ilifornia ional ility AT LOS ANGELES S' L o 7 REMARKS o N T H E tvf**j '!' MAR QJJ IS DE CHASTELLUX's TRAVELS. THE Marquis de Chaftellux was a French major-general, and in that capacity went to Rhode Ifland with the army under the command of M. Rocham- beau -, all his intelligence, of courfe, was derived through a medium fo oppofite to the interefts of Great Britain, that he can only be conlidered as furniming an ex parte evidence for the judgment of fome hifto- rian ; and he too muft not be of the prefent age, as the Marquis juftly remarks : " It is for a Salluft and a Tacitus alone, fays he, to tranfmit, in their works, the actions and harangues of their contemporaries ; nor did they write till after fome great change in affairs had placed an immenfe interval be- tween the epocha of the hiftory they tranf- B mitted, mitted, and that in which it was com- pofed." The Marquis's teftimony is frequently favourable to the Britifh armies, from whofe merit, it is obvious, he aims to detract ; and indeed it was politic for him to do fo, as printed copies of his work were circulated at Paris during the war, the flattering con- tents of which in all probability echoed to America. Speaking of the ftrength of Mud Ifland, the Marquis remarks, " When we recollecl: the innumerable obstacles the Eng- lilh had to furmount in the prefent war, it is difficult to affign the caufe of their fuc- cefTes ; but if we turn our eyes on all the unforefeen events which have deceived the expectations of the Americans, and fruf- trated their beft concerted meafures, one cannot but be perfuaded that they were de- voted to deflruction, and that the alliance with France alone proved the means of their prefervation." There never can be a greater panegyric beftowed on the Britim generals than what this fentence contains j innumerable obftacles they did furmount, and it did not depend on them to crufli the naval power of France. The <- D o VX~./A- / IA >Y [ 3 1 The Marquis, in viewing the doubts thrown up by the Britim in front of Phila- delphia, remarks on the defeat of the po- lition -, and he might have related that the houfes, which he takes care to mention as deftroyed near that fpot, were thrown down to ftrengthen it. He then fays, " At every ftep one takes in America, one is aftonimed at the ftriking contrail: between the con- ut tempt in which the English affected to hold w their enemies, and the extreme precautions they took on every occaiion." There can- |j not be a greater proof of military talents in a commander in chief than this obfer- ^ vation. The Marquis fays, that " the Englim ' attack coniifts in general in a brifk fire rather than in clofing with the enemy." This French officer is unacquainted with j the theory of the Britiih army ; and to "j apply with the ftricleft truth his own words to one of its generals, " the many unfore- 4 feen events that deceived their expectations" prevented fir Henry Clinton from inftruct- ing him and the French troops at Rhode Ifland in its practice. B 2 The The limits of this pamphlet preclude me from entering into the detail of the lefs important events of the war. Suffice it to obferve, that the Marquis has been much milled in the account that he relates of them ; and what he faid in raillery to M. Fayette, on one occafion, may in ibber fe- rioumefs be applied to him and his other military informers on all, " He was a Gafcon as well as the reft of them." When the Marquis de Chaflellux relates that he was at the houfe where lord Cornwallis came to take Mr. Lincoln, he forgets to re- count that, although his lordmip miffed the general, he took what was better, his cannon. The efcape of Mr. Washington from Trenton, and that of the marquis de la Fayette, are not juftly related : it is cer- tain they did efcape, and the Marquis does not praife them for being placed where flight was neceffary for their prefervation. To his remark on the battle of Brandy- wine, I only add, that darknefs prevented the purfuit j and had it not, it muft have been ineffectual, for Mr. Wafhington wrote a letter that night many miles from the field [ 5 J field of a&ion, and the gentlemen of France, whofe engagements in the Rebel fervice at this time were contrary to the laws of nations, were not lefs panic-ftruck : they were flying, and on their journey con- fidenng whether it .would not be better for them to retreat by the Ohio to the Milfiflippi, and ib to Old France : they expected that the people of the country would rife up again ft them ; not being able to forefee that a fevere and more than tropical rain, a few nights after, would *' fruftrate the beft concerted meafures" of fir William Howe, and preferve Wafhing- ton's army from deftru&ion *. At * The Marquis is in doubt whether the Britifh troops, who paffed Chadsford, were in one or two co- lumns. Though I have failed in my enquiries relative to this point, I have met with an anecdote that may illuflrate his account, and deferves to be made more generally known. The Marquis was informed, that the redoubt which Mr. Wafhington had thrown up to cover Chadsford, " could not be taken, unlefs turned." Lieutenant -colonel Moncrief, then captain, was in the front of a column, which advanced to a redoubt : there was a howitzer in it, loaded with grape (hot, pointed dire&ly towards the column, and a man (landing by it with a lighted match in his hand; colonel At the affair of German Town, the Mar- quis blames general Wafhington's inten- tions, as being beyond his force - y here we moft perfectly agree : the execution of his defign can be well explained from the Marquis's recital : "A thick fog came on, favourable to the march, but which ren- dered the attack more difficult, as it became impoffible to concert the movements, and extend the troops." He adds, " The Eng- lim piquet were furprifed, put to the rout, and driven to the camp." The fact is, a battalion of light infantry and the fortieth regiment were in advance ; the piquet guard was driven in by the enemy; nor could it be fuppofed that two battalions fhould withftand, or were meant to with- ftand, an army ; they retreated alfo, and the enemy pofTeiTed themfelves of their camp -, under the cover of the fog, and, in conie- colonel Moncrief, with his ufual prefence of mind, called out, " I'll put you to death, if you fire:" the man threw down the match, and ran off; had he fired, he could equally have efcaped, and in all pro- bability colonel Moncrief had not lived to difplay his energy and abilities in the defence of Savannah and the conqueil of Charles Town, quence t 7 1 quence of their numbers, they had nearly turned the right of the fortieth regiment, when colonel Mufgrave mewed his military talents, and deciiive application of them, by throwing himfelf and his battalion into Chews Houfe. General Washington loft time at this houfe ; but had he immediately advanced, he would have found the Britifh army in order of battle, and ready to receive him ; they, however, could not leave their pofition to attack, till the fog cleared up : as foon as this happened, they did advance, and general Wafhington and his people fled on all fides *. The Marquis de..Chaf- tellux only fays, " The piquet was fur- prifed, and fled/' (it fled of courfe, and this is rather a proof it was not furprifed) ; but the tranflator heightens the expreffion, and applies it to the army -, and then affirms the Marquis calls it " a complete furprize," and goes on to queftion the evidence which fir George Ofborne gave in the houfe of * This precipitate flight occafioned an officer to fay, upon the field of battle, " Waftiington may write a fhorter letter to Congrefs than he did after Brandy- wine ; he may copy Csefar's words, with a flight alte- ration, Veni t vidiy iugi." commons, [ 8 3 commons, " That the army was not fur- prifed at German Town;" a teftimony which, if it was neceffary, could now be confirmed by whole regiments. I am forry that the gallantry of the aflault made upon Red Bank by colonel Donop meets with no applaufe from an officer: indeed it needs none ; its plain recital is fufficient : nor can the hiflory of the war among the con- tending, nations, exhibit any thing parallel to the undaunted refolution and perfeverance {hewn in that unfortunate attempt. On what principle does the Marquis de Chaftellux remark, " That the gallows ought to be the reward of the exploits of thirty foldiers, or regimented tories, who, detached with the Indians, had burnt up- wards of two hundred houfes, and deftroyed above one hundred thoufand bufhels of corn ?" Does the French Nobleman con- demn thefe men for loyalty ? Or does the Officer think the deftruclion of one hundred thoufand bufhels of corn no object of mi- litary expedition ? No lofs to an army, which is defcribed to have been frequently in the utmoft want of food ? Or mufl they fuffer becaufe they act with Indians ? How 3 exalted I 9 ] exalted then mufl be the gallows for M. Fayette, who made uie of thefe people, not in a frontier country, where the inhabitants are more favage and barbarous than the In- dians, bur, as M. de Chaftellux informs us, within fifteen miles of the city of Phi- ladelphia ! As the following pages will contain ob- fervations more of a civil than a military complexion, I mall now introduce the Tranflator to the notice of my readers. He flyles himfelf an " Englishman ;" I can fcarcely believe him. He relates his hav- ing been in " the feven teen th regiment ;" that he had been " an apprentice to a Lon- don merchant, a Swiis, who was violent in his approbation of the government-mea'- fures againft the Americans, and fupplied them fecretly with gunpowder;" that he had ferved on board an " American priva- teer, with wretches of every defcription j" that he was " in the Texel and in Ame- rica during the war;" he alfo adds, that he law the camps in England : if ib, he probably vifited them upon that lame ho- nourable motive which brought M. Fayette to London, long after he had determined G to to enter into the fervice of the Congrefs. If he be an Englimman, his own reproba- tion of White may fuit him, whom he defcribes as going over to the enemy, and " diflinguiming himfelf by every act of virulence againft his country." The war h^s ceafed, but not with the Tranflator : his bufinefs is to vilify the Britifti army, whofe officers, he affirms, broke their parole ; but that " out of re- fpect to their families, he does not mention their names." He alfo fpeaks of a " Britifli chaplain, as dividing plunder" on the march through the Jerfeys. He affects to " blufh for England :" if he really felt for the honour of that country, he would mention names, and not by concealing them be injurious to the whole community ; but ftories like his are improbable in themfelves, and will not be believed on the anonymous affertions of one, who, by his own account, has acted both as a lurking fpy and avowed rebel to his country. The Tranflator heightens the ravages of the Britifh army to the greatefl degree, and the good difcipline of the French is fpoken of with enthufiafm : the fituation of the armies admitted of no comparifon -, to [ II ] to form one, we muft take the Britifh troops as they now are marching from town to town in England; the French army had no enemy to oppofe, and the way was fmoothed before them. Refentment againft the fuperiority of the Britifh arms in the former war inflamed their hopes, and po- licy regulated their conduct : on the con- trary, the Britim army, when no enemy dared to oppofe them in the field, were yet fired upon by a fkulking peafantry, whom no laws, or ufage of European war, could juftify; their characters were aiTaffi- nated by fuch inftruments as the Tranfla- tor, while rebel America affected to be aftonimed that war brought with it any de- predations or miferies. The Marquis de Chaftellux feems to have caught the political contagion : for him, and thofe who think like him, it will not be improper to relate fome of the fuffer- ings of Germany in the former war, from the difcipline of France and the avarice of its general : if the troops of that ambitious country are now under a better difcipline, and the fentiments of their generals are as delicate and fenfitive as thofe of the Mar- C 2 quis t 12 ] quis de Chaflellux, the pandects of Quebec, Mincien, and Rolbach have produced admir- able effects, and Wolfe, Ferdinand, and Fre- derick have been moft ufeful lawgivers. I fhall give a fummary character, from the Annual Regiiler, of the conduct of the French army in Hanover, in 1757; a narrative that, in the hands of the marquis de Chaflellux, would have been fpun out into pages, could they detract from the glory of Great Britain. " The moft exorbitant contributions were le- vied with the moft inflexible feverity - y every exaction which was fubmitted to, only pro- duced a new one flill more extravagant, and all the orderly methods of plunder did not exempt them from the pillage, licentiouf- nefs, and infolence of the French foldiery." The baron Germingen, in a memorial pre- fented to the diet of the empire, fays, " the damage of the firfl invafion was feveral mil- lions, they made a fecond invaiion, exacted infupportable contributions, plundered fe- veral places, &c. thejb/e end of 'which was to ravage the kings dominions and thofe of Jleffe *." A Frenchman, the flave of his govern - * Vengeance foon overtook another army of French, cqualJr t '3 ] government, facrifices every thing to the politics of his king; I am not furprifed therefore at the indiicriminate cenfure that the marquis de Chaftellux beftows upon the Englifh generals and armies ; it is his endea- vour to make them odious : this poffibly he thought became a Frenchman; but an Englishman, the member of a free govern- ment, would be inconfiftent with its prin- ciples, did he not feledt, to the beft of his power, the deierving from the unworthy ; did he not, in this prefent inftance, add his testimony to thofe eulogiums which the peo- equally remarkable for their cruelty ; and the immor- tal Frederick, according to their own Voltaire, met them at Rofbach, where Aux plaintes de la Germanic L'Orgueil Francois eft ecrafe. * c Depredatory expeditions is a term too fiiameful to be made ufe of in the vocabulary of war,'' fays the Tranflator. The pafiage I have quoted proves it not to be new, and it ought to be remembered that the prudent Turenne either burnt the Palatinate, or could not prevent his troops from doing it, through their refent- ment, and without orders. Expeditions of the Britifli troops, which the Tranflator calls predatory, were made to deftroy privateers, and their arfenals j as the Tranf- lator was not of their councils of war, it is among his abfurdities to prefume to give the fentiments of its members, which neceflarily were/r*/. 8 pic pie of Hanover beflow on the military vir- tue and good faith of the duke of Randan. Much of the ravages in America was at- tributed to the Heffians : it was certainly difficult to inculcate into their, that the country fnould enjoy the advantages of peace, the inhabitants of which were in arms againft them ; and who hourly violat- ed the regulations which Europe has adopt- ed to leffen the calamities of war. A very refpedable officer of the Heflians obferved, and it was not contradicted by any of thole prefent who had ferved in Germany, " that even the allied army, when it drove the French marauders from HefTe, pillaged the country more than the Heffians or Britifh did America ;" and added he, with great in- dignation, " no American town has been laid under contribution, and what is there to deftroy ? wooden houfes deferted of their inhabitants, pigs, and poultry." The marquis's Journal bears teftimony to the real poverty and the fancied magnificence of America. An European, upon looking on the maps of Britifh America, miftakes capital letters for cities, and thefize offome diftrict or townmip for a large town. From the [ 15 ] the Marquis he will learn, that he and his fuite could fcarcely be accommodated with provifions at an immoderate price ; and he will then eftimate the difficulties that an army muft have laboured under for fubfift- ancein the country. The Tranilator fpeaks to its almoil impoiTibility, when lord Corn- wallis's army receded from Rivers -, and fure- ly this alone muffc excufe ibldiers for taking provifions wherever they could find them; it being an avowed maxim of European war, to live upon an enemy's country. In gene- ral, the Britifh armies were fupplied with provifions from England; an immenfe ope- ration ! but which proves the little inclina- tion that its government had to carry on the war in its utmoft rigour, and that it did not confider its revolted colonies as enemies ; that it did not look upon them as the duke de Richelieu did on the unhappy inhabitants of Hanover, or as Mr. Washington and the provincial affemblies did on the Tories, as they politically termed them, whofe whole property they confifcated, and whofe perfons they banimed. Charles Town, near Bof- ton, was burnt during the heat of action, and it was neceilary in a military light; Houfes [ 16 ] Houfes and forage fufFered the fame fate in the vicinity of Bofton, by general Wafhing- ton's army ; they too confamed the houfes in the neighbourhood of White Plains. Thefe, and many others, were military o- perations; but Norfolk in Virginia, unne- ceflarily burnt by their back-woodfmen, contained in it more houfes and a greater property than the licentioufnefs of the Bri- tifh foldiers ever deflroyed. The Loyalifts are mentioned in this work with the utmoft calumny and hatred : this their principles, fo different from thofe of the Author or Tranflator, naturally account for The tranflator fays, " the Loyalifts ravaged fome parts of America it is true ; but ruined England, by infpiring her ene- mies with an irreconcileable hatred." The irreconcileable hatred to England was in- fpired by the " enlightened few*." Such incendiaries as the Tranflator may add fewel to it; but, by the bleffing of God, the ruin of England is not likely to be the refult of their wiihes. * This is the Translator's term for thofe " few," v?ho, according to the Author, led the Virginians into revolt, and, agreeable to the Tranflator, formed tke government of North Carolina. I beg [ '7 ] I beg now the attention of the readers of the marquis de Chaftellux's Travels, to the numbers of the Britim and Irim whom the Translator's notes point out as holding the highefl pofts in America, and to his obferva- tion that the latter porTeffed as much ener- gy at leaft, and ferved that country " with as much enthufiafm in the cabinet and the held as the native Americans, and, to fpeak with the late lord Chatham, they infuied a portion of new health into the conflitution." Attend alfo to his remark on Mr. Wafhing- ton's army, for it is a true one > " this ar- my was compofed of all nations > yet they feem to be pervaded but by one fpirit, and fought and acted with as much enthufiafm. and ardour as the moft enlightened and de- termined of their leaders." What infer- ences mall we deduce from this account? Shall we fay that thefe Irim leaders, that this army was pervaded with that true fpirit of liberty, which is the refult of liberal e- ducation and of virtuous principles, of a cool judgment and a warm heart; and that it was called forth to action by individual difcernment in the one, and perfonal fufTer- ings in the other? Or mall we fay that the D former former were reftlefs adventurers ; who, hav- ing nothing to lofe, had nothing to rifk ; and who, from " finall beginnings *," aim- ed at the poflemons of the Loyalifts ? That the latter, an afiemblage of all nations, were collected together from neceflitv, co- w- ^ 7 alefced through fear of puniihment, and were preferved in their union by fevere and uni- form difcipline ? Tbefe arc the facls Their army was under a more than Pruf- fian difcipline; I fpeak not of its mode, but of its fpirit ; and nothing lefs than inch a difcipline could poffibly have held toge- ther the outcafts of Europe, and the ban- ditti of the univerfe -)*, 1 detracl not from the worldly wifdom of their leaders ; I con- trovert their claims to public virtue and in- * The Tranflator's expreflion of Mr. M'Clenachan, who bought Mr. Chew's houfe. t Thefe expreflions are not too ftrong, they \villbear the ftrileft examination. The fobcr emigrant retired into the interior countries, or joined the Britifh army; the felons of England, the adventurers of the conti- nent, and thofe Hearts of Steel, and White Boys, who fled from the juftice of Ireland, formed this army, which, under the pretext of liberty, had as many well- wifhers to it as were difTaffeted to the government of church and ftate in Great Britain. tegrity : [ '9 ] tegrity : I admire the fpirit and ability of Romulus ; but I deteft his fratricide, and the principles of his companions. To underftand, and to account for this difcipline, it is neceffary to remark that the civil government of the feveral Hates was infinitely fubdivided, and diffufed through- out the whole continent ; that by this the militia was called out into the field, and the continental army was ready to punifh, and in many cafes did feverely puniih, any de- lay in obeying its fummons. The militia once out, it formed an horizon round their camps, as ufeful in a military view to pre- vent furprizes, as the light troops of an European army; but their utility was of higher import, they greatly prevented de- fer tion, from the refpective fituation of the armies difficult in itfelf, and acting on the principles of felf-intereft they effectually checked marauding, that bane of all armies. The civil government, in the mean time, fined, whipt, baniftied, and hung without mercy, all who oppofed their refolutions ; they feized the prefs throughout America, and in the moft infamous manner managed it to their purpofe ; they moulded many to D 2 their [ 20 ] their views by inflaming their paffions -, to fome they ibid the properties of the Loyal- ifts at a low price, who thenceforward be- came attached to their intereil ; others were connected to it through fear of punifhment, or dread of retribution ; and the whole force of America, civil and military, combined to place in Mr. Waihington's hands a more ievere, fyflematie, and uniform mode of diicipline over his mercenary army t than any European potentate in the time of war can avail himfelf of. In fupportof the obiervation of the Tranf- lator, that Wailiington's army was com- pofed of all nations, not or. native Ameri- cans ; and of my petitions, that the civil and military powers were clofely connected with, and mod ftrongly ailiiied each other ; the marquis de Chaftellux gives thedefcrip- tion of one colony, " fpeaking of the re- volution unhappily with regret," and of the numbers who were difafFected to it in others ; he mentions alfo " Mr. Pendleton, chief juft ice of Carolina, having the cou- rage to hang three Tories at Charles Town, a few days before the furrender of the town, and was accordingly in great danger of lof- mg ing his life, had he not efeaped out of the hands of the Englifh, though comprifed in the capitulation." He informs us, likewife, that when Mr. Harrifon had perfuaded the people of Virginia to take his word for it that the congrefs acted properly, " he, Mr. Harrifon, found himfelf greatly relieved by a fpeech made by lord North, foon after this fpeech was printed (properly garbled with- out doubt), and the public papers and all America rang with its contents." The marquis fays, that Mr. Washington is not a confid- ent character : that he is fufpected in Ame- rica; and he will think with the Tranflator, " that Congrefs are wife in not erecting a ftatuein his life-time to that general." The order of Cincinnati, which has been firppofed the offspring of political defign, appears to me a natural bond of union be- tween thofe whom accident had called to- gether, fimiLir fortunes endeared, and whom peace has again difievercd : incapable of ef- fecting any ambitious views, commentators have amplified it into confequence ; it cer- tainly is more .calculated to awaken the ta- lents of the orator than the fears of the po- litician. Futurity is haftening to produce new revolutions, and conquefl will be check- ed only by the boundaries of nature, not the divifions of geometry. Then the chimeras of democracy will be done away, and riches, as M. de Chaftellux obferves of the ladies of Philadelphia, will eftablifh their natural pre- cedency; they will combine with arms to acquire, and tranfmit hereditary honour?. Tyranny may inftantaneoufly form an iron bond of union, and preferve its force during the [ 49 ] the unnatural flate of warfare; but laws and provisions, neceffary to fecure the mul- tifarious interefls of a peaceful people, and to difFufe and render permanent thofe blefT- ings which, as Montefquieu affirms, Eng- land knows befl how to ufe and to enjoy, " the bleffings of religion, liberty, and com- merce," mufl be the refult, not of fpecula- tion, but of practice j of the'wifdom of ages, not of the refolves of a moment. Whenever I read of the American laws, of fome being adapted to the infantine flate of fociety, others to a maturer age, and many negligently looking forward to poflerity, I fmcerely lament the condition of the poor people, and apply to them what the Tranf- lator remarks when M. de Chaflellux talks of the French adopting our manner of gar- dening, " the gardens I have hitherto feen in [America] France, profeffedly laid out on the Englifh model, are, with great deference to the authors, very unfuccefsful imitations of the Englifh flyle." The reader may pur- fue the metaphor, and he will find, wind- mills, Chinefe bridges, and cockle-fhell temples, to illuftrate the creation of thefe fyftern-mongers . H From From the Tranflator we gather, that ge- neral Arnold received feven thoufand pounds in the funds ; and from the Author, that he was to deliver up Weft Point. The death of major Andre is univerfally known ; and the rank that he bore of adjutant-general in the Britim army. From thefe inferences, admitting their truth, what deductions can we draw ? Could Arnold alone give up Weft Point ? Would an adjutant-general have vifited him for what he alone could have accomplished ? Would he have been hazarded for the completion of fo fmall an object ? Is there nothing in Arnold's afle- verations ? Gave he no reafons for his con- duct ? He did. Much of this extraordi- nary event will doubtlefs be ever concealed; and probably little more than what has al- ready tranfpired will be known to the pre- fent generation. Arnold's afTertions, that America in general was fatisfied with the offers of the Britifh nation, that it was a- verfe to the French, and the continuation of the war, were true. It has been before obferved, that Washington aflerted, that he would never agree to independency; and though the Congrefs decreed that all their votes votes mould be ftyled unanimous, it is well known that more than once a fingle voice or two has decided upon their moft import- ant refolutions. To a certain length Gallo- way acceded to the American caufe, and in England, people at different periods defift- ed from their fupport of America as me re- ceded from her connections with this coun- try ; this did the great and wife earl of Chat- ham, the firfl ftatefman of the age. The argument is not whether this change of fentiments proceeded from patriotic prin- ciples, or finifler paffions ; it is the fact that linfifr. upon. In our own civil wars, Hyde and EiTex, Falkland and Whitlock, and many others, furnimed the precedent ; and this conduct muft arife from the nature of man, imperfect in himfelf, his judgments, and opinions -, and actuated from events and effects originating from fo imperfect a fource. Was it not fo, how could a war ever be terminated ? A brave, but a divided peo- ple, under the influence of confcience, and a firm belief of the juftice of their caufe, would fight to their mutual destruction, Sf and darknefs be the burier of the dead." Hiflory, when it points out to us the cala~ H 2 mities [ 5* ] mities of civil wars, uniformly delineates their termination, not fo much in the de- finition of mankind, as in their change of opinions. Had Lambert efcaped from his purfuers, and the army revolted from Monk, what would have been Monk's fate ? And in what light would pofterity confider his memory ? A republican, and therefore un- conftitutional party, at prefent detract from his reputation 5 but he is venerated by Eng- lifhmen in general, as the reftorer of the o peace of his country. That general has been blamed for permitting the reiteration of the king without compact : the time ne- ceflary for making fuch -zfree, general^ and Eng/tjb compaft) would have ruined his mea- fures ; fecrefy alone could give fuccefs to his arduous undertaking. He trufted, and he trufled juftly, that the fpirit of the times would fecure the liberty of the fubject, againft which it was viiible the crown muft con- tend in vain. Clarendon had wifdom fuffi- cient to diftinguifh the momentary acclama- tions of all ranks of people, happy in the termination of their individual miferies, from the fober and collective voice of their judg- ment. Jf the houfe of Stuart, on the re- moval [ S3 1 moval of that great man, forgot their own interefts, and ungratefully invaded the li- berties of the people, it certainly was con- trary to the calculations of reafon, and they loft the crown in confequence; the fpirit of the people, as one man, rofe up againft them, and let it be remembered, the Revolution was effected without bloodmed. Had Ar- nold, and thofe who thought with him, gi- ven a fevere blow, and without bloodfhed, to Wamington's army ; had he broke the civil chains of the people, and reftored the fword to their hands, had they accepted the more than independency which was offered to A- merica by Great Britain ; and had the em- pire by thefe means been restored to union, who would have enjoyed the bleffings of this age, and been the favourite of pofterity, the active, enterprifing American Arnold, or the cool, defigning, frenchified Wafhing- ton? Thefe terms are derived from the Marquis's Memoirs - 3 his opinions, and the rejoicings of the Americans upon the failure of Arnold's attempt, eftablifh its magni- tude. The Marquis de Chaftellux obferves, " I cannot help admiring the addrefs with which Mr. [ 54 ] Mr. Barkminfter, a young minifter, intro- duced politics into his fermons." I will not even quote the paflage, it is offence to a Chriftian ear. Nor is the Tranflator's ac- count much better, that the prevalent reli- gion of the principal inhabitants of America, and particularly to the Southward, is pure Deifm. I mail only remark, that the moft ftupendous event which has hitherto been produced by the American revolution, is the introduction of Epifcopacy; an end oppo- fite, very oppofite indeed, to the intentions and expectancy of thofe who, in Europe and America, were among the promoters of its independency, and totally contrary to the politics of the fanatic and the felf-fufficien- cy of the Deift. As a general obfervation, though fre- quently applicable to the Author of thefe Travels, and univerfally to the Tranflator of them, I mail remark the variety of abufe that has been thrown upon Britim ge- nerals, and the Britim armies *. Eloquence has / * The Marquis is proud to celebrate the dancing of his countrymen ; and the Tranflator relates, with great complacency, a dance at Alexandria, attended with [ 55 1 has been employed to blacken their reputa- tion ; poetry has attempted to embellifh the unjuft fidions of party with the luftre of truth; the Englim garden has been disfi- gured by mifplaced ornaments, and polluted by temples unneceffarily erected to America. Such calumnies the Britim generals may look down upon with magnanimous difdain ; they know that war has its unavoidable miferies, they know that Bofton, Philadelphia, Newport, and Charles Town, acquit them of unneceflary definition. CarelefTnefs in a fmgle centinel, or defign in any injured, irritated, and exiled Loyalift, would have reduced either of thofe capitals to afhes; with circumftances that Europeans will think indecent in the French officers to fuffer ; but he terms the Mef- chianza, which was conducted with magnificence, ele- gance, and decorum, " An illuftrious acl: of folly and infatuation." What one military operation could this noble entertainment prevent ? or what expence fell up- on the public ? It was the tribute of affection from, the field-officers of an army to a general they revered, on the eve of his departure for Europe, and when he could no longer ferve them. This diiinterefted grati- tude, in the purity of American principles, the Tranfla- tor calls an illuftrious aft: of folly; and in his eyes the judgment that an army forms of its general, is infatu- ation. 6 this, C 56 ] this, their orders, and the vigilant and faith- ful execution of them effectually prevented. New York too, amidit her ruins, will re- mind pofterity to whofe exertion it owes what remains of it ; the Guards of the king of Great Britain having preferved what a cowardly enemy had devoted to the flames. But while there can be no doubt but that thefe generals may rely upon the testimony of their hearts for the propriety of their con- duct, and that a future age will do their memory ample juftice, the fubordinate offi- cer, whofe flation will not procure him ad- miffion to the augufl tribunal of pofterity, fuffers the taunts and ignominy which arife from groundlefs calumny, and the effront- ery of falfehood. He expects an enemy in a French officer ; nor does he wiih for an ad- vocate in a fubject of the United States j but he has a right to demand, that Britons will receive no imputations that injure national or individual reputation, without the fulleft proofs; they will then only be juft to their own intereft, for though in other profeiiions the venality of politics, and the frequency of anonymous abuie, has almoft introduced an indifference to all afperfions ; in the fol- dier [ 57 ] dier the definition of private fenfibility is an injury to national honour; for whatever blunts the one, detracts from that fum which conftitutes the value of the other. Mr. Payne j an Englifh emigrant, and fuch perfons as the Tranflator, may calcu- late as they pleafe, may elevate the power of America, and degrade that of Europe ; they may endue infancy with ftrength and animation, and reduce the vigour of youth to decrepitude. Such reprelcntations will have no effect. The Tranflator, if a native of Great Britain, will be defpifed at home, and meet with that neglect from America which has uniformly attended his countrymen, when they could no longer injure Great Bri- tain. The potency of Mr. Payne's affir- mations, the fpells of his language, were fuccefsful in disturbing the peace of ibciety, and in injuring the country from whence he drew his unhallowed birth ; peace has at once difperfed his incantations. He, pro- bably, curfes the hour in which Dr. Frank- lin fummoned him from his country ; al- lured him acrofs the Atlantic, and compadt- ed with him to fell his talents for the moft mifchievous purpofes. Let us leave him to I the t 58 ] the contempt which he has long met with from the inhabitants of Philadelphia, and the upbraid ings of his own confcience. But I muft confefs I am inclined to be- lieve the Marquis de Chaftellux's character of Mr. JefFerfon. The very inclination is refpect. There is an uniformity through- out, that appears to me to be natural ; and the Author in this delineation has at leaft the merit of confiftency. I have no pofitive tef- tirnony to contradict what is afferted of his talents and virtues, and I refpect mankind too much to be follicitous in my fearch of a negative ; to him therefore, and to men of fimilar defcription, thefe concluding ani- madverfions are addrefied -, my heart neither dictates them through malignity, nor doth my hand fubfcribe them through apprehen- iion ; if they come not from a friend to A- merica, they proceed not from an enemy $ and in either cafe their intrinfic merit muft decide upon their reception. The Tranf la- tor remarks, " Mr. JerTerfon, a man of profound thought, and of great penetration, is of opinion, that emigrants from Europe are not defirable; left the emigrants bring- ing with them, not only the vices, but the corrupt [ 59 ] corrupt prejudices of their refpective ancient governments, may be unable to relifh that bold univerial fyflem of freedom and to- leration which is a novelty to the old world." This opinion the Tranilator controverts. Mr. JefFerfon well knows that no emi- grant comes to difpute the laws of the coun- try to which he wanders, but to fubmit to them ; not to difplay his own wifdom, but to be benefited by that of others. For Englifhmen it is a fublimer, and more na- tural hope, to amend the defects of their own laws than to feek refuge from them in the wilds of America ; the field of Nafeby, and the Revolution bear witnefs to it ; e- vents to which we owe the bleffings we now enjoy, and are thankful for ; and which, in all human probability, will fecure Britifh freedom for ages, amidft the wrecks of ar- bitrary republics, and abfolute monarchies. The Tranilator furnifhes me with an- other obfervation, which will produce the conclufion I mean to draw, and I believe the reader will think it explanatory of Mr. Jef- ferfon's real reafons for wifhing to prevent emigrations to America : what have been; given I efteem as merely ojlcnfibk ones. "It I 2 is [ 60 ] is from the interior fettlements of this vaft country that America will derive her future greatnefs, and eflablifh new empires to rival, sn 1 perhaps outdo, the ancient world." It is the jealoufy of thefe new empires, Mr. Jefrerfon, that prevents you from the encou- ragement of emigrants. For whither will they refort to ? Not to the old colonies, but to the new pofTefilons; not to fickly climates, but to thofe which are as healthy as any in the world ; not to where they will become fervants, but where they may enjoy equality : your flaves, the very negroes, will participate the benefits of thefe new fettlements ; and what to you, Sir, huma- nity poffibly may dictate, felf-intercft will i eludtantly compel others to follow; a mil- der treatment of thefe unfortunate men, to prevent their flight and emancipation. Your Congrels muil admit thefe fettlements into 4 federal union, when they acquire power to claim independency ; it muft aiTume the graces of benevolence from the compulfion. of felf-intereft., and diverting neceffity of her iron habiliments, array her in all the deco-r rations of juftice. Virginia may abandon the luxuries of Eu- rope; rope j but Europe is elegant as well as lux- urious : her embellifhments have an intrin- fic merit to attract the eyes of the ignorant, and the judgment of the polite. Habit a- lone, without the national character which M. de Chaftellux attributes to the Virgini- ans, has made them neceflary to you. You will foon become an objedt of envy to thofe who do not poffefs your fplendour ; thefe rifing empires, thefe interior emigrants, when they obferve your enjoyments, and vour natural oftentation will difplay them, they will regret their own fituation, and, as it is natural for the human mind, they will tt feek for coniblation in a comparison of their own advantages, and they will find it in the enjoyment of fupertor force. Having once reafoned themfelves into a knowledge of their own fuperiority, it will only remain to prove it upon you. Europe, in it> nations the moft diftant from each other, has not an example where man is fo different in himfelf, as in the enervated inhabitant of Virginia and Carolina, and his vigorous neighbour of the back-fettlements and Kentuck : employ- ment adds to the force of climate, in render- ing the difference permanent j the one is a 6 country [ 62 ] country of merchants and artizans, fubject to emigrations -, the other of peafan try, like the ancient Romans, adjunfti gleba, on the beft motives, they are the owners of it. Such, Sir, being the weaknefs of your na- tive colony : fuch, in refpedt to other rif- ing empires, being the fituation of moil of the ftates of your confederacy ; talk not of naval force, of combined fleets, and future hostilities j adopt a fvftem of government ufeful to your own fubjects, and be at peace with the world. Away with fuch fenti- ments as your's, " that Providence has plac- ed the richefh poflemons of Europe at our door, and has obliged their moll precious commerce to pafs as it were in review be- fore us * :" they convey piratical ideas - y and fuch as I am perfuaded are foreign to your meaning. At this time they are particular- ly unfeafonable ; mankind has a right to be jealous, not of the power of Congrefs, but of its perfonal weaknefs -p ; reafon and ex- perience * The Tranflator quotes this paflage from a work of Mr. Jefferfon's. f One of Mr. Payne's humane difcoveries to pro- mote American independence was, u The diminution of perience convince us that ftatefmen who have been eminent, and are fallen into neg- left, will endeavour to regaia their power by the fame means which produced it ; and will pradtife what the theorifl prefcribes to kingdoms in a ftate of decay, the recurring to firft principles for the renovation of their conftitution and pre-eminence. In the o- pinion of Congrefs, war may reftore its confequence ; its prefent weaknefs is evi- dent in its not fulfilling the treaty of peace, which mould not be attributed to want of faith, but to the want of power. There is in general but one fentiment re- lative to America throughout Great Bri- tain ; fhe regrets only her national debt, and not the lofs of her colonies. Some are not wanting to fay that even that debt is cheaply purchafed, if Great Britain is wife enough to attend to her internal advantages, and to prefer the certainty of their cultiva- tion to all foreign and precarious emolu- ments. The moft determined enemies of American independence are not fo to the of trade affords an army, and the neceflities of an ar- my create a new trade." May it never again be appli- cable ! United United States. Perfonal diflike to the go- vernors is lofl in general companion for their fubjects, and the fole object of the in- habitants of Great Britain is the preferva- tion of peace. Argument mould be combated with ar- gument. If you appeal to the fword, it is neceflary you mould meafure that of your adverfary ; and that you mould inform your- felf of his force, whenever you produce your own. " England, you fay, muft act by detachment." England could act by detachment; not only naval, which you allow, but military, \vhich you have for- gotten. The force which conquered the Kavannah would be fully fufncient to re- duce any one of the United States to think peace, on the mod unconditional terms, deftreable. And this might be eafily effect- ed by the introduction of the mildeft me- thods of European warfare, which every military author directs, and every general practifes, by burning the houfes of luch peafants as take up arms without being re- gimented ; levying contributions upon towns to fave them from plunder ; and living up- on the country. What confolation would [ 65 1 it be to fuch a country, that it is preferved from abfolute territorial conqueft, which Great Britain is too wife to aim at, by be- longing to an impotent confederation. The eftabliihment of your independency was not the refult of American taleats, or American courage. It is to be attributed to Britiih credulity, and Britifh difunion ; and, final- ly, as the Marquis de Chaftellux obferves, to the amflance of France. Having juft hinted that England might be an active and fatal enemy, if any finifter pamon mould lead Congrefs to quarrel with her, I mall fbte to you forjie moral and political rea- ibns, that mould make you prefer her alli- ance ; and emancipate yourfelves from the power of France. The facred war has ceaf- ed; thank Philip, but let him preiide not in the council of the Amphictyons. The late war originated from error, not defign ; from even.ts which, though futuri- ty may regret, the prefent age did not oc- cafion. The glorious Revolution, in fact, annihilated the fource from whence the chartered governments of America deduced their origin, without the proper fubftitu- tion of power that might connect and in- corporate the empire. It was not then forefeen K that [ 66 ] that America, in her weak fituation, would lilently accord with the principles of the Revolution, to which when (he grew into itrength ihe would refuie obedience; that fhe would claim her rights under the fanc- tion of kingly government, which was an- nihilated, and refuie the obedience which Great Britain yielded to the fupremacy of king and parliament *. The very effects deducible from thefe caufes were perverted, and the principle of no man's being taxed without repreientation, which could flow only from the government of king and par- liament, was in rifted upon by thofe who re- fufed obedience to king and parliament, and who deduced their privileges from royal charters, where no fuch principles are to be found. Many, who viewed the circle of government on its wideft range, thought * Read the Marquis de Chaftellux's converfation with governor Trumbull, and the account of New England, in 1670, declining to apply to the Englifli parliament, as the Marquis obferves, " early proving that they never acknowledged the authority of parlia- ment." It is fcarce neceifary to obfervc, that had this