious, and tyrannical? The obligations, in
fact, were mutual, and as equivalent as the nature of
things would admit; fo that it would be a very nice,
perhaps an impoffible, but certainly an ufelefs fpecula-
tion, to decide which party hath been moft benefited.
The attempt is infidious, and he who makes it, is no
friend either to America or Great Britain.
Many definitions of government have been given us,
and a multitude of arguments employed, in order to fhew
the well-known neceffity of one central fupreme power
being fomewhere lodged in every empire, which fhall be
all fufficient of itſelf to perform the whole of legiflation,
and confequently taxation, as an effential part of it. But
this will make nothing for the claims of parliament to the
fovereignty of America. On the reverfe, it only points
out more ftrongly the error which moft people have fallen
into in their notion of the British empire. They will
have it, that the British empire comprehends within it all
his Majefty's dominions in America; whereas the, Ame-
rican governments, except that of Newfoundland, are
independent nations, having within themfelves the rights
and

( 22 )
and the actual powers of legiflation, which cannot be
taken from them, and lodged in the hands of British le-
giflators, without a manifeft wrong, and the fubverting
of fo many free governments. Here we fhall be told, that
our Kings, in granting them their original charters and
privileges, only exercifed a prerogative which they de-
rived from the conftitution; wherefore the Americans are
ftill dependent upon, and owe allegiance, not to the
King alone, but to the ftate of Great Britain. But ftill
I maintain, that the inherent rights of mankind, above
all, their freedom, are not to depend on cafuiftical ni-
ceties and logical diftinctions, (which, by the way, muft
be falfe, when they would difprove thefe rights) but are
theirs independently of all the Kings, all the governments
in the univerfe. Kings and conftitutions of government are
the creatures, not the creators, of thefe rights. They
are held immediately of God himfelf, who gave them.
Had the original charters to the American fettlers been
granted on the exprefs and fole condition of acknowledg-
ing the fovereignty of parliament, even all that would
not have bettered our prefent title one jot; for freedom,
notwithstanding all that fophiftry may fay to the contrary,
cannot be alienated by any human creature; much lefs
can he enflave his pofterity; and, therefore, fuch a con-
traft could only be binding, fo far and fo long as free-
dom fhould not be infringed by it; but, with regard to
a virtue in it, of depriving a future people, many nations,
of their freedom, it would be null and void in its own na-
ture to all intents and purpofes; and, 'tis a mockery to
our common-fenfe, to plead it as an authority to this end.
It is a miſtaken notion, that planting of colonies, and
extending of empire, are neceffarily one and the fame
thing. Even the intention of the planters will not make
it fo, where the rights of mankind, and the nature of
things are not adapted to it; where growing colonies are
fo fituated and fo circumftanced, that, in the nature of
things, they cannot be governed by the parent ſtate on the
principles of juftice and freedom; it is furely paying little
refpect to our underſtandings, and fhocks every feeling of
a free mind, to affert, that they muft nevertheleſs fubmit
to its oppreffive rule. Having denied that America, when
we drop the popular language, and fpeak correctly, is a
part of the British empire, it will naturally be expected
I fhould

( 23 )
I fhould fay what are, and where are its límits. The
British empire, then, I hold to be confined to the British
Ifles, and to the various fettlements and factories of our
trade in the different parts of the world, including the go
vernment of Newfoundland; together with the garrifons of
Gibraltar and Minorca. As to the Weft India iflands,
they, as well as the continental colonies, certainly have
a right to their independency, whenever they fhall think
proper to demand it, as they contain within themſelves
every neceffary of legiflation; but, if it be their choice,
to acknowledge the fovereignty of the British parliament,
as I apprehend it may, becaufe, I believe, it will be their
intereft, I fee no objection in that cafe to its being exer-
cifed. If it be true, as I believe all writers agree, that
they would be depopulated, was it not for annual fupplies
of white men as well as blacks, this, and fome other ar-
guments, drawn from Weft Indian manners and fenti-
ments, feem to indicate, that it is not in their nature, nor
perhaps in their wifh, to fupport an independency;
nor ought we to forget, that their foil itfelf points out to
them dependency, fupplying only the means of effemi-
nacy, luxury, and intoxication, while for bread, and the
neceffaries of life, its inhabitants muft depend upon other
Countries. It matters not how much, in the nature of
trading fettlements, our firft colonies might have been,
(though were not in fact) nor at what period they might
be faid to become independent nations: it matters not
that they were originally planted and protected by the
government of this country, (I admit this planting; I
make no refervation of thofe who fled from perfecution and
want) nor what were the intentions of government in for
doing; for, having in them (the people of thofe colonies)
the inherent and unalienable rights of freemen, they had
therein the rights of independency, whenever they fhould
think proper to affert them. Doth a man, who furnishes
a young indigent relation with every neceflary, who fettles
him in a trading accompting-houfe, who fupplies him
with money, and fupports him with every fpecies of pro-
tection whereby he profpers in the world, and raifes
fortune; doth the man, I fay, to whom he owes all this,
obtain thereby a right, a legal title, to take from him,
without his confent, a fingle fhilling of this fortune?
men of flavish principles would have us believe, that the
a
rights

( 24 )
rights of private perfons, of fubjects, being mean and in.
fignificant confiderations, are level with the capacities
of, and may be comprehended by the people; but that
the fublime and myfterious rights of empire are only to
be judged of, and determined upon, by thofe who go-
vern, and by thofe to whom thefe myfteries are confiden-
tially revealed, in order to be treated of with due pro-
fundity and unintelligibility, not to enlighten the people,
but to imprefs them with a proper refpect for things fo
aweful and facred. True enough it is, that what hath
too frequently been written concerning them, hath not
been level with the capacities of the people, nor with any
other capacities; for no man can understand what hath
no fenfe or meaning, what is palpable nonfenfe,
NOTE, &c. to LETTER IV.
I fay British Isles, fince I confider Ireland as naturally a
dependant upon Great Britain, until an union fhall take place,
and make her an equal. In barbarous times, fhe might have
remained feparate and independent; but fuch a ſtate would now
be inconfiftent with the felf-prefervation of the larger king-
dom, and therefore the law of nature dictates an union or a
curb.
1.
LET-

( 25 1
)
LETTER V.
March 26, 1774
IT
6
6
T is demanded, with an air of confidence and imagi
nary triumph, Were not the firft fettlers in Ame-
rica Britiſh fubjects? Did they not fettle under the
fanction of grants and charters? Hath not the king-
⚫ dom, at all times, put itfelf to great expences in their
fupport, and favoured them with many peculiar advan-
tages in trade? Was not the laft moft expenfive war
⚫ undertaken folely on their account? Can any one be
fo abfurd, as to imagine the kingdom intended to nurſe
and erect fo many independent nations, inftead of en-
larging her own dominion? Ought not the Ame-
ricans to repay us part of the expences of the war
in particular, in order to enable us to difcharge fome
part of that enormous debt it occafioned? and con-
tribute their proportion towards the general expences
of the whole empire? To moft of thefe quef-
tions, my arguments have already anfwered. Now,
let me afk, in my turn,-Have any of the nations
of the earth, eſpecially the free ones, become what they
are, in confequence of the intentions, and by a regular
plan for that purpofe, of the governments of thofe coun-
tries from which they are refpectively defcended? When
we fpeak of the Greeks as an Egyptian colony, or of
the Carthaginians as a colony of Phoenicians, do we the
lefs confider them as free nations? or imagine that the
mother-countries had a right to govern or to tax them,
becauſe the first fettlers had once ftood in the relation of
fubjects to thofe ftates? Let the intention of government,
in planting a colony, be what it may, 'tis impoffible it
fhould take away an inherent unalienable right; fuch, for in-
ftance, as freedom. But what Britain principally intended,
fhe hath certainly obtained-an extenfion of commerce.
Again, let me afk, hath not Providence ufually carried on
its gracious defigns of making great nations, and peopling
new regions, contrary to the councils of the wife
ones of this world? While we are plotting and contriv-
ing, toiling and fweating, treating and waging war, in
E
order

( 26 )
order to gratify our own felf-intereft and pride, by ex-
tending our commerce, and enlarging our empire beyond
all bounds, Providence takes care to fruftrate our fooliſh
and wicked projects, and often brings about the reverfe
of what we think to infure by the depth of our policy,
and the ftrength of our arm. Let us take care that we
do not provoke it to make us a fcorn and a reproach to
America, inftead of its arrogant ruler. By adhering
ftrictly to the principles of juftice, and the rights of man-
kind, we may firmly unite and cement together our own
interefts with thofe of our fifter nations in America, and
remain ourſelves to the end of time, a powerful and in-
dependent ftate: but let us dread, by a violation of theſe
facred duties, to pull down upon our devoted heads the
mighty ruins of an over-grown empire. Let it be the
peculiar glory of this free, this enlightened, this chrif-
tian kingdom, to extend the influence of her religion and
laws, not the limits of her empire! Nor let her entertain
one anxious thought concerning the hackneyed notion of
the progrefs of empire weftward. Who are theſe pre-
fumptuous unfolders of the decrees of fate, theſe revealers
of the hidden councils of God, that doom Great Britain to
a fpeedy fall, when empire fhall have fixed it's feat in Ame-
rica? Are the difpenfations of Divine Providence fo uni-
form and regular, as to become the object of fcience and
proud philofophy?-to be foretold by man, or calculated
like the movement and appearance of a comet? Our phi-
lofophical prophets pretend to judge from fimilar caufes
producing fimilar effects: but they ought to know, that
in all effentials, there is yet very little or no fimilitude be-
tween the ftate of Great Britain and any antient empire
whatever and I am not without faith, that there will al-
ways be wifdom and virtue enough in this happy ifland,
to prevent its ever coming within that predicament.
behoves her, however, for inftruction, to have a conftant
retrofpect to them and their fate. Let her maturely reflect
on the infatiable avarice and ambition, the enormous, the
gigantic wickednefs of bloody Rome. Let her confider
alfo the Grecian, the Perfian, and Affyrian empires, and
carefully mark the grand caufes of their overthrow. They
were all erected on the rotten foundations of Idolatry and
tyranny, (the very feed-plots of hell) they all fell the vic-
tims of their own mad ambition, and a luft of rule, that
It
nothing

(27)
nothing could fatiatc lefs than the dominion of the whole
earth. Where is the fimilitude! Our religion, being a
divine revelation, is confeffedly perfect; and the law of
nature, no lefs divine, being the immoveable bafis of our
political fabric, the very foul of our conftitution, this
alfo is perfect. I fay perfect, abfolutely perfect; for,
whenever it hath the appearance of being otherwife, it
is only from the want of a right interpretation, or a clofe
adherence to its true principles. It is this immutable,
this divine ftandard, we have to refer to in all our devia-
tions, that hath preferved our conftitution through all
ages, and improved it till it is become the admiration and
envy of all nations *. This is a principle of renovation
and recovery from all corruption and decays; this is a
principle of immortality! No other conftitution ever had
the fame, or at leaft never preferved it until it was fuffi-
ciently understood, and properly valued by the people.
This has, under a moft fingular Providence, been our
peculiar bleffing. I truft it will be the bleffing of our pof-
terity to the lateſt generations; and that, when we fhall
have given birth, and the birthrights of freemen, to as
many independent ftates as can find habitations on the
vaft American continent, that Britain ftill will be great and
free; the refpected mother, the model, the glory of them
all! and I will, I muft indulge the fond hope, that the
pure religion, and the perfect conftitution of Britain, will
gradually fpread themſelves over all America; and in every
other part of the globe + fo enlighten and operate upon
the minds of men, as to become the chief inftruments in
the Hands of Almighty God of bringing about, in his
due time, that univerfality of chriftianity, that harmony
and happinefs among the nations of the earth, which are
intimated in the prophetic writings, Thofe prophetic in-
timations themfelves, the peculiar fitnefs of the caufes to
the effects, together with a great variety of circumftances,
that feem evidently tending towards this point, convince
me, that it may be rationally hoped for; while all the
arguments brought to fhew the probability of America
becoming the feat of a mighty conquering empire, to
which Britain fhall, in length of time, be a province, ap-
pear to my apprehenfion, to be deftitute of any founda-
tion of the fmalleft degree of probability.
E 2
We

( 28 )
We are told, that empire hath been obferved to make
its progrefs weftward; that every empire hath had its in-
fancy, its youth, its vigour, its declenfion, its death;
and that they neceffarily follow each other with the fame
certainty as in frail life of man; and laftly, we are re-
minded, that Great Britain hath paft her meridian, and
empire is now rifing faft in America. To the firft, I an-
fwer, that empire muft needs have travelled weftward from
its fource, except Europe had remained a defart; that it
alfo travelled Eaft, South, and North, as well as Weft, wit-
nefs China, Indoftan, Abyffinia, Ruffia; and that it hath
already been in America, witnefs Peru and Mexico; and
that it hath alfo taken retrograde courfes, witnefs Turky
and the Perfian empire under Nadir Shah; and with re-
gard to modern Europe, I can fee no probability why it
may not remain to the end of time, divided in propor-
tions, not much differing from the prefent. To the fe-
cond argument, I have only to fay, that analogical rea-
foning is always very fallacious, and that there is no ana-
logy between things mortal and immortal. To the third,
I muft repeat, that Great Britain, having in her confti-
tution the principles of renovation and recovery from cor-
ruption and decay, and the feeds of immortality (which
no other ftate ever had) is in no great danger of a declen-
fion, fo long as this world is likely to laft; and that the
British North American ftates having, all of them, chrif-
tianity void of perfecution, as a light from heaven; Bri-
tifh freedom as a foul, and a fpirit of commerce as the
breath of life; it must be thought next to an impoffibility
that any one of them fhould ever fwallow up all the reft,
and then extend its conquefts beyond the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. The times for "heroes and demi-gods"
are paft; and the phrenzy for univerfal empire is fome-
what out of date and out of countenance. They pre-
vailed, and only could prevail, when the minds of men
were in a proper tone for fuch extravagances; when the
advantages of commerce, the true principles and ends of go-
vernment, and the religion of peace and pure virtue, were
either wholly or very imperfectly known: befides, no
fearcher into prophecy hath yet difcovered in the womb
of time, an empire that is to be fo formidable to the li-
berties of the world; and, if it be true, that the fpecies,
as well as the individual of mankind, obtains knowledge,
wifdem

( 29 )
wifdom, and virtue progreffively, its latter days will, ac-
cording to the nature of things, and by means of the Divine
affiftance that hath been vouchfafed it, to all appearance,
be more wife, peaceable, and pious, than the earlier pe-
riods of its exiſtence. To this end let every one labour;
and his own happinefs at leaft, if not the general happi-
nefs of mankind, will moft affuredly be his reward,
NOTES, &c. to LETTER V.
"I wifh," fays Lord Camden," the maxim of Machia-
*vel was followed, that of examining a conftitution, at cer-
"tain periods, according to its firft principles, this would cor-
reft abufes, and fupply defects." In this wish, every man,
who hath a juft fenfe of our ineftimable conftitution, will moft
devoutly join his Lordfhip. It is true, however, as intimated
above, that our wife anceſtors did, from time to time, avail
themfelves of fuch an examination, as occafion offered, and
circumftances would admit. If the effects have been fo great
and fo happy, ought we not to improve upon their example,
and inftead of fuffering abufes to run on uncorrected, until
they threaten a general ruin, would it be more than common
fenfe, and common prudence, to adopt a regular and periodical
inqueft, for this moft falutary purpofe? Who fo learned in the
law and the conftitution; who more the friend of both; who
therefore fo fit as his Lordship, for the generous tafk of fram-
ing a proper bill on this occafion? As it is his Lordship's pro-
pofal, where elfe fhall we look for a volunteer; knowing
his eloquence and fenatorial abilities, on whom elfe could we
rely, with fo much confidence and hope, for obtaining fo great
a bleffing?
+ We are now fending a code of Britiſh laws to our fettle
ments in India, and establishing courts to adminifter them.
LET-

( 30 )
WH
LETTER VI.
March 27, 1774.
THEN we talk of afferting our fovereignty over
the Americans, do we forefee to what fatal
lengths it will carry us? Are not thoſe nations increafing
with aftonifhing rapidity? Muft they not, in the nature
of things, cover in a few ages that immenfe continent like
a fwarm of bees? Do we vainly imagine, that we can then
hold the reins of government, and hurl our thunders on
the heads of the difobedient? Where are we to ftop? or,
fhall we pretend to circumfcribe American populations?
To fay," Thus far ye fhall go, and no farther ?"-No!-
Swollen indeed muit we be with the pride of dominion,
and drunk with the fumes, if we can foolifhly imagine
theſe things. It is high time that we opened our eyes
to the unintentional encroachments we have been making
upon the liberties of mankind, and to the neceffity of
fetting bounds to our dominion. Without the American
continent, the British empire will be large enough in all
reafon. But if government perfift in maintaining our
fovereignty there, it may poffibly occafion our own
deftruction, but can be productive of no good to us, ei-
ther prefent or future. After all that has been done to
alarm the Americans for their rights as free men, and call-
ing up their attention to a thorough inveftigation of
them; after the flame of oppofition hath been kindled in
every breaft, and now animates them as one man, it will
be in vain to fteer any middle courfe; to adopt meaſures
for light oppreffions, and compelling obedience to laws mo-
derately tyrannical. We muft either relinquifh at once our
claim to fovereignty, or fix on their neck with ftrong
hand the galling yoke of flavery. We muft either con-
quer ourſelves or them. Juftice, wifdom, humanity,
and religion, leave us without a doubt which to prefer;
and, fhould the latter be determined on, woe be to Great
Britain! We may, indeed, by means of fleets and ar-
mies, maintain a precarious tyranny over the Americans
for

( 31 )
for a while; but the moft fhallow politicians muft forefee
what this would end in t. It would expofe us to the
certain attacks of all our European rivals; and, when
we found the neceffity of courting the afliftance of the
Americans, we fhould defervedly find them the bittereſt
of our enemies. With the nations of Europe we contend
for commerce, for glory, and fome imaginary objects;
with thofe of America, the conteft would be for the
deareft rights, the very dignity of humanity. After the
ftruggles of intereft and prowefs, a tolerable reconcilia-
tion may take place, but eternal enmity and hate always
fucceed thofe between a free people and their tyrants.
From the fpirit of freedom, which hath in all ages glowed in
the bofoms of true Engliſhmen, and which hath brought to
its prefent perfection our glorious conftitution in defiance
of every attempt to crufh it; we ought to know, that un-
til we can extinguifh this fpirit in the breafts of the Ame-
ricans, and eradicate from their very nature its first and
nobleft principles, felf-prefervation and free-will, that
all our efforts to bow them down in fubjection to our au-
thority, muft finally be ineffectual, and will recoil fooner
or later, perhaps with ten-fold retribution upon ourſelves.
There are fome politicians who think, that prefent expe--
diency is a fufficient juftification of any meafures; and
who, from the ideas of re-imburfing ourfelves for the
charges of the laft war, of fupplying the prefent exigen-
cies of the ftate, and fecuring our power over the Ame-
rican commerce, make no fcruple to bid us draw the ac-
curfed fword, and enflave our children and our brethren.
But, be it known to them, that though our very exift-
ence as a nation, depended on violating the exprefs laws
of God, it must not be done. And if their ignorance,
which may be implied from the folly of their propofal,
hath not yet made the difcovery, let them be told that po-
licy, national as well as individual, muft have juftice and
the laws of God for its bafis, or, 'tis the policy of vil-
lains, the policy of fots and fools. Can the legiflature
of Great Britain, I once more afk, govern the Ameri-
cans on the true principles of freedom? For the reaſons
I have already given, I believe it to be impoffiblet. As
to their reimburfing us the fums of money spent on their
account in the laft war, they will do it, if we act wifely
and justly, in the only way it is poffible they fhould, and
in

( 32 ).
in the only way we expected of them when we undertook
the war; that is, by a commerce beneficial to this king-
dom. And by leaving them to their own independency,
the charges of government may be greatly retrenched.
'Tis
Thus far had I written, when the political tracts of a
reverend Dean fell into my hands. They amply fupply
all the examples and explanations neceffary to illuftrate
my principles, and fhew to a demonftration the abfolute
neceffity, in a political light, of relinquifhing our claims
to the fovereignty of America; to which the whole te-
nour of my letters point, and with which they are to con-
clude. But I am far from fubfcribing to this gentleman's
doctrine as to the rights of fovereignty. If I could ac-
knowledge the truth of that, I fhould very much doubt
of the propriety of his propofed feparation of America
from Great Britain; for giving up one's right, cannot be
thought a good rule for promoting one's intereft. But in
this cafe, as is very frequent, his common-fenfe hath been
obliged to fubdue his learning before he arrived at truth.
While metaphyfical refinements teach him to think, that
Britain hath a right to govern America, the invincible
force of truth extorts from him an acknowledgment that
the muft, if governed by true policy, relinquifh it.
pity fo able a writer had not difcovered, that the Ameri-
cans have a right to chooſe their own governors, and
thence inforced the neceffity of his propofed feparation as
a religious duty, no lefs than a meafure of national po-
licy. In fo doing, he would have been confiftent;
there would then have been no obfcurity; nor would his
fentiments of right and expediency have been at variance;
but his conclufion would naturally and evidently have
flowed from his premifes, fupported by that trite, but
true and moſt excellent maxim, that honefty is the beft
policy. But, perhaps, fome may be of opinion, that the
propriety of a feparation is more ftrongly enforced, by
its appearing to be the only refult he could poffibly arrive
at through the medium of opinions that pointed the direct
contrary way. The fame opinions have, in all other wri-
ters, led them only to confider, by what means the unity
of the whole British empire (taking in America) might be
beft preferved; how the fupreme legiſlative power might
be beft fupported, and enforce obedience to the utmoſt
bounds of this vaft dominion. Every project for this
purpoſe

( 33 )
purpofe (without a fingle exception) being embarraffed
with a fundamental incompatibility, a radical error in fup-
pofing a right, where, in truth, there is none, hath been
vifionary, oppreffive, fanguinary, and totally impracti-
cable; fo difficult it is to ftrive against the ftream of na-
ture and truth.
The Dean, with more good fenfe, with an extenfive
infight into the human heart, and the fprings of com-
merce, and with the temper of a philofophic, unintereſted
looker-on, hath nobly abandoned the full perfuafion of
his own mind on the point of right; and, while he thinks
we are entitled to govern, forefees and demonftrates the
fatal confequences of attempting it. He accordingly ad-
vifes us to feparate in good humour, and trufts to our
mutual interefts for its producing, in fact, a real and fin-
cere union; and this, he fays, is the only means of
"living in peace and harmony with them."
In the whole courfe of his work, wherever the dif-
pute of right is not immediately in view, his reafonings
flow fpontaneoufly, and in fpite of himfelf, from the
feelings of right in his own heart. In page 153, he
fays, For I am not for charging our colonies in parti-
"cular with being finners above others, becaufe, I be-
lieve, (and if I am wrong, let the hiftories of all co-
"lonies, whether antient or modern, from the days of
Thucydides down to the prefent time, confute me if
"it can; I fay, till that is done, I believe) that it is the
nature of them all to afpire after independence, and to
fet up for themſelves as foon as ever they find that they
are able to fubfift without being beholden to the mo-
ther country. And if our Americans have expreffed
themſelves fooner on this head than others have
"done, or in a more direct and daring manner, this
<ought not to be imputed to any greater malignity,
or ingratitude in them than in others, but to that bold,
free conftitution, which is the prerogative and boaft
<< of us all. We ourſelves derive our origin from
"thofe very Saxons who inhabited the lower parts of
"Germany, &c." What can more fully prove the right
of independence in colonies, too far removed to be go-
verned on the principles of freedom by the mother coun-
try, than this univerfal, this uniform, invariable feeling
of all mankind, in all ages, than that it is the nature
" of
F

( 34 )
" of them all to afpire after it." Shall we reject the un
varying teftimony of nature ſpeaking home to our hearts,
and pin our faith upon the fine-fpun, cobweb fubtleties
of our learned cafuifts and court-lawyers? or fhall we,
with more fafety, rely upon the letter of an old mufty
charter, penned before this queftion was fo much as
thought of Hath nature left herfelf fo much without a
witneſs to the truth in the human breaft, that we muft
give ourſelves wholly up to the direction of fuch blind
guides as thefe? Fie! fie! If much learning hath not
made us mad, it hath at leaft in this, and many fimilar
cafes, made us ignorant. It is to be lamented, that fuch
a blaze of truth, as there is in the above obfervation, did
not diſcover to the writer the fallacioufnefs of his original
pofition of parliamentary right to govern the colonies
when all the while, it is the exprefs, the fole purport of
this work to prove, that parliament, in continuing to
affert this right, cannot promote either the welfare of
Great Britain or America.
NOTES, &c. to LETTER VI.
* I find it is one of the avowed principles of the Quebec Act,
by the accounts of its ableft advocates, to check as much
as poffible, all population in the upper and interior country, at
the back of the colonies. (See a pamphlet, entitled, The Juf-
tice and Policy of the late Act of Parliament, for making more
effectual Provifion for the Government of the Province of Que-
bec, afferted and proved, page 43; and an Appeal to the Pub-
lic, ftating and confidering the Objections to the Quebec Bill,
page 46.) At the fame time that I honour all the real huma-
nity, fhewn in this act to the Canadians; I moft heartily con-
demn the general policy of it, with regard to the other colonies.
The evils complained of in the above-mentioned unfettled
country, and made the lame pretence for enlarging fo extrava-
gantly the province of Quebec, by the annexation of the whole
of it, are evils wholly occafioned by the inactivity and omif-
fions of government for twelve years paft; if it be true, that
it is the want of laws, which introduces diforder into any fo-
ciety; and they are, with great injuftice, charged upon the
bordering colonies, as legislative ftates; (in which light, I
find, they are to be confidered by their enemies, whenever it
may ferve a turn to their difadvantage. See the appeal above-
mentioned, page 50.) and, as an artful pretence for denying
them

( 35 )
"Be
them leave of fettlement, and that fhare in the peltry trade
which they are moft advantageoufly fituated for enjoying. Pro-
vided Great Britain had no people to fpare, for fending out co-
lonies to occupy that defolate country, I can fee no right the
had to hinder the American ftates from fo doing, except by vo
luntary agreement between her and them, unlefs fhe claim a power
of counteracting God's firft benediction to mankind.-
*fruitful and multiply, and replenifh the earth and fubdue
"it." But notwithstanding it is the language of this act, that
immenfe tracts of the earth fhall remain defert and unpeopled,
in order that the British parliament may maintain an ufurped
fovereignty over a multitude of populous nations, beyond one
of the grand watery divifions of the globe;' yet, in the end,
it will prove to have no more virtue in it, towards ftemming the
overflowings of the colonies, than had the royal mandate of
the wife Canutus, when, in order to confound his evil coun-
fellors, he magifterially forbid the fwelling tide of the ocean to
approach his feet. A chain of feeble forts in a wilderness, or
the pronouncing this wildernefs to be part of the province of
Quebec, will form a mighty barrier truly, against the fwarms
that will one day pour weftward, from the too populous ftates
upon the fea coaft! I do not, however, deny, that even this
mode of preventing anarchy, bloodfhed, and cruelty for the
prefent, is not better than none; but I think this is not the
right way. To have confented, under our own guaranty, to
a partition of this country amongst the bordering colo
nies, according to their respective fituations, and as far as
the juft claims of the Indians would admit, would have
been at once an act of juftice and wife policy; or, if the
enlargement of thefe refpective colonies would be impoli
tic, on account of the future balance of power on that conti-
nent, and the general arbitration of Great Britain hereafter
fpoken of, then it might have been ftipulated with them, that
their feveral emigrants into this defert country, fhould be inde
pendent of them, and left to form a new ftate or new ftates,
under laws to be given them for a free government on their firft
fettlement, and fuitable limitations of country, for the fake of
preferving the future equilibrium and general peace. There
cannot be a worſe, or more narrow policy, than to give any
check to American population; for, by thofe means, Britain
will lofe fo many cuftomers for her manufactures, and the co-
lonies, by having their emigrations reftrained, will be under a
neceffity of employing her hands in manufactures, inftead of
agriculture. We know the confequences.
+ The infatuated people of this country, are not fparing of
their ridicule and illiberal jefts on the Boftonians, now the iron
hand of power hath got them in it's grafp. No man of fenfe
F 2
ever

( 36 )
ever doubted the prefent power of Great Britain, to crush any
one oppofing colony, or, poffibly, to trample on the united
necks of them all; but this arrogance and injuftice fhe will af-
furedly repent. I wish it may not be in fackcloth and afhes ;-
I wish it may not be very foon.
In framing the Quebec Act, it were much to have been
defired, that none of the other colonies had been fo much as
thought of, it might then, perhaps, have breathed pure wif-
doni and benevolence; but, having interwoven in it that fatal
policy, which is daily fowing the feeds of difcord between
Great Britain and America, I am inclined to think, it is juftly
cenfurable in a high degree; and that it is far lefs beneficial to
the Canadians than it ought to be, although it may be very
true, that they are at prefent incapable of receiving all the
rights and privileges, and the full liberty of British fubjects,
yet that will be no juftification of us, for intailing on their
pofterity fo much fervitude to an arbitrary power, as by this
act is vested in the governor and council; all at the appoint-
ment of the crown during pleasure. To have had an affembly,
wherein the people fhould have been reprefented, they had an
undoubted right; to deny it them is tyrannical, and a mere
evafion, to infinuate the impracticability of fuch a plan. Surely
that power, which now totally deprives them of this effential
to freedom, had been exerted more agreeable to the principles
of juftice and humanity; had it granted them but the rudeft
model of an affembly, containing within it the feeds of free-
dom, to have germinated and expanded with their profperity,
and their advancement in arts and knowledge! Thofe who affert
the contrary, muft be little acquainted with the origin and rife
of almoft all the free ftates that have flourished in the world,
and muſt conceive the Canadians to be more ftupid and barba-
rous than the Hottentots or Samoiedes. As to any intention
of our minifters to promote in this act the interefts of Popery,
I think they may ftand freely acquitted of them; and though
I am of opinion, the religious part of it might be amended,
yet I cannot but fmile at the terrors that have been expreffed
on this occafin, as if his Holinefs was at the very door of St,
Paul's. No; the error of the legiflature hath been in not fee-
ing, that the moft perfect freedom in America, is not only
compatible with, but is now become neceffary to, the profpe-
rity of Great Britain; and it's crime, if a crime hath been
committed, in feeking to fupport a tottering tyranny over the
antient colonies, by erecting an arbitrary government in Que-
bec. For the fake of Britons on both fides of the Atlantic
equally; for the fake of the Canadians, and for the fake of
freedom's holy caufe univerfally, I fincerely hope a little reflec-
tion on an end fo abominable, and the ftill more abominable
meanss

( 37 )
means, will difpofe our legiflators to retrieve, ere it be too late,
fuch an unconftitutional and alarming ftep. The act of par-
liament of which we have been fpeaking, as well as two other
memorable ones, paffed fince the writer firft began to publish
thefe letters feparately in a news-paper, are thought by fober
and reflecting men, to be melancholy records of human paf-
fions and infirmity; affording us moft ftriking admonitions,
that in national conduct, as well as in that of individuals, a
miftaken principle of action, if not forfaken, or one falfe ftep,
if unretrieved in time, may eafily hurry us on to lengths of
folly and wickednefs, at which we fhould once have fhuddered
with horror, but can afterwards perfift in to our utter deftruc-
tion, regardless of all the miferies we at the fame time bring
upon others. Will rational and moral beings never learn, that
without juftice, 'tis impoffible there fhould ever be wifdom in
the councils of a nation? or can ftatefmen believe it will ob-
tain their acquittal at the laft tribunal, to plead, that in their
private capacity, "they did juftice and remembered mercy,"
though in their public ftations, they violated thefe facred re-
gards; and through a falfe notion of ferving and aggrandizing
their country, they endeavoured to eftabliſh tyranny, and to
intail on millions and millions, the deadlieft curfe that can
imbitter life? In what light muft a truly good and wife man
behold a law, which is at once a yoke of bondage to one co-
tony, and a fcourge to the reft! Although greater miferies,
previously endured, together with an ignorance in the value
of, and the requifites to, freedom, may caufe the poor Cana-
dians, in their prefent circumftances, to receive it with joy and
thankfulness; will that juftify towards them, fo ungenerous
fo mean a policy?
fum
LET-

( 38 )
LETTER VII.
March 28, 1774%
INCE my laft letter was fent to the printer, I have a
ST
fecond time looked into the publication therein re-
ferred to; and finding it likely to make a ftrong impref-
fion on its readers, as well as that there is the moft ftrik-
ing inconfiftency between its foundation and fuperftruc-
ture, I perceive that I cannot well pass it over without
a regular, tho' concife examination of its third and fourth
tract. Thefe alone, being immediately to the point, I
fhall confine my obfervations to them, without taking
notice of the reft of the book.
In the beginning of the third tract, entitled, "A Let-
«ter from a Merchant in London to his Nephew in
« America," I am forry to obferve an appeal to the fpirit
of our conftitution treated with ridicule, and an attempt
made to fubftitute in place of this only genuine autho-
rity, the letter of the ftatutes, or even of Magna Charta
itfelf; for thefe may all be imperfect, tho', as I have
proved in a former letter, the fpirit of the conftitution
cannot. A proceeding of this kind in an anonymous
writer, or one of no credit, would, I confefs, have given
me an alarm of danger, and a fufpicion of fome deep de-
fign against the cauſe of truth: it certainly is very far
from being a recommendation of the prefent work. May
we not afk what is meant by removing the appeal from
the fpirit of the conftitution to fomething which is called
"the conftitution itfelf," (p. 93, 94) and what that
fomething is? It is not defined, nor can I underſtand
what it is, unless it be a fomething which hath its fole
exiſtence in the varying and unfteady letter of the ftatute
law, and therefore may be one thing to-day, and another
to-morrow, as it was once tyranny and popery, and is at
prefent freedom and true religion. If the author will be
candid, he muft acknowledge, that his diftinction of
"the conftitution itself," from the fpirit of the conftitu-
tion, is unlogical, and a palpable contradiction. How
can

( 39 )
can any thing be fet in contradiftinction to its effence?
That Magna Charta is the great foundation of English
liberties, and the bafis of the Engliſh conftitution," I
muft pofitively deny. It is indeed a glorious member of
the fuperftructure, but of itſelf would never have exifted,
had not the conftitution already had a bafis, and a firm
one too. And as to this charter being the " foundation
of English liberty," that was evidently otherwife;
fince it was an exertion of this very liberty that produced
the charter; extorting it from an encroaching King, as
a mere formal declaration of rights, already known to be
the conftitutional inheritance of every Englishman, Be-
fides, I have elſewhere obferved, that the original and
only real foundations of liberty were, by the Almighty
architect, laid together with the foundations of the world,
when this right was ingrafted into the nature of man at
his creation; and therefore it cannot be held, after the
manner of an external property or poffeffion, by charters
and titles of human fabrick. We ought to be careful to
preferve a gofpel purity in our civil as in our religious
conftitution; for they are both founded on the word of
God. If the religious be more exprefs and clear, the
civil is more antient, and no lefs divine, though only
revealed to us by a general and fainter imprefs on the
mind and heart of man. If the Dean will not admit the
decrees of popes and councils as of equal authority with
the word of God, he will not furely maintain, that a
Magna Charta ought to come in competition with the
fpirit of a conftitution, whofe bafis is internal justice and
inherent liberty; a Magna Charta, notorioufly known to
have been extorted by the fword, and formed and ratified
in the heat of a hoftile contention. Nor will he, it is to
be hoped, plead the public ftatutes of the realm,"
(p. 145) when they militate against the fpirit, or goſpel
purity of the conftitution. And here I muft remark, that
his quotations of them, in order to prove the fovereignty
of parliament, have not the weight of fair evidence in the
trial now before the tribunal of the public; fince they
ftand in the place, and in the nature of parties concerned.
It is thefe very" public ftatutes of the realm," arrogat-
ing a right to govern and to tax the Americans which are
called in queftion; therefore their teftimony goes for no-
thing. If the caufe be given in their favour, then it will
be

( 40 )
be time enough for them to operate; but if it goes against
them, they must all be condemned as ufurpations. We
are now arguing what is juft and right, and ought to be
practifed, not what has been practifed by thofe who had
the power in their hands; not what they have been
pleafed, in their declarations, to call juft and right. Al-
though parliament fhould enact, that reafon and truth
fhould no longer be reafon and truth, yet plain and ho-
neft people would be apt to call them reafon and truth
ftill, and to rely upon them with the fame affurance they
do at prefent. Hence it is, and ever will be, a truth as
evident and as uncontrovertible as any law of nature can be,
that" an American," notwithstanding the ingenuity of
this author, and all that has been, or can be faid to the
contrary, has a right to infift," that according to the
"fpirit of the conftitution, he ought not to be taxed
"without his own confent, given either by himſelf or
"by a reprefentative in parliament;" I will not add,
"chofen by himself;" becauſe that, with regard to each
individual, were we difpofed to cavil, would lead us into
ufelefs and puerile difputations, (p. 93.) Every man of
fenfe admits of the propriety of virtual reprefentation, fo
far as it anfwers the ends and purpofes of a real one, but
no farther. I am fincerely forry to obferve a writer, fo
much entitled to refpect as the Dean of Gloucefter, em-
ploy his talents in an endeavour to mislead us into an opi-
nion, that the Americans are virtually reprefented in the
Britiſh parliament. It were a fuitable and an innocent
exercife of parts in a young difputant at college; but
will it bear to be gravely debated upon by a political wri-
ter! Well might a noble Lord exclaim, for as to the
<< diftinction of a virtual reprefentation, it is fo abfurd,
as not to deferve an anfwer; I therefore país it over
"with contempt." And if authorities are to have their
weight, that I prefume of this noble Lord, who prefided
with fo much dignity and luftre, in the nobleft court of
equity in the world, will be allowed to preponderate
against the Dean's, at least in the judgment of every one
who reads the tracts before us. If our author had duly
weighed the arguments he has quoted from Judge Fofter,
in his 4th tract, (p. 170) he would have found, that they
made nothing for fuch a virtual reprefentation as he con-
tends for. The Judge, it is plain, was not fo irrational
as

41 )
as to think of the welfare of two feparate nations (for fa
we may furely efteem Britain and America, think as we
will of empire) inhabiting, with refpect one to the other,
* the ends of the earth," as being a fit object of conful-
tation to a fingle national affembly; and that the deputies
of one of thefe nations could be efteemed the reprefenta-
tives of the other. As to the imagination of Great Bri-
tain and America being one empire, thefe are only words.
that ferve to blind, to amufe, and to confound inconfi-
derate reafoners. How often muft it be repeated, that
pride, ambition, and luft of dominion, are not, on any pre-
tence whatsoever, to be gratified at the expence of na-
tions; and that the fole end of civil government is to pro-
mote the good of the people? If an empire become too
wide and unwieldy for this purpofe, I do affert, that by
the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, it is no
empire, that is to fay, not a just empire. It therefore
muft be divided, unlefs we admit that tyranny can be
rightfully eſtabliſhed, which God forbid ! In our own
cafe, I only want it to be done in form, as it is already
done in fact, in which the Dean agrees with me; for,
" fays he, (p. 153) an undoubted fact it is, that from the
<< moment in which Canada came into the poffeffion of the
"Engliſh, an end was put to the fovereignty of the mo-
"ther country over her colonies *." I muft now take
notice of one argument, in favour of virtual reprefenta-
tion, that our author feems to value himfelf upon, as
of fufficient force to decide the general difpute with the
Americans, and, at the fame time, the much litigated
queftion of the Middlefex election.-We find it in a note,
(p. 172) Surely the nation might have expelled Mr.
"Wilkes, or have ftruck his name out of the lift of com-
"mittee, had it been affembled, and had it thought pro-
"per fo to do. What then fhould hinder the deputies
* of the nation from doing the fame thing? and which
" ought to prevail in this cafe, the nation in general, or
the county of Middlefex ?" Now, this argument is evi-
dently fallacious; for the Houfe of Commons doth not
anfwer to the imagined committee of Judge Fofter, to which
it is here compared; for that was a fimple democratical
council. Our national committee confifts of King and
Lords, as well as Commons; and therefore, according
to the Dean's premifes, that the nation might have
"expelled
G

( 42 )
expelled Mr. Wilkes," it is the neceffary conclufion,
that nothing less than the national committee, namely,
our compleat legiflature of King, Lords, and Commons,
had a right to ftrike his name out of the lift. I entirely
agree with this writer, that the member chofen and re-
turned by certain individuals, is the reprefentative of the
whole nation; fo that what is generally called a virtual,
is, in fact, a real reprefentation; but, at the fame time,
I muft fay it doth not appear to be very confiftent with
the fpirit of our conflitution, (if that expreffion will not
give offence) that a Dunwich or an Old Sarum, contain-
ing half a dozen cottagers, fhould have the chufing of as
many of theſe national reprefentatives as a Norwich or a
Briftol; nor that a Weymouth fhould return as great a
number as the metropolis, whofe citizens, according to
our author, (p. 99) form " a body as refpectable as the
"greateft of our colonies with regard to property, and
fuperior to many of them with respect to numbers." Is
not this an abufe that calls aloud for reformation? Can
any thing be more notorious, than that a great majority
of the national reprefentatives are elected by a fmall num-
ber of indigent and corrupt men, who profeffedly make
a trade of voting, and who gratify, in the very act, a
fordid felf-intereft, in direct violation of the rights and
interefts of the nation collectively. Thefe electors being
primarily the reprefentatives of the nation, may be called
the elective reprefentatives; and are anfwerable to the na-
tion for the exercife of that great truft. If they pervert
it from the end for which it was given them, and transfer
it to bad men for their own felfifh purpoſes, it is fit they
fhould be deprived of it, in order to the eſtabliſhing a more
juft and fafe mode of electing the legislative reprefentatives
of the nation. But to return; I am of opinion, the
Dean might as well have fpared his reproaches of "folly
and abfurdity" upon the pofitions of the Americans,
concerning their want of an adequate reprefentation,
(p. 98) and have omitted his compariſon of the ftate of
the city of London, although it hath long enjoyed,
"before the colonies were ever thought of, the three-
"fold power of jurifdiction, legiflation, and taxation in
certain cafes; for, if no man in his fenfes ever yet
"fuppofed, that the city of London either was, or could
be exempted, by her charters, from parliamentary ju-
6 rifdiction,

( 43 )
rifdiction, or parliamentary taxes;" it is full as evi-
dent, that no man in his fenfes can fee any juft fimilitude,
with refpect to parliamentary jurifdiction and taxation
between a metropolis, the very central point of a nation,
and an entire kindred nation, which hath arifen in the new
world, at the diftance of three thoufand miles from the
parent ftate, and beyond the vaft Atlantic Ocean. It is
confiftent with the fecurity of the liberty and property of the ci-
tizens of London, to be fubject to parliamentary jurifdic-,
tion and taxation; but this fubjection would not be con-
fiftent with the fecurity of the American nations. May
not a man in his fenfes believe, that a kindred nation, or
a colony, if you pleafe, may be capable of managing its
own concerns; and that it is full as likely to do it faith-
fully as the legiflators of its mother country? May not
a man in his fenfes believe, that fuch a ftate hath a right
to appoint the guardians of its own liberties and proper-
ties, and to defend them against all invaders, even the le-
giflators of its mother country, without involving himſelf.
in either folly or abfurdity ?" Would the independency
of any colony or kindred nation in America, neceffarily
create any fuch confufion, any fuch inconfiftency in the
government of Great Britain, as would follow from the
independency of, and a feparate fupreme legiflation in,
the capital city?
NOTE, &c. to LETTER VII.
As juftice fays it ought to be fo; good fenfe will inform
us that it must be fo; notwithstanding the profound policy of
the Quebec act.
LET
G 2

( 44
()
44 LETTER VIII.
April 8, 1774
WH
WHEN our reverend author is not in a jeering hu-
mour, he will acknowledge that it is, in reality,
s unreafonable, unjuft, and cruel," to tax an unrepre-
fented people (for I deny that America is reprefented at
Weftminfter) againft their own confent. (P. 100.) But
"ftrange, exclaims the Dean, that you did not difcover
thefe bad things before! Strange, that tho' the British
"parliament has been, from the beginning, thus unreafon-
"able, thus unjuft and cruel towards you, by levying
"taxes on many commodities, outwards and inwards;
nay, by laying an internal tax, the poft-tax, for ex-
"ample, on the whole British empire in America; and,
"what is ftill worfe, by making laws to affect your pro-
"perty, your paper currency, and even to take away life
"itfelf, if you offended againft them: ftrange and un-
"accountable, I fay, that after you had fuffered this fo
long, you fhould not have been able to have difcovered
"that you were without reprefentatives in the Britiſh
"parliament, of your own electing, till this enlightening
tax upon paper opened your eyes! And what a pity is
< it, that you have been flaves for fo many generations,
and yet did not know that you were flaves until now."
Now, ftrange and unaccountable as this may appear to
the Dean, it has been by means of the very fame kind
precifely that our eyes have been fucceffively opened to
fee the juft rights of the people, the due limits of autho-
rity in their rulers, in every particular in which they are
now legally afcertained. A rude and infant nation of
husbandmen, having no preffing occafion, is not very
gical or critically learned in the law, and all its remote
confequences, it muft move progreffively towards the
acquifition of knowledge as well as ftrength. This know-
ledge will always be firft confined to reflecting individu-
als, before it will fpread at large amongst the people; and
many
lo-

( 45 )
many fuch individuals amongst the Americans, by the
Dean's own account, (p. 145, 146) have had " their eyes
"open" thefe hundred years and upwards. The bulk of
a nation must be made to feel, before they reafon with
tolerable accuracy, or lay much ftrefs upon their gover-
nors keeping ftrictly within the pale of juft and legal au-
thority. Even felf-evident truths are not difcerned, un-
til the attention of mankind is called upon by neceffity,
or fome other powerful caufe, to examine the fubject in
which they exift. The divine right of Kings, and their
abfolute power too, might have remained in the creeds
of all nations to this day, had not a too liberal exercife
of theſe powers taught them to reafon by making them
feel. No man in any country, ever thought of fcrupu-
loufly defining the proper powers of taxation, while he
poffeffed nothing worth taxing; nor of limiting the ex-
ercife of fuch powers, fo long as the contributions re-
quired were trifling to him, the occafions of raifing them
apparent to all men, and the application of them known
to, and approved by, every individual. It is, when a
ftate begins to rife into fome degree of political confe-
quence, and the operations of its government are become
too fecret and complex to be penetrated by the vulgar eye,
and at the fame time grow expenfive to the people, that
they, not knowing what is going forward, and fufpicious
of fome ill towards themfelves, begin to inveftigate the
legal powers of taxing, and how far they ought to be
exercifed; nor fhall we exceed the truth, if we add, that
all their jealoufy and vigilance have been little enough, in
the happieft age and nation, for guarding against the
king-craft and tyranny of their rulers. While too infig-
nificant to become the objects, or the tools of ambition,
they remain in ignorance; it is the alarm of chains, and
the diflike of burthens, that " enlighten them and open
<< their
eyes. After what has been faid, I fhould hope-
it was quite unneceffary to refute the feeble arguments we
find in p. 101, 102, 103, drawn from the freedom which
an American now is permitted to enjoy, of voting for a
member of the British parliament. We muft remember,
however, that he cannot do this without being a British
freeholder, or holding fome property which makes him at
leaft a British fubject; and it is therefore as a Britan, not
22
as

( 46 )
as an American, he is reprefented. But to trace this rope
of fand any farther, would really be to mock my readers;
and I have already fufficiently replied to all fuch forry
fubtleties. If the true and proper relation, in which this
country ftands with regard to the colonies, hath not, in
all particulars, been accurately defined by mutual agree-
ment and declaratory laws; but there are to be found
fome little inconfiftencies, as there needs must be in fuch
a connection fo long as Great Britain, through a love of
rule, finds means to evade a fair difcuffion of the question
of right; which, I pray, is the courfe that a wife and
good man ought to purfue, in order to reconcile all con-
tradictions, and to obtain a juft idea of what is fit to be
done for the remedying thefe inconveniences? Ought
not the welfare of the whole people, without any parti-
ality for countries, to out-weigh, in his mind, every
other confideration? Muft it not be his polar ftar, when-
ever he ventures upon the dark and deceitful fea of ca-
fuiftry? Will he, for a moment, believe in the truth of
any pofition or maxim, how antient, how fpecious fo-
ever, that is evidently incompatible with this object?
Surely he will not lofe fight of the true, the only ends of
government, and labour to harden the heart and ftrengthen
the hands of tyranny! Nor will he, furely, difregard the
plain and obvious dictates of reafon and nature, and, in
defence of a bad caufe, ftoop and ftrain to catch at every
little flaw and defect in forms and precedents! But one falfe
ftep in reafoning, frequently misleads a good man into
opinions and difputations prejudicial to truth. How-
ever, when the good of the public fhall ultimately ap-
pear to be the end he aims at, we muft make charitable
allowances for his mistakes. Such allowances I am dif-
pofed to make to the author of the tract; but yet as a
well-wifher, and in perfect good humour, I muſt needs
fay he has indulged too freely a fpirit, I will not fay a
talent, of ridicule; he is too fupercilious even to his ne-
phew, and is apt to fneer fomewhat out of feafon, and
when a fatirical opponent might very eafily retort it upon
him with double force. Neither doth he appear to me
quite fo cool, difpaffionate and impartial, as becomes a
man who takes upon him to elucidate a difputed queftion
en which depends the welfare, perhaps the exiftence of
nations.

( 47 )
nations. He muft have been a poor cafuift, indeed, not
to have obtained a victory over an antagonift of his own
making: but we need not quarrel with him for beating
him, fince he fhewed him fo much mercy and good man-
ners. But doth it not rather favour of difingenuoufnefs, to
put the maimed and mutilated arguments of the Americans
into the mouth of a wrongheaded ignorant boy? Had it
not been more to the advantage of his knowledge and
eloquence, to have impreffed conviction upon the mind
of an experienced and able man, one who was well ac-
quainted with the hiftory, the laws, and the conſtitution
of both Great Britain and the colonies? but in that cafe,
decency would have confined him to argument, inſtead of
fneer and ridicule, and to a carriage fuited to an equal,
inftead of that fupercilious fuperiority affumed over the
booby nephew; and this would have deprived his letter
of its principal force and fpirit. "But let that pafs,"
and let us proceed to what is more to the purpoſe.
Our author proves, very fatisfactorily, that the caufe
of contention between us and the colonies, is no recent
affair-not the factious contrivance of a Lord C-m,
or a Lord C-n, as the hiftorians of the day would
have it, but exifted in no fmall force fo early in the laft
century as 1670, (p. 145) and in 1696, (p. 146) gave
occafion to a very remarkable act, for the very purpoſe
chiefly of afferting the fovereignty of parliament. Acts
of parliament do not take place on fuch occafions until
the miſchief to be remedied is already at fome degree of
ripenefs; and accordingly it appears, that the colonies
had, for a confiderable time, previous to 1696, fhewn a
difpofition to doubt, to difpute, and in fome fort to op-
pofe the authority of the English parliament. Their eyes
began to be open, and nature made them feel the inhe-
rent rights as men, long before they could define them.
On the other hand, falfe definitions of law and right,
have as long fuppreffed the feelings of equity in the minds
of thofe poffeffed of the power. Let us make true defi-
nitions, and confult our true feelings, and we fhall then
no longer doubt of the right of independence in the Ame-
ricans; I fay true feelings, becaufe, without we are cir-
cumfpect, we are continually acquiring falfe ones, as
well as falfe opinions; and the latter have a wonderful
power

( 48 )
power in generating the former.
Witnefs the daily
and perpetual feverities we fee practifed towards chil-
dren, to the injury both of body and mind, by injudi-
cious parents, who yet want neither humanity nor ten-
dernefs, and who act upon principle. A falfe fyftem
begetting falfe feelings, while they are injuring and pu-
mithing their children, they think they are ferving them
and confulting their true happiness; and they confe-
quently feel felf-approbation for a conduct that ought to
infpire horror and felf-reproof. Now, with regard to
our American children and kindred, let us dive our-
felves of every intereft, of every paffion, of every preju-
dice; let us pluck from our hearts that deep-rooted love
of rule, and for a moment put ourſelves in their places;
and then, deliberately and folemnly laying our hand upon
our heart, remembering that we are chriftians, and an-
fwerable at the aweful tribunal of the Deity for our very
thoughts; let us afk ourfelves thefe plain queftions: is
not the end of government to the Americans the fame as
to all other people, that is to fay, the welfare and happi-
nefs of the fociety? Can there be welfare and happiness
without freedom? Can freedom exift under a taxation, at
the difcretion of the legislature of another, and that a dif-
tant, a luxurious, a neceflitous country? Is it agreeable
to common-fenfe to imagine, that an American reprefen-
tation in the British parliament could anfwer the true
ends of reprefentation to the people of that country? or,
is it poffible, according to any plan which human wif-
dom hath yet conceived, that the parliament of Great
Britain fhould govern the many and multiplying nations
of America on the true principles of freedom, or without
a certainty of finking herfelf under the weight of empire?
And is it fit that, on the authority of a few logical dif-
tinctions, (admitting they were juft, which, by the way,
they are not) and for the fake of proudly maintaining an
abfolute, a deceafed claim to an empty fovereignty, (for
fo it is confeffed to be, by its advocate the Dean) that we
fhould forget all thefe confiderations, all the ties of con-
fanguinity and affection, all the feelings of humanity,
and the divine leffons of our holy religion, and enforce the
obedience of the Americans to an odious tyranny by fire
and fword?
It

( 49 )
It is matter of the greateft aftonifhment to me, that a
writer fo learned, and fo clear-fighted as the Dean, fhould
have fo far over-looked all arguments of this nature, as
to have left himfelf without a juft, a moral reafon, as
well as a political one, for his propofed feparation. As
to the matter of fact, concerning the poffibility of keep-
ing the fovereignty in our hands, he and I are well agreed,
as I have already fhewn in my quotation from p. 153;
nay, we both agree, that we have it not to keep, that it
is already gone, never to be recovered but by conqueft,
never more to be held but with greater armies, and at a
greater expence, than ever this country fupported in any
war. I have alfo, in a former letter, quoted, what he
fays in the fame page, (153) in order to fhew, that it
hath ever been the nature of all colonies, in all ages,
to afpire after independence, and made my reflections
thereupon, fo that we may now haften to the confide-
ration of his five propofals, and to the conclufion of
the talk we have affigned ourfelves. If I have trefpaffed
upon the reader, by a repetition of the fame arguments
in different places, I would obferve, that the few plain
and clear arguments, on which this queftion depends,
need to be repeated again and again, and never to be loft
fight of; for the enemies of liberty, like the difinge-
nuous foes of religion, are a fort of people, who, con-
fcious that they cannot convince, and determined to
wrangle, do not fcruple to advance the fame ftale argu-
ments that have been a thouſand and a thousand times
refuted before; and if not refuted again, as often as
they have the fhameleſsnefs to revive them, they infult
their adverfaries with affected fhouts of victory and tri-
umph.
But my manner of treating the fubject may, neverthe-
lefs, need many apologies. I fhall, however, only plead,
that thefe letters have been written as leifure would per-
mit, and fent away to the printer, without referved co-
pies to refer to: befides which, it may be proper to add,
that at the time I am writing this eighth, no more than
the two firft have made their appearance in the paper.
As for the prefumption of entering on a fubject, with-
out abilities equal to the attempt, I fhall only offer, in
my defence, that I have been prompted to it through a
warm, a paffionate love of liberty, and a fincere defire of
promoting
H

( 50 )
promoting its caufe. Whatever may be my fuccefs, I
fhall never want the pleafing reflection of having done my
duty confcientioufly, as a member of fociety, although
in a fubordinate degree to greater workmen: and, I hope,
it is not uncharitable to think, that if every writer would
refign his pen to the fame guidance, we fhould all be
agreed very foon, as nearly as would be requifite, and
that mankind would then reap fuch benefits from politi-
cal difquifitions, as I fear are not likely to take place,
while controverfy is carried upon other principles.
LET

( 51 )
LETTER IX.
April 9, 1774
WE
E come now to the confideration of our author's
final fentiments, and in p. 156, we find him
thus expreffing himfelf:- Enough furely has been faid
on this fubject, and the upfhot of the whole matter is
plainly this:that even the arbitrary and defpotic go-
vernments of France and Spain (arbitrary, I fay, both
in temporals and fpirituals) maintain their authority
over their American colonies but very imperfectly, in-
as-much as they cannot reftrain them from breaking
through thofe rules and regulations of exclufive trade,
for the fake of which all colonies feemed to have been
originally founded. What then fhall we fay in regard
to fuch colonies as are the offspring of a free conftitu-
tion? And after what manner, and according to what
<rule, are our own in particular to be governed, without
ufing any force or compulfion, or purfuing any mea-
fure repugnant to their own ideas of civil or religious
liberty? In fhort, and to fum up all in one word, how
fhall we be able to render thefe colonies more fubfer-
vient to the interefts, and more obedient to the laws
and government of the mother country, than they vo-
luntarily chufe to be? After having pondered and re-
<volved the affair over and over, I confefs there ſeems to
me to be but the five following propofals which can
poffibly be made, viz.
Firft, To fuffer things to go on for a while as they
have lately done, in hopes that fome favourable oppor-
tunity may offer for recovering the jurifdiction of the
< British legiflature over her colonies, and for maintaining
⚫ the authority of the mother country; or, if thefe tem-
porizing meaſures fhould be found to ftrengthen and
• confirm the evil inftead of removing it, then,
C
Secondly, To attempt to perfuade the colonies to
fend over a certain number of deputies, or reprefenta-
tives, to fit and vote in the British parliament, in order
H 2
to

( 52 )
to incorporate America and Great Britain into one
⚫ common empire; or, if this propof. fhould be found
impracticable, whether on account of the difficulties
attending it on this fide the Atlantic, or becauſe that
the Americans themfelves would not concur in fuch a
meafure; then,
Thirdly, To declare open war against them as re-
bels and revolters; and after having made a perfect
conqueft of the country, then to govern it by military
force and defpotic fway; or, if this fcheme fhould be
judged (as it ought to be) the moft deftructive, and the
leaft eligible of any; then,
C
Fourthly, To propofe to confent that America fhall
become the general feat of empire, and that Great Bri-
tain and Ireland fhould be governed by viceroys fent
over from the court refidencies either at Philadelphia or
New-York, or at fome other American imperial city;
or, if this plan of accommodation fhould be ill-di-
gefted by home-born Engliſhmen, who, I will ven-
<ture to affirm, would never fubmit to fuch an indig-1
nity; then,
Fifthly, To propofe to feparate entirely from the co-
lonies, by declaring them to be a free and independent
people, over whom we lay no claim, and then by offer-
ing to guarantee this freedom and independence againft
all foreign invaders whomfoever.
Now, thefe being all the plans which, in the nature
of things, feem capable of being propofed, let us exa-
mine each of them in their order.'
I fhall not need myfelf to accompany the Dean
throughout this examination, in order to point out the
fatal policy of attempting, and total impracticability of
executing, any one of the four firft of thefe fchemes,
fince he has done it fo effectually himfelf as to need no
affiftance. But though I agree with him in the refult,
that they are all both impolitic and impracticable, yet I
differ widely from him in feveral arguments introduced in
the difcuffion, and no lefs in the fundamental principles
he frequently argues from. When he talks of the mother
country governing in the manner fhe ought to do;'
(p. 160) and according to the original terms of the con-
ftitution, I prefume we are to underſtand the conftitution
to be fome one individual contract between the mother
country

( 53 )
country and her race of colonies, fome certain deed figned
and fealed between them and her in due form. Is this the
fame conftitution he told us of in p. 94, of which Magna
Charta was the bafis? But if terms or conditions be the
marks of our conftitution, it may indeed be a colony char-
ter, a marriage act, a ftamp act, or, in fhort, any act of
Parliament, or of the crown either, fo that it will be a
matter of very little confequence, whether it have Magna
Charta for its bafis, or any bafis at all, befides that of the
ftatute in being. Since he lays fo much ftrefs on thoſe
original terms, by which the colonies are bound to fuffer
their refpectable mother to govern as he thinks fhe ought
to do', let us warn him not to rely too much upon ana-
logical reafoning, fince it is apt to prove too much. If
he means that Great Britain ought to be obeyed by her
colonies, becaufe fhe is their mother, becaufe fhe produced
them, and gave them their law, and that her contracts with
them, when in their infancy, ought to bind them for ever,
he would do well to remember, that no civil contract, be-
tween a parent and an infant child, affecting the future
property of that child, can poffibly have any validity, be-
caufe of the child's being, at the time, in the power of
the parent; becauſe it dares not object to it, it cannot re-
ject any terms fhe may pleaſe to dictate. I need not tell
our author, that in the eye of the law, and agreeable to
the fpirit of the conftitution, fuch a contract is eſteemed
no better than a fraud, or an act of the groffeft tyranny.
Before I take my final leave of the four firft of our au-
thor's propofals, I must make two obfervations upon what
appears on the face of them. In the first place, let me
requeft the reader to mark attentively the obvious fenti-
ment, the unambiguous language of the fecond propofal.
When the Dean is off his guard, and when the miftaken
principles he adopted, refpecting the fovereignty of par-
liament over America, are for a moment out of fight, fee
how naturally, how unavoidably he allows all I contend
for!-Here he admits, by direct and unavoidable impli-
cation, that parliament hath not the rights of fovereignty
over America; he admits, that America is not a part of
the Britiſh empire, or he could not poffibly propofe to
• attempt to perfuade the colonies to fend reprefentatives
to fit in the British parliament, in order to incorporate
America and Great Britain into one common empire."
6
In
2

( 54 )
6
In the next place, I want to know, when, under the idea
of an union, he has propofed to confent, that the feat of
empire be transferred from Great Britain to America,
why every home-born Englifhman' fhould confider it as
fuch an indignity.-The anfwer is plain, becauſe he
would become a flave; and while America fhall be go-
verned at Weftminfter, the Americans will be flaves.
our dignity confift in governing other nations against
their wills, it is a dignity we ought to be afhamed of;
but if it be the genuine offspring, and the affociate of
our liberty and independence, in God's name let our
American kindred enjoy it as well as ourſelves.
If
We now come to the confideration of the Dean's fifth
and laft propofal of an amicable and friendly feparation,
concerning which he very juftly demands, p. 195, and,
C in fact, what is all this but the natural, and even the
neceffary corollary to be deduced from each of the for-
mer reaſons and obfervations? For, if we neither can
C govern the Americans, nor be governed by them; if
we can neither unite with them, nor ought to fubdue
them, what remains, but to part with them on as
friendly terms as we can?' This propofal, and the in-
vincible arguments in its fupport, make ample amends
for all the errors in the foregoing parts of his work.
He fhews himself to be mafter of this part of his fub-
ject; and it cannot be too much recommended to thoſe
whom I addrefs in thefe letters, and to the people in ge-
neral, to make themfelves well acquainted with what he
advances. His much fuperior knowledge of our Ame-
rican commerce, places the good policy of a feparation
from America in a much ftronger point of light than
it was in my power to have done: but I flatter my-
felf, I have fufficiently proved, that we could not
have kept that country in fubjection without being
tyrants. When juftice and policy both point the fame
way, nothing but determined wickedness, or a wilful
blindneſs can occafion us to take a wrong courfe.
With the favour of the reader, I muft here repeat one of
the firft obfervations I made on the Dean's work, as it
ftrikes me afresh with redoubled force every time I con-1
fider it, and that is, that the propofed declaration of the
independence of America, is a conclufion in direct oppo-
fition to his original premifes. In his abftract reafon
ings

( 55 )
ings on government, and the relation of colonies to the
parent ftate, he falls-the common fate of genius on flip-
pery abftract ground, into an error in fundamentals, lay-
ing it down as a principle, that parliament hath the
rights of fovereignty over America; and confequently,
that America is actually a part of the British empire.'
Thefe are the principles he fets out upon; but behold
the refult of all his fubtle, all his laboured reafonings!
-At the end of a fecond work upon the fubject, and af-
ter exhaufting the chaotic treafuries of fophiftry for ar-
guments in fupport of thefe principles, he concludes with
a propofal to the legislature, to declare that parliament
doth not claim thefe rights. Nay, but a minute before,
and, as I have obferved, when off his guard, he acknow-
ledges that parliament hath not thefe rights, and even
propoſes to attempt to perfuade the colonies to agree to
an union.' There is fomething too irreconcileable in
the idea, as before remarked, of giving up one's rights,
in order to promote one's intereft; but falfe principles
will ever produce fallacious reafonings. How can we
poffibly fay more for an amicable feparation from Ame-
rica, than that the abfolute neceffity of it took, as it
were by ftorm, a mind naturally ftrong and vigorous,
and fortified with all the powers of art againſt the attack!
The Dean, in journeying to the great, the imperial city
of truth, whofe eternal foundations occupy a rock that
overlooks the country around, unfortunately fets off in
a mift of prejudice. Sometimes he takes a direct con-
trary courfe; fometimes intervals of a clearer light keep
him ſteady in the right road; but then again, as the den-
fity of the mift either totally obftructs his view, or difco-
vers truth in faint glimmerings, he frequently deviates
into bye paths and hollow ways, to the danger of being
loft, even when near his journey's end. At laft, how-
ever, the fun of conviction burfts forth in meridian.
blaze, the mift is gone, and he arrives at the eternal
city. But after having thus propofed a feparation,
as
the only means of living in peace and harmony with the
<colonies:' and, after having given reafons for it, in
oppofition to which, I muft needs think no man can re-
main an infidel,, who is not at the fame time an ideot;
our author is, in my opinion, far more faithlefs, far more
hopeless, than at this time there feems caufe to be with
regard

( 56 )
regard to the execution of his plan. His plan I call it,
fince he is, for aught I know to the contrary, the first
who hath taken the pains to propofe it publicly, and to
explain its advantages, although it has been for fome
time paſt a common fentiment amongft difcerning and li-
beral-minded men, and to propofe it was the firft motive
to the writing, and the main drift of thefe letters. It has
been more particularly a common fentiment (for indeed
invention itself cannot hit on any other plaufible expedi-
ent) ever fince the late noble and indignant conduct* of
the Americans in defence of their almoft-undermined li-
berty, as this affords a fufficient demonftration to all in-
telligent minds, in which the love of liberty and juftice
retained their influence, that the time is come, that they
are determined to be independent of Great Britain, whe-
ther it be with her confent or not. I frankly acknow-
ledge,' fays our author, p. 212, I propofe no prefent
convenience or advantage to either adminiftration or
anti-adminiftration; nay, I firmly believe, that no
minifter, as things are now circumftanced, will dare
to do fo much good to his country whereas I, on my
part, firmly believe, that Lord North is the minifter who
dares to do this great good to his country. He took the
helm in a ftorm, when no other minifter was to be found
who could guide it; and he has given us, throughout
his adminiftration, very ample proofs of his intrepidity."
Are we not, at this moment, under a general confterna-
tion at what may be the confequences of his intrepidity?
Shall he dare, in a fingle act that has no precedent, to
fhock this whole nation? Shall he dare to hurl a rafh
and mifguided vengeance on the town of Bofton, and bid
a bold defiance to all America, and yet want courage to
adopt a meaſure of the greateft wifdom and goodness;
a meaſure which, to execute, he may efteem the glory of
his life? The idea is too contradictory for a character fo
confiftent as his. There are conjunctures in the affairs
of kingdoms, when none but an intrepid ftatefman can
frem a head-long torrent of popular zeal, or avert a ga-
thering ftorm which threatens his authority. If the ur-
gent neceffity of the cafe fhall not admit of temperate
meafures, but fhall demand a daring act of temporary
violence, fuch a ftatefinan, if he be wife and virtuous
alfo, will avail himfelf of the fhort-lived calm that fuc-
ceeds

( 57 )
ceeds the conflict, and before the difcontents of the people
can break forth afreſh with redoubled and irrefiftible im-
petuofity, he will effectually remove them, by removing
their caufes, and by giving them a fecurity againft fu
ture alarms. I hope that the late bill + will prove only a
temporary violence, and that thefe moments, which are
generally thought to be a fullen calm, foreboding fome
dreadful political convulfion, may be pregnant with more
falutary meaſures and plans of peace 1. The remem-
brance of it will, in a moment, be done away, when
Great Britain fhall once have done juftice to the Ameri-
cans, by an open declaration of their independence, and
by offering them her friendship. Our mutual jealoufies
will be buried in oblivion, and, as the Dean foretels, the
Americans will then confider us as their protectors, me-
diators, benefactors.'
6
NOTES, &c. to LETTER IX.
*The Bofton Port Bill.
+ Notwithstanding the act for the better regulating the go-
vernment of the Maffachufet's Bay, and notwithstanding the
Quebec act, I will not yet part with my hope, that the eyes of
the legiflature will foon be opened'; and that theſe acts, as well
as the other, will only prove temporary acts of violence. They
have all been paffed before the minds of the minifters have had
time to cool.
I I would not have the reader imagine, I mean to justify
every tarring and feathering rioter at Bofton, and all diforderly
proceedings in America indifcriminately. Some of the people,
I doubt not, may have been to blame; for the commonalty of
that country muft have had a portion of wifdom and patience,
which hath not at any time before been found in the world, had
all their expreffions of refentment for ill ufage, been confined
within the bounds of moderation. When governors become ty-
rants, fhall we wonder, that an injured and infulted people become
riotous and unruly! Have ambitious and encroaching rulers
ever yet thought of rendering fatisfaction, of making reparation,
for the cruelleft injuries they have fo conftantly committed; and
have they not always thought themfelves wonderfully gracious
and condefcding, when they have merely ceafed to opprefs?
but if a free people, finding their humble petitions, and moft
dutiful remonftrances fcattered to the winds with contempt, be-
ing ftung with a fenfe of accumulated wrongs, and feeling an
indignation
I

( 58 )
indignation at being treated like flaves and villains, do but al
fault the meaneft mifcreant in the train of power; 'tis rebel-
lions! felony! treafon!-Gaols and gibbets, ball and bayo-
net, muft here be the correctives. Is this human polity! Are
thefe the proceedings of men, of fellow-creatures, of fellow-
chriſtians? When merely ceafing to opprefs, is all the reparation
required for a long train of injuries and infults; fhall autho-
rity, with whom wifdom ought ever to refide, become deaf to
that voice which called her into being, and think it meritorious
to perfift in doing wrong?
So univerfally have I heard the Boftonians condemned for de-
ftroying the tea, and the action pronounced illegal and rebel-
lious, that I have taken fome pains to examine all the particu-
lars of that affair. Now, to my agreeable difappointment, and
to the best of my judgment, inftead of an act of rebellion, I
find it one reflecting honour, and ftamping the character of
good fubjects, on thofe who performed it; inftead of being
illegal, it appears to me to be warranted by the law of nature,
the great original of all human laws, when juft. Thofe who
would wish to think justly, and to fpeak honeftly of this matter,
will do well to examine for themfelves. When they fhall have
fo done, with care and candour, and admitting on my part,
for the fake of taking no advantage in the argument, the Bof
tonian character to be as black as malignantly reprefented, I
thould be glad to propofe to them this plain queftion: What
was poffible for the moft wife and virtuous perfons on earth,
in the place of the Boftonians, to have done, in order to
have performed their duty to the utmoft, towards God and
their country?'-To have fhewn a paffive obedience to an
unjuft act of parliament, in a cafe of fuch moment, and of fo
critical a nature, would have been treafon to their country,
and therefore not acceptable, I imagine, to God. I have in-
troduced in various converfations, with fenfible men, the fame
queftion I here propofe, but never yet, I can aver with the
ftricteft veracity, have I met with a folution of it, which did
not confirm me in an opinion, that as wife and virtuous men,
as good citizens, and true patriots, they could not poffibly have
acted otherwise than as they did. They had only this one alter-
native; they were driven to this dilemma by their magiftrates,
either to fuffer an infidious attempt against their facred rights and
liberties to take effect, or to deftroy the hated inftrument. Having
had no other choice, they muft neceffarily have either done this,
or fuffered that. Which ought to have been chofen by every
brave and honeft man, I leave the reader to determine. 'Tis
vifionary, even to childifhnefs, to fay, they might have per
mitted the tea to have been landed, and yet have defeated the
tax, by unanimoufly refufing to have purchafed it. The con-
ductors

( 59 )
ductors of that noble action must have been patriots indeed, and
moft wonderfully wife, to have left their country, by going this
way to work, at the difcretion and mercy of the moſt ignorant
and vicious of its inhabitants, to have relied upon the pru-
dence and felf-denial of every tea-drinker in America! Befides
that the wifdom of each well-meaning individual was not to be
depended on for forefeeing all the ill confequences of pur-
chafing a pound of tea, nor their refolution in preventing them;
I fear there might have been fome traitors to the public caufe,
fome tools of government or the India Company, or fome fuf-
pected perfons at leaft, in whom to have confided, for not fet-
ting the example, and ufing all their cunning to feduce others,
would not have argued any extraordinary degree of prudence.
What teacher of morals or politics, ever was lunatic enough to
build all his hopes of ferving his country, on an expectation of
bringing every individual of it to be of one mind, and as una-
nimoufly to act up to the fame rigid principle of virtue? and
which of us would care to rifk the fafety of the city of London
from fome dreadful calamity, on a confidence that every fe-
male, from the fine lady to the wafherwoman, every man, from
the miniſter of ftate down to the blackguard, might be pre-
vailed upon totally to abftain from the ufe of tea, porter, or
gin, except the temptation was removed out of their way.
To all my readers, except thofe unhappy ones, who have
learned the fatal art of occafionally clofing the mental eye, fo
as to admit juft fo much, and no more of the light of truth as
their paffions and prejudices will bear; I muft needs think, it
would be reflecting upon their underftandings and their inge-
nuoufnefs, to attempt any farther proof of my propofition, that
the Boftonians did what was frictly confonant to right and juf-
tice in deftroying the tea; but, in order to open the felf-clofed,
winking eyes of the prejudiced, I will propofe one more com
parifon, which, I apprehend, will be admitted as a fair one,
fince it is agreed on all hands, except by the calm advancers of
direct falfehoods and lies, and the bold denyers of demonftra-
tion, that with regard to taxation, the colonifts, as legitimate
fhoots from a parent ſtock of freedom, have at leaft an equal
right to be their own tax-mafters as the people of Ireland,
which was a conquered, and every one knows, a very rebel-
lious kingdom for many ages. Let then the reader only fub-
ftitute Ireland and Dublin, for Maffachufet's Bay and Bofton,
and try the caufe over again in his own mind. If he pleaſes, we
will fuppofe, that inftead of a duty on tea, we fhould attempt
to touch the pockets of the Irish, by a duty on certain ftamped
papers, being publications of grofs immoralities and blaf-
phemies, tending to debauch the minds of the people, and fit
them for flavery; and that an affociation of honeft citizens of
1 2
Dublin,

( 60 )
Publin, more mindful of their duty to God and their country,
than of obedience to an ordinance they held to be fubverfive of
their liberties, fhould find this precious cargo, precifely in a
fimilar fituation with the tea at Bofton; that the Lord Mayor,
the magiftrates, and revenue myrmidons, like the Boston go-
vernor and officers of cuftoms, fhould all abfolutely refuſe their
permiffion and clearances for its departure from the port, and
the fhip fhould be well imprisoned by furrounding batteries;
then, what is to be done? what courfe is to be purfued? Shall
thofe, who ought to be the guides and guardians of the city,
admit theſe pernicious compofitions within their walls; pati-
ently behold them difplayed in the fhops, hawked about the
ftreets, and difperfed throughout the country, with every art of
invitation to thofe inclined to purchaſe? Is the city to be de-
luged with thefe impieties, and its manners, morals, and li-
berties undermined, rather than an united company of merchants
trading in mifchief fhould lofe their property? a property not
only detrimental in itſelf, but in this cafe made a venture, with
the direct intention of betraying a brave and generous nation
into obedience to a defpotic ordinance, containing in it the
feeds of a more complete tyranny, and ufed as the moft tempt-
ing bait to lure the filly multitude into the political moufe-
trap; and therefore, on the principles of felf-prefervation, and
agreeable to the fpirit of the law of nature and nations, fubject
to be destroyed, if not removed upon fair warning. Are the
city guardians, I fay, to obferve all this, and content them-
felves all the while with a patriotic refolve, not to buy or to
read a fingle paper, and with preaching to the unliftening
people to follow their example? If this, in the enlightened
and virtuous city of Dublin, would be an experiment, that
even a driveller would hardly dream of making; how much
lefs fafe would it have been for the American patriots to have
hazarded their all, on the univerfal good fenfe, on the piety
and public fpirit of the people, in the ftupid, the bypocritical,
the impious, the ungrateful, and rebellious town of Boston!
What then, I once more afk, ought the patriots of Dublin or
of Bofton to have done? What! but with indignation to have
caft the hated inftrument of tyranny into the fea! whither its
proprietors deferved alfo to have followed it headlong. Is it
for this wife, brave, and generous action, that not only the
actors of it, but the whole people of Bofton, are now fmarting
under the heaviest vengeance of Great Britain! of a people
who have hitherto juflly prided themſelves in being the un-
daunted refifters of tyrants! Fie, boafters, fie! Britannia
blushes for your degeneracy; the difowns ye for her fons.
When a pawnbroker knowingly puts arms into the hands of a
highwayman or ruffian, does any law infure to him payment
for

( 61 )
for the fame, at the hands of any one who, being affaulted,
feized and deftroyed them? Are not all deadly weapons, all
fnares, traps, and poifons, made ufe of in violation to the
laws of civil fociety, for injuring any man in life, limb, or
property, a lawful spoil to the injured party? When the mif-
creant, pick-pocket Jew, in the fervice of iniquity, was once
driving a trade amongst the Weftminfter fchool-boys, with a
parcel of TEA, out of the green cannifter of the celebrated Mrs.
Phillips, who, that had a ſpark of virtuous indignation, but
applauded the illegal proceedings of the fpirited mafter, when,
difregarding the laws of property, he threw into the fire all of
this tea he could lay his hands on; and, as little confidering
the penalties for an affault, horfed the vile factor, and fcourged
him to the quick?
I muft therefore repeat, that the deftroyers of the tea at Bof-
ton were, in my opinion, a band of virtuous patriots, whofe
names, when once made public, will doubtlefs be held in eternal
veneration by their countrymen; and that the glorious illega-
lity (if every ftatute, whether juft or unjust, be properly com-
prehended in the word law) they atchieved, was an act of ab-
folute moral and political neceffity, and therefore exempt from
even good laws; of fingular wifdom, of ftrict juftice, and re-
markable temper and forbearance, confidering their provoca-
tions, fince it was done in felf-defence, with the greatest good
order and decency, and unaccompanied with incivility to any
one, or the fmalleft damage to any thing in the fhips befides
the treacherous tea. I muft likewife repeat, that this tea, for
the reafons I have given, and agreeable to the fpirit of the law
of nature and nations, was juftly forfeited to the injured Ame-
ricans; and that the Eaft India Company are not entitled to
any fatisfaction or payment for the fame.
LET

( 62 )
LETTER X. and Laft.
April 14, 1774.
TOTHING now remains to be ſpoken of but the act
N
6
of parliament neceffary to that feparation, propofed
by the reverend author of the tracts, and feconded in
thefe letters; and that general treaty between Great Bri-
tain and the ftates of America, which will be the necef-
fary, and doubtlefs the immediate confequence of it.
When parliament fhall have duly weighed this great, this
important matter,-the greateft by far that ever came be-
fore any national council whatever!-with the attention
it merits, and in the temper recommended in my first let.
ter, we may hope to fee a nemine contradicente act, whofe
preamble fhall run in fome fuch form as the following,
viz. Whereas, at the time of the original planting and
fettling of colonies on the continent of North America
by the people and the crown of thefe kingdoms; and
afterwards, during the infancy of the faid colonies, the
future ill confequences of their fubmiffion to, and ac-
quiefcence under the authority of parliament were not,
by reafon of their then infant and dependent ftate, and
the general inexperience in matters of that kind, either
forefeen or duly attended to; and whereas, through
the growing of thefe once ſmall and helplefs colonies to
maturity, and their becoming populous, opulent, and
refpectable ſtates, having each within itſelf the natural
rights and proper powers of legiflation, the exerciſe of
parliamentary authority hath been found to clafh in the
• moſt effential points with their reſpective internal legif-
latures, and hath tended, for a confiderable time paft,
⚫ but more particularly of late years, to create diffatis-
factions between the faid internal legiflatures and par-
liament, and between the people of the faid colonies
and the people of thefe kingdoms; and whereas thefe
matters having been taken into confideration, and it ap-
pearing upon the principles of natural juftice, and
agreeable to the eftablished maxims of civil govern-
C
C
$
ment,

( 63 )
ement, that it is inconfiftent with the welfare of the
people of the faid colonies or ftates, and prejudicial to
their natural inherent rights as men, to be governed by
the parliament of Great Britain, or any other power fo-
<reign to themfelves refpectively: be it therefore enacted,
&c. In the enumeration of their names, none of them
(fifteen, I think, lying between the Gulph of St. Law-
rence and the mouth of the Miffiffipi) will, I hope, be
omitted, but thofe obtained partly by war and treaty in-
ferted as well as the reft; and that in the claufe, it fhall
be fully expreffed, that they are all held and declared
to be free and independent ftates, each to be fubject to
fuch law and government only as now fubfifts, or fhall
hereafter be enacted and conftituted within itfelf by its
6 own proper legiflature; and that of each and every of
the faid independent ftates, his Majefty is, and ſhall be
< held to be the fovereign head, in like manner as he is of
the legiflature of Great Britain.'-In another claufe, I
could with it might likewife be expreffed, that the par-
<liament of Great Britain doth farther declare itſelf to be
the guardian and protector of the whole, and of every
of the faid ftates or colonies, collectively and individu-
ally, against every foreign power whatſoever, as well as
the guarantee of the independence of the faid feveral co-
lonies or ftates, one of another refpectively and reci-
procally, as well alfo of the rights and independencies
<of the feveral tribes or nations of Indians in amity with,
or under the protection of the crown of thefe kingdoms,
< until thefe points fhall be more particularly adjusted by
treaty.' Another claufe would probably provide, that
commiffioners, on the part of the parliament of Great
Britain, fhall be empowered to enter into treaty with
deputies of the legiflatures of each of the faid colonies
or ftates, in order that a firm, brotherly, and perpetual
league may be concluded between Great Britain and
them for their mutual commercial benefit, and their
joint fecurity against all other kingdoms and ftates, as
well as for the prefervation of that warm affection and
harmony which ought ever to fubfift between a mother-
country and her offspring, or kindred ftates, equally
acknowledging one perfect conftitution, and one per-
fect religion, as their rule of life in temporals and in
fpirituals. The commiffioners will be nominated of
C
6
6
6
courfe.

( 64 )
courfe. Other declarations and provifions may be con
tained in this act, as parliament fhall fee good; but we
fhould hope, as an indifpenfable requifite towards the fe-
curity of the general liberties, that it be enacted, that no
part of the revenue of any one of the faid American
ftates fhall, by his Majefty, his viceroy, or minifters,
be removed out of, or received into, any other of the
faid ftates, or into Great Britain for his Majefty's ufe;
and that in like manner, no part of the revenue of theſe
kingdoms fhall be remitted to America on that account;
but that the revenue of Great Britain, and of each re-
fpective ſtate in America, fhall be wholly and folely ap-
plied to defray the expences of government, and main-
<tain the regal dignity in that country in which it fhall
be raiſed, and no other.'n
Although, by thofe unhappy perfons, who have no
juft ideas of right and wrong, and who have not intel-
lects for perceiving, that the original power of Great Bri-
tain over her colonies, is on the point of expiring beyond
all help and remedy, parliament may be fuppofed to be a
lofer by the propofed feparation; yet all muft confefs, that
his Majefty will be a gainer, inafmuch as he will thereby
receive fifteen independent kingdoms in exchange for as
many dependent, and hardly dependent provinces, and be-
come the father of three millions of free and happy fub-
jects, inftead of reigning joint tyrant over fo many dif-
contented flaves, or lofing by revolt fo many of his people.
What a divine glow of fatisfaction muft expand the royal
bofom on an event fo full of blifs, fo confonant to hu-
manity and to virtue !-an event more full of real luftre
-more aggrandizing by many degrees than ever before
was experienced by any earthly monarch.-How poor,
how contemptible, how hateful the triumphs of butcher-
ing conquerors compared to this folid glory! May fuch
a tranfcendant glory be the glory of George the Third!
We must not be furprized if fhallow and defigning
men, fome with real, fome with affected ignorance, fhould
cry out, What! enter into treaty with fifteen indepen-
⚫dent ſtates, and expect them unanimously to join with
you in one general league for mutual advantage and fe-
curity! How chimerical and vifionary the project!' *
And I do not doubt, but that the fwarm of hireling and
proſtitute fcribblers, whofe food is confufion, and whofe
very

( 65 )
very exiſtence, like the vermin in an ulcer, is fupported
by the difeafes of the ftate, will pour forth all their ma-
lignity, in order to difcredit, and to damn, if poffible,
a plan fo wife and falutary. But their baneful influence
will not, I truft, extend itfelf farther than to difturb, for
a fhort time, the confufed minds of our coffee-houfe po-
liticians. It will ftill be obvious to all fenfible men,
efpecially to thofe who compofe the national council, that
when Great Britain fhall have done the nobleft act of
juftice towards the Americans, that the annals of man-
kind can produce, they will, as one man, fly to her for
protection, court her friendship, fubmit themfelves to
her advice, and be ready to put into her hands a chart
blanche; and fo long as the continues to act upon the fame
principles, the may undoubtedly influence each feparate
ftate, and dictate the terms of general accommodation
without any fear of even future diffatisfactions. To deny
thefe conclufions, would be to deny that effects follow
their caufes. The author of the tracts has already
proved, that it is not our power, but the fuperior ad-
vantage of our trade, which fecures to us the commerce of
the Americans, or that can fecure it to us. We fhall ftill
have the fame power to awe America into a faithful obfer-
vance of her treaties that we now have, to enforce a dif-
puted and odious fovereignty, and with this manifeft ad-
vantage, that treating with each ftate feparately, we ſhall
only have one at a time to contend with; whereas we have
experienced, by our ftamp and tea projects, that while we
pretend to govern the whole, the whole will unite to refift
us. That bond of union once diffolved, and the natural
and neceffary jealoufy of each other taking place, Great
Britain, as the common umpire, will become in effect the
general fovereign, fo long as fhe interpofes her good of-
fices for maintaining the common independence; and this
her own intereft will always dictate. Great Britain will
of courfe take care, in the firft place, to recover all her
debts in America, which, inftead of bad debts, as they
are now too juftly esteemed to be, will, in the tranfports
of their gratitude for a declared and guaranteed indepen-
dence, be punctually paid, tho' with their laft fhilling.
Not to mention that fear of offending, (for Great Britain
will then become truly formidable to each feparate ftate)
would effectually produce this effect, we fhall, by the
K
league

( 66 )
league fecure on the moft lafting foundation, every ad-
vantage of trade with America we now enjoy, and by the
feparation relieve ourfelves from many heavy expences it
now cofts us; for a proof of which, I again refer to the
Dean's work: we may then difband fo much of our ex-
penfive and unconftitutional ftanding army, as we now
keep up on account of America; and inftead of being ex-
ecrated, as we now are, for that fleet which blocks up
their ports, and is commiffioned to humble Bofton to the
duft, and through her fides, to gall every province on the
continent, they will readily confent to its prefence for
feeing to the exact fulfilling of their treaties, and they
will then look upon it with a friendly, an affectionate and
refpectful eye, while they confider it as their fure protec-
tor againſt invafion, their refuge in diftrefs, and the
avenger of their wrongs.-Not being able to pay Great
Britain in fubfidies of ready money for her protection
and friendſhip, they will grant her an equivalent in ex-
clufive trade; and they will enter into fome general ftipu-
lation for the mode and the meaſure of payment for any
fuch extraordinary affiftance of fhips as they may at any
time folicit, or we, penetrating the defigns of our com-
mon enemies, may fend to their affiftance. As for troops,
a country containing millions of inhabitants never can
want any: let them rely upon the natural, the beft re-
fource a national militia; but, for heaven's fake! ne-
ver more let the face of a Britifh foldier be feen in North
America. A Flanders or a Germany, on the other fide
of the globe, would be a grave wide enough to fwallow
the whole ftrength and treafure of this kingdom. The
Americans are in no condition to fet themfelves up as a
maritime power, or to fupport a navy fit to guard their
own coafts, but muft rely upon Great Britain for their
fafety by fea, as indeed it will ever be their intereft fo to
do, knowing by experience, that with regard to them,
fhe is not a conquering, but a commercial ftate; and having
reafon to conclude, that a confederacy of their maritime
ftates would probably terminate, like that of Greece, in
wars upon one another, and be perverted to anfwer the
ends of ambition to fome one, inftead of protection to all.
After what has been faid, I need not point out (but for
the fake of my timid and uninformed reader) that it will
be totally unneceflary, and unbecoming the dignity of
parliament,

( 67 )
parliament, to hefitate a moment in paffing the act of de-
elaration, for fear the Americans fhould not afterwards
confent to the league. 'Tis abfurd to imagine they will
act in contradiction to the principles of felf-intereft and
Jelf-prefervation, merely becauſe they fhall be free from
controul; nor is it more poffible to conceive, how they
fhould object to a treaty with Great Britain, merely be-
caufe fhe had juft done them an act of magnanimity and
generofity unparallelled in hiftory, and given them an
undeniable proof, that the was intitled to their unbounded
confidence, particularly in its not being poffible fhe fhould
have any defign upon their liberties. Befides Great Britain,
until the have refigned her affumed fovereignty as the mo-
ther country, cannot, on the principles of equity, as be-
fore illuftrated, give any validity to a contract with her
children, while held in fubjection to her authority. No!
the generous fpirit that fhall fet them free, will difdain
the meanness of a proceeding fo little and fo diftruftful;
and that wifdom which could form fo comprehenfive a
plan, will defpife the crookednefs and folly of fuch a nar-
row policy.
Thus have I given a faint fketch of the many and great
benefits of an American league--the reader's imagination
and judgment will finifh the picture. If then he can
think, that they do not infinitely preponderate againſt
the advantages to be hoped for from perfifting to affert our
odious fovereignty, and plundering the colonies by arbi-
trary tax-gatherers, I have only to fay, that he and I can
fcarcely be made of the fame common materials of hu-
manity; but I fhall begin to liften to thofe profound
fages, whofe acute penetration, affifted by a certain mi-
crofcopic fpecies of philofophy, hath difcovered, that the
Mofaic revelation is a fable, and that, inftead of one,
there are indeed many different races of men. On the
one hand, the moft we can expect is a forced and reluc-
tant fubmiffion, with fome advantages in trade; but thefe
even for a very, very short period. Mean while, difcon-
tent and deteftation, brooding in the bofoms of the co-
lonifts, will naturally generate a rancorous hate and ab-
horrence; which, aided by our reftlefs enemies the
French, will fhortly terminate in defiance and revenge.
On the other hand-but repetition is needlefs. In fhort,
the multiplying millions of America, muft either be our
K 2
deadly

( 68 )
deadly foes, or our fteadfaft friends.-Great Britain, take
thy choice!
What remains, but that we renew our appeal to the
manly fenfe and magnanimity of the great council of this
kingdom; a kingdom, great and happy above all the
kingdoms of the earth; a council the moft auguft in the
whole world, as nurfed in the bofom of freedom, and
trained in the true principles of juft government and pure
religion, of which they are the guardians! If men, thus
favoured of heaven, thus enlightened, thus elevated,
fhall not fet examples of fterling virtue, where, alas!
fhall we find it? Confult then your own hearts, ye le-
giflators of Great Britain! Be true to your own feelings,
and let the moral fenfe prevail. If ye are confcious of a
love of power, know that 'tis the genuine offspring of
the love of liberty. This the root, that the branch. If
your hearts be held in the curling branch's clofe embrace,
think how, in the hearts of all men, the tenacious root
ftrikes to the bottom, and twines it's clafping fibres around
the very fprings of life, never to lofe their hold! Remem-
ber that ye are now to decide on the fate of nations-
perhaps your own. Remember the great legiflator be-
holds your doings. Be your doings like unto his doings.
Be tender to humanity; be firm to freedom; be in-
flexible to juftice. Emancipate in one god-like act, a
long roll of nations, whofe names it is tedious to recount.
In one act, lift up the well-pleafing name of Great Bri-
tain to heaven, and fpread her matchlefs fame to the ends
of the wondering earth. The depth of her wifdom, the
tranfcendency of her virtue, fhall be unexampled, and
this act remain a monument of her great felicity, an ever-
lafting model of juftice, and a theme of praife to all na-
tions, and to all ages. Potentates have, unto dethroned
princes, reftored their ravifhed dominions; renowned
monarchs, fated with ambition, and the abufe of autho-
rity, have, in the plenitude of their power, abdicated
thrones; heroes and patriots have given freedom to their
native countries; but for the prefent legiflators of Great
Britain was referved the fuperior, the fupreme glory of
beflowing in a foreign foil, liberty on millions!
NOTE

( 69 )
NOTE, &c. to LETTER X.
*In order to obviate fome objections, which, I forefee, botk
well-meaning and ill-defigning perfons may be ready to offer to
this part of my propofal, let me obferve to them, that this ne-
gociation will not be attended with thofe difficulties and embar-
rafsments, which their imaginations or their artifice may pof-
fibly fuggeft. We may prefume, that our commiffioners would
have the outlines of the propofed league ready fketched out,
from the moſt approved general regulations of the acts of trade
and navigation, which now relate to the colonies collectively,
and taking in fuch other conditions as fhould be evidently cal-
culated for the mutual benefit of Great Britain and North Ame-
rica; one as the planting, the other as the manufacturing coun-
try; one as the client, the other as the patron. This general
league might be very concife, compared with national treaties
in common; it might be extremely perfpicuous, and fo clearly
eftabliſhed on principles of equity and common advantage, as
to leave the American deputies without a pretence, or a defire
to propofe any but flight alterations, and without a poffibility
of not acceding to it with the utmoft readineſs and fatisfaction;
and it is ftill lefs likely, there fhould be any infuperable diffi
culties ftarted by them, when they fhould come to enter into
their refpective feparate treaties.
C a
6
How the trade of a colony can be limited, and its manufac
tures reftricted by the mother-country, on the principles of juf
tice, except with its own free confent, I confefs I have not eyes
to difcover. If it can be made appear, that the Britiſh parlia
ment hath a right to fay to an American, you shall not make
hat to cover your head, nor a fhoe to defend your foot; you
fhall not manufacture a piece of cloth to keep out the cold,
nor a knife wherewithal to cut your victuals;' why, I pray,
may it not likewife fay, give us the money out of your
pocket?' To obtain a little money, may be thought, and by
Mr. Grenville and his difciples was thought, as convenient to the
ftate, as the employment of our manufacturers.
$
4
'
Obferving, that not only the unreafoning multitude, but the
members in both houfes of parliament, minority as well as ma-
jority, not even excepting the honeft oppofers of American tax-
ation, all feemed to agree, that Great Britain hath a right to
bind the colonies by her regulations and reftrictions in and
upon their trade, navigation and manufactures; I, for a long
time, fuffered my own reafon to be borne down, and my feel-
ings fuppreffed by the weight of fuch refpectable, though not
infallible authority; but, the felf-evident fallacioufnefs of this.
propofition

( 70 )
propofition for ever recurring upon me, and ftriking my mind
with redoubled force every time I confidered it, I was at laft
obliged to yield to the force of an irrefiftible internal convic-
tion, and to reject that doctrine as erroneous, and as a national
prejudice, arifing from precedents, eftablished by the mother-
country, when her children were helplefs new-born babes,
and carefully inftilled into their minds while growing up, as
among the facred precepts of filial piety; from the felf-flatter-
ing and felf-intereſted fuggeftions of British minds; and from
the general acknowledgment of the Americans themselves.
One of their judicious and truly patriotic writers (before re-
ferred to p. 5. in a note to the first letter) on this head, ex-
preffes himſelf thus: Great Britain has prohibited the ma-
nufacturing iron and fteel in thefe colonies, without any ob-
jection to her right of doing it. The like right fhe muft
"have to prohibit any other manufacture among us. Thus
fhe is poffeffed of an undifputed precedent on that point.
"This authority, fhe will fay, is founded on the original in-
"tention of fettling thefe colonies; that is, that the fhould
"manufacture for them, and that they fhould fupply her with
"materials. The equity of this policy, fhe will alfo fay, has
"been univerfally acknowledged by the colonies, who never
"have made the leaft objection to ftatutes for that purpose;
and will further appear, by the mutual benefits flowing from
"this ufage, ever fince the fettlement of thefe colonies.
"Our great advocate, Mr. Pitt, in his fpeeches on the de-
"bate, concerning the repeal of the ftamp-act, acknowledged,
"that Great Britain could reftrain our manufactures. His
<< words are thefe :-This kingdom, as the fupreme governing
"and legiflative power,' [even this great man hath not got
over the little idea of nations remaining in perpetual fubjec
tion to nations from which they fprang] has ALWAYS
"bound the colonies by her regulations and RESTRICTIONS
"in trade, in navigation, in MANUFACTURES, in every
thing, except that of taking the money out of their pockets,
"WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. Again, he fays, we may
<bind their trade, CONFINE THEIR MANUFACTURES, and
"exerciſe every power whatever, except that of taking their mo-
66
ney out of their pockets, WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
[Thefe are pretty large conceffions to the pride and ambition.
of Great Britain, and yet fhe is not fatisfied with them.]
"Here then, my dear countrymen, ROUSE yourſelves, and
"behold the ruin hanging over your heads. If you ONCE ad-
"mit, that Great Britain may lay duties upon her exporta-
"tions to us, for the purpofe of levying money on us only, the
"will then have nothing to do, but to lay thofe duties on the
articles which fhe prohibits us to manufacture,-and the tra-
"gedy
2

( 71 )
**gedy of American liberty is finished. We have been prohi
bited from procuring manufactures, in all cafes, any where,
but from Great Britain, (except linens, which we are per-
"mitted to import directly from Ireland.) We have been pro-
hibited, in fome cafes, from manufacturing for ourfelves,
"and may be prohibited in others. We are, therefore, ex-
"actly in the fituation of a city befieged, which is furrounded
"by the works of the befiegers in every part but one. If that
" is cloſed up, no ftep can be taken, but to furrender at dif
cretion. If Great Britain can order us to come to her for
"neceffaries we want, and can order us to pay what taxes
fhe pleafes before we take them away, or when we land
"them here, we are as abject flaves as France or Poland can
"fhew in wooden fhoes and with uncombed hair.
66
Perhaps the nature of the neceffities of dependant ftates,
"caufed by the policy of a governing one, for her own bene-
fit, may be elucidated by a fact mentioned in history. When
the Carthaginians were poffeffed of the island of Sardinia,
"they made a decree, that the Sardinians fhould not raiſe
corn, nor get it any other way than from the Carthaginians."
Then, by impofing any taxes they would upon it, they
"drained from the miferable Sardinians any fums they pleaſed;
and whenever that oppreffed people made the leaft move-
ment to affert their liberty, their tyrants ftarved them to
death, or fubmiffion."
66
But why, I want to know, are the colonies to be held for
ever in the fituation of cities befieged? Why is the mother-
country to be the fole judge of fuch reftrictions as may be con-
fiftent with the original intention of fettling colonies; feeing
that this original intention was not, in fome cafes, the inten-
tion of the legislature, but the intention of the emigrants them-
felves, when they fled from perfecution, mifery, and want, to
take fhelter in the more friendly wilds of America? Why are
the felfish and arbitrary terms prefcribed by one party, to be im-
plicitly received by the other, in a commercial affair of mutual
concern, and profeffed by the dictating party, to be for their
mutual advantage? Voluntary confent and agreement, indepen-
dent bargain and contract, are in the very effence of all equitable
dealings in trade. I prefume the Americans may be as good
judges, as the people who ridiculoufly affume the right of judg-
ing for them, what it is their advantage to reftrict themſelves
to in manufactures and trade; and will be ready to take care to
confine themfelves to fuch branches, as will be moft confiftent
with that firft political maxim, of fecuring, at all events, the
protection of Great Britain, and her valuable trade, from which
they have benefits to expect, that no other European market
can yield them. To acknowledge their independency, and to
form

( 72 )
form with them a friendly league, is therefore the only method,
on the principles of equity, of laying them under reſtrictions in
trade and manufactures, for the exclufive advantage of their
protectors; but continuing to impofe thefe reftrictions by our
awn authority, and by force, as it deeply effects them in their
property, by preventing money coming into their pockets, (which
is very nearly allied, when done unjustly, to taking it out of
their pockets without their confent) is undoubtedly tyrannical.
When our legislators, and others, divefting themfelves of
every felfish and arbitrary bias, (the characteristics of little and
uncultivated minds) and guarding against all fuggeftions, but
thofe of truth, juftice, and benevolence, fhall have duly re-
flected on this very important queftion, I flatter myself they
will perceive the wifdom of our anticipating the Americans in
a candid difcuffion of it, and will agree with me, in fentiment,
that America cannot, according to any ideas of juftice or
freedom, be laid under reftrictions of any kind, for the pur-
pofe of ftrengthening and aggrandizing the ftate or legiflature
of Great Britain, except with her free will and confent, inde-
pendently and voluntarily given by exprefs ftipulation and con-
tract; and confequently, that they will fee the moral as well
as the political neceffity, for the propofed DECLARATION and
LEAGUE; and that, in fact, it remains for Great Britain to
chooſe, whether by acting the deaf and haughty tyrant, the
shall fink herfelf into poverty and contempt, or, by a conduct
worthy herfelf and her boafted knowledge, and love of free-
dom, fhe fhall render herfelf, not only the all-powerful gua-
rantee of the independence, and monopolizer of the trade of
America, but at the fame time the dreaded, the dictatorial ar-
biter of Europe.
INI S.

( I )
APPENDIX.
TO THE
LEGISLATURE.
LETTER
XI.
THR
January 17, 1775-
HROUGH the means of the perfevering virtue
of our American brethren, the heavy fhades of
parliamentary oppreffion being juft in motion to retire,
and the dawn of a conftitutional revolution now beginning
to gild the political horizon *, the heart of every anxious
lover of his country, and of every friend to the rights of
mankind, muſt be greatly cheered thereat, as they will
naturally flatter themfelves with hopes, that the approach-
ing day of deliberation fhall bring forth healing councils
and meaſures, found and folid wifdom, genuine and com-
plete juftice, which could not fail to fecure the lafting
profperity of Great-Britain and her affectionate offspring.
It is with the moft lively fympathy in thefe hopes, and
with the deepest gratitude to Providence for thefe aufpicious
appearances, that I advance, once more, to exhort ye to
pay due attention to the magnitude and importance of the
butinefs ye are about to enter upon; and that ye will fuffer
no motives whatever to influence your fentiments or your
actions, except thofe alone which fhall arife from mature
deliberation upon, and a rigid obfervance of, your duty
to your country. Unlefs thefe confiderations fhall have
a
an
*The writer is obliged to acknowledge that in this parti
cular his intelligence failed him, and certain appearances in
which he was too prone to truft deceived him.

(2)
an entire afcendency in your minds, in vain will ye at-
tempt to act the part of wife politicians; in vain will ye
pretend to infure to thefe kingdoms any fubftantial and
permanent advantages; as recent experience in American
politics may amply ferve to verify. And it is alfo becauſe
there ftill appears to remain on the minds of Britons a
ftrong tincture of prejudice against a full and compleat
enjoyment of liberty by their American brethren, that I
take upon me once again to call up your attention to the
fatal fyftem of oppreffion that hath fo long been the re-
proach of the Britiſh parliament, the falfe eftimates that
have been made of American knowledge and public fpirit,
together with the erroneous maxims of government that
have, through a ftrange infatuation, been thereupon adop-
ted, and I fear are even now relied on by fome; and that
I alfo once again prefume to recommend a parliamentary
declaration of the independency of the American colonies, and
then, that there be formed, by means of a general league,
fuch an alliance between us as alone, in my opinion, can
be effectually and durably beneficial to both countries:
the nature, the practicability, the expediency and happy
fruits of which league were pointed out in my letter of
the 14th of April, 1774. Although my fentiments were
delivered fomewhat unfyftematically, and only occafionally,
as ill health and other avocations afforded me leifure; and
notwithstanding my arguments were accommodated to the
limitations of a news-paper communication, I nevertheleſs
produced, as I apprehend, fufficient reafons in fupport of
the propofal I offered to your confideration. Many more,
of great weight and intrinfic excellence, will fuggeft them-
felves to every fenfible man, who is poffeffed of knowledge
enough to conftitute him a judge of this queftion, pro-
vided his mind be prone to candour, and his heart to recti-
tude. It is true that at prefent I ftand almoft alone on
this ground, and that men of the firft abilities, and of the
higheſt fenatorial reputation, at the fame time that they
have uniformly condemned and vigorously oppoſed the
meaſures of adminiftration, have ftill invariably declared
themfelves the advocates, nay even the champions, of
parliamentary fovereignty. But, fo far as I have been
able to learn, and I have not been negligent to gain in-
formation, they have contented themfelves with declaring
without

(3)
without fupporting their opinion. No one of them has,
that I can recollect, juftified it by argument; or by bring-
ing it to the only touchftone of all pretenfions to fove-
reignty, by fhewing that it is rightly calculated to obtain,
for the people governed, the effectual fecurity and continu-
ance of their liberty and property: nor hath any one, that
I know of, refuted my arguments for the propofed inde-
pendency, or thofe of dean Tucker, which I have referred
to. I hope no one will be rafh enough to fay, that na-
tional morality and juftice are not regarded by the Sove-
reign Judge of all nations, or that that ftate which feeks
to aggrandize itfelf, at the expence of another, by craft
and fubtlety, by impofition and chicanery, or by any other
wicked means, either deferves, or is likely to experience,
any long continuance of God's favour and protection.
Hath not the warning-voice of all hiftory, from the first
memorials of nations, uniformly inculcated this leffon by
dreadful examples in every inftance without exception,
and fhewn us that it is in the very laws of nature, in the
neceffary conftitution of things, that national integrity
muft in the end produce national happinefs, and national
turpitude, as certainly be followed by national mifery?-
Had we indeed no hiftorical teftimony in proof of this
doctrine, yet its truth is clearly deducible by reafoning;
fince there is this evident diftinction to be made between
the fituation of nations and of individuals, men will con-
tinue to exift after death, but nations have no hereafter,
and therefore God's juft and wife providence feems to have
appointed them their rewards and puniſhments in this world.
But to return, fome there are who have indeed affected to
treat the Idea of making the colonies independent, as too
vifionary and chimerical to be adopted by men practifed in
ftate affairs.-It fhould feem, however, from recent expe-
rience, that men practifed in ftate affairs are not exempt,
any more than thofe who reafon on them from adopting
vifionary projects. But novelty doth by no means necel-
farily imply either fallacy or impracticability, as hath been
well exemplified in thefe latter ages, which have beheld
various political phenomena altogether unknown before in
the courfe of human affairs, and which were the natural
effects of doctrines, whofe chimerical appearance, while
2 2
novel,

(4)
novel, were quite as alarming to the timid as this can be.
Our union with Scotland, when firft propofed, ftruck the
'majority in each divifion of the ifland with as great a
panic fear of danger and ruin, as our difunion from Ame-
rica (if that can be called a difunion of countries on dif-
ferent fides of the globe that is only meant to aſcertain
their true relation to each other) can poffibly produce in
the minds of any. The crude and dreaded idea took a
full century to ripen, before it could be relifhed by the
people. Our general experience, fince the revival of
learning, ought to reconcile us to the making of innova-
tions upon all fufpicious fyftems, wherever the fuggefting
principles appear, upon clofe examination, to be found,
juft, and uncontrovertible; and it need fcarcely be re-
marked, that it hath been by fuch means alone that we
have hitherto fo fuccefsfully combated ignorance, fuperfti-
tion, tyranny and perfecution, together with innumerable
errors, in the whole circle of fcience, and that we muft
keep in the fame path if we propofe to make any farther
progrefs. But how, indeed, can any improvements be
made, except by adopting and acting upon new ideas, as
they arife on a contemplation of new circumftances and
contingencies? Provided the Britiſh legiflature had not firft
inconfiderately, and afterwards perverfely, trefpaffed on the
rights of the colonies, flighted their juft complaints, de-
fpifed their remonftrances, and, by a long and wanton
feries of injuries, infults, and oppreffions, rouzed their
friends, and obliged them to take the trouble of thinking,
it is probable that the idea of their having a right to inde-
pendency might have lain dormant, in the unexplored re-
pofitories of truth, for ages to come. If therefore they
have prematurely brought on new contingencies, they muft
not be offended with, nor inattentive to, new ideas,
Having myfelf the higheft refpect for the fhining talents,
the knowledge and principles of fome great men from
whom I differ, both with regard to the right, and to the
expediency alfo, of afferting our parliamentary fovereignty
over the North-American ftates, I wifh moft earnestly
they may enter on a full difcuffion of thofe queftions,
either before the public, or in parliament; fince I promife
myfelf, they will ingenuoufly follow whitherfoever truth
and

( 5 )
and juftice fhall lead them; either to their own convic
tion, or to mine; who am prepared to abandon my own
opinion, the moment I can difcover it to be no longer
tenable without difingenuoufnefs or prevarication: but I
am principally moved to this with, through a ftrong per-
fuafion that the future profperity of this, and the numerous
nations of North America, (confequently the happineſs
of millions of our fellow-creatures) may in a great meaſure
depend on the opinions, upon the two points in queftion,
of a very few leading men, who, at this crifis, have voices
in the British parliament. My voice, had I the honour
of a feat, fhould moft affuredly be heard to move for the
independency of America.
It is well known, and feverely felt by us at this day,
that the revolution, to which we owe our falvation from
crown prerogative, from popery and defpotifm, glorious
and providential as it was, had fill its imperfections; and
that theſe remain to be reformed, or they will one day in-
evitably overwhelm the liberties, extinguifh the laft fpark of
virtue, and put a fatal period to the felicities of Britain.
If ill confequences of fuch extent, could flow from begin-
nings fo minute, as to be overlooked on that day of refor-
mation, when national reflection and wifdom were dif-
played in fo uncommon a degree; ought we not to be on
our guard, while in the act of fettling the conftitution of
the American ftates upon a durable bafis; and fixing a
ftandard, a Magna Charta, to which the people of thoſe
ftates may at all times appeal, in defence of their rights
and liberties; that we look not only to the fecuring of the
corner-ftones and main buttreffes, but take care alfo to
cement the other, though inferior yet neceffary, parts fo
clofely together, as to prevent their being again fhaken by
the abuse of power; or fapped by the infinuations of cor-
ruption, that grand fpecific for the diffolution of thofe for-
treffes of freedom, which mock all other attacks. And
allow me to remind ye, that at the period of the revolu-
tion, the dreadful ftate of the kingdom, when the govern-
ment was diffolved, and all men impatient of a fettlement
for fear of an anarchy; when contending princes were
triving for the throne, and all the powerful ftates of Eu-
rope ready to take their advantages, fuch a conjuncture
afforded

(6)
afforded excufes for much greater overfights than at this
time, when we have leifure to keep our ufual holidays,
and are fo much at our cafe as to require diverfions and
all forts of pleafurable amufements to fill up the vacuities
of life, allowances can be made for. That man therefore
who, on this folemn occafion, fhall not pay the moſt facred
regard to the rights and liberties of his American brethren
and their pofterity, be his profeffions, and even his actions,
in other refpects what they may, must be a very forry pre-
tender to patriotifm. The true patriot will be as ftrenu-
ous an oppofer of national and parliamentary, as of regal
tyranny: he will not attempt to remove the mote from
the minifterial eye, before he have firft plucked out the
beam from his own. Confider, then, what in fact we
are doing, and whither the unavoidable confequences will
lead us, when we affert our parliamentary fovereignty.
If it cannot open to us the purfes of the Americans, at the
difcretion of the British commons,-which heaven of its
mercy to ourfelves forbid !-what end is it to anfwer?
LETTER

(7)
LETTER
XII.
86
66
January 18, 1775-
IT is," we are told, "to enable us to regulate the
trade of the Americans, to restrict their navigation
"and manufactures, to bind them, and to exerciſe over
"them every power whatever, except that of taking their
CC
money out of their pockets without their confent."
But whence, I trow, do we derive any juft authority for
all thefe enormous pretenfions? Not, I am perfuaded, from
any part of that implied compact between governors and
the governed, which, in reafoning upon juft government,
we must ever fuppofe and argue from, becauſe the law of
nature hath laid us under an eternal obligation fo to do.
This compact, which none but tyrants will difclaim as a
true criterion, evidently proves that, not only in taxation,
but in making the laws by which every other part of the
government is regulated, it is neceffary the people do par-
take, either perfonally or by their reprefentatives; other-
wife, more or lefs, they will be flaves: and furely it is not
in England, the very treading on whofe happy foil changes a
galley flave into a free man, that we fhall inculcate doc-
trines, and enact laws to fix a real flavery in any degree
on our kindred! In the whole compafs of argumentation,
which hath of late been taken with regard to the refpec-
tive rights of Britain and of Britiſh America, I am bold
to affirm, that no demonftration of the aforefaid rights,
claimed by parliament, hath been given; and I muſt needs
think that no demonftration of them can be given; but
reafons fufficient have appeared to convince honeft and
thinking men, who are at all acquainted with the law of
nature, and the fpirit of our ineftimable conftitution, that
fuch claims on our part are manifeftly contrary to the
rules of juftice and the principles of freedom; while thofe
who have made hiftory and human nature their ftudy,
will fee as clearly that their direct tendency is to defeat the
very ends, for the propofed attainment of which it is pre-
tended
2

( 8 )
tended they are urged. Who can conceive, that a power
fo very looſely defined, fo extremely extenfive, and with-
out a counterpoife; one which (notwithstanding the la-
boured diftinctions vainly attempted) cannot but make very
free with the pockets of the Americans, though not per-
haps in the open and undifguifed form of taxation, and in
which not one of the people, not one of the reprefentatives
of the people is to participate; a power which is to be
lodged in the hands of a body of men refiding beyond the
ocean, having already more bufinefs at home than they
can or will execute to the fatisfaction of their own coun-
trymen? Who, I fay, can conceive that fuch power in
fuch hands can poffibly, in the nature of things, be well
adminiftered, even in the moft ordinary Inftances? They
who can believe any thing fo incredible, ought not haftily
to pronounce plans they do not comprehend, or rather
will not take the trouble to confider, to be vifionary and
chimerical. To me it appears felf-evident, that the exer-
cife of fuch a power, how temperately, how cautiously
foever, inftead of extinguishing the refentments, and gain-
ing the confidence of the Americans, muft neceffarily
preferve alive their utmoft jealoufy and diftruft; to pro-
duce with a moral certainty in their due time and regular
order, complaint, difpute, oppofition, and refiftance; ter-
minating finally, and probably at no great diftance of time,
in defiance and contempt; all which fatal chain of confe-
quences may be wholly prevented, as I have elſewhere.
fhewn more at large, provided we will act juftly, by an-
ticipating their natural wifhes, and afpirings after inde-
pendency, with a defire of which they were infpired by
their Creator when he conftituted them rational creatures
and free agents; not to obferve their feeling themfelves
to be, in their collective capacities, powerful nations,
having within themſelves the rights and actual powers of
a compleat legiflation. He who perceives no figns of
conviction in the countenances of thole to whom he ad-
dreffes himfelf, is apt to fuppofe he hath left untouched
thofe particular arguments, on which the fuccefs of his
difcourfe is principally to turn; when fometimes the fault
is on the fide of the auditors, whofe paffions and pre-
judices
Dean Tucker's Tracts, p. 153.

( 9 )
judices block up all the avenues to the judgment-feat of
reafon in the head, and the throne of truth in the heart,
fo that even demonftrations and felf-evident moral truths
fhall only enter at one ear, and go out at the other. So
might I perhaps hope to convince, by continuing to write,
did I not reflect that, provided I have truth on my fide,
I have already written enough; it now only remaining
with my readers to convince themfelves, by fetting afide
their paffions and prejudices (particularly their luft of
dominion, and their unjuft, not to fay unwife, felfifhnefs)
and by confcientiously appealing to their own underſtand-
ings and hearts. There, if they will thus apply, I am
perfuaded they will find, to their great benefit and fatis-
faction, all the truths and motives to action, which are
neceffary to give fuccefs to the caufe I have humbly en-
deavoured to plead. I pretend not to force, but fhould
be happy to win their affent. They must be willing con-
verts; they must wish to be of my opinion; and bring
their own love of truth, juftice and freedom to my aid,
or I fhall certainly fail to be inftrumental in removing
their objections. I will therefore take leave of my fub-
ject, with a recapitulation only of the principal doctrines,
which, in the courfe of thefe letters, are advanced or
argued from. Thefe then are amongft my pofitions:
Ift, That the people of British America cannot law-
fully be taxed, in any fhape whatfoever, except in their
own affemblies.
2dly, That a duty laid upon any article of our exports
to them, and made payable before exportation, except
they be at liberty to purchaſe the fame article elsewhere, is
a tax; and being not given and granted in their own
affemblies, but impofed by parliament, it is illegal.
3dly, That it is either a weak or wicked conduct in
thofe, who lay any ftrefs on the ridiculous diftinction,
where there is no difference between internal and external
taxes; fince taxes are taxes, and all that is neceffaty to
know is, whether they be legal or illegal.
4thly, That a parliamentary prohibition to manufacture
their own iron and other commodities, together with an
obligation
b
* Farmer's Letters, 1ft edit. p. 16.

( 10 )
obligation to take them wrought from Great-Britain, and
her only, at a greater charge than that at which they could
fupply themſelves by their own manufacture, is a tax,
and therefore illegal.
5thly, That every parliamentary limitation of their trade
and navigation, which operates to their difadvantage in
a pecuniary fenfe is fo much in the nature, although it may
not come within the precife definition of a tax, that, (be-
ing an impofition) it is evidently illegal.
6thly, That neither grants nor charters, precedents nor
ftatutes; no, nor even the voluntary contract, the ex-
prefs act and engagement of the firft planters of a diftant
colony, can in the fmalleft degree impeach the rights of
freedom in their defcendants, whenever independency fhall
be their choice.
7thly, That it is a miftaken notion, that planting of
colonies and extending of empire are neceffarily one and
the fame thing.
8thly, That it is in the very effence of liberty, that
every ftate hath a right to choofe its own governors.
9thly, That all pretenfions to govern a community, fo
far diftant from thoſe who make thefe pretenfions, that
they cannot poffibly fecure to it thofe ends for which
alone all juſt government is acknowledged to be inftituted,
are nugatory in their own nature.
1othly, That the people of America are too far diftant
from Great-Britain to obtain thofe ends by her exercifing
a legiſlative authority over them, and therefore cannot be
fubject to fuch an authority *.
11thly,
* I flatter myſelf the author of the following letter will par-
don the liberty I take in ufing it as a note.
To the PRINTER of the GAZETTEER.
The fupreme legislative power of parliament over the in-
ternal government and taxation of the colonies, having be-
come matter of difpute, it is proper to examine whether this
claim of fupremacy is novel, or has any ancient foundation,
and to that end, whether the inhabitants of the colonies have
at any time heretofore been legally confidered as fubjects of
this

( II )
11thly, That "an union with America, by means of
admitting an American reprefentation in the Britifh par-
liament, is the wildeft of all chimeras; as it was the
bafeft of all infidious defigns in a certain governor, to
propofe to adminiftration a furprizal of them into this fnare,
be knowing, and thinking they did not know, (vide his own
Select Letters, p. 34, 40) that it would be fubverfive of
their liberties.
12thly,
this kingdom, during their refidence in the colonies. That
the power of internal taxation has not been exerciſed, will
not be difputed; and whoever examines, will find, that from
the restoration to the prefent time, appeals or writs of error
from the ordinary courts of juftice in the colonies, do not go
to parliament, as in England and Scotland, but have been
always made to his Majefty in council, and proceeded upon
by petition or libel; and the lands, tenements, hereditaments,
goods and chattels of his Majefty's fubjects in the colonies,
have not been confidered as belonging to fubjects of this king-
dom, all of whom are entitled to trial by the ordinary courfe
of the law; but have been confidered as fubjects of his Majefty,
governed internally by the laws which their affemblies from
time to time eftablifh, and tried by the privy-council accord-
ing to thofe laws, and the common law, and not in the ordi-
nary courfe of the law.
If parliament had the legal fupremacy, appeals and writs
of error, between the fabjects of their jurifdiction, must have
been decided in the ordinary courfe by parliament, and not in
the extraordinary courfe by his Majefty's privy-council.
If parliament had been the fupreme legiflature of the colo-
nies, would not the laws of the colonies have been commu-
nicated to them? On the contrary, the colonies have never
confulted with, or communicated to parliament any of their
laws; it is law to them becauſe they make it, and it is a rule
to the crown becauſe the royal affent is given. They have
no peers to judge between the crown and the council, and
therefore his Majefty alone is the fupreme legal judge, and
his council only can ultimately decide, and not the ordinary
courts of juftice, or ordinary courſe of law.
When parliament was intended to be fupreme legiflators of
Scotland, reprefentation in parliament was ftipulated for the
people, and provifion was made by the act of union for the
b 2
final

( 12 )
12thly, That the fuperftitious notion of the unifarm
progrefs of empire weftward only; and the abfurd one,
that Great-Britain muft therefore one day become a pro-
vince to America, are founded on fuperficial, empty,
miftaken,
final determination of appeals by parliament, according to
the laws of Scotland; in the colonies different laws neceffarily
must be made for each, with which nobody but his Majesty
and themſelves have any concern, nor have any other power
hitherto interfered; if they were to be confidered as fubjects
of this kingdom, what would be the fituation of every lord
chancellor, lord keeper, lord privy feal, lord prefident of the
council, and chief juftice, who have fat upon appeals from
the colonies from the reftoration to this period? When, by
the act of the 16th of Charles the Second, intitled, An act
for regulating the privy-council, and taking away the court
commonly called the ftar-chamber, it is enacted, "That nei-
"ther his Majefty nor his privy-council have, or ought to
have, any jurifdiction, power, or authority, by English
bill, petition, articles, libel, or any other arbitrary way
"whatſoever, to examine, or draw into queftion, determine
"or difpofe of the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods
or chattels, of any of the fubjects of this kingdom, but that
"the fame ought to be tried and determined by the ordinary
courts of juftice, and by the ordinary courfe of the law:"
and this law inflicts a penalty upon every perfon offending,
for the first offence 500l. fecond offence 1000l. third offence
difabled, and ipfo facto rendered incapable to bear his office,
and difabled to make any gift, grant, conveyance, or other
difpofition of any of his lands, tenements, or hereditaments,
good or chattels, or take any benefit of any gift, conveyance,
or legacy to his own ufe; and furthermore, to forfeit treble
damages to the party aggrieved.
The gentlemen who contend for the fupreme legislature of
parliament over perfons refiding in the colonies are called
upon to fhew, how any lawyer, from the 16th of king Charles
to this time, could have fat in privy-council, and have exa-
mined and drawn into queftion, determined, and difpofed of
the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods and chattels of
the inhabitants of the feveral colonies, if they had not (even
to this moment) denied them to be fubjects of this kingdom,
and confequently not fubject to the internal legiſlation, or
taxation of parliament.
CURTIUS.
April 12, 1755.

( 13 )
miftaken, and contradictory obfervations, utterly void of
truth, with regard to the paft, and equally deftitute of
probability, with refpect to the future.
13thly, That if we would reap any lafting commer-
cial advantages from, and preferve any durable power
over, the American ftates, it must be by withdrawing,
not afferting our claims to parliamentary fovereignty;
thereby finally removing every caufe of jealoufy towards
us, and proving that, with regard to them, Great-Bri-
tain is not a conquering, but a commercial ftate; not an
oppreffive ruler, but an equal trader; not a defigner upon,
but an undoubted protector of their rights and liberties
against all invaders: bound to her by the ties of blood
and mutual interefts, by fincere love and friendſhip,
which abhors dependance; by the influences of one com-
mon language, law, and religion; by the fame man-
ners, fashions and habits, and by every other cementing
principle which hath power to take hold of the human
heart.
14thly, That by making them independent of our
will and pleafure, we fhall render them effectually depen-
dent upon our influence, and fubfervient to our interest
and glory; this free country thus refembling its own kings,
who always may, whenever they pleafe, be more power-
ful, glorious, and happy, than the proudeft of the mo-
narchs who tyrannize over the reft of Europe.
15thly, That it is in our power to bring into this
kingdom, with their voluntary confent and agreement, every
fhilling the Britiſh Americans have in the world, be-
yond what is barely neceffary for their own circulation;
but that if, inftead of equitable means, we will madly
ufe no other than thofe of brutal force, they will fpeedily
defy, impoverish and defpife us.
16thly, That it is now, through our own rafh coun-
cils and violent proceedings, too late to think of fteer-
ing any middle courfe, of adopting meafures for light
oppreffions,
* Confiderations on the Meaſures carrrying on with refpect
to the British Colonies in North-America, pag. 108, 120;
and Tucker's Tracts, pag. 206 to 216.

( 14 )
oppreffions, and being only moderately tyrannical; for
that the Americans, from this day forward, muft either
be our independent, affectionate, and faft friends, or elſe
the moſt deadly of our foes.
17thly and finally, That by means of a parliamentary
declaration of their independency and a national league
with them, we may, but by no other means can, effec-
tually promote and fecure, on a right bafis, the mutual
profperity of both countries.
To this recapitulation let me only add a fervent prayer,
that it may pleafe God to endue the king and the lords
of the council, the minifters of ftate, and all the nobi-
lity, the reprefentatives of the people, and all in autho-
rity, with true wildom and underftanding, giving them
grace to execute juftice and to maintain truth; and that
it may pleaſe him likewife to give unto all nations unity,
peace, and concord to the end of time; but more efpe-
cially to Great-Britain and British America, which have
reafon to eſteem themfelves, with pious gratitude, his
peculiar people, fince, through his efpecial favour, they
are fo eminently exalted above all other nations, inaf-
much as it hath pleafed him, in his good Providence, to
blefs them with a free, a perfect + conftitution of go-
vernment; a conftitution which will improve with age,
and never can know decay, fo long as the people fhall
retain their virtue.
P. S. The author, who wishes to attain as much felf-
knowledge as poffible, would (without any irony) be
much obliged to the Critical Reviewer of his pamphlet
if
*It is now only the month of April, 1775, and, fo true was this
remark, that we have already enacted laws which muft either
enforce their obedience to our tyranny, oblige them to aban-
don their habitations and country to feek for freedom amongſt
the favages in the wildernefs, or abfolutely and without a
figure of fpeech ftarve them to death; except, maddening
with a fenfe of fuch monftrous oppreffion, they fullenly and
contemptuously, as Mr. Burke expreffes it," caft your fove-
reignty in your face."
+ Letter V.

( 15 )
if he would take the trouble to prove to him what he
really cannot believe on his mere ipfe dixit, viz. that he
is a declaimer, not a reafoner, provided the affertion be
true; becauſe he hopes he fhall ever be open to con-
viction, and ready to accept of any one's affiftance who
will kindly lead him into the way of truth; an adherence
to which he thinks is every man's intereft. He feels a
ftrong affurance within his own mind of being no declaimer,
and though perhaps no acute reafoner, yet he thinks he is
a just reafoner, or rather an appealer to reafon; and he is
inclined to efteem the practice of appealing as the beſt
and moft ufeful, becaufe generally the moft fucceſsful
mode of reafoning.


A
LETTER
TO
EDMUND BURKE, Efq;
Controverting the Principles of
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT,
Laid down in his lately published
S PE E CH
ON
AMERICAN TAXATION,
Delivered in the
HOUSE of COMMONS,
On the 19th of APRIL, 1774.
LONDON:
Printed for the AUTHOR, by H. S. Woodfall.
Sold by J. WILKIE, No. 71, St. Paul's Church-yard.
M.DCC.LXXV.


( 3 )
6C
66
ADVERTISEMENT.
T
Ilic
was
may not be improper to inform the pub-
lic that this letter was ready for the prefs
"when Lord Chatham's conciliatory propofal
"made its appearance. In hopes that fome fea-
"fible plan of accommodation with the colonies
"would thereupon have taken place, and fuch
"meaſures have enfued as might have made it
"unneceffary for the advocates of American free-
"dom any longer to have kept up in its full
"force their contention against an overftrained
"and unjuftifiable authority, the author thought
proper to with-hold it awhile from the public
"eye: but being totally difappointed in his wishes,
"and now defpairing that any good confequences
"whatever can refult from the meafures deter-
"mined to be purfued by government (notwith-
"ftanding the late attempt of adminiftration to
"amufe us by making a fhew of taking new
"ground) he now humbly fubmits it to the pe-
"rufal of his fellow-citizens; in hopes that, fmall
"as may be its comparative weight, it yet may
prove a mite not unacceptable in the fcale which
"the good genius of Britain and of Britiſh Ame-
"rica is anxious fhould preponderate. In faying
"that he defpairs of any good confequences from
"adminiftration's pertinacious oppreffion of the
66
66
colonies, he begs to be underſtood as meaning
"only thofe good confequences which the authors of
"the prefent measures efteem to be fuch, and which
"they propofe to bring about.
A 2
"Indeed

( 4 )
"Indeed he hopes, and will venture to prophecy,
"that, odious and fhocking as are the means by
"them to be made ufe of, yet the end will be
"the fame as himſelf hath propofed to obtain by
66
a very different way of proceeding; and that,
"take which courfe we will, the prefent difpute
"cannot poffibly terminate in any thing fhort of
"American Independence. Whether it will prove
"better to have fevered the colonies from this
country by the hellifh fword of war, or by the
generous hand of equity; whether it will prove
"better to have infpired them with revenge and
deadly hatred, or with gratitude and warm
"affection; and whether one or the other will
prove moft beneficial to us, time alone muft
"finally determine."
36
<c

( 5 )
SIR,
WH
To E. B. Efq;
February, 1775-
HEN my twelfth letter to the Legiſlature, pro-
pofing the independency of America, went to the
prefs (fee Public Advertifer, Jan. 23, 24,) I thought I had
taken a final leave of the fubject; but feveral paffages in
your late publiſhed fpeech tending, as I fear, to miflead
the public judgment, teach me that it lies too near my
heart for me to fuffer them to pafs altogether unnoticed.
It is the convincing argumentation with which you de-
monftrate the folly, as well as injuftice, of taxing Ame-
rica; together with the perfuafive powers of eloquence
there difplayed, powers which can fometimes charm us
into a belief of what we do not comprehend, that make
your error, with regard to the fovereignty of Great-Britain,
the more dangerous at this crifis, when all good men are
anxious for the rights of America, though few of them
are free from your own mistake, and when even the diffi-
pated triflers of the age have a wifh at leaft, if not a
thought, to beftow in their favour. The multitude in
this kingdom, when they become ferious, and take a
thing up in earneft, are too formidable for a minifter to
contend with; but alas! they believe only as they are
taught by fome great authority: and even men of know-
ledge and reflection pay it fometimes too much refpect.
For my own part, Sir, I look up to you as to one of thoſe
"guide-pofts and land-marks of ftate whofe credit in the
"nation" gives general currency to your opinions; I
confider you as one of our great national "lights." I
with therefore, as a matter of the laft importance to the
public, that you may ever hold on your courfe with re-
gularity and truth: and not, like the changeful lumi-
66 nary you fo happily defcribe, mifguide your obfervers.
Charles Townſhend.
66
Believe

( 6 )
Believe me, Sir, I am not one of thoſe who can, without a
painful reluctance, withdraw my admiration from the glories
of the fun, in order to contemplate his fpots. But it is by
an accurate obfervation of them, that we correct erroneous
fcience; caufing, as I may fay, by theſe means, even the
darkneffes of that brilliant orb to throw light upon objects
of importance to mankind. Had I a bad opinion of your
heart, I would not make the vain attempt to argue you
into the right; nor would I provoke you to exert your
fuperior talents ftill more, in order to deftroy the truth.
'Tis not as you are ingenious, but ingenuous, that I mean
to difpute with you. Nor is it for me to take the large
field of difcuffion; to lay open all hiftory, or to unfold
the legitimate laws of our conftitution. I leave thefe
deep and capacious refervoirs of knowledge and policy to
be ranfacked by thofe who are my fuperiors in learning
and eloquence; and are better able to take a laborious
part in the great caufe we are now engaged in; content-
ing myſelf to draw from the fountain head, a fmall por-
tion of the waters of truth; which, like a dew from
heaven, have, I believe, the moft kindly influence upon
the production and growth of true wifdom. It is to the
pure, the genuine principles of our perfect conftitution,
and the unalterable law of nature, that I will refer; it is
to your reafon and your confcience I will appeal. This
will bring the queftion within a very fmall compafs, and
to a fhort iffue. But be apprized, Sir, that it is not to
any creature of your own imagination, an ideal confti-
tution of the British Empire [94.]," (for I totally deny
its existence, and believe that a faith and hope in it lead
to perdition,) which I now mean to refer to; but to the
conftitution of Great-Britain; whofe exiftence, divinity,
and powers of falvation, are known to us all. This is
the only compafs that ever proved a fure guide upon the
tempeftuous fea of politics. It is a fure guide, becauſe
it is a compafs without variation. It points not to any
earthly loadſtone, joftled by fome convulfion of nature
out of the true axis of our crazy planet, but the cauſe of
its magnetifm is the rock of truth, fixed in the pole of
heaven from all eternity; immoveable as the throne, im-
mutable as the nature of God. He who fhall imagine
that the British conftitution is a compafs adapted only to
one
I

( 7 )
one latitude and longitude; and when he arrives with it
at a diftant fhore, depending on delufive obfervations, fhall
fuppofe a very confiderable variation; and then, like the
ignorant fkipper of fome little coafting bark, fhall go about
to adjuft it, to the imaginary occafion, by giving the needle
a correfponding deviation from its reprefentative on the
card, or rather chart; fhall foon find himfelf in a moft
dangerous, if not a fatal error. Happy if he make not
fhipwreck of the political veffel. Great knowledge and
practical experience may be neceffary to thofe who hold.
the command, who guide the helm, and direct all the
manceuvres in the fhip; but the very cabin-boy knows his
compafs; and when the port is in fight, and all the
dangers of the navigation are above water and in view,
he can tell, as well as the pilot, how to fteer for the one
or from the other. When out of fight of land, he knows
equally well, that in order to arrive fafe in America, he
muft fteer to the Weftward; nor could all the fophiftry
of the pilot, though he fpoke with the tongue of an
angel, nor the authority of the captain, though aided by
the logic of the cat-o'-nine-tails, ever convince him,
that it would be poffible to fecure a profperous voyage by
fteering either Eaft, South, or North. So when the Bri-
tiſh conftitution, whofe form is fo manifeft to the eye
of common fenfe, and whofe principles by their felf-
evidency are fo fimple and fo obvious, lies before us, 'tis
in vain for minifters, for ftatefmen, or even for orators,
to endeavour to impofe upon our underſtandings, by re-
prefenting that we muft hold one courfe in Britain, and
another in America, for attaining civil fecurity and hap-
pinefs'; when it is impoffible to arrive at them, but by
keeping the prow in a true direction for liberty, whofe
ftar, like as the rock of truth, is in the pole and faft by
the throne of heaven.. It is true indeed, and for the
reafons you have [91] affigned, that the neareft courſe we
can keep is but an approximation towards the right
66 one;" yet we fhall run into a moft ruinous error, if,
to the unavoidable deviations caufed by the inteftine mo-
tion and tempeftuous agitations of the political element,
we make any intentional one, by playing tricks with our
needle, and departing from that courfe which our compafs,
if faithfully confulted, fhews to be the true one. You defire
Great-

( 8 )
·
66
Great-Britain to be content to bind America by laws
"of trade; becauſe the hath always done it: and not to
burthen her with taxes, becaufe fhe was not uſed to do
fo from the beginning. Thefe," you add, " are the
"arguments of ftates and kingdoms." [89, 90.] But,
with your leave, Sir, thefe are the arguments of Egyptian
tafk-mafters, of Carthaginian blood-fuckers, of Roman
monſters and Spaniſh tyrants; for filencing the murmurs
of their fleeced, pardon me, I mean flead provinces and
miferable bond-men. What! Sir; are prefcripts and pre-
cedents, be they natural or unnatural, be they good or
bad, be they juft or unjuft; the proper arguments of ſtates
and kingdoms? So then, nothing is wanting to reconcile
us to the moſt infernal way of governing, but that our
tyrant hath always done fo; that he was ufed to act the
tyrant from the beginning!-Fie, fie! What a leffon
for a young Telemachus to learn from the lips of his
Mentor! You may be as great a tyrant as you pleaſe,
"provided you only eftablish your precedents in the begin-
"ning." Should murmurs afterwards arife, or the accu-
mulating weight of your power in length of time become fo
intolerable as to caufe your right to be called in queftion;
"reafon not at all-oppofe the ancient policy and prac-
<tice of the empire, as a rampart againſt the fpeculations
of innovators, and you will ftand on great, manly, and
fure ground."-Excellent doctrine! O Locke, thou repu-
ted fage," hide thy diminiſhed head!" What are all thy
refinements, [94] thy metaphyfical diftinctions [89,"] to
maxims fuch as thefe !You exprefsly acknowledge,
Sir, [41] that "you think the commercial reftraint is full as
"hard a law for America to live under, as the fchemes of
"American revenue: and, if uncompenfated, to be a condi-
"tion of as rigorous fervitude as man can be fubject to.
"But America bore it from the fundamental act of navi-
"gation until 1764-Why? Becaufe," you add, "men
"do bear the inevitable conftitution of their original nature
66
65
with all its infirmities." Now, that I cannot attain
knowledge without ftudy, or happineſs without wifdom;
that I cannot preferve my health without exercife, or my
freedom without courage; nor penetrate with my eye the
opaquenefs of a ftone, or the complicated folds of my
*(94) "Refining fpeculatifts."
neigh

(9)
neighbours heart; may poffibly be all reckoned among
the defects and infirmities of my original nature:"
but that it is "the inevitable conftitution" of any one man,
or of any one nation, to fubmit to the tyranny of another,
I muft pofitively deny; as the contrary hath been long
fince proved by the United Provinces, and lately by the
law of England, in the cafe of a negroe flave when brought
into this free country. Nor do I in the leaft doubt, but
that America will very fhortly give a convincing refuta-
tion to this curious propofition: which, Sir, if you will
review it with candour, you may poffibly perceive to be
much worse than a "metaphyfical diftinction," or the "re-
"finement of a fpeculatift;" fince it tends to debafe, not
to refine; to confound, and not to diftinguifh. Is it for
man, arrogantly to lord it over his brother, to impofe
upon him reftraints and bonds, and then to aggravate his
fufferings by the infult of a proffered compenfation!-a
compenfation, fuch alone, and fuch in degree, as he, the
impious impofer, fhall judge expedient for infuring his power
and advancing his own intereft? If reftraint and bonds,
even thus compenfated, be not rigorous fervitude, I know
not what is. 'Tis not the prefent fuffering under, but the
being fubject to, the power of another, which conflitutes
flavery. Give us but the flavery, and the fuffering will
not fail to follow in due time. Now, Sir, from the whole of
what you advance, with regard to the fupremacy of parlia-
ment over the legislatures of the feveral ftates of America; as
well as from your exprefs and repeated declarations of fted-
faftly abiding by the minifter and the fyftem of 1766*, when
parliament, in its folly, affumed a right of repealing the irre-
vocable laws of God, by enacting, that his majefty in par-
liament, of right, had power to make white men black men;
to oblige the Antipodes to hear, fee, and feel, by the fenfes
of Engliſhmen; and to transform millions of the hu-
man fpecies, into calves and camels; or what is no
lefs abfurd (meaning the right not the fact) to bind the people
of the American colonies by ftatutes in all cafes whatfo-
ever;'-I fay, from the whole of thefe opinions and affer-
tions, it is but too evident, Sir, that your political com-
B
pafs,
"I honeftly and folemnly declare, I have in all feafons
"adhered to the fyftem of 1766," pag. 96.

( 10 )
pafs, how true and fafe foever to fteer by in Britain, hath
loft its rectitude when removed to America. Correct it,
Sir, I beseech you, ere it be too late; becauſe I fear that
thoufands will confide in it; and probably the firft peace-
making minifter, availing himself of this confidence, and
the general error of the people, will fteer by one adjufted
to the fame imaginary variation; to the inevitable diftrefs,
if not, in the end, to the fhipwreck of the ftate. Do
not, Sir, imitate the modern minifterial dignity, of per-
fifting in wrong; nor the bed-ridden parental dotage,
which talks of pap, of leading-ftrings, and the rod, for
that child, which, did it but retain its fenfes, it might
perceive to be in a ftate of manly vigour and indepen-
dence; parent himſelf of a numerous offspring, lord of
a mighty houfhold, and mafter of immenfe poffeffions;
and yet the filial, though not the flavifh; the voluntary,
not the fervile, prop of its declining age and decrepitude.
Lay, then, Sir, your hand upon your heart, and anſwer
me, or rather anfwer to God and to America, the three
following plain queftions: 1. Doth not the Britiſh confti-
tution, and the law of nature, which may in no wife be
overturned by any human conftitution whatfoever, (malgre
all the qualifications, refervation, and fubtle evafions that
fophiftry can devife) abfolutely require that the people,
thofe at leaſt who are proprietors of, and are thereby per-
manently attached to, the foil, fhall actually fhare in the
powers of legiflation; by giving their confent either per-
fonally or by reprefentatives of their own choofing, to all
laws which are to be the rules of their actions:- Not only
thofe of taxation, but thofe equally which limit the exer-
cife of executive power, which erect national tribunals,
and which eftablish any other regulation (be it even of
their
*This law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and
dictated by God himfelf, is of courfe fuperior in obligation
to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all coun-
tries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity,
if contrary to this; and fuch of them as are valid derive all
their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately,
from this original.
Blackftone's Com. Vol. I. p. 40.

( II )
their foreign trade,) that may affect their properties, their
liberties, or their happiness in any particular:- And doth
not the conftitution, in requiring all this, as abfolutely
pronounce that, where there is no fuch participation, no
Jubjection is due? 2. What fhare or participation in the
powers of the British parliament is poffeffed by any Ame-
rican, as an American? 3. If no individual then, in A-
merica, by fharing in, be fubject to, the powers of the
British parliament; how can all of them, in their collec-
tive capacities as ftates and civil communities, be fubjec
to this power? Surely that circumftance which finketh an
individual below the level of freedom, muft equally debafe a
nation into a condition of flavery.-The " fuperintending
"power" of Great-Britain which [92] you propofe her "to
"difpenfe, as from the throne of heaven," perhaps I might
not fo ftrongly object to; could I be tolerably well affured,
it would not in time degenerate (as human magifterial
power uncontrouled bath ever done fince the beginning of
the world,) into a power that the Americans would ra-
ther fuppofe to be difpenfed from the dark council of
Pandemonium; or could I be certain that it was not
equally to be dreaded, as neceffarily tending to the deftruc-
tion of our own liberties. But, prefuming, Sir, you will
not become her furety in that refpect, fince you very pru
dently tell the minifter [10] "you can give no fecurity,"
that the colonists fhall not rife in their demands, upon a
conceffion of justice being made them, which you efteem
it infamous to with-hold; I can by no means agree with
you to put into her hands this weighty fceptre, for "co-
ercing the negligent, reftraining the violent, and aid-
"ing the weak and deficient, by the over-ruling pleni-
"tude of her power;" efpecially fince you tell me in
plain terms, (not, 1 am fure, adverting to the blafphemous
nature of the expreffion)" this power must be boundless;"
[93] becauſe I verily believe, that without the other
boundless attributes and infinite perfections of the Deity, to
whom alone boundlefs power belongs, to direct its opera-
tions, it would infallibly bruife the head of America, and.
crufh her into a Sardinian fervitude*. I hope, Sir, it
B 2
Farmer's Letters.
was

( 12 )
was not at the time when you were yourfelf connected
with a very noble perfon at the head of the Treafury de-
partment [56] that you firft affixed to the words British
Empire, thofe magnificent ideas you give us of it, page
92, 93; nor that any hope or perfuafion of mind that the
fyftem of 1766, together with its framers, fhall one day
be reftored, which attaches you fo firmly to it. I hope
this, Sir, from the opinion I have of the goodneſs of
your heart, and from my natural unwillingness to believe
that the man, who, befides being an affiduous and diftin-
guifhed labourer in the public caufe, is no lefs the amiable
example of virtuous privacy and the charm of domeftic
fociety, can ever become fo egregioufly fottifh, as to caft
away fuch happineſs and true glory, for aught that Mam-
mon or Lucifer hath to offer him. Unjuft as the decla-
ratory act of 1766 was in its principle, I know not, but
at that period, it might have been quietly acquiefced in
by the Americans, provided our taxing fchemes had not
been revived; but I cannot believe, even in that cafe, it
could have operated fo contrary to the nature of things,
as to have preferved concord and mutual advantages to
the two countries for any confiderable length of time to
come; except the affumption of this unlimited power had,
like the fplendid titular affumptions of a Chinefe Em-
peror, been univerfally confidered as mere empty words
without any meaning, and Great-Britain had totally abftained
from the fmallest attempt towards an exercife of it. Theſe
being my fentiments, I cannot but look on the paffing of
fuch an act as a moft unpardonable folly. Confcious as
you feem to be [87, 90,] that the difcuffion of fuch a
queftion had a direct tendency to deftroy, even that de-
gree of authority (and no fmall one) which the blind af-
fection and fuperftitious reverence of the colonies for their
mother country had eftablifhed, by habit and undifputed
precedents, from the beginning; had it not been wifer to
have totally abftained from starting it at all; and to have
invariably acted towards the colonies, as we fhould have
done towards ftates that knew full well, and jealouſly
maintained, their independency of us; but yet of whofe
fidelity towards us we were well affured, by an unex-
ampled national attachment and union of interefts, to-
gether

( 13 )
gether with all the influences of one common language,
religion, and conftitution; the fame manners, cuftoms,
and fentiments? Had we thus, in the year 1766, faga-
ciouſly avoided "going into the diftinction of rights,
"and attempting to mark their boundaries [89];" (that
is, on the part of the poor Americans; for the rights of
Great-Britain we modeftly declared to be boundless ;) we had
done well; we had done wifely. It was your own mi-
nifter, Mr. Burke, it was Lord Rockingham, and pof-
fibly, Sir, adviſed by yourſelf, who, in a more eſpecial
manner, brought into difcuffion thefe "metaphyfical di-
"ftinctions;" who thus "intemperately, unwifely, fa-
66
tally fophifticated and poifoned the very fource of go-
"vernment," and attempted to argue the colonies into
"flavery:" and that too, by what court reafoners feem
to plume themſelves upon as a very "fubtle deduction,
"from the unlimited and illimitable nature of fupreme fo-
"vereignty;" though in truth it is a dogma fit only to
paſs in the fublime Divan, or from the infallible lips of
his holiness, towards Turkifh and Italian toe-kiffers and
lickers of the duft; whereas his lordship's doctrine of bind-
ing in all cafes whatfoever,' was preached to an intelligent
and free people, having legiflatures of their own, and who
owed not the fmallest obedience whatever to fuch fovereignty.
To fuppofe that king, lords, and the houfe of commons
for the time being, conjointly have authority to do any
wrong or injury to the reft of the ftate, is as ridiculous as
to admit, that the head and hand may contrive and exe-
cute any mifchief or mutilations upon the rest of the
body. Nor, until fome great chriftian cafuift hath de-
monftrated fuicide to be juftifiable, fhall we ever be brought
to acquiefce in the abfurd, though very folemn decifion
of the learned Judge Hale, and recited, with no fmall
parade, as an indubitable authority by his more learned
brother Blackftone, in his Com. p. 161. in order to prove
that one's band may plunge a dagger into one's heart, or
one's head by the denying of nourishment, may ſtarve
one's body to death; and for this wife and wonderful reafon
that the heart and the body cannot help themfelves.
Here indeed my allufion fails me; as their reafoning, had
they recollected how many fupreme fovereigns have been
punished

( 14 )
punished for their "mif-government *," did them: and
I trust that the body of the people of thefe free kingdoms,
the heart and the reft of the faithful members, will either
reftrain or puniſh that hand or that head which fhall ever
confpire or attempt any thing againft its life or well-being.
This illimitability may be an ingenious law fiction, and
well calculated, as fuch, to anfwer certain ufeful purpoſes
in diſpatching the bufinefs of the law courts: but when
offered to our underftandings for a fact, it must be re-
jected with difdain as a moft abominable dogma; either the
legitimate child of ignorance or a cunning baftard of ty-
ranny, but certainly the natural parent of flavery. I would
therefore beg leave to propofe, that in the next edition of
your fpeech, there be made to every propofition ftating
the illimitable nature of fupreme fovereignty," the fmall
addition of thefe three words, to do good,' by way of
amendment; which, from a fallacy and a treaſonable
affertion, will convert it into a truth, and a conftitutional
maxim. Had thefe fubtle deductions," in favour of
the boundlefs power" of parliament, been the "me-
taphyfical diftinctions" you meant, p. 89, I fhould
moft heartily have accorded with you in hating the
very found of them:" but when the enormous, the
odious pretenfions of the Declaratory Act, preceded and
fucceeded by a train of grievous oppreffions under other
adminiftrations, had rouzed the unmindful colonifts and
their English friends to an exertion of their thinking
faculties, in order to fhew the juft diftinctions of the
facred rights of human nature, and to mark their bounda-
ries, I fhould not have expected from any, but the fophif-
tical advocates of tyranny, a condemnation of fuch a pro-
ceeding; as I efteem it a moft generous tafk, and one of
the most indubitable marks of genuine patriotifm. Milton
and Locke were refpectively ftigmatized, by the tools of
defpotifm, as refining fpeculatifts;" and Sydney paid
the forfeit of his blood for oppofing, to the abfurd and im-
pious dogmas of Filmer, (the champion of illimitable fove-
reignty and powers for binding in all cafes whatsoever,) his
metaphyfical diftinctions:" but pofterity hath done them
all juftice. Whatever might have been the profpects of
advantage
66
Comment. p. 161.

( 15 )
advantage in the year 1766, from eftabliſhing an unjuft
fovereignty over America, it is evident, that even then,
the actual exercife of it would have been fcarcely practica-
ble with the moft extreme caution and tenderneſs: but
now, in the year 1775, after all that hath paffed during
nine irritating years to awaken the fleeping colonifts, and
to exafperate them to the laft degree their patience is ca-
pable of bearing; but now, I fay, the attempt is a flight
of madneſs not to be accounted for, but from an appre-
henfion that God fees it is high time to humble our pride,
by leaving it to baffle its own vicious defigns by its folly;
or, for the fins of the nation, is pleafed to fuffer it, by in-
fatuation, to caft itfelf headlong into deftruction. America
may now be confidered, as an induftrious and intelligent
youth juft arriving at man's eftate; who, having chear-
fully ferved a long apprenticeship under us, muft now, if
not admitted into partnership, become our rival in trade.
Like other juniors, he will be content to fhare the profits
in a fubordinate degree, proportioned to the inferiority of
his capital and connections; but he will acknowledge no
other dependence; he will no longer be our bond-fervant.
Too well doth he remember the hardships he hath fuffered
in our fervice, to enter into new indentures of fervitude,
now that his legal term is drawing towards its expiration.
Indeed, had we been poffeffed of any portion of that wif-
dom which belongeth to "the children of this world,"
we might, for a long time to come, have kept him in
ignorance of this fecret; his indentures being in our own
keeping, and he being eafily fatisfied with whatever in-
terpretation of them we thought fit to make: until, fwell-
ing with the flatulent ideas of our own dignity and impor-
tance; debauched and impoverished by luxury and extra-
vagance; we impofed upon him too fevere a drudgery,
and began to ftarve and to fcourge him rather too unmer-
cifully. By this folly we have literally fcourged him into
a neceffity of afferting his independency, for we have
driven him, not only from his relaxations and play, but
from his work; and forced him to deny himſelf even com-
mon repofe, in order to feek in the fchools for forms of
language, in which to exprefs his fenfe of our ill ufage,
and the natural feelings of his foul, which taught him to
know

( 16 )
know that there was fomething incompatible, between
our treatment of him and what he was intitled to. Nor
hath he fought in vain: but, fupported in his own mind
by a confcioufnefs of his juft rights, and juftified by the
refinements" of thofe " fpeculatifts," Locke, Milton,
and Sydney and by the metaphyfical diftinctions"
which the volume of nature hath unfolded to his own re-
fearches, he is now ready, Sir, in your own expreffive
words, to "caft your fovereignty in your face." Nay,
the American is become both by precept and example your
moft faithful monitor, your beft inftructor, in the only
poffible means of preferving your own liberties; and of
recovering from that flate of corruption, of which the
conftitution is fick at heart; by maintaining his own rights
on the undeniable principles of truth and juftice; oppofing
tyranny with a manly temper, firmnefs and dignity; and,
above all, by intrufting the guardianship of them to un-
placed, unpenfioned, and uncorrupted delegates. Doth it not
behove us then, either as "children of this world," or as
**children of light," no longer to injure or infult him
with the exercife, or the claim, of any power incompati-
ble with his abfolute liberty, his perfect freedom? Your
"fubordinate liberty," take my word for it, (and I hope
I am not a "refining fpeculatift," as I am certain I am
no" factious demagogue,") will not now be thought by
him, "enough for the eafe and happineſs of man;" [94]
becauſe the referved part is to be with-held from him by
injuftice and force; and lodged in the very hands which
do him this wrong; and therefore not very fit to be in-
trufted with fo facred a depofit. No, Sir, he will demand
perfect freedom,-Britiſh freedom-that very freedom you
yourſelf enjoy, and which alone is the legitimate iffue of
the British conflitution: he will be content with nothing
fhort of a participation in that powor which frames all the
laws he is to be fubject to as the rule of his actions.-I beg
pardon, Sir;-my zeal in the caufe of America, and the
irrefiftible impreffions of juftice on my mind, have carried
me one ftep too far: for, fuch is the moderation of Ame-
rica, fuch her defire to "feek peace and enfue it," that
fhe tells you, in her 4th Refolve in Congrefs, that "from
"the neceffity of the cafe, and a regard to the mutual
"interefts

( 17 )
دو
interefts of both countries, fhe chearfully confents to the
"operation of fuch acts, of the British parliament, as are
"bona fide, reftrained to the regulation of her external
" commerce, for the purpofe of fecuring the commercial
advantages of the whole empire to the mother country."
Here, Sir, the fhews that no contemptuous flights nor in-
juries; not a ten-years feries of oppreffion and infult; nor
even the fight of the uplifted British axe aimed directly at
the root of her liberties, can provoke her to forego her
rivetted attachment to this country. This fingle inftance
of her unabated affection, her voluntary humiliation and
fubferviency to the welfare of the parent ftate, effectually
gives the lie to the charge of ingratitude, and the defign
of breaking through all the commercial reftraints which
fecure us the monopoly of her trade; that have been fo
loudly and fo indefatigably trumpeted forth by the diabo-
lical agents of tyranny, and have exerciſed fo many pro-
ftitute pens. This proves that, anxious and irritated as
fhe is, it is pure juftice and wifdom, not refentment,
by which fhe is actuated: and in this it is that ſhe con-
firms, under her own hand and feal, what I undertook to
engage for on her part, when laft fpring I propofed a par-
liamentary declaration of her independency, and the forming
with her an effectual union of interefts, by means of a league,
in which the fhould be a free, voluntary contracting party.
Thefe are my words: "Not being able to pay Great-
"Britain in fubfidies of ready money for her protection
"and friendship, they (the American ftates) will grant
"her an equivalent in exclufive trade *."-What more,
in the name of common fenfe would we have?- -Will
nothing fatisfy us, but her liberties at our feet?-Shall
we wade up to the eyes in blood" for only the chance
of the fhadow, when fhe offers us the fubftance, the re-
ality? Will the high-founding word fovereignty, or mil-
lions of fterling gold, beft fill the treasury and fupport the
dignity of Great-Britain? Poffibly I may be fomewhat
fingular in opinion; but I cannot help being much in-,
clined to confider the tyranny and perverfenefs of admini-
ftration towards America for ten years paft, as one of thoſe
bas gracious
American Independence the intereft and glory of Great-
Britain, p. 66.
C

( 18 )
gracious and benevolent difpenfations of Providence to-
wards a chofen people, which, though a prefent calamity,
is nevertheleſs, according to the eſtabliſhed order of things,
a neceffary one; and productive of great, folid and lafting
bleffings in future. Such is the imperfection of our na-
ture, that for the most part, and nationally confidered,
we are incapable of understanding, of valuing or enjoying,
any ftate of extraordinary profperity and happinels, that
hath not been preceded by one of adverfity; by a compa-
rifon with which we can eftimate its felicities. In order
to enjoy, we muft not merely poffefs: but it is requifite
that our minds, by activity and exercife, perceive all the
caufes, connections, relations and dependencies of that which
we poffefs; the noble faculties of our fouls must be called
forth by trials, hardships, and struggles; loffes, difappoint-
ments and dangers, together with every fpecies of difcipline
which, in this ftate of probation, is neceffary to the per-
fecting of virtue. Had not God, in his paternal anger,
permitted this chofen nation to have been vifited by the
detefted race of Stewarts and a long afflicting civil war,
'tis certain the fucceeding chain of events had not taken
place: and 'tis more than probable, that the feeds of dif-
folution which lay lurking in the bowels of the ftate be-
fore their advancement to the throne, had they been nou-
rifhed by an uninterrupted calm and the treacherous fun-
fhine of apparent profperity, would long fince have ſpread
their poifon to the immediate fources of life, and deftroyed
the conftitution. But it was that dreadful night of tempeft
and darkness, that feafon of fevere adverfity, which rouzed
the genius and fpirit of the nation; and to which we were
indebted for the fucceeding beauty and vigour of the con-
ftitution, by purging off the greater part of thofe foul im-
purities and feeds of death. Heaven grant that its now
fading bloom and failing ftrength, thofe fure fymptoms of
inward difeafe, may be again reftored ere it be too late!
It was, I fay, during the very term of that vifitation
of God's anger, that he was providing for the future un-
paralleled felicities of this nation; and literally caufing
good to grow out of evil, by raifing up within that period
thofe great and excellent men, who, feeling the feverish
and alarming ſtate of the times, contemplating the ſcene
I
around

( 19 )
around them, and fteering by the compafs of the British
conftitution, have by their writings done more fervice to
the caufe of liberty and the rights of mankind, than ever
had been done before by all the boafted patriots of Greece
and Rome, together with thofe of every other nation in
the world collectively.-As thofe unhappy times produced
Sydneys, Lockes and Miltons; fo we find the prefent, daily
bringing forth Shipleys, Dickenfons, and many other truly
"noble, honourable, and patriotic advocates of civil and
"religious liberty, who generoufly and powerfully efpouſe
" and defend the caufe of America, both in and out of
"parliament *." I do not therefore repine at the dif
treſsful conteft which hath fo long exifted between thefe
kingdoms and the colonies, fince by God's mercy it hath
as yet been bloodlefs; and fince, ftill relying on the good-
nefs of his Providence, I truft it will terminate in adjuſt-
ing their true, their natural and moft beneficial relation to
each other, which is that of an independent friendship and
alliance; in perpetuating their harmony; and in radically
curing thofe latent diftempers, which might otherwife
have proved fatal to the liberties of both. Such I think no
man of forefight can doubt would have been the fad event,
had either the fupinenefs of America, or the cunning mo-
deration of the minifters of Great-Britain, kept her in
what you call [87] her old, her ftrong, her tenable
pofition," long enough to have fixt her immoveably on
that fure ground," on whofe folid bafis her machines,
once fixed, the might, as you inform her, " have drawn,
"worlds towards her." But worlds, Sir, are not to be
drawn towards each other, or fettered with chains and
unnatural bonds, but to their mutual deftruction. Their.
general well-being; and the benefits reciprocally to be de-
rived, from light and genial warmth reflected on each
other refpectively, are only to be preferved by their keep-
ing their appointed diftances, by moving each in its own.
orbit, and by being kept from flying off from their centers
into chaos, by the fweet influences of attraction, that beft,
that univerfal, that ftupendous law of nature, by which
the material, the moral and the divine worlds are all up-
held and preferved in harmony. Trufting, as I fay, that
C 2
66
*Concluding refolve of the congrefs.
our

( 20 )
our prefent conteft will finally terminate in the indepen-
dency of America, and ftop us fhort in the mad career
of dominion; that it will teach us to know that any im-
perial poffeffion* beyond the British feas, except a few
fcattered iflands, factories and forts for the ends of trade,
would ever be a mill-ftone at the neck of the conftitution;
in as much as it would encumber it with extrinfical pow-
ers it could not manage, or exert but in a way inimicable to
internal health; and as it would moft obviously add enor-
mous weight to court influence; againft which, the other
balancing powers are already little more than a feather;
as the unavailing wifdom and eloquence of yourfelf and
others, in both houfes of parliament, muft long fince have
convinced you; I cannot but congratulate with my country
on the very error of Mr. Grenville, which hath been
thought fo prolifick of mifchief, and kifs with reverence
the rod of our chaftifement. A Hercules with many bo-
dies under one head, would have been an impotent, un-
wieldy monfter; not an invincible hero and demi-god :
it would have been a more prepofterous fiction, than
that of the hydra with many heads to one body. But a
monfter with a multitude of bodies, all of which except
one are feigned to be three thousand miles from its head, was
a monfter referved for an abortive conception in the wild
imagination of modern policy in its delirious reveries.
Believe me, Sir, there is no fterling fenfe in the words,
"British Empire," when fignifying unbounded dominion
with unbounded power over the immeafurable ſpace of
the North American Continent; and that, fo applied,
they are no better than founding brafs or a tinkling
fymbal,' to charm a proud, deluded nation to its ruin.
In the warmth of a fenatorial debate, and the rapid flow
of your imagination, which refembles the Amazonian
torrent, the collected force of ten thousand ftreams, break-
ing irrefiftibly a glorious inroad through the frontier of the
vaft Atlantic, and fcornfully beating back his embattled
waves, it might indeed have been allowed you to have
crayoned out for Great-Britain a fanciful" imperial cha-
"racter; in which, as from the throne of heaven, fhe
"fhould fuperintend all the feveral inferior legiflatures
* American Independence, p. 23.
66 of

(( 21 )
of America; guiding and controlling, without annihi-
lating any;-coercing the negligent, reftraining the
violent, and aiding the weak and deficient, by the
over-ruling plenitude of her boundless power; and when
❝ her requifitions were not implicitly obeyed, faying to
the delinquents,-tax yourfelves for the common fup-
ply, or parliament will do it for you;" [92]-all this,
I fay, as well as to pafs by nice diftinctions," and to
trefpafs a little on the "boundaries of right," might
have been very allowable, while flying before the wind
on the flood-tide of eloquence, and by way of declama-
tion; but when you coolly, and deliberately, fat down
to write for the inftruction of the public; when it was
of the laft importance not to give currency to any opi-
nions; not to excite any vain, proud, ambitious and mif-
guiding paffions in the people; nor to afford any counte-
nance for the minifterial tyranny you profefs to oppofe;
and which is all fupported on the very principle you admit,
and, if it be admitted, is clearly juftifiable, fince legal au-
thority with boundless power, if indeed it may be fuppli-
cated, may in no wife be withſtood:-when, I fay you
acted with this deliberation, furely, Sir, you ought to
have omitted, in your tranfcript all fuch erroneous, falla-
cious and fatal doctrines !
66
That the imperial rights of Great-Britain as ftated
"in the declaratory act of 1766, and the privileges which
"the colonifts ought to enjoy are juft the moft recon-
cileable things in the world," you tell us indeed in fo
many words [92]; and indeed, Sir, to do you justice,
you alfo, by the aid of your heavenly allufion, reconcile
them very glibly to your own imagination, and, I have
no doubt, to the entire fatisfaction of adminiftration.
While Lewis the XIVth was intoxicated with the drunken
fancy of univerfal monarchy, his courtiers did not fail
to fatisfy him that the imperial rights" of France and
"the privileges which the dependent ftates of Europe
"ought to enjoy (wondrous condefcenfion!) were just the
moft reconcilable things in the world:" and that he had
an undoubted right, clear as that two and two make
four, "to fuperintend, to guide, and control them, as
$5 from the throne of heaven;" though they humbly
hoped

( 22 )
hoped his divine Majefty would not in his difpleaſure
annihilate any of them." Yet, Sir, there unluckily
remains one omiffion, one fmall defect in your argument,
which the refining fpeculatift" and the metaphyfi-
"
❝cian," nay I fear even the dull American, will never be
able to get over:-you have forgot the proof of your pro-
pofition; you have totally omitted the legality, the moral
rectitude of your well-founding propofal. Thefe are con-
fiderations, trifling enough, God knows, in the opinions
of fome ftatefmen; but they are nevertheless by a free
people, thought abfolutely neceffary to be attended to, be-
fore obedience and authority can be reconciled. Thanks,
Sir, to the native honefty of your heart, which, though
it incautiously fuffered you to pronounce the aforefaid words,
imperial rights of Great-Britain," hath kept you uni-
formly from attempting to explain them; or in any than
this and other equivalent and fynonimous expreffions
throughout your whole fpeech, from fo much as hinting
at their existence: nay you have given hints, and broad
ones too, that ſhe hath not thefe rights, if her title-deeds
come to be well perufed and examined into; or why
fhould he have any reafon to apprehend" that any
"metaphyfical procefs" whatever, could argue her out
of her whole authority?" [87] Why admonith her to
reafon not at all?"-to oppofe "policy and practice to
"truth and juftice ?"-Befides, you remark [87, 88.]
that the diftinction of internal and external duties," or
taxes," is as nothing with regard to right;" in which,
Sir, you fay moft juftly; and perfectly agree with me
when I affert that, "to acknowledge their independency,
"and to form with them a friendly league, is therefore
"the only method, on the principles of equity, of laying
"them under reftrictions in trade and manufactures, for
"the exclufive advantage of their protectors; but conti-
"nuing to impofe thefe reftrictions by our own authority,
and by force, as it deeply affects them in their property,
by preventing money coming into their pockets, (which is
very nearly allied, when done unjustly, to taking it out
"of their pockets without their confent) is undoubtedly ty-
"rannical *." And, again; [89] interrogating the mi-
66
* American Independence, p. 77.
nifter,

( 23 )
nifter, you fay-"Do you mean to tax America, and
" to draw a productive revenue from thence? If you do ;
fpeak out:-If you murder-rob! If you kill; take
"poffeffion: and do not appear in the character of,
"madmen as well as affaffins." Here again, Sir, I in-
tirely agree with you, that taxing where no revenue is to
be got, is madness; that taxing thofe who are unrepre-
fented, is robbing; and that they who affume legiſlative
authority where there is no right, are murderers and
affaffins; if it be true that whofoever looketh on a woman
to luft after her, is indeed an adulterer; as upon divine
authority we are informed he is; (Matt. iv. 28.) and
moreover, that to claim a "boundless power," is a pre-
fumptuous invafion, an impious ufurpation on the prero-
gative of the Omnipotent. Thanks, once more, to "the
abundance of your heart out of which your mouth
"fpeaketh," for thefe honeft acknowledgments, that
Great-Britain, on your own principles, and according to
your own fyftem of 1766, is at prefent no better than a
murderous affaffin. You may fee then, Sir, clearly enough,
"what is to become of the declaratory act afferting the
❝entireneſs of British legiflative authority." [92] It
ought to be facrificed to juftice, wifdom, and concord.
As for thoſe men who are at once bafe enough to affert
in direct terms, and filly enough to attempt to demon-
ftrate, that fubjection and tyranny are not only reconcile-
able but right; to offer them conviction would be cafting
pearls before fwine; or I would beg leave, in order to
fave them the trouble of turning over the folios of the
Sydney of the laft century, to refer them to three letters of
his more concife name-fake, which I read, with infinite
pleaſure and the higheft efteem for the honeft author, in the
Gazetteer of Jan. the 5th and 26th, and Feb 23d: but,
Sir, to your attentive perufal I will recommend them; and
request you alfo to review once more what myfelf, the feebleft
advocate in the cauſe of liberty, and others have advanced
in favour of American Independence ;-or rather, Sir, with
candour and uprightnefs confult your own very fuperior
underſtanding and feeling heart. Your ferious reflec-
tion, Sir, muft convince you of your error: and that
all your arguments, without exception, in favour of
Great

( 24 )
Great-Britain's fovereignty, are nothing better than a
flimfy ftring of fophifms-a mere rhetorical rope of fand
which, not to fear that it might diffolve like a morning
vapour as you ftretched it acrofs the wide Atlantic,
would affuredly prove no more powerful, nor fit to "bind
"America in all cafes whatsoever," than the well-twifted
wreath afcending from the profound politician's folemn
pipe. And would you, Sir, if it were poffible, by con-
tributing towards the foundations of fuch a power, "ftand
"anfwerable to God for embracing a fyftem that tends
"to the deftruction of fome of the very beft and faireft
❝ of his works?" [96.]
Reflect then, Sir, for heaven's fake !-and be con-
fiftent in your pleadings for the colonifts. When there
fhall no longer appear in your politicks any leaven of
fubordination to four their "liberty;" any refervations
whatever of imperial rights, in diminution of the privi-
leges of nature; any fophiftical arguments concerning re-
quifitions, which, in fpite of every plaufible pretext, in-
volve in them the claims of an inadmiffible arbitrary
power; or any unjuft, becauſe impofed, reftrictions on
their freedom;--but you fhall become, Sir, their gene-
rous advocate, and demand for them a truly Britiſh liberty,
that liberty which you yourfelf enjoy; then, Sir, you
will be their friend indeed; then, Sir, every good man
will give you praife; and I will venture to foretel that
your eloquence, thus breathing pure truth, wisdom and
patriotifm, will then be attended with the powers of
perfuafion, and obtain a fure afcendency over many
minds that are now unmoved by it. It will no longer
be ftopped by the clofing valves of fufpicion, and held
back as a tuneful fong to pleaſe the ear; but will be
allowed a free paffage to the heart, and received there
as a cordial, invigorating balm; congenial with all its
generous feelings, its nobleft emotions, its deareft hopes.
How fhall you fee to remove the beam from the mini-
fterial eye, without firft at leaft plucking out the mote
from your own!-I conjure you then, Sir; you, who
are not wont to deal in fophiftry, or to elude the force
of truth by fubtlety, fubterfuge, or wilful deafnefs; you,
whofe penetrating genius bath enlarged the bounds of
true

( 25 )
true fcience; whofe luminous eloquence is dreaded as the
detector of falsehood and the certain foe of all difhoneft
darkness; you, who have greatly diftinguifhed yourſelf
as a friend to the British conftitution; you, who are not
amongst the wife ones who wear morality as a cloak,
nor the wits who fcoff at religion and all its facred obli-
gations; you, Sir, I conjure by all thefe confiderations,
to reflect ferioufly on what, with the honeft freedom
which becomes every man who hath the public good at
heart, I have pointed out to you; and then obey the
truth-fpeaking dictates of that monitor which God hath
given you for your moral guide. I want you not, Sir,.
to break through your attachment to Lord Rockingham ;-
or to diffolve any honourable connection that may enable
you to ferve your country the more effectually. But let
it be apparent that it is your country, and not a party,
you mean to ferve; that you are truly and wholly, actu-
ated by public fpirit, and not by private intereft. Flatter
no man's weakneſs; defend no man's errors; minifter
to no man's ambition, at your country's expence. Lay
afide every party prejudice, and every ill-founded fyftem; du
efpecially that which gave birth to the tyrannical and
abfurd declaratory act of 1766. Prove yourfelf, by pu-
rity of principle and confiftency of conduct, to be un-
biaffed, uninfluenced and independent and leave us not
. to lament that faction and corruption are at the bottom
of every pretence of ferving the deferted and deluded
public; and to repeat, with a melancholy, a mournful
emphafis; "Cæfar hath friends; and Pompey hath
"friends: but none are friends to Rome."
I have repeatedly denied the legality, as we all deny
the expediency, of the late and prefent Britiſh fyftem of
American government: and the fields of allufion are well-
nigh exhaufted in order to illuftrate thefe truths. There
are however a few allufions more, which, if they have
been made ufe of, I do not remember to have obferved.
But before I proceed to them, let me remark, that when
we fpeak of Great-Britain and America as mother and
daughter, it is rather a delufion than an allufion as it
tends to obfcure, not to illuftrate their real relation to
each other. For 'tis not the country of the new world,
brought
D

( 26 )
brought as it were into exiftence by late difcovery, the
inanimate earth, the trees, the ftocks and ftones, which in
old England are the objects of our thoughts when we
difpute about the government of it; but it is the people,
the inhabitants of that new world, which are, or ought
to be, the objects concerning which we reafon. Now it
is evident that the prefent generation in this fame old
England, can with no propriety be efteemed the parents
of the prefent generation in America; and therefore are
not intitled, on that plea, to any authority over them.
It is evident alfo, that their true relation by blood, is the
fame as that of two defcendants from the fame family
ftock; whofe refpective progenitors long fince feparated,
and branched into two diftinct families. We may there-
fore with the ftricteft propriety, and with a clear illuftra-
tion of the principles I maintain, confider Great-Britain
(the nation, not the country; the people, not the foil;)
as the male defcendant, reprefentative, and heir, of the
elder, while we regard America as the blooming heiress,
of the younger branch. How lovely, how defirable an
object of enjoyment to Great-Britain, let every one judge!
But fhall he, like an Eaftern defpot, doom her to a
fplendid wretchednefs in his feraglio; never more to hold
a focial commerce with any but her hated lord; nor to
tafte the fweets, the pure delights of liberty; and though
mocked with the foothing title of Sultana, knowing too
well fhe is no better than the flave of his luftful appe-
tites? Or, like a ftill worfe Barbarian, a very banditti
ruffian, unmoved at her tears and intreaties, and deaf to
her cries, fhall he brutifhly think to ftrike her to the
earth, and while deprived of the powers of refiftance, to
become her impious ravifher? But let him not forget,
that the hath a noble and indignant foul; and that the
poignard, with which the hath been taught to arm her-
felf, was he to make the foul attempt, might poffibly,
in the moment of her defpair, be plunged with a deep
and deadly ftab into his guilty heart, and preferve her
honour unviolated.-No!- Better counfels fhall guide
"him."Recovering from the ftate of inebriation, in
which the bafe fycophants who fed his pride, and the
vile pandars of his unlawful pleaſures, had artfully kept
this

( 27 )
this noble youth, for their own wicked purpofes; and
with a ftern, majeftic countenance, commanding them
from his prefence; he fhall view with his own eyes the
lovely virgin; and recollecting their mutual tenderneſs
from earlieſt infancy, and the infeparable nature of their
interefts; acknowledging her native charms, and all her
intrinfic worth; his fiercenefs in a moment fhall melt
into fondnefs; when, leaving her to her juft liberty and
rightful independency, he fhall court her to his embrace
with a manly and generous franknefs; with fincere love,
honour and refpect: while fhe, wiping away the last
falling tear, and giving to the winds all the anxieties
with which his lately eftranged affections had filled her
aking bofom, all her prefent fufpicions, all her future
fears and apprehenfions, fhall, with angelic loveliness
and heart felt rapture, fly into his protecting arms; when
inftantly the facred hymeneal rites and plighted vows fhall
feal between them an indiffoluble union. An union agree-
able to nature, to juftice, and to freedom; and furely the
fitteft that can be imagined for promoting their mutual
interefts! The nuptial contract, with the voluntary con
fent of America; and not a British ftatute, doing violence
to juftice and her inclinations muft be the Declaratory Act
to limit their reciprocal duties, and the refpective de-
grees of control and fubordination neceflary between
them. But though I propofe that America fhall become
the wife of Great-Britain, be it remembered, that I do
not mean fhe fhall therefore obey his arbitrary will, nor
that he fhall have a direct power to rule over her: be-
caufe fhe hath hitherto always behaved towards him as
an affectionate kinfwoman, rendering him every good
office in her power; and becaufe fhe cannot yet, the
nuptials not being folemnized, have forfeited that natu-
ral independency which God hath given her, by liften-
ing to the fuggeftions of the devil, and caufing her huf-
band's ruin, as Eve did that of Adam; and for which
alone it was, that he was made fubject to his will, by
the curfe of obedience. America therefore, not being
fubject to this curfe, will be entitled to all the benefits
of marriage at its original inftitution; when God in his
bounty beflowed the dominion, and property in and
D 2
over

( 28 )
66
66
over the fifh of the fea, the fowl of the air, and every
thing on the face of the earth upon hufband and wife
jointly," Gen. i. 28, 29. Nor, prior to the curfe,
did he make any diftinction between them, but what he
hath alfo made between Great Britain and America,
The former was prior in exiftence, and hath fuperior
wifdom and ftrength; not for the purpofe of tyrannic
rule, but of guidance and protection: the latter is "an
help meet for him;" not in the abject condition of a
flave, but in that of a loving, refpectful, and prudent
wife, a faithful friend, a focial companion. And herein
are laid, by the laws of nature, the true foundations for
all the fuperior influence and control that is proper or
defirable for the hufband; and in which America, as a
dutiful and faithful wife, will ever acquiefce with plea-.
fure. Let Great-Britain then fay; "This is now bone
" of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; fhe fhall be
"called British America, becaufe fhe was taken out of
"Britain: and therefore I will leave father and mother,
<< and will cleave unto my wife; and we will be one
"flefh," Gen. ii. 23, 24. As you fo frequently, Sir,
refort to holy writ, as to the genuine fource of the fub-
lime and beautiful, you will not, I flatter myfelf, be dif-
pleaſed with thefe references to it; nor to the following
quotation, with which I fhall clofe this letter: nor will
the very fingular, and moft remarkable aptnefs with
which it may be applied to British America, of whom,
as the wife of Great-Britain, it might well pafs for a
prophecy, be loft upon you.
"Who can find a vir-
"tuous woman? for her price is far above rubies (a).
"The heart of her hufband doth fafely truft in her;
"fo that he fhall have no need of spoil (b). She will
"do him good and not evil all the days of his life.
"She feeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly
" with her hands. She is like the merchant-fhips; fhe
"bringeth
(a) As British America is in value far above Spanish and
Portugueze America, abounding with precious ftones and
metals.
(b) We had better cultivate our laborious North American
commerce, than debauch and corrupt ourfelves with the fpoils
of the East.

( 29 )
bringeth her food from afar. She rifeth alfo while it
is yet night, and giveth meat to her houſehold and a
" portion to her maidens. She confidereth a field and
"buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands fhe planteth
"a vineyard (c). She girdeth her loins with ftrength,
and ftrengtheneth her arms (d). She perceiveth that
"her merchandize is good (e): her candle goeth not
"out by night. She layeth her hands to the fpindle,
and her hands hold the diftaff. She ftretcheth out
"her hand to the poor; yea, fhe reacheth forth her
"hands to the needy (f). She is not afraid of the
She
fnow for her houfehold; for all her houſehold are
"clothed with double garments (g). She maketh her-
"felf coverings of tapestry; her clothing is filk (b) and
"purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when
"he fitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh
"fine linen, and felleth it; and delivereth girdles (i)
"unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her
"clothing; and the fhall rejoice in time to come.
"openeth her mouth with wifdom, and in her tongue
"is the law of kindnefs (k). She looketh well to the
"ways of her houſehold (); and eateth not the bread
" of idleness. Her children arife up and call her bleffed;
"her huſband alfo, and he praifeth her. Many daugh-
"ters have done virtuously (m), and have gotten riches;
"but thou excelleft them all," Prov. xxxi.
It
(c) The cultivation of vines hath been attended to for fome
in North America.
years
(d) Her militia is numerous and well difciplined.
(e) The non-importation agreements fhew this.
(f) She feedeth and cloatheth thoufands of our poor manu-
facturers.
(g) See the margin to the text.
(b) The fouthern provinces of Georgia and the Carolinas
produce fine filk.
(2) Belts of wampum.
(k) Journal of the Proceedings of the Congrefs.
(2) She has not a court-kalendar quite fo well filled with
the names of placemen and penfioners as Great-Britain.
(m) See the margin to the text.

( 30 )
It is with great refpect, and a fincere defire that you
may both merit and attain the name of patriot, that greateſt
of all earthly appellations, regal and imperial titles not
excepted, that I fubfcribe myſelf,
SIR,
Your obedient Servant,
CONSTITUTIO.

(1)
POSTSCRIPT.
A
April, 1775.
LTHOUGH the foregoing parts of this work
were all written with an earneſt defire to ferve the
public, yet they have not been publiſhed with an expec-
tation of their being either well received or much attended
to, by thofe to whom they were immediately addreffed :--
until matters between Great-Britain and her colonies
fhould, through the rafhnefs of our counfels, be brought
to extremities; and that, no longer having choice in our
power, we fhould be reduced to act from neceffity alone.
Perhaps there hath feldom been a caufe lefs popular in
this country, nor one that ought to have been more fo,
than that which the writer hath endeavoured to plead.
That our colonies have a right to be independent, is a
conclufion which I am well perfuaded muft inevitably re-
fult from the queftion; whenever difcuffed with temper
and patience, and with a liberal, candid and honeft turn
of mind. Of the truth of this obfervation I can aver, in
the moft folemn manner, that I have had perfonal expe-
rience; and that too, in inftances where the perfons en-
tered into the enquiry under the common prejudices of
Britons in favour of the British fovereignty over them. It
was once my own prejudice. Like the reft of my coun-
trymen not immediately concerned in the government, I
had never reflected deeply on the fubject; nor indeed had
the new matter with which it abounded, been ever treated
of and committed to books. But the cries of America
pierced my ears, and her complaints funk into my heart.
I was moved, and I determined to try the caufe of this
appellant
A

(2)
«
C
6
<
appellant in my own breaft. I found it a good one, and
that he was really much aggrieved. The refpondent
denied not the facts; but attempted to juftify them. To
this end he produced a large collection of charters, ftatutes
and precedents, as the authorities upon which he had
acted. Don't thefe,' fays he, remove every doubt?
Don't they prove that I have a right to impofe accord-
ing to my fovereign will and pleaſure, burthens and fer-
vices, reftraints and regulations upon this difcontented
⚫ ungrateful wretch? That I have a power in fhort "to
" bind her in all cafes whatfoever?"-And bind her I
will. Is not this law? and is not law juftice?-Can
any thing be plainer?' Alas,' replied fhe, thofe are
the laws of your country, not of mine. My legiflators
had no fhare in making them. And thofe bonds which
you produce againft me I never figned: how then, in
any cafe, can they bind me? Much lefs can they bind
me in all cafes whatfoever.-Thefe very writings, put-
ting in force against me all my wrongs, are what I
have moft reafon to complain of. They were all dic-
tated, and figned and fealed by you alone: how then
6 can they conftitute a reciprocal engagement between us?
How can the fole act of one party lay another under an
obligation? And befides, I have from time to time, as
my fufferings or my apprehenfions prompted me, and
in the moſt humble manner, pleaded, petitioned, ap-
pealed and remonftrated against their unkindnefs, leve-
rity, injuftice and cruelty; but all to no purpoſe. And
they are now become fo abominably tyrannical, fo to-
tally devoid of humanity, that they are abfolutely into-
lerable and rather than degrade myfelf below the dig-
nity of my nature by fubmitting to them, I am reduced
to the neceffity of open refiftance +:-and I muft add too,
6
6
6
C
*Declaratory Act.
⚫ that
+ Mr. Bull, in his fpeech on the third reading of the Ame-
rican Reftraining Bill, as printed in the Public Ledger of the
7th of April, 1775, fays as follows:
"Mr. SPEAKER,
"I fhall take up but very little of the time of the houfe;
I will only mention fome facts relating to one very important
article,

(3)
that I am determined to endure, even unto death, ra-
ther than fhamefully fubmit to wear the chains intended
me.
article, becauſe it has been the occafion of the unhappy dif-
putes with, and the violent perfecution of, the Americans.
I mean the article of tea.
"At the time the Eaft-India Company had in contempla-
tion the fending a quantity of tea to different parts of Europe
as well as to America, and to apply to parliament for an act
for that purpofe, I had the honour to be called upon for my
opinion of the meafure by a very refpectable perfon in the di-
rection of the Eaft-India Company, whofe name I am ready
to mention, if called upon by the houſe.
"My opinion then was, and I ftill think it not ill-founded,
that the fcheme was fo extravagantly wild, that it was impof-
fible it fhould ever be carried into execution; but if it could,
it would injure, not benefit, the company, as they could not
fend their tea to any market where it would bring fo good a
price as at home. Befides, it would be an act of great in-
juftice to the merchants here, who have always been used to
buy for exportation at their fales. As to fending tea to Ame-
rica, from a knowledge of their difpofition, the gentleman
was informed they would not receive it; they would look upon
it as fent there, not to ferve them but to enfnare them; they
would be exceedingly irritated; they would moft certainly de-
ftroy it."
Then after going through a very perfpicuous and fatisfac-
tory detail, in order to prove his pofitions, he thus concludes:
"I will not trouble the houfe with any obfervations on
thefe facts; but I own I cannot be brought to believe that the
tea was fent to Bofton to raise money for the company, to get
rid of their load of tea, or to prevent fmuggling, becaufe
each of thofe falutary ends might have been anfwered without
injuftice, or offence to any individual.
"The purpofe for which the tea was fent to America,
and the confequences, are evident now to every man's under-
ftanding.
"For thefe reafons, amongst others very forcible and im-
portant, which have been mentioned in this houfe, I hitherto
have, and fhall continue, to the utmost of my power, to Support
the Americans, thus injured and oppreffed by the cruel and vin-
dictive meaſures of an adminiftration, whofe whole conduct
breathes the fpirit of-perfecution and popery."
See alfo the notes to the ninth Letter, juftifying the de-
ftruction of the tea at Bofton.
A 2

( 4 )
6
me.-But it is with reluctance and with grief of heart
* I utter this declaration. 'Tis an overflowing of anxiety
and anguifh of foul. 'Tis not the language of revenge:
for in fpite of your injuftice and barbarity, I cannot but
recollect with fondnefs the time when, as kinsfolks and
friends we were united by the clofeft, the ftricteft and
moft delightful ties of love and mutual benefits. My
heart bleeds at the recollection; and at this moment I
would fubmit to any hardship or reftraint fhort of the
bafe condition of a flave, in order to be reconciled to
my mistaken and hard hearted perfecutor, and to be
reftored to his once-friendly arms. This is all mighty
well,' rejoins the refpondent;' but I thought thou hadft
known me better than to think of talking me out of my
purpofe. I have fhewn thee the law: I have told thee my
right. I will have the whole of it: I will not abate an
iota. Silence then to thy faucy tongue! I equally de-
fpife thy flatteries and thy threats. Is it not written in
the law, that, of right I have power to bind thee?"
I have bound thee from the beginning *;" and I will
bind thee ftill. In contempt of thy vain ftruggles, I
tell thee, ingrate! I will have my bond +;" or thy
blood fhall pay the forfeit.But a little patience, and
temper, good Sir, faid I: ought you not firft to prove the
right you had to make fuch a law, before you plead its autho-
rity? It would be greatly for the advantage of your caufe,
would you but condefcend to demonftrate this fingle propofi-
tion by fair argument. Nay indeed, fuch a demonftra-
tion would at once determine the caufe in your favour.-
• What! exclaims the lordly refpondent, prove, argue
and demonftrate! My honour, my dignity forbid!.
No-that nonfenfe is the frivolous bufinefs of "the
"fchools 1," and to them I leave it. Here are my proofs;
-here are my arguments and demonftrations.' Pardon
me, Sir, replied I, all that is only paper and parchment
-except there were two contrasting parties, which there
were not; and except they be all figned and fealed inter-
changeably, upon equitable conditions, mutually and re-
ciprocally
Burke's Speech, pag. 89.
+ Shylock.
Burke's Speech, pag. 90.

( 5 )
ciprocally advantageous and obligatory, and binding upon
both parties; which all the world knows they are not.
There is a certain conftitutional maxim, which fays, that
a quid pro quo is indifpenfibly requifite for giving validity
and obligatory virtue to any and to every contract between
two parties, otherwife it is nullus pactus, a void covenant.
All theſe deeds are, to be fure, legible enough; and fure
enough alfo, have for their contents what you are pleafed
to recite ;-the writing is very fair, and they bear plenty
of feals and fignatures, royal and official: Be it enacted,"
and other binding forms, ftand in their accuftomed places;
and they wear withal, to fay truth, a confequential and
refpectable appearance. But this appearance alone will
not be fufficient for your purpofe. If, as the appellant
urged, and as indeed you boaft, they were all of your
own fabricating and impofing, this alone, were they even
unexceptionable in their conditions, renders them abfo-
lutely nugatory. But if, befides this, many of them are
totally fubverfive of juftice and equity, utterly repugnant
to the law of nature, and fhocking to humanity, as upon
the very face of them appears, how, Sir, can you forget
what is due to your own character, and fo far depart from
all that is right and refpectable, as to plead, any longer,
acts which are not only null and void for want of the
effential principles of validity, but fpecifically criminal;
and which it would be equally criminal not to oppofe and
refift! Befides, Sir, I fear that, fhould you remove this
caufe once more, and put it at iffue upon the last appeal,
that even then, with all your fuppofed advantages, it
might not terminate to your advantage. "The race is
"not always to the fwift, nor the battle to the ftrong;"
but fometimes" the mighty are put down, and the proud
"are fcattered in the imagination of their hearts."
"My deeds," fays he, "upon my head! I ftand here
"for law; I ftand here on my bond*"-Be not obſti-
nate, Sir, in a wrong caufe; perufe, I befeech you, thefe
nugatory deeds (nugatory fo far as relates to the point now
in difpute) without a prejudice to your own fide of the
queftion, and examine with equal attention and candour
all that hath been urged againft them, by your own friends.
* Shylock.
as

(6)
as well as your enemies: you will then think differently,
depend upon it; you will chearfully caft them all afide,
and, refuming your wonted franknefs and good nature,
will treat with the appellant as your equal: for all are
equals in acts of contract and convention, and in the fcales
of juftice. Be wife, Sir, and be happy. Your future in-
tercourfe will, I promiſe you, be mutually honourable,
pleafing and beneficial, provided it be regulated by juftice,
temper and right reafon. No,'-exclaims the haughty
refpondent, I will make no conceffions; I will not con-
<defcend to liften to her pleadings, but at my feet. I
am not difpofed to ftoop fo low as to treat, when I have
power to command.-I reject with difdain all obligations
reciprocally binding, while I have power to bind the
appellant, and to keep myfelf free to loofen or to tighten
thoſe bonds as it may fuit my caprice or my convenience.
C
6
6
On this point I reafon not at all *."-They who
have neither fleets nor armies, nor-, nor a trea-
fury at command, may treat and reafon if they pleaſe:
but for myfelf-
"By my foul I fwear
"There is not pow'r in the tongue of man
<< To alter me t."
"I will have the law-I will have my bond," I fay; or
the rebellious blood of that traitrefs!' Since then, Sir,
rejoined I for the last time, you reject alike all conciliatory
propofitions, and, rafhly making the laft appeal, you truft
the iffue of this caufe to the fword, why, be it fo!-
Your deeds be upon your head !-And may the God of
battles be a fhield unto the feeble and oppreffed !
Although, as I have faid above, that I did not expect
the foregoing fheets would for a feafon be either well re-
ceived or much attended to, by thofe to whom they were
more immediately addreffed; as indeed I had little better
expectations from the public in general, until the failures
of all other expedients than that which is there propofed,
fhould open their eyes a little more; yet I truft, that a
difcerning
*Burke's Speech, pag. 87.
+ Shylock.

( 7 )
difcerning and upright few have read them with approba-
tion; and, if I do not deceive myfelf, I think there is to
be difcovered a daily alteration of public fentiment, which
tends, though flowly, yet with certainty, to terminate in
the conclufion I have long fince drawn from the premiſes
which our American conteft hath furniſhed us with.
Thoſe who have given a careful attention to the whole
of the literary altercation in pamphlets and other publica-
tions, and viewed the queftion alfo as agitated by the able
ſpeakers in the houfes of parliament, and have moreover
deeply meditated upon it in their own minds, purfuing
every material argument to its legitimate refult, muft I
am perfuaded have difcovered that it ultimately turns upon
this one point of dependency or independency. While this
capital point remains undetermined, it appears to me quite
a frivolous wafte of time to debate upon any other part
of the queſtion, which is infinitely complex, while each
part refers to this point: it is therefore this, as a leading
principle on which all the reft depends, that ought pri-
marily to be confidered and decided upon, before any
other can be difcuffed with propriety or advantage. I
know not whether the American advocates have paid due
attention to the fundamental principles which have given
fuch authority and fuccefs to their feveral pleadings in fa-
vour of their injured clients: but all of them, they may
depend upon it, when faithfully traced up to their fource,
and allowed their full operation, will as neceffarily and
inconteftably prove the rights of independency to belong
to the British Americans, as they do fupport the confti-
tutional rights of Englifhmen. He who means to fhew
that thofe people are not intitled to independence, and yet
would argue in fupport of their freedom, will foon contra-
dict or confound himfelf; for in order thereto, he muft
derive that freedom from other principles than thofe of
the Britiſh conftitution; which however no one has yet
been filly enough to attempt. Now I do affert and will
maintain, that, by the pure and genuine principles and
the indifpenfible maxims of that conftitution, they are as
much entitled to legiflative independence as Englishmen are
entitled to reprefentation in parliament, to trial by jury, or
any other the moft indifputable conftitutional benefit what-
foever,
2

(8)
foever, becauſe their felf-prefervation requires it. Would
but their many able and patriotic friends amongft us advert
to this truth, poffefs themſelves of it clearly and fully,
and ſpeak it out boldly, they would find it give a ftrength
and confiftency to their arguments, which at prefent they
evidently want and muft want without it, as it is the very
foul of the caufe, and which would not fail to imprefs an
irrefiftible conviction on the generality of their hearers.
and readers. For my own part, I folemnly proteft, that
the main arguments in favour of the colonies, if not
refting on the foundation of their right to independence
as a principle taken for granted, appear to my judgment
very inconclufive and unfatisfactory. They prove indeed
to demonftration the impolitic and abfurd conduct of ad..
miniſtration; and they expofe in ftrong colours their in-
humanity, which the principles of tyranny itſelf will not
juftify: but ftill they leave the foundation of their arbi-
trary power unmoved-untouched:-and fo long as na-
ture itſelf doth not revolt at the exceffes of their cruelty,
they may, on thefe gentlemens own principles, continue
tyrants, and plead the fanctions of law and juftice against
the conftitutional rights of the colonifts.-So long as they
admit that the British Empire, as we proudly phrafe it,
comprehends within it the ftates of America; fo long da
they afford the minifter all the means he wants for the
arbitrary government of thofe ftates; arbitrary I fay, be-
cause it cannot be otherwife in our hands. If thofe ftates be
truly and rightfully parts of this empire, they undoubtedly
muft fubmit to British government; but, British govern-
ment, agreeable to the conftitution, it is impoffible, as hath
been fhewn, to adminifter them from hence, What is
the obvious refult?
I am well aware, that by fome I fhall be thought need-
lefsly to fpeculate and refine, and be warned againft call-
ing in doubt the authority of government with too nice a
fcrutiny. But to fuch I anfwer, that no man would be
more backward than myfelf to rifk the peace of fociety,
by bringing unneceffarily into difcuffion latent and nice
diftinctions in favour of public liberty, which the govern-
ing powers were wife and honeft enough to leave dormant
and at reft as they found them. But when mistaken,
2
defigning

(9)
defigning or violent minifters avail themfelves of the paffive
inattention of the people to thefe diftinctions in their fa-
vour, and thereupon ground a hope of fuccefsfully inno-
vating upon the wholefome guards and defences of the
conftitution; when they make novel demands, introduce
new and unfound precedents, cauſe them haftily and in-
decently to be paffed into laws, and then, under the pre-
tence, and alas! under the fanction of law, proceed to
numberless and unheard-of oppreffions, which the feel-
ings of a Hottentot would inform him were contrary to
reafon and to juftice; and when they fhut their ears against
complaints of thefe wrongs, treat humble petitions with
contempt, dutiful remonftrances as acts of difobedience to
lawful authority, and conftitutional oppofition as rebellion;
reiterating all the while their tyrannical mandates with
more and more feverity every time they are not flavishly
obeyed; when, I fay, they do all this, and throughout
the whole reft their juftification on the letter of the law,
let me afk if it be not high time to fpeculate, to refine, and
have recourfe even to metaphyfical diftinctions, provided.
they be fairly deducible from truth:-in fhort, to ſcrutinize
their pretenfions to the marrow, to fathom them to the
very bottom; in order to detect thofe covered rocks and
fand-banks which are the true caufes of all that disturbance
we behold on the furface of our prefent political naviga-
tion; and to warn the people againft fuffering the anchor
to be caft in fuch foul ground at the peril of fhipwreck;
or trufting any longer the guidance of the vellel to helmf-
men who have brought themfelves into fuch a dilemma,
that they know not which way to fteer for fafety; and yet,
through pride, fhame and vexation, ftill perverfely refufe to
have recourſe to the compafs of the conftitution, which alone
can fet them right and bring them into port. We muft either
do this, or refign our American kindred to abfolute flavery as
by law established. And on this occafion I must take leave to
fay, that to the advice of thoſe who recommend the fup-
preffing of truth, we fhould ever liften with much caution
or much jealoufy, according to their respective characters.
Some there are whom a pardonable timidity, and fome
whom an amiable humanity and benevolence of mind, in-
B
* Burke's Speech, pag. 89, 94.
cline,

( 10 )
cline, and often no doubt with reafon, to this circumfpect
and preventive conduct: but, for the far greater part, it
is the artful and infidious fuggeftion of crafty and ambi-
tious men, who have gotten the power of the ftate into
their own hands; friends to all that mystery, ignorance
and fuperftition on which the keeping of their abufed au-
thority depends, and by which their odious vices are to be
gratified at the expence of the credulous people. Whereas
it is in the divine conftitution of things that fallacy in
itfelf, though not perhaps immediately hurtful, hath ever
a neceffary tendency to introduce evil into the moral and
political fyftems of the world; while truth, on the con-
trary, tends as naturally and neceffarily to the final, though
not perhaps to the prefent, introduction of good. Where
indeed there is no attempt to eftablifh fallacies for wicked
purpofes, it may often be more for the peace and welfare
of fociety that we do not too curioufly fearch after every
hidden truth; but when that diabolical attempt is once
made, we cannot eafily go too deep in our enquiries after
it, nor can we place it in too ftrong a light. Happy will
it be for future generations, if their princes and minifters
fhould profit themfelves of the wife reflections on this de-
licate fubject which they may find in the excellent Confide-
rations on the measures carrying on with refpect to the British
colonies in North America, p. 22-27.
Were we not carefully to diftinguish between general
maxims and their exceptions, the writer might, under the
authority of the foregoing one, have been totally filent on
the fubject of thefe effays: but we truft that the reafons
affigned for the part acted on this occafion, will not only
acquit us of the bafe and wicked defigns of an incendiary,
an unnatural child of Great-Britain, or a traiterous fomen-
tor of rebellion; (charges very liberally beftowed by a
certain clafs of perfons on even thofe champions of Ame-
rican freedom, who have not however as yet given utter-
ance to that horrible word-independence) but that we ſhall
in time be allowed to have ſpoken with the warning voice
of a faithful, though unwelcome monitor; of a fincere,
affectionate and determined friend, though no flatterer.
Confcious of no other motives than what are becoming of
this character, we fhall proceed to deliver fomewhat more
fully

( II )
fully what at first we rather hinted than explained. Though
now indeed it is not our intention to fay more than is ab-
folutely neceffary to prevent cavils, and in order to furnish
materials for thinking upon, to thofe who are difpofed to
think: for, from thofe to whom even thinking is too great
a trouble, we muft not expect the ftill greater effort of
acting in the public caufe; wherefore it is needlefs to fpend
our time in voluminous writing for their information. And
after all, thofe, alas! who are moft capable of judging,
and whofe duty it is to judge of, and to conduct, the pub-
lic affairs, are the laft it fhould feem from whom attention
is to be expected.
But notwithstanding the people, for want of thofe in-
formations obtained by minifters and ftatefmen, are lefs
able to judge accurately, yet it is their juft praiſe that they
are difpofed to judge as well as they can, and have a real
defire that things fhould be conducted for the beft, the
good of the whole being alone confulted. It is therefore
that the judgment of the people, with all its defects, is to
be refpected; that every affiftance is to be afforded it by
thofe who mean well; and that its flow progrefs in arriving
at ripenefs and maturity is to be allowed and waited for
with patience. Like the nut, when moft ripe it is the
moft folid. The people, though flow indeed to receive
inftruction, will however in the end liften to reafon and
learn wifdom. With them, the beft arguments and moft
upright plans will ever be finally approved; and through
them alone it is that the friends of public liberty muft hope
to influence the decifions of the cabinet and the moft
effential meafures of adminiftration, where even two or
three virtuous men, though ever fo refponfible to the pub-
lic from the nature of their offices, cannot, it is prefumable,
guide and direct as they would wifh; but find themfelves
under the neceffity of either abandoning the helm wholly
to bad men, or elfe of carrying into execution meaſures
which they often in their hearts condemn and fometimes
abhor. Sad alternative! And unhappy that ftate where
wifdom and virtue are thus of neceffity obliged to vail to
vice and infufficiency! But fuch the alternative muft ever
be in this country, until the people fhall exert themſelves
to purify the fountain of government: or until the indivi-
dual
B 2

( 12 )
dual who hath alone the power of doing it himself, fhall
greatly undertake the noble, the god-like tafk; and for
that purpoſe ſelect about him and refolutely fupport a few
counfellors of an unfaſhionable virtue and fterling patriotifm,
wife and intrepid enough to work fo thorough and fo ne-
ceffary a reformation, in contempt and defpite of the fer-
vile and adulatory, the interefted and artful, the ambitious
and treacherous counfels of thofe fycophants and devour-
ing locufts that are the general curfe of courts and of
their country. Whatever may have been fuggefted to him
by thofe in his bofom confidence, he will find this the
fureft road to happiness and glory; and the only road to
an extraordinary degree of power, which would then be
as unbounded as Britain and British America in clofe union,
actuated by one foul, and moving in one direction, could
confer. That fuch a glory, eclipfing all the glories of
antiquity would tranfcend whatever hath irradiated any
earthly diadem, that fuch a power would in the compariſon
reduce to mere littleneſs the boafted power of imperial
Rome, and caufe that proud miftrefs of the then feeble and
barbarous world to hide her diminiſhed head, is a propofi-
tion as undeniable, in my humble opinion, as that health,
vigour and length of days are the natural effects of tempe-
rance; honour and happinefs the ufual offspring of virtue.
When I firft undertook to publifh my fentiments on the
critical fituation of this country, with her colonies, I was
far from defpairing that others "would come after me
"mightier than I *;" and it is with infinite fatisfaction
I have obferved to arife, one after another, feveral excel-
lent and moft refpectable writers on the fubject," the
"latchet of whofe fhoes I am not worthy to loofe *." I, in-
deed, with a feeble voice, warned a heedlefs generation to flee
from the evil to come, or more properly to prevent its coming;
but there are thofe who have fucceeded me, of whom to
an infatuated people I might with much verity fay (I hope
without prophanenefs, for though I adopt the emphatical
language of holy writ, I mean no comparifon between the
perfons fpoken of)," there ftand fome among you whom
ye know not +;" preachers of peace and prophets :-
66
*St Luke, chap. iii.
St. John, chap. i. ver. 26.
hear

( 13 )
hear them:-Would to heaven that miftaken minifters
and a mifguided prince would, after the example of the
confcious publicans, fay unto them, "Mafters, what ſhall
"we do?" And that the foldiers likewife would demand
"of them, and what fhall we do?" Becaufe the former
muft receive for anfwer, Exact no more than that which
"is appointed you;" and the latter would be taught to
"Do violence to no man, neither accufe any falfely *."
While theſe greater teachers continue to enforce their ad-
monitions with fuperior eloquence and argument, and with
many an inftructive reference to the page of hiftory, it
being mine to purfue a different path in the fame pilgri
mage, I mean ftill to keep within the fphere I firft allotted
myfelf. I'fhall continue to avoid as much as poffible all
recitals of ftatutes and authorities, all references to facts
and precedents, all appeals to records and hiftories, as
things too often uncertain, vague, indeterminate and con-
tradictory one of another; leading to difputation rather
than to truth and happiness, except comprehenfively un-
derftood, examined and compared with unbiaffed candour,
and treated of in the moft mafterly manner. My refe-
rences are to a law and a conftitution which at all times
paft, preſent and to come, have spoken, do fpeak, and ever
will fpeak the fame language without any alteration or
ambiguity. My appeals are to the common fenfe, the
hearts and confciences of my countrymen. If they mean
honeftly to themfelves and to one another, it will not be
neceffary for their friends to be at the trouble of writing
in a large and voluminous way for their inftruction. But
fuch indeed is the real way of the world, that the writings
of honeft men of every fpecies will be of ufe, and thofe
of the kind I do not pretend to, if well executed, the moft
fo. However, on the fubject now under confideration,
they ſeem to have been carried nearly to their full length;
all in a manner that can be faid in that way, hath been
faid; and for the prefent the fubject feems to be exhaufted.
On the contrary, the line which I have ventured on, I
fear with too much prefumption, appears to have been
neglected: and furely there is field enough for the difplay
of knowledge, the proof of genius, and the exercife of
judgment.
St. Luke, chap. iii.

( 14 )
judgment. I have but as it were paffed through it, gather-
ing only a flender fpecimen of its productions, a few of
its fpontaneous fruits and flowers which offer themfelves
to the hand of every traveller: but to him who hath
ftrength and talents for the culture, there is an affurance
of a golden harveft.But until this wifhed-for husbandman
fhall arrive, and while we have yet a moment's breathing
time ere the bill of famine fhall have driven the infulted
colonifts to defperation, and the fatal confequences fhall
come upon us like a whirlwind; and with ardent, anxious
hopes for the beft, I return once more and for the laft
time to my poft.
It is not in order to difpute, for to that there is no end;
it is not to recapitulate the endleſs errors of adminiftrations
fince 1763, for that too would be a tedious tafk: neither
is it to reprefent what might have been the happy effects
had we invariably proceeded in our ancient courfe of policy
towards the colonies, before the fcheme of taxation made
the firft breach between us; not yet is it to play the ftate-
tinker by pretending to beat out the bruifes of a battered
veffel, to folder up its cracks, and once more to unite by
cramps and rivets its feparating parts, when thefe very
fuperadditions would only, like the new cloth in the old
garment *, rend to pieces its worn-out fubftance, and haften
the more rapidly its final deftruction. No; it is not any
one of thefe impracticable and ufelefs labours I am about
to undertake; but, fince this fame crazy veffel is of the
pureft metal, yet not well adapted to our future ufe by
reafon of its very unwieldy magnitude, and having out-lived
the faſhion of the times in which it was wrought, I mean
that we ſhould act the part of the judicious goldfmith and
caft it anew t. Inftead of one out-fized veffel, confifting
*St Matt. chap. ix. ver. 16.
of
In order that the dangerous language of allufion may not
miflead, let it be obferved that it is not the conftitution of ftate
either in Great-Britain or the colonies I mean to caft anew;
but their relationship, their mutual dependence and the terms of
their intercourfe. Inftead of the impracticable endeavour to
prove them to be, and the equally vain attempt for holding
them together as, one empire; I would have us open our eyes
to

( 15 )
of two parts ill joined to each other, like the bulky extre-
mities of a wasp held together by a too-feeble waift, and
ever liable to be wounded and even to break afunder at
the point of contact, I would have us mould it into two
ſeparate and diftinct parts or members, which yet, like
the ball and focket, fhould intimately correfpond and har-
monize throughout their whole extent, wholly filling and
embracing each other refpectively. Thus would they be
infeparably united; yet their union fuch as to leave each
free to move and act, independent of the other, in every
refpect but that of a capacity to fall away from and defert
its companion; and thus would they be perfectly fitted for
co-operation one with the other. By thefe means too the
ftrength, folidity and durableness of both would be improved
and increaſed, in proportion to the reduction of furface and
contraction of dimenfions in each. Hereby alfo we ſhould
perfectly remedy all thofe defects in their original conftruc-
tion, which neither were nor could be forefeen by thofe
perfons, who through a great variety of different and jarr-
ing defigns and motives, and at many different periods of
time without any kind of concert or conjoint plan, put
their feveral fucceffive hands to this imperfect work: and
all apprehenfions of future breaches, divifions or total
feparation, would be for ever removed; at leaft to a pe-
riod too far diftant in the infinity of time to be forefeen.
While almoft the whole legiflature, for aught that I
know to the contrary, are unanimous in maintaining the
grand principle on which adminiftration acts, namely, that
the colonies are fubject to the fupreme legiflative power
of Great-Britain, and acts confiftently enough fo long as
it has that foundation to go upon; and while a great
majority of the people are of the fame way of thinking,
and ftill believe themſelves intitled, though they know not
how, to the very flattering diftinction and glory of having
a fhare in this fame fupreme legiflative power; that is to
fay, while the minifters have the popular voice in fupport
of
to truth, and follow the dictates of wifdom, by confeffing they
are not, ought not to be, and cannot be one empire; and then
ufe the best means in our power for forming a conjoint and
beneficial confederacy of them, as feparate, free, and inde-
pendent ftates.

( 16 )
of the fundamentals of their American fyftem of govern-
ment; furely they must be thought to have managed ill
in purſuing meafures that meet with general diflike and
condemnation, as arbitrary in an extreme, and directly
fubverfive of the conftitution. Whence this inconfiftency
and contradiction in public fentiment? Muft we not learn
to account for it by confidering the difference of acting
upon falfe principle, and of merely entertaining them as
fpeculative notions in our own minds? Is not the unreflect-
ing and man-affecting youth continually profeffing a wifh
that he could debauch the fifter or the daughter of his
friend or acquaintance, and is there not fophiftry enough
in the flattering language of his paffions to perfuade him
'tis a meritorious, or at leaſt a harmless act: although we
often know that he is the fartheft from being rafcal enough
coolly to premeditate and unfeelingly to perform all the
wiles and villainy neceffary to carry his idle profeffions into
action; and that the first act of bafenefs in his progrefs,
touching with felf-contempt his feeling heart, would open
his eyes, and caufe him to look with horror and deteftation
upon what he fo lately confidered as fair and reputable.
So it is not to be wondered at that the fpeculative notions,
the youthful opinions of an uninftructed and unreflecting
people, flattered and mifled by national pride and vanity,
and moreover duped into a belief that the fruition of
American delights is not to be had without Britiſh fove-
reignty, fhould on this occafion be favourable to the fup-
port of that very minifterial violence and injuftice which
however fhocks them in the exercife. But did a true fenfe of
the political guilt of adminiftration ftrike home upon their
hearts, we may be very certain they would no longer contribute
to it by a heedlefs declaration of fuch fentiments; but with one
voice confefs their error and exprefs their unanimous difappro-
bation of meaſures fo contrary to the conftitution.-While
fo confiderable a party thus do mifchief by fuffering their
reafon and their virtuous principles to fleep, there is much
more harm done by thofe, who for the fake of popularity
and their own purpofes, profefs in a great meafure that
which is right, while we know they have no principles at
all, and are the mere flaves of intereft and a traiterous
ambition. Thefe are the profeffed libertines and confirmed
2.
debauchees

'( 17 )
debauchees in politics; who, while they laugh at the plain
orthodox doctrines in government, hold yet a certain lati-
tudinarian, pliable, free-thinking kind of a faith, which
may very conveniently be interpreted either this way or
that, as fhall be neceffary to condemn a rival or to juftify
themſelves for the felf-fame actions, Thefe men, when
minifters, will commit adultery with a ftate in wedlock,
violate the virginity of a colony, or hold an incestuous
commerce with the mother-country without one feeling
of compunction; and can produce you their philofophical
creed with many a nice diftinction, many a fubtle ftroke
of cafuiftry, which, though it is impoffible to understand,
they will moft religioufly affure you not only affords them
a juftification, but enjoins on them what they have done
as a pofitive and indifpenfable duty. But then, let the
wheel of court-fortune give but a fingle turn, and topple
them out of the feat of power, this fame creed fhall in-
ftantly be produced to prove the clean contrary, Nay,
their piety is now fhocked to fuch a degree at deeds fo
foul and enormities fo grofs, and their zeal for the true
faith runs fo high, they lift up their voices and cry aloud,
that the prefent perpetrators of their own crimes are not
men but monsters, not found political divines but ftate
dæmons, and that nothing less than their blood can make
atonement for their crimes. Of this ftamp I fear are too
many of thofe who are now ready to tear the minifter in.
pieces for coercing the colonies into obedience to that very
authority which they themselves contributed to establish, and
even now (in order to preferve the means of acting the
tyrant themſelves when it fhall again come to their turn)
maintain they are fubject to. After concurring to lodge in
any man's hands an unjuft and arbitrary power, 'tis ridi-
culous to talk of his abufing it. We might with as much
reafon cut a breach in our bank, and complain of the
river for overflowing our lands. It is not, in my opinion,
by carping and cavilling at this propofal and that plan of
the minifter, or running counter to all his meafures, that
his opponents are to fhew their patriotifm at this crifis;
but first, by making a conquelt within their own breasts
over all the pride, ambition and inordinate love of rule
which they shall find there; and then by contending like
C
men

( 18 )
men for the grand conftitutional principles and fruit, not
the empty forms and hufks of government. Before I can
compliment thefe gentlemen with my fuffrage for the mi-
nifter's power being transferred to their better keeping,
they must convince me that they differ with him in effentials.
I muft perceive that they allow and maintain that the colo-
nift's title to liberty is as good and as extenfive as their
own; and that they ftrive with all their ftrength to procure
them fuch a liberty. When they do this, they will have
the fuffrages of moft reflecting, difpaffionate and upright
men to favour their then honeft ambition. But here, alas!
is the ftumbling-block. They can reproach the minifter
with a defign againft the liberties of America; they can
talk, and talk, and fay abundance of fine things in favour
of freedom: but, once mention to them the word inde-
pendence, they fhrug their fhoulders and cry, that is car-
rying things too far;-American freedom is very con-
fiftent with a parliamentary legiſlative fupremacy' (this
indeed is coming to the point, would they but give us
their proof of this propofition; but that I believe they will
find cannot be given.) The colonifts, fay they, are
⚫ certainly entitled to liberty; but (according to Mr.
Burke's language) it must be a " fubordinate liberty:"
it muft not be allowed more than the ample range of a
parliamentary managerie, which is enough furely for
"the eafe and happinefs of man*;" or its wings muft be
properly clipped, in order to keep it within the bounds
prefcribed it by the fuperintending and controlling power
of the prefent ftate.' The plain English is, that not
being the minifter, they are not difpofed to fympathize
with him in bis inordinate love or extravagant exercife of
power; but when it is their own dearly-beloved power, as
members of the British legislature, which is to be parted
with, they are then all fenfibility and fhrink at the very
thought. "Here's the rub that makes tyranny of fo long
"life +." A change of meafures only in American af-
fairs, would probably be more fatisfying to the public than
any change of men which could be made in the American,
or chief refponfible department.
C
Burke's Speech, pag. 94.
+ Hamlet's Soliloquy.
Perhaps

( 19 )
Perhaps there cannot in nature be fo ftrong a refutation
of the fenfelefs pofition that, the colonies are virtually
(that is actually, for the terms are as nearly as poffible
fynonimous) reprefented in the parliament of Great-Bri-
tain,' as the general feelings (of which are born the general
opinions,) of the bulk of the people on the two fides of
the Atlantic. The people of Great Britain, notwithſtand-
ing how greatly they are abufed in this particular, do feel
that they enjoy an actual and virtual reprefentation, fuch
as it is; and they do firmly believe it, nay they know it
of a certainty. But, with regard to their American friends
being fo reprefented as themfelves, and that the very men
whom they alone have deputed are the reprefentatives of
the faid Americans, it not coming home to their feelings, nor
being level with their understandings, fome think one way,
fome another, as information, attention or clearness of
intellect enables them to judge: whereas on the contrary,
there is not an American on the whole continent who can be
fuch an ideot as to believe he is reprefented in a parliament
compofed of men, in the electing and deputing of whom
not one American, as an American, did or could give a
fuffrage; becaufe the certainty of the ill confequences,
the felf-evidency of the point, his common fenfe, and
every feeling of his mind, all give the lie direct to the
impudent affertion. How it can be demonftrated there-
fore, that they are fubject to the authority of fuch a par-
liament *, and that of right it fhould have a power of
6.6
binding them in all cafes whatfoever," I confefs once
more I am totally unable to conceive. This is not the
doctrine of the conftitution; for that doth in every volume,
in every line, in every letter, teach and inculcate the very
contrary.
C 2
I never
*The enemies of liberty may fave themfelves the fruitless
trouble of endeavouring to perfuade us, that there is any
myfterious virtue in the nature of the legislature on account
of its confifting of a king and lords, as well as reprefentatives
of the people, to rule over and bind the colonifts; for the con-
ftitution knows of no legiflative powers whatever which are
not partaken of by the people, who are to fubmit their actions
to their authority.

( 20 )
I never before knew that any ftate of being would
admit of two different definitions repugnant to each other;
and I am curious to fee this new phenomenon in logic,-
a definition to prove liberty to be one thing under the
rifing, and quite a different thing under the fetting fun :
and the more fo, as it ſeems to have an immediate rela-
tion to another matter, which is one of the grand defiderata
in fcience, and a point of high importance to the maritime
world. Should but this new-difcovered liberty be found
to vary from the liberty of Great Britain in any certain
regular proportion as we go eastward or weftward, which
no doubt will be as clearly demonftrable as its own exift-
ence, we fhall then have nothing more to do than to
calculate the exact difference of liberty between any two
meridians, thofe for inftance of London and Bofton in
New-England, and this will give us at once their differ-
ence of longitude, and fave the philofophers a world of
trouble. What a happy difcovery! How the fciences caft
lights upon one another! Who could have thought we
fhould be at once indebted to the fame benefactors for a
new fpecies of, I had like to have faid a new invented
liberty and a difcovery of the longitude? After this hint,
they will be much to blame if they do not pufh on their
refearches and perfect their difcovery; fince fuch folid re-
wards will now await the fuccefs of their labours. I pro-
mife them I will take no advantage of the ladder they have
provided, by running up before them and fnatching away
the golden prize.
The reader will have perceived that I am of opinion,
the prefent political agitation of things, where all is fer-
mention and turbid ebullition, will either refine itſelf into
a happy folution, where all fhall again be tranfparent and
ferene; and wherein British commerce, wealth, dignity
and ftrength fhall all be fufpended and fuftained by affinity
and the fweet influence of attraction in the rectified fpirit
of American liberty and independence, without injury to
its clearness, beauty or relifh; or elfe, that it will flug-
gifhly fubfide into an undefined and undefinable mixture
of liberty and tyranny, of partial benefits and reciprocal
injuries, with the putrid dregs of corruption ever at the
bottom for increafing this muddinefs on every motion by
its

( 21 )
its foul contaminations, in order to prevent the people from
difcovering the fpecific ingredients which are the naufeous
and baneful components, or at leaft from being able to
afcertain their quantities and proportions fo as to know
how to provide themfelves with a proper and fufficient
antidote. He will likewife have perceived that this is a
mixture I am not very willing to have poured down the
throat of America, or adminiftered to this country as the
proper remedy in her prefent vital decay. Indeed, fo far
as relates to the future health and prefervation of the colo-
nies, I have much more faith in the healing virtues of the
following excellent fimples-legiflative feparation and in-
dependence, provincial feparation and independence one
of another, an exclufion of all military policy, except
that of felf-defence by militia, conftant jealoufy and watch-
fulneſs for the perpetuation of liberty, together with a par-
ticular and a general commercial and protective maritime
alliance with Great-Britain: as on our own part, my
only hope lies in parliamentary, and confequently national
reformation, which however I fear nothing but fome fevere
calamity will bring us to; in our thirft for dominion being
moderated and reftrained within 'natural bounds; in pub-
lic integrity, public ceconomy, public induftry and public
fpirit. Thefe are the beft, and I verily believe the only
prefervatives of their conftitutions and reftoratives of our
own. Did but thefe become the general opinions of thofe
who are really friends to their country, and American in-
dependence the firft immediate object of their joint labours,
I fhould hope there is yet righteoufnefs enough left to fave
our city and I am perfuaded, even to conviction, that
this wholefome regimen would infufe fuch new life, fpirit
and vigour into the conftitution of Great-Britain, as in its
political effects fhould exceed in the intrinfic value and
tranfcend in luftre all that ever hath been experienced by
any nation upon earth. Even America, whofe portion
would be the fmalleft, would find herfelf in true and per-
manent happinefs, if not in fplendor, fuperior to the moft
renowned empire of ancient or modern times; and per-
haps not inferior to Great Britain, her auguft hufband
himfelf, if I may be indulged in that adopted term,
But

( 22 )
But yet I am aware, that 1 have the old and the grand
objection to my propofal ftill to contend with. It will
ftill be urged, that when you fhall have acknowledged
and fealed this independency to the colonies, and done
your beft to fecure for yourſelves the beneficial monopoly
of their trade and other advantages, by the general league
of perpetual amity and alliance, of protection and compen-
fation, they will pay no fort of regard to fuch engagements
on their parts; and then you will no longer, for want of
your fovereign legiflative authority, have power to compel
their compliance. I have already fpoken, as the reader
will recollect, to this queftion. I have already obferyed,
that we fhall ftill have the fame force for awing America
into a faithful obfervance of her treaties that we now have
to enforce obedience to a difputed and odious fovereignty*,
which is growing more and more odious every day; and
this with many obvious advantages that do not attend the
exertions of our prefent authority: fo that I will only far-
ther requeſt a fufpenfion of judgment until the reader fhall
have examined and fcrutinized the propofal itfelf; as it
ftands in its new and improved drefs towards the cloſe of
this poftfcript, in the form of a draft for a declaratory and
conciliatory act of parliament. Let it fpeak for itfelf. It
will at least, I flatter myfelf, give better fecurity for the
grand colonial benefits which, I prefume, are the proper
objects of our care and policy, than the prefent red-hot
fyftem of coercion to we know not what, fhould it even
fucceed to the utmoft with and defire of adminiftration;
of which however we may very reafonably doubt. And
fhould it fail, what have we then to look for !-It may be
well with us in that day if nothing worfe than national
bankruptcy and beggary fhall befall us.
Now the utmoft failure of the policy recommended in
thefe effays, which, without violating all credibility, it is
poffible to conceive, cannot at the worft make the Ame-
ricans our enemies, and thereby invite other rival ftates to
make war upon us; neither can it produce any other
important ill confequences, or greatly diminish the trade
and ftrength of this kingdom. That the commercial re-
ftraints to which the league fhall bind them, may be fre-
quently
*American Independence, pag. 65.

( 23 )
quently evaded by the Americans, I am very ready to
grant. And when this is granted, let me afk if I have
not granted all that we have to apprehend as difadvanta-
geous to us from that fyftem. Has the poffeffion of our
fovereignty, I pray, hitherto been found fufficient to pre-
vent fmuggling and illicit commerce; or is there any
newly difcovered virtue in that kind of authority by which
it will more effectually operate in thofe cafes hereafter?
Doth the fovereign power in this ifland, where it is per-
fect, prevent thefe practices on any part of our own coafts,
and even daily under the very nofe of government in the
capital? Let the objectors only fay by what rule, while
we continue to govern America by parliamentary autho-
rity, their clandeftine trade is to be prevented; and I will
undertake to provide regulations among the conditions of
the general league and the feparate treaties full as effectual
for anfwering the fame ends. In fhort, the objection that
the American ftates will not obferve the propofed treaties
with Great Britain, merely because of their being in a state
of freedom, appears to me, when it comes from the well-
meaning, to be an objection of timidity, of narrow com-
prehenfion and error; as I am fenfible it is, from too
many others, an objection of national pride and prejudice
that hath nothing to do with national dignity: while there
is another ftill, and that I fear the moft powerful, though
not the moſt numerous party, from whofe ready lips and
reftlefs pens it is an objection of fervility, bafenefs, trea-
chery, filthy avarice, boundlefs ambition, and every other
vice which in confederacy with defpotifm, is found to be
eternally at enmity with liberty and public happineſs.
By men whofe fouls for ever dwell in the darkness and
chaos of contending paffions, whofe minds are over-gorged
with an indigeftible load of reading, and whofe experience
hath all lain in the hollow ways and beaten tracks of
official bufinefs, or in the crooked and under-ground paths
corrupt policy, the propofal I make will in all probabi-
lity be rejected without confideration, merely becaufe
"the file affords no precedent *:" and the rule I have
obferved, of arguing fomewhat abftractedly; and referring
only to that beft criterion of good government, the three-
of
Burke's Speech, pag. 48.
fold
I

( 24 )
fold mirror compofed of the conftitution of England, the
law of nature, and the religion of Chrift, is not I know
more likely to meet with their approbation. But men of
intrinfic worth, of liberal natures, of great and indepen-
dent fouls, who have fearched into books and men more
with the mental eye than the bodily organ, and who,
taking an enlarged view of things, have reconnoitred well
the geography of the moral and political world from the
eminences of exalted genius and wifdom; men who know
how to ftrike out new paths and to open new communi-
cations as new occafions fhall require; men of this ftamp,
I fay, will be indulgent to my mode of proceeding, and
give at leaft a candid examination to what is laid before
them. While deeply engaged in comprehenfive and com-
plicated plans, while marshalling and ordering the vaft
array of a nation's affairs, and occupied in active fervices
to their country, they will be thankful for any hint which
may ferve to correct the little overfights and irregu-
larities of their movements, and for the occafional com-
munications of thofe difcoveries which their lefs occupied
attendants, even the meaneft of them, may accidentally
have made before them.
But though we talk of new difcoveries, and recommend
to practice untried expedients in policy, it is not thence to
be inferred that we are wandering ourfelves without a
guide, or fhall miſlead others who may incline to follow
us. While we ftedfaftly keep our eye upon our unvarying
compafs; while we refer others alfo to that alone, and
appeal in every ftep we take to the heart of every candid
and unbiaffled perfon, we may fafely venture farther than
any have yet dared to go before us, and we doubt not to
lead the way to reconciliation, harmony and happiness,
provided our intimations be not too long difregarded,
Our ideas are rather fuggefted or hinted than enlarged
upon, wifhing every one to trace them to their neceffary
conclufions his own way: which is a mode of proceeding
not to be relied upon by any, except thofe whofe princi-
ples are founded in truth, whofe intentions are honeft,
and whofe advice is free from the fufpicion of any indirect
views or defigns. Should our fuggeftions furnifh the feed
Foregoing Letter to Mr. Burke,
of

( 25 )
of any useful matter, we truft it will not all
fall by the
way-fide, and be devoured by the fowls of the air *;"
who are fo ready to execute the will of "the prince of
"the powers of the air;" nor yet that it will not wholly
fall upon ftony ground or amongst thorns;" but that
fome part at leaft fhall fall into the kindly and generous
foil of true Britiſh bofoms, and bring forth plenteouſly the
fruits of liberty and profperity. We do not aim at any
reputation from thefe effays: we wish only to fee the tree
we have endeavoured to produce fhoot up vigorously,
thrive and flouriſh under the culture and protection of
more mafterly hands, and become the object of defire
and admiration; while the little kernel from which it
fprang fhall be no more thought of. Our ambition is
that which lives not by the breath of princes, nor hangs
upon the world's opinion; but is fupported and gratified
by the internal confcioufnefs of a fincere defire to ferve
the public, and therefore can feel no mortification or dif-
appointment but in public failures or misfortunes. And.
our aim, while too many well-meaning men are ſpending
themſelves in arguing where argument is thrown away,
is to put forth once more a hand, feeble as it is, in the
actual attempt; by endeavouring to give a real being and
permanent exiſtence to fome rational plan, which, when
the mift of our infatuation fhall be fwept away before the
ftorm that is gathering, and not a moment allowed us for
deliberation, may be had recourfe to as the ready means,
perhaps the only means, of faving the ftate.
With the fame public views which we believe were
thofe of Lord Chatham, when he offered his Conciliatory
Bill to the Houfe of Lords, we have made the following
draught of a bill for the fame purpofe, which however we
hope will not, upon a clofe examination, be found to
contain in it fuch unconftitutional materials as his Lord-
fhip's. Although we have the higheft refpect for that
Lord's political abilities, yet we cannot underftand why,
or by what divine right, the British parliament, in which
the people of our colonies making many flouriſhing ſtates
in America with legiflatures of their own fully competent
D
St. Mark, chap. iv. ver. 3.
for

(26)
66
for procuring them all the ends of civil government have
no participation whatever, fhould or can poffibly, with-
out a violation of the law of nature, enact, that "thofe
colonies of right ought to be dependent upon the
imperial (imperial is a fine word) crown of Great-
Britain, and fubordinate unto the faid British parlia-
"ment." Nor will our underſtanding, although we have
given it very fevere difcipline for that purpofe, be brought
by any means to acknowledge that this faid Britifh par-
liament hath of right any power whatever to make
laws and ftatutes to bind the faid people in all matters
"touching the general weal of the whole dominion of
"the faid imperial (imperial is a great word) crown of
"Great-Britain;" not even in that "indubitable and
"indifpenfible" point, as his Lordfhip thinks it, of "re-
"gulating navigation and trade throughout the compli-
"cated (complicated indeed, if this reafoning holds good)
fyftem of Britiſh commerce." And we believe that
"the guardian navy of the whole British Empire (whole
British Empire is a grand expreffion) will be upheld" by
adhering to ftrict juftice, to equal liberty, and the plain,
and obvious principles of the Britiſh conftitution, rather
better and more fecurely than by any "deep policy" what-
ever. The chief ufe which hath ever been made of deep
policy in any age or country, hath been that of intro-
ducing into government an oracular myfterioufnels, in
order to give the adminifters of it a facerdotal power,
and to render the people a credulous manageable herd of
dupes. Could we have any doubt of the inadmiffibility
of the aforefaid pretenfions of the British parliament, while
they stood by themfelves, furely our eyes must be opened,
and the fallacioufnefs of that reafoning on which they are
fupported be expoſed to our view, when we find that they
are brought to prove a right in his Majefty to keep up a
ftanding-army in the colonies; and, if he thinks proper,
the whole of that army, which is annually voted by par-
liament for the fervice of the whole British Empire, the
fame by his prerogative being under his abfolute com-
mand. When reafoning fails to convince, we may fre-
quently with good fuccefs appeal to people's feelings.-
What would Englishmen feel to have an immenfe ftand-
ing

( 27 )
ing army of Americans quartered upon them at the king's
pleaſure, for no one purpofe which they could poffibly
divine but to enforce his minifter's will?-What muft
the people of New-England at this moment feel?-In-
dignation denies utterance.-Thofe quibbles and fophifms
which are intended to inculcate it as a doctrine, that any
people or nation (and by what exception to the general
providence of God and the laws of nature are the Ame-
ricans to be reckoned neither nations nor people?) may
be rightfully fubjugated to fuch a complete ftate of flavery
as that of having no participation in making even their
own laws of defence, as if inferior to the very brute animals
they were void of the firft principle of nature, that of felf-
prefervation, are fo very contemptible, that I muft con-
fefs it pains me with a mortifying fenfe of human infir-
mity, that they fhould efcape from the venerable lips of
a man renowned for wifdom, magnanimity and noble-
nefs of fentiment. After afferting the right of the crown
to quarter troops upon the colonies at difcretion, of what
avail the following gentle ditty of a claufe? Never-
"theless, in order to quiet and difpel groundless jealoufies
"and fears, be it hereby declared, that no military force,
"however raiſed, and kept according to law, can ever
"be lawfully employed to violate and deftroy the juft
rights of the people."-Is this a claufe to curb the pride
of arbitrary kings and minifters ?-Why are the means
of preferving themfelves,- Heaven's beft gift and the
prerogative of human nature !-to be denied to the Britiſh
Americans?-If thefe, O Britons, are your principles of
colonial government, ye are moft execrable tyrants, un-
worthy the freedom yourfelves enjoy and fo inglorioufly
boaft of! What are the means of your own felf-preferva-
tion as a people, a civil community?-Are they not the
having a participation in all the laws by which ye are
governed; and a controlling power over the crown and
its minifters by your commons holding the purfe-ftrings,
and having the fole giving and granting to the government
its revenues?-Why then are the people of America to be
deprived of the fame means of felf-prefervation, the fame
controlling power, over the crown and other branches of
their refpective governments? This is the grand, the fun-
ઃઃ
D 2
damental

( 28 )
damental principle on which I maintain the right and the
neceffity of independence being given to the Britiſh Ame-
ricans ;-this is the vital principle of the British conftitution
-Deprive it of this one principle, and it is that moment
a dead letter. Not one word hath been advanced by the
legions of minifterial hireling fpeakers and writers, nor
by the many hollow pretenders to patriotifm throughout
the almoft innumerable fpeeches and productions that have
for eleven years paft being poured upon the public, that
hath in the fmalleft degree invalidated this principle: as
indeed it is utterly impoffible that it fhould be invalidated,
for it is written in the book of eternal truths by the finger
of the Almighty.-I do therefore repeat, that unleſs the
British Americans be in a condition to act upon this prin-
ciple, they are in a ſtate of flavery: and except there fhall
be fome way found (which I believe is impracticable) for
effecting an union of their feveral affemblies with our par-
liament, fo as to enable the grand confederated legifla-
ture to act as one body, and to difpenfe equally to the
people on both fides the Atlantic, the ends and benefits
of good government; except, 1 fay, thefe provifions be
made, I do continue to maintain my original pofition,
that the British American ftates, call them colonies, pro-
vinces, or what you will, do not owe any fubjection to
the fingle legiflature of Great-Britain; nor are they un-
der any legal obligation, or neceffity, upon the princi-
ples of natural law, to acknowledge any dependency on
the British parliament.-If this were fo in fact, furely
there is ingenuity enough amongst us to frame a fyllogifm
that would demonftrate it.-But it is an undeniable fact,
that no fuch demonftration hath been given. It is equally
certain that no fuch demonftration can be given.
Having no occafion to accompany Lord Chatham re-
gularly through the whole of his bill, I will now, after
making an obfervation or two more, take my leave of it.
Could I from my heart make a full recognition of the
* fupreme legiflative authority and fuperintending power
"of parliament over the colonies," I fhould efteem the
remaining part of this bill as a difplay of much wiſdom.
and humanity: but utterly rejecting that fupremacy and
fuperintending power, as I do from a thorough convic-
tion

( 29 )
tion of mind, I cannot difcover, nor have I ever obferved
a fatisfactory reafon to have been given, why the prudent
and frugal colonifts fhould contribute one farthing towards
the relief of burthens brought upon ourſelves by our own
folly, extravagance, and corruption. The notoriety of
the fact, that we voted them, of our own mere motion,
confiderable fums for relief of their burthens in the war,
when we were convinced they had contributed more than
their quota, is, I fhould have thought, a full answer to
all the arguments made ufe of on the part of the people of
Great-Britain, for having willingly taken a burthen too
heavy to be borne upon ourfelves and pofterity, which
in no inconfiderable part was for the defence, extenfion,
" and profperity of the colonies," as his Lordfhip, fol-
lowing therein the minifterial writers, expreffes himſelf.
But the moſt fanguine in this expectation upon the libe-
rality of the colonifts, fhould in reafon wait until they
have wholly difcharged their own national debts, before
they require their contributory aid towards the relief of
ours. Indeed a little patience would be fufficient upon
this occafion; for though the expences of the war did
run them in debt, yet by the prudent and faithful ufe and
application of their public money or taxes (for they really
pay taxes in abundance, which many of the good people
of Great-Britain, who are for ever crying tax them, tax
them,' do not I prefume fuppofe, but imagine that they
live in a manner at free-coft, and put all the profits of
their trade in their pockets) they have got themfelves nearly
out of debt again. Had we not better follow their wife
example, than expect them and their pofterity to pay for
our and our predeceflors ftupidity and folly?-Tis enough
furely to entail the curfe of our debt upon our own inno-
cent pofterity!With regard to the provifion which his
Lordship recommends for the perfonal fecurity of the Ame-
rican fubject, and the due adminiftration of juftice in
criminal profecutions, that he fhall not be deprived of a
trial by the peers of the vicinage," it is to be obferved,
that the idea of the judgment of the vicinage, for the fecu-
rity
* See American Independence, pag. 20, where this argu-
ment is more fully refuted: as indeed it hath been by various
writers.

( 30 )
rity and protection of the fubject, pervades the whole fyftem
of English jurifprudence, and is an effential principle of the
conftitution. Hence it is, that in both criminal and civil
cafes we have a right to put ourſelves upon our country;
and even the jury which hath the difpofal of our life or
property in its hands, is fubject to a moft extenfive right
of challenge on our part of the perfons it is compofed of,
in order that we may exclude all fuch as we have reafon to
fuppofe prejudiced against us. And this judgment of the
vicinage is equally our right in refpect of taxation; for the
conftitutional idea in this cafe is, that the fubject fhall be
taxed only through his own delegate fent from his vicinage,
and who knows what he is able to pay, and in what mode
the payment will be moft convenient to him. If I be on
this occafion referred to the prefent houfe, and other late
houfes of commons, and defired to count over the num-
bers of thoſe who come from the vicinage of their confti-
tuents, I am ready to reply, that they ought to come from
thence; that the reprefentatives of the people always did
come from thence, till corruption found its way into our
government, and threw the whole frame into diforder;
and that whenever the purity of parliament and annual
elections ſhall be restored, they will once more come from
the vicinage of their conftituents; at which time, and not
till then, we may look for many neceffary reformations,
and to have the taxes fo levied and fo applied as to leave
the labourer a comfortable fubfiftence, and to relieve the
ftate of the burthen it groans under with fo much anguifh.
This pervading principle in our ineftimable conftitution,
of the judgment of the vicinage for fecurity of life, liberty
and property, fhews us in a moment what are the princi-
ples of thoſe who contend for the right of the parliament
of Great-Britain taxing the people of America. So late
in the controverfy as appeared the writer of Taxation no
Tyranny, and fo univerfally acknowledged as are the great
abilities of the reputed author, I was led to infer that he,
no doubt, muft have thrown fome new light on the point
of American reprefentation in the British parliament, and
of virtual reprefentation in general; but, alas! how great
my difappointment! And how great alfo muſt be the cre-
dulity of thofe who can believe, that fuch an indecent fcrap
of

( 31 )
of trafh is really the production of a pen that hath formerly
done fo much honour to literature, and fo much fervice to the
caufe of morality as that of Dr. Johnjon! It is impoffible
that fuch an impudent attempt as this is upon the under-
ftandings of the public fhould have been made by'any one
who had that gentleman's reputation and moral character
to have preferved. If indeed an imitation of the capital
defects obfervable in the Doctor's ftile, like the mimickry
of an aukward attitude or ridiculous gefture, could at firft
fight ftrike the reader with a refemblance; yet the total
want of argument, and candour, which this pamphlet
betrays, in fo lamentable a degree, muft fatisfy him,
after the fmalleft fhare of attention, that the real writer
of this wretched piece cannot poffibly rank any higher in
the literary, political, or moral world, than fome unprin-
cipled parish pedagogue, in hopes by felling his vote to the
penfioned fquire of being made an excifeman; and from
the air of felf-importance, infolence, and contempt which
runs through every turgid line, he might very naturally
fuppofe this pamphlet to be the fubftance of an oration,
delivered by the affectedly-fententious declaimer over a
mug of porter, amidst a circle of pot-houfe admirers.
The reader must pardon fome little repetition of what
he found in my tenth letter, in order that the whole of
my prefent conciliatory plan may lie together; as I will
leave as much of it as I can poffibly difpenfe with, to be
filled up by his judgment and the obvious inferences from
the leading propofitions.

( 32 )
A draught for a bill, propofed to be
bill, propofed to be brought into
parliament, for restoring peace and harmony be-
tween Great-Britain and the British colonies in
North-America; and for perpetuating the fame
on the folid foundations of national affection, na-
tural justice, reciprocal benefit and mutual fecurity.
WHE
HEREAS, at the time of the original planting
and fettling of colonies on the continent and the
iflands of North-America by the people and the crown of
thefe kingdoms; and afterwards, during the infancy of
the faid colonies, the future ill confequences of their fub-
miffion to, and acquiefcence under the authority of par-
liament were not, by reafon of their then infant and de-
pendent ftate, and the general inexperience in matters of
that kind, either forefeen or duly attended to: And whereas,
through the growing of thefe once fmall and helpleſs colo-
nies more or lefs to maturity, and their having now be-
come, for the far greater part populous, opulent and re-
fpectable ftates, having each within itself the natural rights
and proper powers of legiflation, the exercife of parliamen-
tary authority hath been found to clafh in the moft effential
points with their refpective internal legiflatures, and hath
tended, for a confiderable time paft, but more eſpecially
of late years, to create diffatisfactions and difagreements
between the faid internal legiflatures and parliament, and
between the people of the faid colonies and the people of
thefe kingdoms, to the great grief of his Majefty, his
parliament, and all his good and faithful fubjects; as well
as that it will be to the irreparable hurt and damage
(fhould thefe mifunderftandings continue) of the good
people
I

( 33 )
people in general, and the ftates of both countries, by
tending to abate their mutual affection and confidence, and
by interrupting their wonted harmony and long-eftabliſhed
commerce.
And whereas the colonies of New Hampshire, Maffa-
chufetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York,
New Jerfey, Pennfylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in Congrefs
affembled in the months of September and October laft,
did by their delegates draw up an humble petition, which
was fince prefented to his Majefty, for redrefs of fundry
grievances therein fet forth; and came to many other re-
folutions on the fubject of the unhappy differences ftill
fubfifting between them and this the parent ftate; all which
have been laid before us for our infpection, together with
various other papers of information tranfmitted from the
American governors and others: And whereas thefe weighty
matters, pregnant with the moft important confequences
to thefe kingdoms and the faid colonies, have been taken
into our moft ferious confideration; and after the moſt
full and mature deliberation thereupon, it appears to us
that, agreeable to the law and the conftitution of England,
the eftablished maxims of civil government, the principles
of natural juftice, the obvious rules of good policy, and
the benign fpirit of our moft holy religion, their reprefen-
tations and allegations fet forth in the faid petition to his
Majefty, are in the main juft and true, and confequently
their complaints well founded, and that their defires and
requests are reafonable: And moreover we think it is and
will be inconfiftent with the welfare of the people of the
faid colonies, and prejudicial to their inherent rights as men,
to be any longer governed or controlled by any fuperintend-
ing legiflative power in the parliament of Great-Britain,
or any other power foreign to themſelves refpectively:
And therefore, that to treat with the faid colonies in a free
and amicable manner towards healing the prefent divifions,
adjufting their future relationſhip to thefe kingdoms, and
promoting as far as may be the common quiet and prof-
perity on the fureft and moft folid foundations, will well
become the wisdom and dignity of parliament; Now in
order to effect thefe good purpofes, and to avert the many
E
and

( 34 )
and fad evils and calamities which muft neceffarily enfue,
fhould their complaints be unredreffed, fhould the powers
of parliament as fet forth in a Declaratory Act of the
6th of George III. continue to be infifted on and enforced,
and the prefent unhappy differences between them and us
be left unreconciled and permitted to caufe an actual breach
and hoftile contention between us; And in order no lefs to
manifeft unto the faid colonies and to all the world that
juftice, magnanimity, a love of liberty, and a facred re-
gard for the rights of mankind are ftill, as they have ever
been, the peculiar characteriſtics of the British parliament;
May it pleafe your most excellent Majesty, that it may be
declared, and be it declared by the king's moft excellent
Majefty, by and with the advice and confent of the lords
fpiritual and temporal and commons in this prefent par-
liament affembled, and by the authority of the fame, that
the afore-mentioned colonies of New Hampshire, Mala-
chufetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New
Ferfey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina and South Carolina; and alfo the feveral
colonies of East Florida, West Florida, Georgia, Nova-
Scotia, St. Johns the Ifland, and Quebec as limited by his
Majefty's Royal Proclamation bearing date the 7th day of
October 1763, are all and each of them to be henceforth
held to be free and independent ftates, owing no obedience
or fubjection whatfoever to the parliament of Great-Bri-
tain, which doth hereby in the moft explicit, determinate,
and ample manner and form renounce and relinquish all
claims and pretenfions to fovereignty, legiflative fupre-
macy, and controlling power over the refpective legifla-
tures of all and every of the faid free and independent ftates
of North-America; together with all rights and titles of
dominion on the faid continent of North-America, other
than as hereafter in this act are claimed and specified.
And it is hereby farther declared, that of each and every of
the faid free and independent ftates, his Majefty is and
fhall be held to be the true and lawful fovereign head,
and in the faid fovereignty and the juft exercife of the
powers thereunto belonging, fhall be maintained and fup-
ported by the whole power of the parliament and people
of Great-Britain; and that his fucceffors in the British.
throne,

( 35 )
throne, fhall in like manner fucceed to and be fupported
in the regal title, rights and powers in and over each and
every of the faid free and independent ftates; And it is
alfa hereby farther declared and proclaimed, that the parlia-
ment of Great-Britain will be the guardian and protector
of all and every of the faid free and independent ftates,
collectively and individually, againft every foreign power
whatfoever; as well as the guarantee of the independence
of the faid feveral ftates, one of another refpectively; as
well alfo of the rights and independencies of the feveral
tribes or nations of Indians in amity with or under the
protection of the British crown, until thefe points fhall
be more particularly adjuſted by treaty. And farther, each
one and every of the faid free and independent ſtates are
hereby invited to nominate and fend over to England, as
foon as may be, after the month of September next, each
of them one plenipotentiary delegate, duly commiffioned
and authorized to attend the parliament at Weftminster,
in order, at the moft convenient time after their firft meet-
ing or fetting in the year of our Lord 1776, and before a 4.
joint committee of the lords and commons of this realm
to be appointed for the occafion, to exprefs in due form
their hearty and grateful acceptance of this declared and
guaranteed independence and protection; and to accede to,"
and make a full and fatisfactory acknowledgment and
recognition of, the feveral rights of fovereignty and domi-
nion claimed by the crown of Great-Britain in and over
the feas, lakes and great rivers of North-America, as in
this act are hereafter particularly declared and fpecified:
and moreover with the faid committee, to enter into a
folemn, perpetual, and joint confederation, or general and
grand league and alliance, offenfive and defenfive, for main-
taining entire and in its full force that cordial and warm
affection which hath heretofore fo clofely bound together
and united Great-Britain and British America; and which,
in confideration of the near and ftrong ties of kindred; of
the community of laws, language, manners and religion; of
the reciprocalnefs and infeparable nature of their commer-
cial interefts; as well as in confideration alfo of their
natural and neceffary connection as protectors and pro-
tected; ought for ever moft facredly and inviolably to be
preferved
E 2

( 36 )
preferved between them, in preference to every other poli."
tical connection, alliance, confederacy, treaty or engage.
ment, whatſoever and with whomfoever. Now in order
to maintain the undoubted rights of fovereignty and domi-
nion belonging to the crown of Great Britain in North-
America, and the feas, lakes, great rivers and creeks
thereof; and for preferving undiminished the rights and
dignity of the British flag, and the honour and refpect due
to the fame, may it alfo pleafe your most excellent Majesty,
that it may be farther declared, and it is hereby farther
declared, that the dominion of the fea from the mouth of
the river Miffiffippi to the northern extremity of the con-
tinent of North America, and all admiralty jurifdiction
within the fame, did and doth of right folely belong and
appertain unto, and depend upon the crown and kingdom
of Great-Britain; And alfo, that the ifland of Newfound-
land and its dependencies, together with the Great and
Leffer fifhing Banks of the fame, extending from latitude
41. 00 to lititude 48. 30 N. together with that other called
St. Peter's Bank, do alfo of right folely belong and appertain
unto and depend upon the faid crown and kingdom; except-
ing the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, together with cer-
tain liberties of taking and curing fifh on the faid banks and
coafts of Newfoundland, ceded and granted under certain
reftrictions unto the fubjects of the French king by the
late treaty of peace between the two crowns; And alfo,
that the entire country of Labrador, bounded to the fouth-
weft by Quebec, as limited by his Majefty's royal procla-
mation, bearing date the 7th day of October, 1763, afore-
faid; that is to fay, beginning at the river St. John's in
the gulph of St. Lawrence, and extending to Hudfon's
Straits, together with all the islands and fisheries of the
fame, doth in like manner of right folely belong to and
depend upon the faid crown and kingdom; As well as all
thofe countries, coafts and fisheries granted by a condi-
tional charter to the exclufive occupation of the Hudfon's
Bay Company: And it hereby alfo farther declared, that
all the great lakes of North America, viz. Lake Iroquois
or Champlain, Lake Ontario or Catarakui, Lake Erie
or Ofwego, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake
Superior, together with the great rivers Miffiffippi and
St.

(( 37 )
St. Lawrence, all the navigable communications between
lake and lake, and every other navigable lake, river and creek
in and throughout the faid continent of North America,
are of right fubject to the naval fovereignty and dominion
of the faid crown and kingdom alone; and that the faid
crown hath a right alfo to the free ufe of all the customary
carrying-places between one navigation and another: And
it is hereby farther declared and made known, that the faid
crown of Great-Britain will not fuffer any other power
or ftate whatfoever, to navigate any of the faid feas, lakes,
rivers, communications or creeks, with fhips or veffels of
war of any kind; nor to carry on war or commit hoftili-
ties in any-wife against any other people, nation or ſtate
within or upon any of the faid navigations, except they
be legally authorized fo to do by efpecial commiffion un-
der the great feal of the admiralty of Great-Britain: Nor
will the faid crown confent to or fuffer any of the afore-
mentioned free and independent ftates of North America,
to navigate the feas thereof, with fhips or veffels of war;
nor to carry on war or commit hoftilities in any-wife
against any other people or ftate by fea, except authorized
thereto as above: And moreover, by the authority afore-
faid, it is alfo declared, that in order to preferve inviolate
and in full efficiency the above propofed alliance, which
fhall be known and diftinguifhed by the title of The Grand
British League and Confederacy, the faid crown of Great-
Britain will not, at any time hereafter, fuffer or permit
the trading or fifhing-fhips or veffels of any kingdom or
ftate whatsoever, fuch kingdom or ftate not being a party
to the faid grand British league and confederacy, to navi-
gate, fifh or trade in any of the faid North American
feas, lakes or rivers other than is at prefent allowed to
foreign ftates in general, and by treaty to France and
Spain in particular: nor to anchor upon the faid coafts,
nor to approach them within two leagues of the land any
where between the aforefaid boundary of the river Miffiffippi
and the northern extremity of the faid American conti-
tent, under pain of confifcation of fhip and cargo to his
Majefty, as king of Great-Britain and fovereign of the
North American feas. Neither fhall it be lawful for the
fubjects of any of the faid free and independent ftates of
North
2

( 38 )
North America, to fifh upon the great fifhing-banks of
Newfoundland, or of St. Peter afore-mentioned, or upon
the coafts of the ifland of Newfoundland, or upon the
coafts of Labrador, except only for whale; nor to enter
the ports of the fame for trade, or for any other purpoſe
than what immediately relates to the bufinefs of whaling
and the fheltering and refitment of their whaling-fhips or
veffels, on pain of confifcation of fhip and cargo as above.
Provided nevertheless, that no claim of fovereignty or do-
minion, made by this act, or hereafter to be made on the
part of the crown of Great-Britain, in and over the afore-
mentioned lakes, rivers, communications and creeks, lying
between the gulph of St. Lawrence and river Miffiffippi,
or any of them, fhall be underſtood or conftrued to ex-
tend to any right, property or interference in the fisheries,
or other liberties or appropriations therein, to the preju-
dice of any private right, privilege or property whatfo-
ever; but fhall always be underftood to be confined folely
and wholly to fuch a free ufe of the fame, as is neceffary
to all the purpoſes of navigation of every fort, and the
maintainance of naval dominion merely. And may it
please your Majefty, that it may be alfo enacted, and be it
enacted by the authority aforefaid, that it fhall not be
lawful, after the figning and final executing of the afore-
mentioned Grand British League and Confederacy, for
any public monies whatſoever, being part of the revenues
of the crown in the dominions of Great-Britain, or in
any of the faid free and independent ftates of British
America refpectively, to be either paid or remitted from
the faid Britiſh dominions unto America, or from any of
the faid free and independent ftates unto the British
dominions, for the ufe of his Majefty, his heirs or fuc-
ceffors, as fovereign of that kingdom or ftate in which
it fhall be intended to be received: excepting only fuch
monies as it may be requifite at any time hereafter to
remit to America for defraying the neceffary expences of
his Majefty's British navy there.mbyxa wadada bax
And now in order that no poffible caufe of doubt may
remain, touching the validity or fincerity of the above
declaration of freedom and independence, but that it may
be clear, full and fatisfactory, and thereby lay a fure and
folid

( 39 )
folid foundation for fuch perpetual concord, amity, alli-
ance and mutually beneficial commerce between the ftates
and people of Great-Britain and Britiſh America, as, under
the good providence of Almighty God, who fhall behold
this act of national juftice and good-will with an eye of
pleaſure, and will doubtlefs blefs and further fuch bene-
volent defigns for the maintainance of peace and happiness,
and the prevention of difcord and bloodfhed between kin-
dred ftates, and fellow-chriftians, no length of time ſhall
impair or diminiſh; nor the arts or intrigues of foreign
powers be able to difturb or interrupt, may it pleaſe your
moft excellent Majefty, that it may be enacted, and it is
hereby enacted by the king's moft excellent Majefty, by
and with the advice and confent of the lords fpiritual and
temporal, and commons, in this prefent parliament affem-
bled, That all and every of fuch acts of parliament as
have at any time heretofore been particularly made, or in-
tended to declare or maintain a fupreme legiflative power
and authority over the people of the British American
colonies as fubjects of this realm, or for binding in any
manner or degree the faid people as fubjects of this realm;
and fo much of all and every other act of parliament as
extends to exerciſe fupreme legiflative power over any of
the people of the faid colonies, fhall be and are, in virtue
of this prefent act, fully and finally repealed and annulled
from and after the
day of
before which
time all his Majefty's British forces in North America
fhall be recalled from thence, and alfo all civil officers and
fervants of the British crown, fhall be commanded and
caufed to refign their refpective offices, pofts, places and
employments, and to withdraw from thence, except fuch
as his Majefty, in virtue of his prerogative as fovereign of
any of the faid free and independent ftates fhall appoint,
or caufe to be appointed anew to the like or other offices
or employments in any of the faid ftates refpectively.
IN

( 40 )
N addition to what the reader would find in my tenth
Letter and the notes fubjoined, (to which I beg leave
to refer him) as heads for the materials of the grand league
and confederacy, by which I propofe to fecure our mono-
poly of the North American commerce, and to improve
to the utmoſt of what they are capable, the various advan-
tages of that connection; I fhall now add, for the fatisfac-
tion of thoſe not deeply converfant in fubjects of this kind,
but whofe opinions in the general mafs may nevertheleſs
be of importance, a few more hints of fuch matters as
would obviously become the proper objects of treaty and
fubjects of ftipulation on this great occafion.
It might perhaps be right to eftablish the ufe of Britiſh
money only as the lawful, current coin throughout Britiſh
America; with a condition that each ftate fhould fend in its
proportion of bullion to the Mint, or grant Great-Britain
an equivalent for the ufe of her money.-It might perhaps
be proper and neceffary that fome fmall central ifland or
diftrict, lying on the Atlantic fea, fhould be ceded to Great-
Britain for the refidence of the British ambaffador-general
and plenipotentiary to the faid ftates, and the head-quarters
of the admiral; for the eftabliſhing a British court of ad-
miralty for the more convenient dispatch of naval bufinefs
upon the fpot; and for other purpoſes of a like nature,
appertaining to the naval dominion and umpirefhip of the
crown of Great-Britain: as well as a well-fituated port
upon the lakes for the fame purpofe; fuch as Lake St.
Claire lying between the Lakes Erie and Huron.--
Would it not be reafonable for the British American
ftates, as in a manner the political wards of Great-Britain
and relying wholly on her for external protection, totally
to incapacitate themfelves for entering into any treaties or
alliances with any foreign powers whatfoever?-Might it
not be eligible to admit of and join in conftituting a gene-
ral continental congrefs, to which each ftate fhould fend
one delegate, and which fhould never affemble but on the
fummons of the British ambaffador general? The buſineſs
of this congrefs to be treaty not government, and only to
deliberate on peace and war, and fuch other occafional
matters

( 41 )
matters as might be of general concernment; in order to
the facilitating and difpatch of general bufinefs, and eafing
the Britiſh ambaffador general of the trouble of perfonally
confulting with, or the inconvenience attending the entruſt-
ing fuch affairs to his deputy the refident conful in, each
feparate ftate.-For the eafe and convenience of the re-
fpective ftates, they might permit fubordinate courts of
admiralty to be held by Great-Britain, under due reftric
tions, in fuch of their fea-port towns along the coaft as
might be convenient.-As it would be impoffible to pre-
vent an indifcriminate mixture of Britiſh and of British
American feamen in the fhips of either country: fo it
might be proper for the faid ftates to confent that feamen
for the royal navy fhould be raiſed promifcuoufly from
amongſt the mariners of both, according to the prefent
cuftoms of the fervice; but not however to fuffer im-
preffing by land.-Confiftently with our rights of naval
dominion as fet forth in the above draught, and in order.
that it may anfwer the beneficial purpofes propofed by the
grand league and confederacy, we ought to infift that no
fea-port, or other place along the fea-coafts, or the fhores
of the rivers or lakes, fhall have any fortifications within.
the reach of cannon-fhot from the fhore. But in a cafe
of neceffity in time of war, it might be agreed in general
congrefs that temporary batteries or other fortifications
fhould be erected, provided they were put into the poffeffion
and under the command of the British flag.-Quere, Whe-
ther it might not be for the general peace and welfare of,
and preferve the balance of power between, the feveral
ftates, fhould it be agreed alfo in general congrefs, that
no interior fortifications of any kind fhould ever be erected
within any of them?-In order to prevent all fufpicions to
the prejudice of Great-Britain's equitable dealing with the
confederated ſtates and her faithful guardianfhip of them,
ſhe ſhould not be entitled to make any extraordinary de-
mand upon them for any cautionary or preparatory naval
armament: but from the time when war was actually de-
clared against any maritime power until the fame fhould
be concluded, they fhould contribute fubfidies in fuch pro-
portions to their ability as fhould be regulated in general
congrefs, the whole bearing an eftabliſhed proportion to
F
the

( 42 )
the extraordinary naval expences of Great-Britain as origi
nally fettled in forming the Grand British League and
Confederacy.-In cafe any two or more of the faid ftates
fhould, in contempt of the umpirefhip of Great Britain
and the interpofition of the Britiſh ambaffador-general, go
to war or carry on hoftilities one against the other, the
admiral of North America and all other British naval com-
manders fhould have orders to make prize of all fhips,
veffels and merchandize, (all fifhing fhallops, boats and
fkifts having no decks, together with their fifh and fishing
implements excepted) belonging to that ftate or thofe ftates
which fhould be previously deemed and pronounced by the
parliament of Great-Britain, in a Declaratory Act for
that exprefs purpoſe, to be the offending ftate or ftates;
and the faid naval commanders fhould continue to diftrefs
the trade of the fame by fea to the utmoſt of their power,
until the faid ftate or ftates fhould be brought to reafon;
of which his Majefty in council fhould be the temporary
judge, and have power to ftay all farther prizals until par-
liament fhould, in another declaratory act, reftore the faid
offending ftate or ftates, having made due fatisfaction, to
its or their former beneficiary fituation as a party in the
Grand British League and Confederacy. And for the
more effectually preferving the future balance of power
between all the ftates of that immenfe continent, might
it not be expedient that the limits and boundaries of each,
which they fhould never hereafter pafs, fhould be newly
defined by the Grand British League and Confederacy;
and fome of their nominal interior boundaries now lying
very far within the wildernefs, be changed for others at a
nearer diftance?-For the fame good purpofe and other
apparent good reafons, might not the remainder of the
wilderneſs be partitioned out into certain determinate and
limited tracts, according to foil and fituation; each of
which fhould be confidered as the territory of fome future
ftate which in procefs of time might be therein erected.
And I would propofe that no interruption fhould be given
to the growing of fuch new ftates (other than every go-
vernment has a right to give by wholefome laws within
itſelf to prevent as much as may be a fpirit or practice of
emigration ;) but that until the fettlers within any fuch
partitioned

( 43 )
partitioned tract of the wildernefs fhould be increafed and
multiplied to the number of fifty thoufand fouls, they
fhould be confidered as incapable of forming an indepen-
dent political ftate, and be fubject for the intermediate
time to the government of Great-Britain. But as foon as
their numbers fhould amount to fifty thoufands fouls as
aforefaid, they fhould be entitled and free to erect them-
felves into an independent political ftate, and to conſtitute
for their own government fuch a legiflative power as they
fhould judge moft proper; provided only that they acknow-
ledged the king of Great-Britain as their lawful fovereign,
that they made the proteftant faith the eftabliſhed religion
of the country, and confented to become a party to the
Grand British League and Confederacy.
During the fhort fpace of time indeed that remains of
that winter's day to the evening of which we may hope
to continue the defpotic lords of North America, thofe
immenfe divifions of country we have affected to make
by our charters and by act of parliament on a late memo-
rable occafion, may, like all other arbitrary compendiums,
be convenient to us, fo long as we determine to continue
arbitrary rulers; or it might hereafter be favourable to the
ambition of fome one American ftate hungering to fwallow
up its neighbours, to have its territory like that of the
ambitious Catherine reaching from the falt ocean to the
fresh-water feas in midland, and thence to the falt ocean
again quite across the vaft continent; but in neither cafe
would it be defirable or good for the people of thofe coun-
tries. Nations are moft free and happy when their extre-
mities are near enough to the vital feat of government to
feel its pervading principle in its full warmth and activity,
and by the fpring of their own re-action to pour into the
heart again full-flowing tides of health, life and vigour.
On thefe principles I fhould wish to fee the North Ame-
rican ftates aranged back to back like habitations in a well-
built city, leaving thofe yet to rife into being to front the
lakes and great rivers St. Lawrence and Miffiffippi, as the
prefent ones do the Atlantic fea. We have already enu-
merated in the foregoing draught for an act of parliament
eighteen ftates already formed; and by fuch a divifion of
the remaining country by the grand confederacy as we
F 2
have

( 44 )
have propofed, provifion might be made for the future
gradual and quiet eftabliſhment of nineteen more at leaſt,
all of ample extent, and every one having a very confi-
derable frontier acceffible to fhipping and upon waters
which are at this time navigated by the British navy.
Thus each of thefe numerous ftates, by the fame means
that would enable it through commerce to become a re-
fpectable member of the grand Britiſh confederacy, would
be effectually fubject to the controul and influence of
Great-Britain their common maritime protector and um-
pire, fo neceffary for prefeving the harmony of the whole.
According to this fyftem no ftate adjoining to the two
great rivers fhould poffefs the fhores on both fides; as na-
vigations of fuch magnitude and importance fhould be al-
ways boundaries and frontier. The reafons are obvious.
If we caft our eyes over an American map, and view
attentively the fingular diftribution of land and water, and
the directions of the two capital rivers; and if we then
confider what hath already taken place in the eſtabliſhment
of a long range of narrow-fronted ftates along the fea-
coaft throughout its whole extent; we fhall poffibly be
led to conclude that the plan we recommend is the plain
fuggeftion of Providence, who from the firft hath hitherto
wrought according to it himself, and feems to have made
its future obfervance and completion an obvious dictate of
nature to all parties concerned, but moft fo to Great-
Britain. In order to illuftrate what I have faid to this
effect, let me juft mention fuch alterations of boundaries
and trace out fuch diftricts of future dominion as ftrike
my own eye, and carry an appearance of equality and
propriety well adapted to the nature of the fuppofed con-
federacy fo far as they can be judged of by the map; this
being fufficient for all prefent purpofes; that is for thoſe
of explanation.
To begin then with Quebec, I fhould not content my-
felf with reducing it to the fame fize as before its late
enormous extention; but I would propofe that it fhould
be bounded to the N. E. at the river Saguenay, and to
the S. W. by the river Atawas: it would then have a
maritime frontier of two hundred miles. And making the
Jakes of St. John, St. Peter, Be.uharnois, Abitibis and
Temif.

( 45 )
Temifcaming its refpective interior limits weftward and
northward, it would be about 360 miles in length. There
would then be left a country of about equal furface, though
with a larger frontier to the water, between Quebec and
Labrador, which latter commences at the river St. John
in the gulph of St. Lawrence, as one of thofe diftricts to
be appointed as above-mentioned for the feat of a future
nation. This country for the prefent by way of diftinc-
tion may be called Tadoufacaia [1], after the name of one
of its ancient tribes of Indians. Montreal [2] might be the
capital of another ftate which fhould extend from that
city and the aforefaid river Atawas up the river St. Law-
rence and Catarakui as far as Lake Ontario; the chain of
ftreams and fmall lakes lying between Fort Frontenac and
the east end of Lake Huron being its limit to the S. W.
Lake Huron itſelf from the little Lake Huron to French
River its western confine; and Lake Nipiffin together
with River Atawas its boundary to the north. The an-
cient Huronia [3] having Montreal to the N. E. and for
the reft completely incircled by the waters of the Ontario,
the Ofwego and Huron Lakes, is by nature formed into
another territory. The next will extend along the whole
north fhore of Lake Huron from French River to the
falls of St. Mary, and bordering on Montreal and Quebec
might retain the appellation of Canada [4]. The fhores
of Lake Superior will furnish ample frontier to four ſtates
more. The firft, or Menfifipia [5], beginning at the afore-
faid falls of St. Mary and terminating at the river which
forms the difcharge of Lake Alemipigon; the fecond, or
Camaneftigonia [6], at Long Lake which receives the
overflowings of the Lake of the Woods; the third, or
Miffifagania [7], at the Bay of St. Charles; and the fourth,
or Puania [8], will pafs the ftrait and reach as far as the
River Outagamis at the bottom of the Bay of Puans.
The two latter will alfo have other navigable frontiers on
the Miffiffippi; Miffifagania being watered by that river
from the rivulet of Ouabaougetan to the falls of St. An-
thony,
[1] Tadoufacaia.
[2] Montreal.
[3] Huronia.
[4] Canada.
[5] Menfifipia.
[6] Camaneftigonia.
[7] Miffifaganią.
[8] Puania.

( 46 )
thony, and Puania from the faid falls to the river Ouif-
confin. Then again Mafcoutenia [9] having the Miffi-
fippi to the S. W. from the River Ouifconfin to the Illi-
nois river, might alfo have a maritime frontier from the
bottom of the Bay of Puans above-mentioned to the River
St. Jofeph at the fouth-end of Lake Michigan; while
Miamifia [10] like Huronia would be washed by the
waters of three lakes, Michigan, Huron and Erie as far
as the river Miamis. The fouth fhores of Lake Erie or
Ofwego, and as they incline N. E. until they reach Ochu-
reni, might be allotted to Erieland [11]; from thence to
Ofwego Fort and Bay in Lake Ontario, to Senekania [12];
and Catarakua might take in the reft of the lake, all the
river Catarakui [13] N. E. to La Prairie, then turning
fouth again all Richlieu river and the weft fhore of Lake
Champlain as far as Crown Point. The eaft fhore of this
lake and the faid river Richlieu, together with the fouth-
eaft fhore of the St. Lawrence as far as Wolf River
oppofite the Saguenay, would belong to Champlania [14];
and the remainder of the river St. Lawrence together with
the coaft of the gulph as far as the river Riftigouchi in
Miramichi Bay, (which I would alfo propofe for the con-
fine of Nova-Scotia) would give a very extenfive mari-
time frontier to Gafpefia [15]. Again, we fhall find ftill
remaining upon the Miffiffippi below the river Illinois,
which we made the fouthern boundary of Mafcoutenia,
fufficient frontier for three extenfive territories: the firft,
or Wauwautania [16], reaching as far as the Ohio; and
the other two, Chicafwria [17] and Chactawria [18]
divided into equal diftricts, will bring us to the prefent
boundary of Weft Florida lying in 31° of north latitude.
And it might not be amifs perhaps to fet apart the Pro-
vince of Sagadahock from New England and make it an
independent ftate.
From the point of confluence between the waters of
the Great Miomee with thofe of the Ohio, as a center,
[11] Erieland.
[9] Mafcoutenia.
[10] Miamifia.
[12] Senekania.
[13] Catarakua.
[14] Champlania.
[15] Gafpefia.
[16] Wauwautania.
[17] Chicafawria.
[18] Chactawria.
[19] Sagadahock.
might

( 47 )
might diverge feveral lines of interior feparation, thus;
Suppofe one line to run due fouth till it fhould interfect the
northern limit of Eaft Florida; this would divide all the.
lower nations on the Miffiffippi from Virginia and the
fouthern colonies fronting the Atlantic. A fecond line
from the fame point north-weft-ward to the junction of
the two rivers Illinois and Theakiki called the Fork, would
feparate Wauwautania and Miamifia. A third in the di-
rection of the courfes of the Great Miomee and Miamis
rivers, would divide Miamifia from Erieland. And a
fourth being formed by the winding courfe of the Ohio
itfelf as high as the fite of the late fort called Du Quefne
would feparate Virginia and Pennfylvania from Erieland.
Then a new divifion line might begin at the faid fite of
fort Du Quefne, and leaving the Ohio to the weftward,
and paffing along the Allegany Mountains, might take a
a pretty ftrait courfe to Lake George, and thence to the
fouth end of Lake Champlain; thence again N. E. to the
northern bend of the river St. John on the prefent confines
of New England and Nova Scotia; forming the interior
confine of all the northern colonies on the Atlantic to that
point, as well as of the above-mentioned diftricts border-
ing on Lake Ontario, the Catarakui and St. Lawrence.
Then a line from Ochureni to Du Quefne would part
Erieland from Senekania. A line alfo from the Bay of
Ofwego on Lake Ontario that fhould interfect at the neareſt
point the grand divifion line running N. E. and S. W.
would feparate Senekania from Catarakua. And another
line to come from Wolfe River which empties itfelf into
the St. Lawrence oppofite the river Saguenay to the termi-
nation of the laft-mentioned one at the faid bend of the
river St. John, and thence falling into the river Riftigouchi
which hath its difcharge into the gulph at the Bay of Mi-
ramichi, would bound Gafpefia towards Nova Scotia,
Sagadahock and Champlain, and complete the general
fketch of our propofed divifions.-
Thus, as I have faid before, to the eighteen ftates already
enumerated, we might by a prudent forefight caufe all
future additions to the number to be fo made as that none
fhould be too large or too fmall, all having an ample fur-
face and an extenfive maritime frontier, and being thereby
every
I

( 48 )
every way calculated for being hereafter joined with the
reft of the free and independent ftates in the grand Britiſh
confederacy. And thus, by acknowledging and guaran-
teeing to the colònies a legislative independence, provifion
would be made that the whole of the immenfe continent
of North America, fo far as it is yet known, fhould be all
kept with great eafe and little expence in a voluntary and
therefore a fure commercial dependence upon Great-Britain.
But if the perfift in the folly or rather the infanity of think-
ing to effect the fame end by making her own parliament
the general fountain of legiflative authority and govern-
ment to ſuch a ſwarm of far diftant and hardy nations, I
fear it is high time that fhe were let blood, feverely purged,
and kept for a while on low diet as the only cure of her
unhappy diftemper. I wifh even thofe remedies may be
in time to fave her life.
EVEN,

(49)
EVEN thefe rude deficient draughts of an Eman-
cipating Act and Grand British League and Confe-
deracy, and a new divifion of country, would, I fhould
hope, when duly weighed by the candid and fincere friends
of this country, be enough to convince them that we may
grant even more than the colonists afk at our hands, and yet
be in no danger of lofing that influence (which is only
another word for fovereignty, fo far as it can be really
beneficial to Great-Britain) over them, from which we
have hitherto while in their infancy only derived fuch
immenfe advantages. Thofe brave men who now fhudder
at the thoughts of imbruing their hands in the blood of
fellow-citizens and fellow-fubjects nobly contending for li-
berty, would not have a fcruple of drawing their ſwords
against the fubjects of a foreign independent ftate which had
been guilty of breaking through the folemn engagements
of a treaty it had exprefsly bound itfelf to obferve. But
fuppofing the wifdom of parliament after mature delibera-
tion to proceed upon thefe hints and on the fame princi-
ples to frame a finiſhed work, how noble a production it
would appear! The colonifts would hereby enjoy civil
freedom and legiflative independence to their hearts con-
tent; and yet remain in a ftate of abfolute commercial
dependence to this kingdom. But what commercial coun-
try is independent? Not Great-Britain herfelf. She is
abfolutely dependent, in a commercial fenfe, upon every
country that favours her with a market. She is more par-
ticularly dependent upon her own colonies, as they con-
tribute the moft largely to the means of her prefervation.
Commerce in its very idea fignifies a voluntary intercourfe
and exchange of commodities for the mutual benefit of
the parties: and nothing can be more certain than that
the fword and fceptre are the worst of all inftruments for
carrying it on to advantage, though neceffary indeed for
its guard and protection. Let us then no longer convert
them into implements of mischief, nor degrade them into
inftruments of puniſhment, but apply them to their right
ufe! Suppofing we fhould be able to hold the colonies
G
in

( 50 )
in fubjection for half a century longer (which is not a
fuppofition that many will grant me); they would always
be difcontented and factious, and confider their obedience
as an act of mere political neceffity. Thinking them-
felves injured, and therefore morally free from the obliga-
tion of complying any farther than they needs muft, they
would undoubtedly feize the firft opportunity in fome time
of our weakneſs or embarrafiment to revolt, and then of
courfe, as of neceffity, would become our enemies.
Whereas, fuppofing them emancipated and to have en-
tered into the propofed League and Confederacy, they
would entertain no jealoufy of our having defigns against
their liberties, they would have nothing to interrupt or
difturb their domeftic peace and induftry, no temptation
to quarrel with us, no power to hurt us: and the pro-
tective alliance and confederacy entered into with us being
a voluntary, a beneficial, formal and folemn covenant on
their part, they would feel all the confcioufnefs of a moral
obligation of the moft binding nature to abide by and
fulfil the conditions of them; and could not but view the
breach of them as an act of guilt, bafenefs and ingratt-
tude for which, as there would be no temptation, fo there
could be no excufe. In the latter cafe all good men,
even amongst themfelves, would be against them; in the
former, they would be fure of their pity, their good-
will and fecret aid, if not their open fupport and affift-
ance, as we may behold at this day. How much theſe
confiderations are to be efteemed worthy of attention;
and how powerful an influence full perfuafions in the
minds of men of right or of wrong have upon the affairs
of civil fociety, I leave to every wife man and found poli-
tician to determine.
Now, was it not that it might be artfully urged against
me and refolved into that kind of enthufiafm which by
hacknied courtiers and their bafe-minded train is with a
fneer infinuated to be the fure mark of a true vifionary and
an indubitable proof that nothing found and practical can
come from fuch a perfon, I would here declare myſelf fo
thoroughly affured of the moral infallibility of the meaſures
I have fuggefted for producing the effects propofed, that
was I in rank or ftation fo near the throne of the beſt of
princes

( 51 )
princes as to be entitled to make him a perfonal offer of
my council, I would ftand forth alone if there were none
to join me, to propofe and recommend them in the moft
earneſt manner; content, fhould they be found to fail or
even to fall fhort of what I foretold, to be branded as a
traitor, and to be publicly profcribed as a curfe to my
country with a price fet upon my head, fo that "every
"man's hand fhould be against me."
THE END.

Page 3-line 25,
9
17,
9
21,
10
32,
13
23,
2003
ERRAT A.
DEDICATION.
for induces, read endues.
guides. Under-guides; under
bumility. In-humility; in
Epicurus's-Epicurus'
foolish-felfifh
PREFACE.
Page 1 line 9, for whatsoever, except rd. whatsoever. Except
Page 15-line
16
383
36
11, after America a comma
12, after party a femicolon
FIRST PART.
5, for will have, read affect to call.
11, at the period after the word principles
fhould ftand the † and not at the period
in line 13.
30, for conceal,-cancel.
20
23
43,
28
5,
35
17,
13,
22,
29,
33,
33,
10,
38
8568 96 76K
39
23333++nny
46
47
50
56
57
14,
and laft, the word men fhould be printed
with a capital M.
in frail,-in the frail.
forbid forbad
to be although to be.
Although
no credit-no eftablished name for veracity.
internal-eternal
tract-tracts
the-their
carried upon-carried on upon
retained-retain
Change the notes thus ;-to the first pre-
fix the +; to the fecond, the ; and
to the third, the *.

no






1975 Cartwright
Ca
map cat,
anal, inn
par
a letter to
Edmund Burke.