. . , to John Farr
. . , on the Affair;
of America .
By
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
A
E D M U -I D B U R K E, Eft
One of the Rejrefentatives in Parliament
for the City of BRISTOL,
T o
JOHN FARR and^OHN HARRIS, Efqra.
Sheriifs $f that City,
Hfc
O N TiH E
AFFAIRS OF AMERICA
LONDON:
Printed for J. > O D S L E Y, in
L3JXVIJ.
.-. : A? ."? ' '-'
CO
b
QC
e
00
LETTER, &c.
G EN TLEME N,
HAVE the honour of fending you the
two lafl ads which have been paffed with
<> regard to the troubles in America. Thefe
1 acts are fimilar to all the reft which have been
L- made on the fame fubject. They operate by
the fame principle ; and they are derived from
the very fame policy. I think they complete
the number of this fort of flatutes to nine. It
affords no matter for very pleafing reflection,
to obferve, that our fubjects diminim, as our
laws encreafe.
o If I have the misfortune of differing with
~ fome of my fellow-citizens on this great and
arduous fubject, it is no fmall confolation to
me, that I do not differ from you. With you,
B i
E 4 ]
j am perfectly united. We are heartily agreed
in our deteftation of a civil war. We have
ever exprefTed the itfoft unqualified difappro-
bation or all the fteps which have led to it, and
of all thofe which tend to prolong it. And I
have no doubt that we feel exactly the fame
emotions of grief and fhame on all its mife-
rable ccnfequences -, whether they appear, on
the one fide or the other, in the {hape of vic-
tories or defeats ; of captures made from the
Englim on the continent, or from the Englifh
in thefe iflands ; of legiflative regulations
which fubvert the liberties of our brethren, or
which undermine our own.
Of the firft of thefe ftatutes (that for the
letter of marque) I (hall fay little; Excep-
tionable as it may be, and as I think it is irt
Ibme particulars, it feems the natural, perhaps
neceflary refult of the meafures we have taken,
and the fituation We are in. The other (for
a partial fufpenfion of the Habeas Corpus)
appears to me of a much deeper malignity.
During its progrefs through the Houfe of
Commons, it has been amended, fo as to ex-
prefs more difiinclly than at firft it did, the
avowed fentiments of thofe who framed it r
and the main ground of my exception to it is,
becaufe it does exprefs, and does carry into
execution, purpofes which appear to me fo
contradictory to all the principles, not only of
the conititutional policy of Great Britain, but
ever*
5 ]
feVeh of that fpecies of hoftile juftice 1 , which
no afperity of war wholly extinguifhes in the
minds of a civilized people*
It feems to have in view two capital objects;
the nrft, to enable adminiftration to confine, as
long as it (hall think proper, (within the dura-
tion of the ad) thofe, whom that aft is pleafed
to qualify by the name of Pirates. Thofe fo
qualified, I underftand to be, the commanders
and mariners of fuch privateers and {hips of
war belonging to the colonies, as in the courfe
of this unhappy conteft may fall into the
hands of the crown. They are therefore to
be detained in prifon, under the criminal de-
fcription of piracy, to a future trial and igno-
minious punimment, whenever circumftances
(hall make it convenient to execute vengeance
on them, under the colour of that odious and
infamous offence*
To this firft purpofe of the law, I have no
fmall diflike. Becaufe the acl: does not (as all
laws, and all equitable tranfadtions ought to
do) fairly defcribe its object. The perfons,
v/ho make a naval war upon us, in confequence
of the prefent troubles, may be rebels j but to
call and treat them as pirates, rs confounding*
not only the natural diftindHon of things, but
the order of crimes j which, whether by put-
ting them from a higher part of the fcale to
the lower, or from the lower to the higher, is
B 2 never
never done without dangeroufly disordering the
whole frame of jurifprudence. Though piracy
may be, in the eye of the law, a lefs offence
than treafon ; yet as both are, in effect, pu-
nilhed- with the fame death, the fame forfei-
ture, and the fame corruption of blood, I never
would take from any fellow-creature what-
ever, any fort of advantage, which he may de-
rive to his fafety from the pky of mankind, or
to his reputation from their general feelings,
by degrading his offence, when I cannot foften
his punimment. The general fenfe of man*
kind tells me, that thofe offences, which may
poflibly arife from miftaken virtue, are not in
the clafs of infamous actions. Lord Coke, the
oracle of the Englilh law, conforms to that
general fenfe, where he fays, that " thofe
things which are of the highell criminality
" may be of the leaft difgrace." The adl pre-
pares a fort of mafqued proceeding, not ho-
nourable to the juftics of the kingdom, and by
no means neceffary for its fafety.- 1 cannot
enter into it. If lord Ralmei ino, in the lad
rebellion, had driven off the cattle of twenty
clans, I (hould have thought it a fcandalous
and low juggle, utterly unworthy of the man-
linefs of an Englifh judicature, to have tried
him for felony, as a ilealer of cows.
Befides, I muft boneflly tell you, that I
1 J C ". "
could not vote tor, or countenance in any way,
a ftatute, which ftigmatizes with the crime of
piracy,
[ 7 ]
piracy, thofe men, whom an act of parliament
had previoufly put out of the protection of the
law. When the legiflature of this kingdom
had ordered all their mips and goods, for the
mere new-created offence of exercifing trade,
to be divided as a fpoil among the feamen of
the navy, for the fame legiflature afterwards
to treat the necefTary reprifal of an unhappy,
profcribed, interdicted people, as the crime of
piracy, feems harfh and incongruous. Such a
procedure would have appeared (in any other
legiflature than ours) a ftrain of the molt intuit-
ing and mod unnatural cruelty and injuftice.
I allure vou, I do not remember to have heard
j *
of any thing like it in any time or country.
The fecond profefTed purpofe of the act is
to detain in England for trial, thofe who mall
commit high treafon in America.
That you may be enabled to enter into the
true ipirit of the prefent law, it is necelTary,
gentlemen, to apprife you, that there is an -act,
made fo long ago as the reign of Henry the
eighth, before the exiftence or thought of any
English colonies in America, for the trial in.
this kingdom of treafons committed out of the
realm. In the year 1769, parliament thought
proper to acquaint the crown with their con-
itruction of that act, in a formal addrefs,
wherein they intreated, his Majeily, to caufe
peribns, charged with high treafon in America,
to be brought into this kingdom for trial. By
B 3 this
C 8 I
this act of Henry the eighth, fo conjlrued and
Jo applied, almoft all that is fubftantial and
beneficial in a trial by jury is taken away
from the fubject in the colonies. This is how-
ever faying too little ; for to try a man under
that act is, in effect, to condemn him unheard.
A perfon is brought hither in the dungeon of a
ihip's hold : thence he is vomited into a dun-
geon on land ; loaded with, irons, unfurnished
with money, unfupported by friends, three
thoufand miles from all means of calling upon,
or confronting evidence, where no one local
circumltance that tends to detect perjury, can
poffibly be judged of -, fuch a perfon may be
executed according to form, but he can never
be tried according to juftice.
I therefore could by no means reconcile my-
felf to the bill I fend you ; which is exprefsly
provided to remove all inconveniences from
the eitablifhment of a mode of trial, which has
ever appeared to me moft unjuft and moft un-
conftitutional. Far from removing the diffi-
culties which impede the execution of fo mif-
chievous a project, I would heap new difficul-
ties upon it, if it were in my power. All the
ancient, honeft juridical principles, and inftitu-
tions of England, are fo many clogs to check
and retard the headlong courfe of violence and
pppreffion. They were invented for this one
good purpofe ; that what was not juft (hould
not be convenient. Convinced of this, I would
i leave
t 9 ]
leave things as I found them. The old, cool-
headed, general law, is as good as any deviation
dictated by prefent heat.
I could fee no fair jiulifiable expedience
pleaded to favour this new fufpenfion of the
liberty of the fubjecl. If the Englifli in. the
colonies can fupport the independency to
which they have been unfortunately driven, I
fuppofe nobody has fuch a fanatical zeal for
the criminal jufHce of Henry the eighth, that
he will contend for executions which muft be
retaliated tenfold on his own friends ; or who
has conceived fo ftninge an idea of Englifh
dignity, as to think the defeats in America
compenfated by the triumphs at Tyburn. If,
on the contrary, the colonies are reduced to
the obedience of the crown, there muft be,
under that authority, tribunals in the country
itfelf, fully competent to adminifter juftice on
all offenders. But if there are not, and that
we muft fuppofe a thing fo humiliating to cur
government, as that all this vail continent
(hould unanimoufly concur in thinking, that
no ill fortune can convert refiftance to the
royal authority into a criminal acl, we may
call the effecT: of our victory pence, or obedi-
ence, or what we will ; but the war is not
ended: The hoftile mind continues in lull
vigour; and it continues under a worfe form.
Jf your peace be nothing more than a fullen
paufe from arms; if their quiet be nothing
B 4 but
[ 10 ]
but the meditation of revenge, where fmitten
pride, fmarting from its wounds, fefters into
new rancour, neither the act of Henry the
eighth, nor its handmaid of this reign, will
anfwer any wife end of policy or juftice. For
if the bloody fields, which they faw and felt,
are not fufficient to fubdue the reafon of Ame-
ricans (to ufe the expreffive phrafe of a great
lord in office) it is not the judicial flaughter,
which is made in another hemifphere againft
their univerfal fenfe of juftice, that will ever
reconcile them to the Britifh government.
I take it for granted, gentlemen, that we
fympathize in a proper horror of all punim-
ment further than as it ferves for an example.
To whom then does the example of an execu-
tion in England for this American rebellion
apply ? Remember, you are told every day,
that the prefent is a conteft between the two
countries ; and that we in England are at war
for our own dignity againft our rebellious chil-
dren. Is this true ? If it be, it is furely among
fuch rebellious children that examples for dif-
obedience mould be made. For who ever
thought of inftru&ing parents in their duty by
an example from the punimment of a difo-
jbedient fon ? As well might the execution
of a fugitive negro in the plantations, be
confidered as a lefibn to teach mafters
humanity to their flaves. Such executions
may indeed fatiate our revenge ; they may
harden
harden our hearts : and puff us up with
pride and arrogance. Alas ! this is not in-
flruction.
If any thing can be drawn from fuch ex-
amples by a parity of the cafe, it is to mew,
how deep their crime, and how heavy their
punimment will be, who (hall at any time
dare to refift a diftant power actually dif-
pofing of their property, without their voice
or confent to the difpoiltion ; and overturning
their franchifes without charge or hearing.
God forbid, that England mould ever read
this lefTon written in the blood of any of her
off-fpring !
War is at prefent carried on, between the
king's natural and foreign troops, on one fide,
and the Englim in America, on the other,
Upon the ufual footing of other wars ; and
accordingly an exchange of prifoners has been
regularly made from the beginning. If, not-
withftanding this hitherto equal procedure,
upon fome profpect of ending the war with
fuccefs, (which however may be delufive) ad-
miniftration prepares to a<ft againft thofe as
traitors who remain in their hands at the end
of the troubles, in my opinion we mall exhibit
to the world as indecent a piece of injuftice as
ever civil fury has produced. If the prifoners
who have been exchanged have not by that
exchange bsen virtually pardoned, the cartel
(whether
[ '2 'J
(whether avowed or underftood) is a cruel
fraud : for you have received the life of a man;
and you ought to return a life for it, or there
is no parity or fairnefs in the tranfaction.
If, on the other hand, we admit, that they,
who are actually exchanged are pardoned, but
contend that we may juftly referve for ven-
geance, thpfe who remain unexchanged ; then
this unpleafant and unhandfome confequence
will follow ; that you judge of the delinquency
of men merely by the time of their guilt, and
not by the heinoufnefs of it ; and you make
fortune and accidents, and not the moral qua-
lities of human action, the rule of your juftice,
Thefe ftrange incongruities muft ever per-p
plex thofe, who confound the unhappinefs of
civil difTention, with the crime of treafon.
Whenever a rebellion really and truly exifts,
(which is as eafily known in fa6t, as it is diffi-
cult to define in words) government has not
entered into fuch military conventions j but
has ever declined all intermediate treaty,
which mould put rebels in poffeffion of the
law of nations with regard to war, Com-
manders would receive no benefits at their
hands, becaufe they could make no return for
them. Who has ever heard of capitulation^
and parole of honour, and exchange of pri-
foners, in the late rebellions in this kingdom ?
The anfwer to all demands of that fort was,
" we
[ '3 ]
6 < we can engage for nothing ; you are at the
et king's pleafure." We ought to remember,
that if our preient enemies be, in reality and
truth, rebels, the king's generals have no right
to releafe *hem upon any conditions whatfo-
ever ; and they are themfelves anfwerable to
the law, and as much in want of a pardon for
doing fo, as the rebels whom they releafe.
Lawyers, I know, cannot make the diftinc-
tipn, for which I contend ; becaufe they have
their Ariel: rule to go by. But legiflators ought
to do what lawyers cannot j for they have no
other rules to bind them, but the great prin-
ciples of reafon and equity, and the general
fenie of mankind. Thefe they are bound to
obey and follow ; and rather to enlarge and
enlighten law by the liberality of legiflative
reafon, than to fetter and bind their higher
capacity by the narrow conductions of fubor-
dinate artificial juflice. If we had adverted to
this, we never could confider the convulfions
of a great empire, not difturbed by a little dif-
feminated faction, but divided by whole com-
muities and provinces, and entire legal repre-
fentatives of a people, as fit matter of difcuf-
fion under a commiflion of oyer and terminer.
It is as oppofite to reafon and prudence, as it is
to humanity and juflice.
This acl, proceeding on thefe principles,
that is, preparing to end the prefent troubles
by
[ '4 ]
by a trial of one fort of hoftility, under the
name of piracy, and of another by the name
of treafon, and executing the act of Henry the
eighth according to a new and unconftitutio-
nal interpretation, I have thought evil and
dangerous, even though the inftruments of
effecting fuch purpofes had been merely of a
neutral quality.
But it really appears to me, that the means
which this aft employs are, at leaft, as excep-
tionable as the end. Permit me to open my-
felf a little upon this fubject, becaufe it is of
importance to me, when I am obliged to fub-
mit to the power without acquiefcing in the
reafon of an aft of legiflature, that I mould
juftify my difient, by fuch arguments as may
be fuppofed to have weight with a fober man.
The main operative regulation of the act is
fo fufpend the common law, and the ftatute
Habeas Corpus, (the fole fecurities either for
liberty or juftice) with regard to all thole who
have been out of the realm or on the high
leas, within a given time. The reft of the
people, as I understand, are to continue as they
jtood before.
I confefs, gentlemen, that this appears to
me, as bad in the principle, and far worfe in
its ccnfequence, than an univerfal fufpenfion
pf the Habeas Corpus a&j and the limiting
qualifi-
[ '5 ]
qualification, inftead of taking out the fling,
does in my humble opinion fharpen and enve-
nom it to a greater degree. Liberty, if I un-
derftand it at all, is a general principle, and the
clear right of all the fubjecls within the realm,
or of none. Partial freedom feems to me a
moft invidious mode of flavery. But, unfortu-
nately, it is the kind of flavery the moft eafily
admitted in times of civil difcord. For parties
are but too apt to forget their own future
fafety in their defire of facrificing their ene-
mies. People without much difficulty admit
the entrance of that injuftice of which they
are not to be the immediate victims. In times
of high proceeding, it is never the faction of the
predominant power that is in danger ; for no
tyranny chaftifes its own instruments. It is
the obnoxious and the fufpedted who want the
protection of law $ and there is nothing to
bridle the partial violence of ftate fadlions, but
this great, fteady, uniform principle ; " that
*' whenever an aft is made for a ceiTation
" of law and juftice, the whole people
" mould be univerfally fubjedted to the fame
* lufpenfion of their franchifes.'* The alarm
of fuch a proceeding would then be univerfal.
It would operate as a fort of call of the nation.
It would become every man's immediate and
inftant concern to be made very fenfible of the
abfolute necejjity of this total eclipfe of liberty.
They would more carefully advert to every
renewal, arid more powerfully refift it. Thefe
great determined meafures are not commonly
fo
..
fo dangerous to freedom. They are marked
with too ftrong lines, to flide into ufe. No plea
or pretence of mere inconvenience or evil example
(which muft in their nature be daily and ordi-
nary incidents) can be admitted as a realbn for
fuch mighty operations. But the true danger
is, when liberty, is nibbled away, for expedi-
ents, and by parts. The Habeas, Corpus act
fuppofes (contrary to the genius of moil other
laws) that the lawful magiftrate may fee par-
ticular men with a malignant eye ; and it pro-
vides for that identical cafe. But when men*
in particular defcriptions y marked out by the
magiftrate bimfelf^ are delivered over by par-
liament to this pofllble malignity, it is not the
Habeas Corpus that is occafionally fufpended,
but its fpirit that is miftaken, and its principle
that is fubverted. Indeed nothing is fecurity
to any individual but the common intcreft of
all.
.'ji'j ~j MI . '_ j. .- * j i '
This act, therefore, has this diftinguKhed
evil in it, that it is the firft partial fufpenfion of
the Habeas Corpus which has been made. The
precedent, which is always of very great impor-
tance, is now eftablimed. For the firft time a
diftinction is made among the people within
this realm. Before this act, every man put-
ting his foot on Englilh ground, every ftran-*
ger owing only a local and temporary allegi-
ance, even a negro flave, who had been fold in
the colonies, and under an act of parliament,,
became
t. '7
became as free as every other man who
breathed the fame air with him. Now a line
is drawn, which may be advanced further and
further at pleafure, on the fame argument of
mere expedience, on which it was firii de-
fcribed. There is no equality among us; we
are not fellow-citizens, if the mariner who
lands on the quay does not reft on as firm
legal ground, as the merchant who fits in his
compting-houfe. Other laws may injure the
community, this tends to diflblve it. It deftroys
equality, which is the eilence of community.
As things now ftand, every man in the Weft
Indies, every one inhabitant of three unoffend-
ing provinces on the continent, every perfon
coming from the Eaft Indies, every gentiemaa
who has travelled for his health or education,
every mariner who has navigated the feas, is,
for no other offence, under a temporary pro-
fcription. Let any of thefe fa&s (now become
preemptions of guilt) be proved againft him,
and the bare fufpicion of the crown puts him
out of the law. It is even by no means clear
to me, whether the negative proof does not lie
upon the perfon apprehended on fufpicion, to
the fubverfion of all juftice,
I have not debated againft this bill in its
progrefs through the Houfe ; becaufe it would
have been vain to oppofe, and impoffible to
correct it. It is fome time fince I have been
clearly convinced, that in the prefent (late of
things, all oppolition to any meafures propofed
by
[ ,8 ]
by minifters, where the name of America ap-
pears, is vain and frivolous. You may be fure,
that I do not fpeak of my oppofition, which
in all circumftances muft be fo ; but that of
men of the greateft wifdom and authority in
the nation. Every thing propofed againji
America is fuppofed of courfe to be injavour
of Great Britain. Good and ill fuccefs are
equally admitted as reafons for perfevering in
the prefent methods. Several very prudent,
and very well intentioned perfons were of opi-
nion, that during the prevalence of fuch difpo-
iitions, all ftruggle tended' rather to inflame
than to abate the diftemper of the public coun-
fels. Finding fuch refiftance to be confidered
as factious by moft within doors, and by very
many without, I could not confcientioufly fup-
port what is againft my opinion, nor prudently
contend with what I know is irrefiflible.
Preferving my principles unfhaken, I re-
ferve my activity for rational endeavours ; and
1 hope my paft conduct has given fufficient evi-
dence, that if I am a tingle day from my place,
it is not owing to indolence or love of diffipa-
tion. The flighted hope of doing good is fuf-
ficient to recal me to a ftation which I quit-
ted with regret. In declining my ufual ftrict
attendance, I do not in the leaft condemn the
fpirit of thofe gentlemen, who, with ajufl
confidence in their abilities, (in which I claim
a fort of (hare from my love and admiration
of them) were of opinion that their exertions
in this defperate cafe might be of fome fervice.
They
[ '9 ]
They thought, that by contracting the fphere
of its application, they might leflen the ma-
lignity of an evil principle. Perhaps they
were in the right. But when my opinion was
fo very clearly to the contrary, for the reafons
I have juft {rated, I am fuie my attendance
would have been ridiculous.
I muft add, in further explanation of my
conduct, that, far from foftening the features
of fuch a principle, and thereby removing any
part of the popular odium or natural terrors
attending it, I ihould be forry, that any
thing framed in contradiction to the fpirit of
our conftitution did not inftantly produce in
fact, the groflefl of the evils, with which it
was pregnant in its nature. It is by lying
dormant a long time, or being at flrft very
rarely exercifed, that arbitrary power fteals
upon a people. On the next unconftitutional
act, all the famionable world will be ready to
fay Your prophecies are ridiculous, your
fears are vain, you fee how little of the mif-
chiefs which you formerly foreboded are come
to pafs. Thus, by degrees, that artful
foftening of all arbitrary power, the alkdged
infrequency or narrow extent of its operation,
will be received as a fort of aphorifm and
Mr. Hume will not be fmgular in telling us,
that the felicity of mankind is no more dif-
turbed by it, than by earthquakes, or thunder,
C or
or the other more unufual accidents of
nature.
The acl of which I have faid fo much is
among the fruits of the American war ; a war,
in my humble opinion, productive of many mif-
chiefs of a kind, which diftinguifh it from all
others. Not only our policy is deranged, and
our empire diftracled, but our laws and our
legiflative fpirit are in danger of being totally
perverted by it. We have made war on our
Colonies, not by arms only, but by laws.
As hoftility and law are not very concordant
ideas, every ftep we have taken in this bu-
fmefs, has been made by trampling on fome
maxim of juftice, or fome capital principle of
wife government. What precedents were ef-
tablimed, and what principles overturned, (I
will not fay of Englim privilege, but of ge-
neral juftice), in the Bolton Port, the Mafla-
chufets Charter, the Military Bill, and all
that long array of hoftile acts of parliament,
by which the war with America has been
begun and fupported? Had the principles of
any of thefe acts been firft planted on Englim
ground they would probably have expired as
foon as they touched it. But by being re-
moved from our perfons, they have rooted in
our laws ; and the lateft poflerity will tafle
the fruits of them.
Nor
[ 21 )
Nor is it the worft effect of this unnatural
contention, that our laws are corrupted. Whilfl
manners remain entire, they will correct the
vices of law, and foften it at length to their
own temper. But we have to lament, that in
moft of the late proceedings we fee very few
traces of that generosity, humanity, and dig-
nity of mind, which formerly characterized
this nation. War fufpends the rules of moral
obligation ; and what is long fufpended is in
danger of being totally abrogated. Civil wars
ftrike deepeft of all into the manners of a
people. They vitiate their politicks; they
corrupt their morals ; they pervert even the
natural tafte and relilh of equity and juftice.
By teaching us to confider our fellow-citizens
in an hoftile light, the whole body of our
nation becomes gradually lefs dear to us.
The very names of affection and kindred,
which were the bond of charity whilft we
agreed, become new incentives to hatred
and rage, when the communion of our coun-
try is diflblved. We may flatter ourfelves
that we (hall not fall into this misfortune,
But we have no charter of exemption, that
1 know of, from the ordinary frailties of our
nature.
What but that blindnefs of heart which.
ariffs from the phrenfy of civil contention,
ppuld have made any peribns conceive the
C 3 prefent
prefent fituation of the Britifh affairs as an
object of triumph to themfelvcs, or of congra-
tulation to their fovereign ? Nothing furely
could be more lamentable to thofe who re-
member the flourifhing days of this kingdom,
than to fee the infane joy of feveral unhappy
people, amidft the fad fpectacle which our
affairs and conduct exhibit to the fcorn of
Europe. We behold (arid it feems fome
people rejoice in beholding) our native land,
which ufed to fit the envied arbiter of all her
neighbours, reduced to a fervile dependence
on their mercy ; acquiefcing in aflurances of
friendfhip which me does not truft ; com-
plaining of hoftilities which me dares not re-
lent ; deficient to her allies ; lofty to' her fub -
jects ; and fubmiflive to her enemies ; whilft
the liberal government of this free nation is
fupported by the hireling fword of German
boors and vaflals ; and three millions of the
fubjefts of Great-Britain are feeking for pro-
tection to Englifh privileges in the arms of
France !
Thefe circumftances appear to me more like
Shocking prodigies, than natural changes in
human affairs. Men of firmer minds may fee
them without daggering or aflonimment.
Some may think them matters of congratu-
lation and complimentary addrelTes ; but I
truft your candour will be fo indulgent to my
weaknefs, as not to have the worfe opinion of
me
me for my declining to participate in this joy;
and my rejecting all mare whatsoever in fuch
a triumph. I am too old, too ftiff in my in-
veterate partialities, to be ready at all the
famionable evolutions of opinion. I fcarcely
know how to adapt my mind to the feelings
with which the Court Gazettes mean to im-
prefs the people. It is not inflantly that I
can be brought to rejoice, when I hear of the
{laughter and captivity of long lifts of thofe
names which have been familiar to my ears
from my infancy ; and to rejoice that they
have fallen under the fword of ftrangers,
whofe barbarous appellations I fcarcely know
how to pronounce. The glory acquired at the
White Plains by Colonel Raille, has no charms
for me j and I fairly acknowledge, that I have
not yet learned to delight in finding Fort
Kniphaufen in the heart of the Britifh do-
minions.
It might be fome confolation for the lofs of
our old regards, if our reafbn were enlightened
in proportion as our honeft prejudices are re-
moved. Wanting feelings for the honour of
our country, we might then in cold blood be
brought to think a little of our interefts as in-
dividual citizens, and our private conference
as moral agents.
Indeed our affairs are in a bad condition. I
do allure thofe Gentlemen who have prayed
C 3 for
f *4
for' war, and obtained the bleffing they have
fought, that they are at this inftant in very
great ftraits. The abufed wealth of this coun-
try continues a little longer to feed its diftem-
per. As yet they, and their German allies of
twenty hireling ftates, have contended only
with the unprepared ftrength of our own in-
fant colonies. But America is not fubdued.
Not one unattacked village, which was ori-
ginally adverfe, throughout that vaft continent,
has yet fubmitted from love or terror. You
have the ground you encamp on ; and you
have no more. The cantonments of your
troops and your dominions are exactly of the
fame extent. You fpread devaflation, but
you do not enlarge the fphere of authority.
The events of this war are of fo much
greater magnitude than thofe who either
wifhed or feared it, ever looked for, that this
alone ought to fill every confiderate mind with
anxiety and diffidence. Wife men often
tremble at the very things which fill the
thoughtlefs with fecurity. For many reafons
I do not choofe to expofe to public view, all
the particulars of the {late in which' you flood
with regard to foreign powers, during the
whole courfe of the laft year. Whether you
are yet wholly out of danger from thofe
powers, is more than I know, or than ^our
rulers can divine. But even if I were certain
of my fafcty, I could not ealily forgive thofe
who
who had brought me into the moft dreadful
perils, becaufe by accidents, unforefeen by
them or me, I have efcaped.
Believe me, gentlemen, the way frill before
you is intricate, dark, and full of perplexed and
treacherous mazes. Thofe who think they
have the clue, may lead us out of this labyrinth.
We may trull: them as amply as we think
proper. But as they have moft certainlv a call
for all the reafon which their flock can furnifh,
why mould we think it proper to difturb its
operation by inflaming their paffions ? I may
be unable to lend an helping hand to thofe
who direct the flate ; but I mould be afhamed
to make myfelf one of a noify multitude to
hollow and hearten them into doubtful and
dangerous courfes. A confcientious man.
would be cautious how he dealt in blood. He
would feel fome apprehenfion at being called
to a tremendous account for engaging in fo
deep a play, without any fort of knowledge of
the game. It is no excufe for prefumptuous
ignorance, that it is directed by infolent paf-
fion. The poorefl being that crawls on
earth, contending to fave itfelf from injuitice
and oppreffion, is an object refpeclable in the
eyes of God and man. But I cannot conceive
any exiftence under heaven, (which, in the
depths of its wildom, tolerates all forts of
things) that is more truly odious and dif-
gufting, than an impotent helplefs creature,
C 4 without
without civil wifdom or military fkill, with*
out a confcioufhefs of any other qualifica-
tion for power but his fervility to it, bloated
with pride and arrogance, calling for battles
which he is not to fight, contending for a vi-
olent dominion which he can never exercife,
and fatisfied to be himfelf mean and miferable,
in order to render others contemptible and
wretched.
If you and I find our talents not of the great
and ruling kind, our conduct at leaft is con-
formable to our faculties. No man's life pays
the forfeit of our ramnefs. No defolate widow
weeps tears of blood over our ignorance. Scru-
pulous and fober in our well-grounded diftruft
of ourfelves, we would keep in the port of peace
and fecurity : and perhaps in recommending to
others fomething of the fame diffidence, we
(hew ourfelves more charitable to their wel-
fare, than injurious to their abilities.
There are many circumftances in the prefent
zeal for civil war, which feem to difcover but
little of real magnanimity. The addreflers offer
their own perfons ; and they are fatisfied with
hiring Germans. They promife their private
fortunes ; and they mortgage their country.
They have all the merit of volunteers, without
rifque of perfon or charge of contribution ; and
when the unfeeling arm of a foreign foldiery
pours out their kindred blood like water, they
exult and triumph, as if they themfelves had
performed
( 2 7 )
performed fome notable exploit. I am really
afhamed of the fafhionable language which
has been held for fome time paft ; which, to
fay the beft of it, is full of levity. You know,
that I allude to the general cry againft the
cowardice of the Americans, as if we defpifed
them for not making the King's foldiery pur-
chafe the advantages they have obtained, at a
dearer rate. It is not, Gentlemen, it is not
to refpeft the difpenfations of Providence, nor
to provide any decent retreat in the mutability
ot human affairs. It leaves no medium be-
tween infolent victory and infamous defeat. It
tends to alienate our minds further and further
from our natural regard?, and to make an
eternal rent and fchifm in the B itim nation.
Thofe who do not wifh for fuch a feparation,
would not dhTolve that cement of reciprocal
efteem and regard, which can alone bind to-
gether the parts of this great fabrick. It ought
to be our with, as it is our duty, not only to
forbear this ftyle of outrage ourfelves, but to
make every one as fenfible as we can of the
impropriety and unworthinefs of the tempers
which gave rife to it, and which defigning
men are labouring with fuch malignant induf-
try to diffufe amongft us. It is our bufinefs to
counteract them, if poffible ; if poffible to
awake our natural regards -, and to revive the
old partiality to the Englifh name. Without
fomething of this kind I do not fee how it is
pver practicable really to reconcile with thofe,
whofe
whofe affe&ions, after all, muft be the fureft
hold of our government ; and which are a thou-
fand times more worth to us, than the merce-
nary zeal of all the circles of Germany.
I can well conceive a country completely
over-run, and miferably wafted, without ap-
proaching in the leaft to fettlement. In my
apprehenfion as long as Englifh government is
attempted to be fupported over Englishmen by
the fword alone, things will thus continue. I
anticipate in my mind the moment of the final
triumph of foreign military force. When that
hour arrives, (for it may arrive) then it is, that
all this mafs of weaknefs and violence will ap-
pear in its full light. If we mould be expelled
from America, the delufion of the partisans of
military government might flill continue. They
might flill feed their imaginations with the pof-
fible good confequences which might have at-
tended fuccefs. Nobody could prove the con-
trary by facts. But in cafe the fword mould
do all that the fword can do, the fuccefs of
their arms and the defeat of their policy, will
be one and the fame thing. You will never
fee any revenue from America. Some increafe
of the means of corruption, without any eafe
of the public burthens, is the very beft that
can happen. Is it for this that we are at war ;
and in fuch a war?
As to the difficulties of laying once more the
foundations of that government, which, for
2 the
( 29 )
the fake of conquering what was our own, has
been voluntarily and wantonly pulled down by
a court faction here, I tremble to look at them.
Has any of thefe Gentlemen, who are fo eager
to govern all mankind, (hewed himfelf pofTefled
of the firft qualification towards government,
fome knowledge of the object, and of the diffi-
culties which occur in the tafk they have under-
taken ?
I aflure you, that on the moft profperous
iflue of your arms, you will not be where you
flood, when you called in war to fupply the
defects of your political eflablimment. Nor
would any diforder or difbbedience to govern-
ment which could arife from the moil abject
conceffion on our part, ever equal thofe which
will be felt, after the moft triumphant vio-
lence. You have got all the intermediate evils
of war into the bargain.
I think I know America. If I do not, my
ignorance is incurable, for I have fpared no
pains to underftand it ; and I do moft iblemnly
aflure thofe of my Conftituents who put any
fort of confidence in my induftry and integri-
ty, that every thing that has been done there
has arifen from a total mifconception of the
object : that our means of originally holding
America, that our means of reconciling with it
after quarrel, of recovering it after feparation,
of keeping it after victory, did depend, and
mn ft
( 3 )
mutt depend, in their feveral ftages and pe-
riods, upon a total renunciation of that un-
conditional fubmiffion, which has taken fuch
pofleffion of the minds of violent men. The
whole of thofe maxims, upon which we have
made and continued this war, mud be aban-
doned. Nothing indeed (for I would not de-
ceive you) can place us in our former fituation.
That hope mufl be laid afide. But there is a
difference between bad and the worft of all.
Terms relative to the caufe of the war ought
to be offered by the authority of parliament.
An arrangement at home promifing fome fe-
curity for them ought to be made. By doing
this, without the leaft impairing of our
flrength, we add to the credit of our modera-
tion, which in itfelf, is always flrength more
or lefs.
I know many have been taught to think,
rhat moderation, in a cafe like this, is a fort
of treafbn : and that all arguments for it are
fufficiently anfwered by railing at rebels and
rebellion, and by charging all the prefent or
future miferies which we may fuffer, on the
refiftance of our brethren. But I would wilh
them, in this grave matter, and if peace is not
wholly removed from their hearts, to con-
fider ferioufly, firft, that to criminate and re-
criminate never yet was the road to reconci-
liation, in any difference amongft men. In
the next place, it would be right to refled,
that
( 3 )
that the American Englifh (whom they may
abufe, if they think it honourable to revile
the abfent) can, as things now ftand, neither
be provoked at our railing, or bettered by our
inftruction. All communication is cut off be-
tween us. But this we know with certainty ;
that though we cannot reclaim them, we may
reform ourfelves. If meafures of peace are
necefTary, they muft begin fomewhere ; and a
conciliatory temper muft precede and prepare
every plan of reconciliation. Nor do I con-
ceive that we fuffer any thing by thus regu-
lating our own minds. We are not difarmed
by being difencumbered of our paffions. De-
claiming on Rebellion never added a bayonet,
or a charge of powder, to your military force ;
but I am afraid that it has beetiithe means of
taking up many a mulket again|b you.
This outrageous language, vtfhich has been
encouraged and kept alive by every art, has al-
ready done incredible mifchief. For a long
time, even amidft the defolations of war, and
the infults of hoftile laws daily accumulated
on one another, the American leaders feem to
have had thegreateft difficulty in bringing up
their people to a declaration of total indepen-
dence. But the Court Gazette accomplished
what the abettors of independence had attemp-
ted in vain. When that difingenuous compila-
tion, andftrange medley of railing and flattery,
was adduced, as a proof of the united fenti-
rnents
( 3* )
ments of the people of Great Britain, there was
a great change throughout all America. The
tide of popular affe&ion, which had ftill fet
towards the parent country, began immediate-
ly to turn ; and to flow with great rapidity
in a contrary courfe. Far from concealing
thefe wild declarations of enmity, the author
of the celebrated pamphlet which prepared the
minds of the people for independence, infifts
largely on the multitude and the fpirit of thefe
Addrefles ; and he draws an argument from
them, which (if the fact were as he fuppofes)
muft be irrefiftible. For I never knew a writer
on the theory of government, fo partial to au-
thority, as not to allow, that the ho/tile mind
of the rulers to their people, did fully juftify a
change of government. Nor can any reafoii
whatever be given, why one people mould vo-
luntarily yield any degree of pre-eminence to
another, but on a fuppofition of great affection
and benevolence towards them. Unfortu-
nately your rulers, trufting to other things,
took no notice of this great principle of con-
nexion. From the beginning of this affair,
they have done all they could to alienate your
minds from your own kindred; and if they
could excite hatred enough in one. pf the par-
ties towards the other, they feemed to be of
opinion that they had gone half way towards
reconciling the quarrel,
I know it is faid, that your kindnefs is only
glienated on account of their refiftance ; and
therefore
( 33 )
therefore if the colonies furrender at -difcretion
all fort of regard, and even much indulgence
is meant towards them in future. But can
thofe who are partizans for continuing a war
to enforce fuch a furrender, be refponfible,
(after all that has palTed) for fuch a future ufe
of a power, that is bound by no compacts, and
reftrained by no terrors ? Will they tell us what
they call indulgences ? Do they not at this in-
ftant call the prefent war and ail its horrors, a
lenient and merciful proceeding ?
No conqueror, that I ever heard of, has
frofeffed to make a cruel, harm, and infolent
ufe of his conqueft. No ! The man of the
mcft declared pride, fcarcely dares to truft his
own heart, with this dreadful fecret of ambi-
tion. But it will appear in its time ; and no
man who profeffes to reduce another to the in-
folent mercy of a foreign arm, ever had any
fort of good-will towards him. The profef-
fion of kindneis, with that fword in his hand,
and that demand of furrender, is one of the
moft provoking acts of his hoftility. I fhall
be told, that all this is lenient, as againft re-
bellious adverfaries. But are the leaders of
their faftion more lenient to thofe who fuhmit!
Lord Howe and General Howe have powers
under an Act of Parliament, to reftore to the
King's peace and to free trade any men, or
diurict, which (hall fubmit. Is this done?
We have been over and over informed by the
authorifed
( 34 )
authorifed Gazette, that the city of New York
and the countries of Staten and Long liland
have fubmitted voluntarily and cheerfully,
and that many in thefe places are full even
of zeal to the caufe of Adminiftration.
Were they inftantly reftored to trade? Are
they yet reftored to it? Is not the benig-
nity of two commiflioners, naturally moft
humane and generous men, fome way fet-
tered by in ft ructions, equally againft their
difpofitions and the fpirit of parliamentary
faith, when Mr. Tryon, vaunting of the
fidelity of the City in which he is Governor,
is obliged to apply to miniftry for leave to pro-
tect the King's loyal fubjects, and to grant to
them (not the difputed rights and privileges of
freedom) but the common rights of men, by
the name of Graces ? Why do not the com-
miflioners reftore them on the fpot ? Were they
not named as commiflioners for that exprefs
purpofe ? But we fee well enough to what the
whole leads. The trade of America is to be
dealt out in private indulgences and graces ;
that is in jobbs to recompence the incendiaries
of war. They will be informed of the pro-
per time in which to fend out their merchan-
dife. From a national, the American trade is
to be turned into a perfbnal monopoly : and
one fet of Merchants are to be rewarded for
the pretended zeal, of which another fet are
the dupes; and thus between craft and credu-
lity, the voice of reafon is ftifled ; and all the
mifconduct, all the calamities of the war are
covered and continued.
If
( 35 )
If I had not lived long enough to be little
furprized at any thing, I mould have been in
fome degree aftonimedat the continued rage of
federal Gentlemen, who, not fati-fied with
carrying fire and fword into America, are ani-
mated nearly with the fame fury againft thofe
neighbours of theirs, whofe only crime it is,
that they have charitably and humanely wim-
ed them to entertain more reafonable fenti-
ments, and not always to iacrifice their intereft
to their paffion. All this rage againft un re-
rifting diflent, convinces me, that at bottom
they are far from fatisfied they are in the
right. For what is it they would have? A
war? They certainly have at this moment the
blefllng of fomething that is very like one ;
and if the war they enjoy at prefent be not
furEciently hot and extenfive, they may ihort..
ly have it as warm and as fpreading as their
hearts can dclire. Is it the force of the King-
dom they call for ? They have it already ; and
if they choofeto fight their battles in their own
perfon, no body prevents their fetting fail to
America in the next tranfports. Do they
think, that the fervice is (tinted for want of
liberal fupplies * Indeed they complain with-
out reafoi). The table of the Houfe of Com-
mons will glut them, let their appetite for ex-
pence be never fo keen. And I allure then)
Further, that thofe who think with them in
the Houfe of Commons are fall as eafy in trie
P control ,
( 36 )
control, as they are liberal in the vote of thefe
expences. If this be not fupply or confidence
furficient, let them open their own private
purfe firings and give from what is left to*
them, as largely and with as little care as they
think proper.
Tolerated in their paflions, let them learn
not to perfecute the moderation of their fellow-
citizens. If all the world joined them in a
full cry againfl rebellion, and were as hotly
inflamed againfl the whole theory and enjoy-
ment of freedom, as thofe who are the mod
factious for fervitude, it could not in my opi-
nion anfwer any one end whatfoever in this
contefl. The leaders of this war could not
hire (to gratify their friends) one German
more, than they do ; or infpire him with lefs
teeling for the peribns, or lefs value for the
privileges of their revolted brethren. If we
all adopted their fentiments to a man, their
allies the favage Indians, could not be more
ferocious than they are : They could not
murder one more helplefs woman or child, or
with more exquifite refinements of cruelty
torment to death one more of their Englim
flefh and blood, than they do already. The
public money is given to purchafe this alli-
ance ; and they have their bargain.
They are continually boafting of unanimity,
or calling for it. But before this unanimity
can
C 37 )
can be matter either of wim or congratulation,
we ought to be pretty fure, that we are engaged
in a ration.il purfuit. Phrenfy does not be-
come a flighter diftemper on account of the
number of thofe who may be infected with it.
Delufion and weaknefs produce not one mil-
chief the lefs, becaufe they are univerfal. I
declare, that I cannot difcern the leaft advan-
tage, which could accrue to us, if we were
able to perfuade our Colonies that they had
not a fingle friend in Great Britain. On the
contrary, if the affections and opinions of
mankind be not exploded as principles of con-
nexion, I conceive it would be happy for us,
if they were taught to believe, that there was
even a formed American party in England, to
whom they could always look for fuppoit !
Happy would it be for us, if in all tempers
they might turn their eyes to the parent ftate ;
fo that their very turbulence and feditioa
ftiould find vent in no other place than this. I
believe there is not a man (except thofe who
prefer the intereft of fome paltry faction to the
very being of their country) who would not
wim that the Americans fhould from time to
time carry many points, and even fome of
them not quite reafonable, by the aid of any
denomination of men here, rather than they
mould be driven to feek for protection againtl
the fury of foreign mercenaries, ancj the wafte
of favages, in the arms of France.
D 2 When
.'506318
When any community is fubordinately con?
ne^ed with another, the great danger of the
connexion is the extreme pride and felf-com-
placency of the fuperior, which in all matters
of controveriy will probably decide in its own
favour. It is a powerful corrective to fuch a
very rational caufeof fear, if the inferior body
can be made to believe, that the party inclina-
tion or political views of feveral in the princi-
pal (late, will induce them in fome degree to
counteract this blind and tyrannic partiality.
There is no danger that any one acquiring con-
fideration or power in the prefiding ftate Ihould
carry this leaning to the inferior too far. The
fault of human nature is not of that fort. Power
in whatever hands is rarely guilty of too ftrict
limitations on itfelf. But one great advantage
to the fupport of authority attends fuch an ami-
cable and protecting connexion, that thofe who
have conferred favours obtain influence ; and
from the forefightof future events can periuade
men who have received obligations fometimes
to return them. Thus by the mediation of
thofe healing principles, (call them good or
evil) troublefome difcuilions are brought to
(ome fort of adjuftment ; and every hot coa-
troverly is not a civil war.
But, if the Colonies (to bring ths general
matter home to us) could fee, that in Great
Britain the mafs of the people is melted into its
Government, and that every diipute with the
Miniftry
( 39 )
Miniftry muft of neceffity be always a quarrel
with the nation ; they can ftand no longer in
the equal and friendly relation of fellow-citizens
to the fubjects of this Kingdom. Humble as
this relation may appear to fome, when it is
o:ice broken, a ftrong tie is diflolved. Other
fort of connexions will be fought. For, there
are very few in the world, who will not pre-
fer an ufeful ally to an infolerit mafler.
Such difcord has been the efFeft of the una-
nimity into which fb many have of late been
ieduced or bullied, or into the appearance of
which they have funk through mere defpair.
They have bsen told that their diflent from
violent meafures is an encouragement to re-
bellion. Men of great prefumption and little
knowledge will hold a language which is con-
tradi&ed by the whole courfe of hiftory. Ge-
neral rebellions and revolts of an whole peo-
ple never were encouraged, now or at any time.
They are always provoked. But if this un-
heard-of doftrine of the encouragement of re-
bellion were true, if it were true, that an a(-
furance of the friendihin of numbers in this
country towards the colonies, could become
an encouragement to the n to break offall con-
nexion with it, what is the inference'? Docs
any body ferioufly maintain, that, charged
with my (hare of the public councils, I am
obliged not to refift projects which I think mii-
chievous, left men who fufFer fhould be en-
D 3 couraged
( 4 )
couraged to refill: ? The very tendency of fuch
projects to produce rebellion is one of the chief
reaibns againft them. Shall that reafon not
be given ? Is it then a rule, that no man in
this nation (hall open his mouth in favour of
the Colonies, {hall defend their rights, or
complain of their fufferings? Or, when war
finally breaks out, no man fhall exprefshis de-
fires of peace? Has this been the law of our
part, or is it to make the terms of our future
connexion ? Even looking no further than our-
felyes, can it be true loyalty to any govern-
ment, or true patriotifm towards any country,
to degrade their folemn councils into fervile
drawing-rooms, to flatter their pride and paf-
fions, rather than to enlighten their reafon, and
to prevent them from being cautioned againft
violence, left others mould be encouraged to
refinance ! By fuch acquiefcence great Kings
and mighty nations have been undone ; and
if any are at this day in a perilous fituation
from rejecting truth, and liftening to flattery,
it would rather become them to reform the
errors under which they fuffer, than to re-
proach thofe who have forewarned them of
their danger.
But the rebels looked for affiftance from this
country. They did fo in the beginning of this
controverfy mofl certainly ; and they fought it
by earneft fupplications to Government, which
dignity rejected, and by a fufpenfion of com-
c merce.
( 41 )
merce, which the wealth of this nation enabled
you to defpife. When they found that neither
prayers nor menaces had any fort of weight,
hut that a firm refolution was taken to re-
duce them to unconditional obedience by a
military force, they came to the laft extremity.
Defpairing of us, they trufted in themfe.lves.
Not flrong enough themfelves, they fought
fuccour in France. In proportion as all en-
couragement here leflened, their diflance from
thiscountryencreafed. The encouragement is
over ; the alienation is compleat.
In order to produce this favourite unanimity
in delufion, and to prevent all poffibility of a
return to our antient happy concord, argu-
ments for our continuance in this courfe are
drawn from the wretched fituation itfelf into
which we have been betrayed. It is faid, that
being at war with the Colonies, whatever our
fentiments might have been before, all ties be-
tween us are now diflblved ; and all the policy
we have left is to itrengthen the hands of
Government to reduce them. On the prin-
ciple of this argument, the more mifchiels we
fuffer from any adminiftration, the more our
truft in it is to be confirmed. Let them but
once get us into a war, their power is then
fafe, and an act of oblivion pad for all their
T\ ! A
mifconduct.
D 4 But
.' . . . ( 4* )
But is it really true, that Government is
always to be ftrengthened.wlth the inftt uments
of war, but never furnifhed with the means of
peace? In former times minifters, I allow,
have been fometimes driven by the popular
voice to afTert by arms the national honour
againft foreign powers. But the wifdom of the
nation has been far more clear, when thofe
minifters have been compelled to confult its
interefts by treaty. We all know that the fenfe
of the nation obliged the Court of KIrg Charles
the zd, to abandon the Dutch war; a war next
t3 theprefent the moil impolitic which we ever
carried on. The good people of England con-
fidered Holland as a fort of dependency on this
Kingdom ; they dreaded to drive it to the pro-
tection, or to fubjecl it to the power of France, by
their own inconfiuerate hoftilitj. They paid
but little refpect to the court jargon of that
day : They were not inflamed by the pretended
rivalihipof the Dutch in trade; by their Maf-
facre at Amboyna, acted on the flage to pro-
voke the public vengeance ; nor by declama-
tions againft the ingratitude of the United
Provinces for the benefits England had confer-
red upon them in their infant fhtte. They were
not moved from their evident intereil by all
thefe a. is ; nor was it enough to tell them , they
were at war j that they mull go thrcua with it;
and that the caufe of the diipute was loft in (:he
Cbnfcquences. The people of England were
theiij
[ 43 ]
then, as they are now, called upon to make
government flrong. They thought it a great
deal better to make it wife and honeft.
When I was amongft my condiments at
the laft Summer Affixes, I remember that men
of all defcriptions did then expreis a very
ftrong defire for peace, and no flight hopes of
attaining it from the commiffion lent out by
my lord Howe. And it is not a little remark-
able, that in proportion as every perfon mewed
a zeal for the court meafures, he was at that
time earneft in circulating an opinion of the
extent of the fuppoied powers of that com-
miffion. When I told them that lord Howe
had no powers to treat, or to promife fatis-
faction on any point whatfoever of the con-
troveriy, I was hardly credited ; fo ftrong and
general was the defne of terminating this war
by the method of accommodation. As far as
I could difcover, this was the temper then
prevalent through the kingdom. The king's
forces, it mufr. be obierved, had at that time
been obliged to evacuate Bofton. The fupe-
rtoiity of the former campaign refted wholly
with the Colonifts. If fuch powers of treaty
were to be wiihed, whilft fuccefs was very
doubtful, how came they to be lefs fo, lince
his Majefty's arms have been crowned with
many considerable advantages ? Have thefe
fuccenes induced us to alter our mind, as
th.nking the feafon of victory not the time
for
[ 44 ]
for treating with honour or advantage?
Whatever changes have happened in the na-
tional character, it can fcarcely be our wifh,
that terms of accommodation never mould be
propofed to our enemy, except when they
muft be attributed folely to our fears. It has
happened, let me fay unfortunately, that we
read of his Majefty's commiffion for making
peace, and his troops evacuating his laft town
in the thirteen colonies at the fame hour, and
in the fame Gazette. It was ftili more unfor-
tunate, that no commiffion went to America
to fettle the troubles there, until feveral
months after an aft had been patted to put the
colonies out of the protection of this govern-
ment, and to divide their trading property with-
out a'poffibility of reftitution, as fpoil among the
feamen of the navy. The moft abject fub-
miffion on the part of the colonies could not
redeem them. There was no man on that
whole continent, or within three thoufand
miles of it, qualified by law to follow alle-
giance with protection, or fubmiffion with
pardon. A proceeding of this kind has no
example in hiilory. Independency, and inde-
pendency with an enmity (which putting our-
ielves out of the queftion would be called natu-
ral and much provoked) was the inevitable con*
fequence. How this came to pafs, the nation
may be one day in an humour to enquire.
All
All the attempts made this feffion to give
fuller powers of peace to the commanders in
America, were ftifled by the fatal confidence
of victory, and the wild hopes of uncondi-
tional fubmiffion. There was a moment, fa-
vourable to the king's arms, when if any
powers of conceffion had exifted, on the other
fide of the Atlantick, even after all our errors,
peace in all probability might have been ref-
tored. But calamity is unhappily the ufual
feafon of reflexion ; and the pride of men will
not often fuffer reafon to have any fcope until
it can be no loner of fervice.
I have always wiflied, that as the difpute had
its apparent origin from things done in Parlia-
ment, and as the acts pafled there had provoked
the war, that the foundations of peace mould
be laid in Parliament alfo. I have been afto-
nifhed to find, that thofe whole zeal for the
dignity of our body was fo hot, as to light up
the flames of civil war, mould even publickly
declare, that thefe delicate points ought to be
wholly left to the Crown. Poorly as I may
be thought affected to the authority of Parlia-
ment, 1 (hall never admit that our conftitu-
tional rights can ever become a matter of mi-
aifterial negociation.
I am charged with being an American. If
warm affection, towards thole over whom I
claim any mare of authority, be a crime, I
am-
t 46 j
am guilty of this charge. But I do affure you
(and they who know me publickly and pri-
vately will bear witnefs to me) that if ever
one man lived, more zealous than another,
for the fupremacy of Parliament, and the
rights of this imperial Crown, it was myfelf.
Many others indeed might be more knowing
In the extent, or in the foundation of thefe
rights. 1 do not pretend to be an Antiquary,
or a Lawyer, or qualified for the chair of Pro-
feftbr in Metaphyiics. I never ventured to
put , your folid interefts upon fpeculative
grounds. My having conftantly declined to
do fo has been attributed to my incapacity for
fuch difquifitions ; and I am inclined to be-
lieve it is partly the caufe. I never (hall be
amamed to confefs, that where I am ignorant
1 am diffident. I am indeed not very folli-
citous to clear myfelf of this imputed inca-
pacity; becaiife men, even lefs conveffant
than 1 am, in this kind of fubtleties, and
placed in ftations, to which I ought not to
afpire, have, by the mere force of civil difcre-
tion, often conduced the affairs of great na-i
tions with diftinguimed felicity and glory.
When I firft came into a publick truft, I
found your Parliament in pofleffion of an un-
limited legiflative power over the Colonies. I
eould. not open the Statute-Book, without fee-
ing the actual exercife of it, more or Isfs, in
all cafes whatfoever. This pofleffion pafled
with
[ 47 ]
with me for a title. It does fb in all human
affairs. No man examines into the defects of
his title to his paternal eflate, or to his
efhblifhed government. Indeed common
fenfe taught me, that a legiflf tive authority,
not actually limited by the exprefs terms of
its foundation, or by its own fubfequent ats,
cannot have its powers parcelled out by ar-
gumentative diftin&ions, ib as to enable us to
affirm, that here they can, and there they
cannot bind. Nobody was fo obliging as to
produce to me any record of fuch diftinc-
tions, by compact or otherwife, either at the
fucceffive formation of the feveral Colonies, or
during the exigence of any of them. If
other Gentlemen were able to fee, how one
power could be given no, (merely on abftraft
reafouing) without giving up the reft, I can
only fay, that they law further than I could ;
nor did I ever prefume to condemn any one
for being clear-lighted, when I was blind. I
praife their penetration and learning ; and
hope that their pra&ice has been correfpondent
to their theory.
I had indeed very earned wifhes to keep the
whole body of this authority perfect and entire
as I found it, and to keep it fo, not for our
advantage folelv, but principally for the fake
of thole, on whole account all juft authority
exifts ; I mean the people to be governed.
For I thought I fa\v ? thaj many cafes, might
welj
[ 48 ]
tveli happen, in which the exercife of every
power, comprehended in the broadeft idea of
legiflature, might become, in its time and cir-
cumftances, not a little expedient for the
peace and union of the Colonies amongft
themfelves, as well as for their perfect har-
mony with Great-Britain. Thinking fo,
(perhaps erroneoufly) but being honeftly of
that opinion, I was at the fame time very
fure, that the authority of which I was fo
jealous, could not, under the actual circum-
flances of our Plantations, be at all preferved
in any of its members, but by the greateft
refervein its application ; particularly in thofe
delicate points, in which the feelings of man-
kind are the mofl irritable. They who
thought otherwife, have found a few more
difficulties in their work, than (I hope) they
were thoroughly aware of, when they under-
took the preient bufinefs.
I muft beg leave to obferve, that it is not
only the invidious branch of taxation that
will be refifted, but that no other given part
of legiflative rights can be fafely exercifed,
without regard to the general opinion of thofe
who are to be governed. That general opi-
nion is the vehicle, and organ of legiflative
omnipotence. Without this, the extent of
legiflative power may be a theory to entertain
the mind, but it is nothing in the direction of
affairs. The compleatnels of the legiflative
authority
[ 49 ]
authority of Parliament over this kingdom ;..
not questioned; and yet there are many things
indubitably included in the abftract id.:a of
that power, and which carry no abfolute in-
juftice in themfelves, which, being contrary
to the opinions and feelings of the people, can
as little be exercifed, as if Parliament |n fuch
cafes had been poflefled of no right at all. I
lee no abftraft reafon, which can be given,
why the fame power that made and repealed
the High Commiflion Court and the Star
Chamber, might not revive them again ; and
thefe courts, warned by their former fate,
might poflibly exercife their powers with
fome degree of juftice. But the madnefs
would be as unquefHonable, as the competence,
of that Parliament, which ihould make fuch
attempts. If any thing can be fuppofed out
of the power of human legiflature, it is Re-
ligion ; I admit however that the eftablimed
religion of this country has been three or four
times altered by act of parliament; and there-
fore that a flatute binds even in that cafe. But
we may very fafely affirm, that not with -
{landing this apparent omnipotence, it would
be now found as impoffible for King and Par-
liament to change the eftablimed religion of
this country, as it was to King James alone,
when he attempted to make iuch an altera-
tion without a Parliament. In effect, to fol-
low, not to force the publick inclination ; to
give a direction, a form, a technical drels and
a fpecihck
t 5 ] _-
a fpecifick fan&ion, to the general fenfe of
the community, is the true end of legtflature.
When it goes beyond this, its authority will
be precarious, let its rights be what they,
will. V"'
It is fo with regard to the exercife of all the
powers, which our conftitution knows in any
of its parts, and indeed to the i ubftantial exift-
ence of any of the parts themselves. The
King's negative to bills is one of the moft in-
difputed or the royal prerogatives ; and it ex-
tends to all cafes whatfoever. I am far from
certain, that. if feveral laws, which I know,
had fallen under the ftroke of that fceptre,
that the publick would have had a very heavy
lofs. But it is not the propriety of the ex-
ercife which is in queftion. The exercife
itfelf is wifely foreborne. Its repofe may be
the prefervation of its exigence ; and its ex-
iftence may be the means of laving the con-
ftitution itfelf, on an occafion worthy of
bringing it forth,
As the difputants, whofe accurate and lo-
gical reafonings have brought us into our p re-
lent condition, think it abfurd that powers,
or members of any conftitution mould exift,
rarely if ever to be exercifed, I hope, I fhall
be excufed in mentioning another inftance ?
that is material. We know, that the Convo-
cation of the Clergy had formerly been called,
ancj
[ 5' 1
. ' . '
and fat with nearly as much regularity to biifi-
nefs as Parliament itfelf. It is no\v called far
form Only. It fits for the purpole of makings
fome polite eccleiudicnl compliments to the,
King; and when that grace is laid^ retires and
is. heard of no more. It .is however a part of
the Conftiiuiiorti and may he called out into" act
?nd enVrgy^ whenever there is occafron ; . a-ndl
whenever thpfe* who .conjure up that fpjrit,'
will choplb to abide the qonlequences. It is
wife to'perm'it its Isgul exifteneej.it is mujh
wifer to^pouti.riue it a legaj extfterice onfy.;
So truly has Prudence, (conftituted as the Goxl
of this lower world) the entire dominion" over
every exerciie of power, committed into itg
hands; and yet I have lived to ie^ prudence
and conformity tp : circumftances', wholly fe5
at naught in our. late controverfiesv a'nfl treatetl
as if they were the moft cpntemptibte and
irrational pf all things. 1 have heard it aii
hundred times very gravely allcdged, that lit
order to keep power in wind, it wa$ neceffjry,*
by preference, to exert it in" thole very paints?
in which it was moft likely to be relideJ,'
and the lead likely to be productive erf any
advantage.
. . ' .... v . j
. Thefe were the eonfideratid'ns, Gehtler^eri r
W.hich led me early to think, that in the cam--
prehenfive dominion which the divine Provi-
dence had put into our hands, infteadof trotf-'
Mng our uuderftandi.ngs with ip^cu'ationt;
E concen
[ 5* ]
concerning the unity of empire, and the iden-
tity or diftinction of legiflative powers, and
inflaming our paffions with the heat and pride
of controverfy, it was our duty, in all fober -
nefs, to conform our Government to the cha-
racter and circumftances of the feveral people
who compofe this mighty and ftrangely di-
verfified mafs. I never was wild enough to
conceive, that one method would ferve for the
whole; I could never conceive that the na-
tives of Hlndoftan and thofe of Virginia could
be ordered in the fame manner; or that the
Cutchery Court and the grand Jury of Salem
could be regulated on a fimilar plan. I was
perfuaded, that Government was a practical
thing, made for the happinefs of mankind,
and not to furnilh out a fpectacle of uni-
formity, to gratify the fchemes of vilionary
politicians. Our bufinefs was to rule, not to
wrangle; and it would have been a poor com-
penfation that we had triumphed in a difpute,
whilfr, we loft an empire.
If there be one fact in the world perfectly
clear, it is this ; " That the difpofition of the
" people of America is wholly averfe to any
* other than a free Government ;" and this
known character of the people is indication
enough to any honeft flatefman, how he
ought to adapt whatever power he finds in
his hands to their cafe. If any alk me what a
free Government is? I anfwer, that, for any
5 practical
[ 53
practical purpofe, it is what the people think
fo ; and that they, and not I, are the natural,
lawful, and competent judges of this matter.
If they practically allow me a greater degree
of authority over them than is confident with
any correct ideas of perfect freedom, I ought
to thank them for fo great a truft, and not to
endeavour to prove from thence, that they have
reafoned amifs, and that having gone fo far, by
analogy, they muft hereafter have no enjoy-
ment but by my pleafure.
If we had feen this done by any others, we
muft have concluded them far gone in mad-
nefs. It is melancholy as well as ridiculous,
to obferve the kind of reafoning with which
the publick has been amufed, in order to di-
vert our minds from the common fenfe of our
American policy. There are people, who
have fplit and anatomifed the doctrine of free
Government, as if it were an abftract queftion
concerning metaphyfical liberty and neceffity ;
and not a matter of moral prudence and na-
tural feeling. They have difputed, whether
liberty be a pofitive or a negative idea; whe-
ther it does not confift in being governed by-
laws ; without coniidering what are the laws
or who are the makers ; they have queftioned
whether man has any rights by nature ; and
whether all the property he enjoys, be not the
alms of his government, and his life itielf
their favour and indulgence. Others cor-
E 2 rupting
54
r'upting religion, as thefe have perverted phi-
lofophy, contend, thatChriftians are redeemed
into captivity ; and the blood of the Saviour of
mankind has been fhed to make them the
(laves of a few proud and infolent finuers.
Thefe {hocking extremes, provoking to ex-
tremes of another kind, {peculations are let
Ipofe as deftruclive to all authority, as the
former are to all freedom. In this manner the
flirfers up of this contention, not fatisfied
with diftracting our dependencies and filling
them with blood and (laughter, are cor-
rupting our underftandings : they are endea-
vouring to tear up, along with practical liber-
ty, all the foundations of human fociety, all
equity and jufticej religion and order.
Givil freedom, gentlemen, is not, as many
have endeavoured to perfuade you, a thing
that lies hid in the depths of abftrufe icience.
It is a bleffing and a benefit, not an abftract
ipeculation; and all the juft reafouiiig that
can be upon it, is of fo coarfe a texture, as
perfectly to fuit the ordinary capacities of
thofe who are to enjoy, and of thofe who are
to defend it. Far from any refemblance to
thofe proportions in Geometry and Metaphy-
iics, which admit no medium, but muft be
true or falfe in all their latitude, focial and
civil freedom, like all other things in com-
mon life, are varioufly mixed and modified,
tnjoyed in very different degrees, and fhaped
into
[ 55 ]
an infinite diverfity of forms, according
to the temper and circumftances of every com-
munity. The extreme of liberty (which is its
abftradl: perfection, but its real fault) obtains
no where, nor ought to obtain any where.
Becaufe extremes, as we all know, in every
point which relates either to our duties or fa-
tisfaUons in life, are deftruftive both to
virtue and enjoyment. Liberty too muft be
limited in order to be pofleded. The degree
of reftraint it isimpoffible in any cafe to fettle
precilely. But it ought to be the conftant
aim of ever}' wife publick counfsl, to find
out by cautious experiments, and rational, cool
endeavours, with how little, not how much of
this refiraint, the community can fubfift. For
liberty is a good to be improved, and not an
evil to be leffened. It is not only a private
bldfing of the firft order, but the vital fpring
and energy of the ftate itfelf, which Has juft fo
much life and vigour as there is liberty in it.
But whether liberty be advantageous or not,
(for I know it is a falhion to decry the very
principle) none will difpute that peace is a
fcleffing; and peace muft in the courfe of hu-
man affairs be frequently bought by fome in-
dulgence and toleration at lead to liberty.
For as the Sabbath (though of divine inftitu-
tion) was made for man, not man for the Sab-
bath, government, which can claim no higher
origin or authority, in its exercife at leaft,
ought to conform to the exigencies of the time
E 3 and
*^
f s6 3
and the temper and chara&er of the people,
with whom it is concerned; and not always to
attempt violently to bend the people to their
theories of fubjeclion. The bulk of mankind
on their part are not exceffively curious con-
cerning any theories, whilfl they are really
happy ; and one fure fymptom of an ill con-
ducted ftate, is the propensity of the people to
refort to them.
But when fubje&s, by a long courfe of fuch
ill conduct, are once thoroughly inflamed, and
the ftate itfelf violently dtftempered, the peo-
ple mufthave fome fat is faction to their feelings,
more folid than a fophiftical fpeculation on
law and government. Such was our iituation ;
and fuch a fatisfadtion was neceflary to prevent
recourfe to arms; it was neceflary towards lay-
ing them down ; it will be neceflary to pre-
vent the taking them up again and again. Of
what nature this fatisfa&ion ought to be, I wifh
it had been the difpofition of Parliament feri-
ouily to confider. It was certainly a delibera-
tion that called for the exertion of all their
wifdom.
I am, and ever have been deeply fenfible,
of the difficulty of reconciling the ftrong pre-
fiding power, that is fo ufeful towards the con-
fervation of a vaft, difconnedted, infinitely di-
verfified empire, with that liberty and fafety
of the provinces, which they muft enjoy, (in
opinion
[ 57 ]
opinion and practice at leaft) or they will not
be provinces at all. I know, and have long
felt, the difficulty of reconciling the unwieldy
haughtinefs of a great ruling nation, habituated
to command, pampered by enormous wealth,
and confident from a long courfe of proiperity
and victory, to the high fpirit of free depen-
dencies, animated with the rirft glow and acti-
vity of juvenile heat, and afluming to them-
felves as their birth-right, ibme part of that
very pride which oppreffes them. They who
perceive no difficulty in reconciling thefe tem-
pers, (which however to make peace muft fome
way or other be reconciled), are much above
my capacity, or much below the magnitude of
the bufinefs. Of one thing I am perfectly
clear, that it is not by deciding the fuit, but
by compromising the difference, that peace
can be reftored or kept. They who would put
an end to fuch quarrels, by declaring roundly
in favour of the whole demands of either party,
have miftaken in my humble opinion, the office
of a mediator.
The war is now of full two years {landing ;
the controverfy of many more. In different
periods of the difpute, different methods of re-
conciliation were to be purfued. T mean to
trouble you with a ihort flate of things at the
moft important of thefe periods, in order to
give you a more diftinct idea of our policy
with regard to this moft delicate of all objects.
E 4 ' The
f 58 3
The Colonies were fiom the beginning fubje<&
Jo the leiflature of Grtat Britain', on rirtci-
pies which they never examined ; and we pet-
pitted to them many -local privileges, without
alking how they agreed with* that legiflative
authority. Modes of adminiflrariou were
formed in an inleniible, and very'uniyftematick
panner. But they gradually adapted them-
elves to the varying condition of things.-^
What was firft a finale kingdom ftretched'into.
o . . . o _
;an empire; and ari irriperial fuperintendency
pf fome kind or other became fteceflary. Parlia-
pent, fiom a mere repr.efentative of the people,
and a guardian of popular privileges for its
pwn immediate conftituents, grew into ; a
pighty fpvereign. Inftead of being a control
pn the Crown on its own behalf, it communi-
cated a fort of frrength to the Royal authority |
svhich was wanted for "the ccnlervatiori of a
pew objt$:, but which could : not be -fafely
trufied to the Crown alone. Oii the other
hand, j:he Colonies advancing by equal ftepSg
anki gpverned by the fome nedtifity, 'had form-
<E,d yvithin themfelvjBS, either by' >oj'al inflru^-
tlon, or royal charter, afleujblies fo exceed^,
jngly refembjing a- parliament, in v all their
forms, functions, and powers, that it was irri-
poflible they fhoiild not imbibe fome opinion
df a ilrnilar authority*
At the nrft defignatioii of thefe aflemblies,
they were probably not intended for any thing
more,
t 59 3
more, (nor perhaps did they think themfelv^s
'much higher) than the municipal corporations
within this Ifland, to which fome at prefent
love to compare them. But nothing in pro-
greffion can reft on its original plan. We may
as well think of rocking a grown man in the
cradle of an infant. Therefore, as the Colonies
profpered and encreafecl to a numerous and
mighty people, fpreading over a very gre^t
tradt of the globe; it was natural that they
Ihould attribute to aflemblies, fo refpeclable in
their formal conftitution, fome part of the dig-
nity of the great nations which they reprefent-
ed. No longer tied to bye-laws, thefe afilmb-
lies made acts of all forts and in all cafes what-
foever. They levied money, not for parochial
purpofes, but upon regular grants to the
Crown, following all the rules and principles
of a Parliament, to which they approached
every day more and more nearly. Thofe who
thins themfelves wifer than Providence and
ftronger than the courfe of nature, may com-
plain of all this variation, on the one fide or
the 6ther ? as their feveral humours and pre-
judices may lead them. But things could not
'be othervvile j and Englifh Colonies muft be
had on thefe terms, or'not had at all. In the
meantime neither party felt any inconvenience
from this double legiflature, to which they had
been formed by imperceptible habits, and old
cuftom, the great iupport of all the govern-
ments in the "world. Though thefe two legif-
latures
[ 60 ]
latures were fbmetimes found perhaps per-
forming the very fame fun&ions, they did not
very grofsly or fyftematically clafh. In all
likelyhood this arofe from mere negleft ; pof-
iibly from the natural operation of things,
which, left to themfelves, generally fall into
their proper order. But whatever was the
caufe, it is certain, that a regular revenue by
the authority of Parliament for the fupport of
civil and military eftablimments, feems not to
have been thought of until the Colonies were
too proud to fubmit, too ftrong to be forced,
too enlightened not to fee all the confequences
which muft arife from fjch a fyftem.
If ever this fcheme of taxation was to Be
pumed againft the inclinations of the people,
it was evident, that difcuflions muft arife,
which would let loofe all the elements that
compofed this double conftitution ; would ftiew
how much each of their members had departed
from its original principles; and would dif-
cover contradi&ions in each legiflature, as well
to its own firft principles, as to its relation to
the other, very difficult if not abfolutely im-
poffible to be reconciled.
f
Therefore at the firft fatal opening of this
cbnteft, the wifeft courfe feemed to be to put
an end as foon as poffible to the immediate
caufes of the difpute ; and to quiet a difcuffion,
not eafily fettled upon clear principles, and
ariling
[ 6i ]
arifing from claims, which pride would permit
neither party to abandon, by reforting as nearly
as poffible, to the old fuccefsful cotirfe. A
mere repeal of the obnoxious tax, with a de-
claration of the legiflative authority of this
kingdom, was then fully fufficient to procure
peace to bothjides. Man is a creature of habit ;
and the firft breach being of very Ihort con-
tinuance, the Colonies fell back exactly into
their antient {tare. The Congrefs has ufed an
expreflion with regard to this pacification which
appears to me truly fignificant. After the re-
peal of the Stamp Aft, " the Colonies fell,"
lays this affembly, " into their antient ftate of
*' unfufpeftlng confidence m the Mother Country"
This unfufpedting confidence is the true center
of gravity amongft mankind, about which all
the parts are at reft. It is this unfufpecling con-
fidence that removes all difficulties, and recon*
ciles all the contradictions which occur in the
complexity of all antient puzzled political efta-
blifhments. Happy are the rulers which have
the fecret of preferving it !
The whole empire has reafon to remember
with eternal gratitude, the wifdom and temper
of that man and his excellent aflbciates, who,
to recover this confidence, formed the plan of
pacification in 1766. That plan, being built
upon the nature of man, and the circumftances
and habits of the two countries, and not on
any vifionary fpeculations, perfectly anfwered
its
Its end, as long as it was thought proper to ad?
here to it. Without giving a rude {hock to
the dignity (well or ill underftood) of this
Parliament, it gave perfect content to our de-
pendencies. Had it not been for the mediato-
rial fpirit an.d talents of that great man, be-
tween iuch clafhing pretenfions and paffions,
we mould then have rumed headlong (I know
what I fay) into the calamities of that civil war,
in which, by departing from hisfyftem, we are
at length involved ; and we (hquld have been
precipitated into that war, at a time, when cir-
cumftances both at home and abroad were far,
very far, more unfavourable unto us than they
were at the breaking out of the prefent troubles.
I had the happinefs of giving my fjrft votes
In Parliament for that pacification. I was one
of thofealmoft unanimous members, who, in
the neceflary conceffions of Parliament, would
as much as poflible have preferved its autho-
rity, and reipeded its honour. I could not at
once tear from my heart prejudices which were
dear to me, and which bore a refemblance to
virtues. I had then, and I have Mill, my partia-
lities. What Parliament gave up I wifhed to
be given, as of grace, and favour, and affec-
tion, and not as a reftitution of ftolen goods.
High dignity relented as it was foothed ; and
an aft of benignity from old acknowledged
greatnefs had its full effedl on our dependen-
cies. Our unlimited declaration of legiflative.
authority
authority produced not a (ingle murmur. If
this undefined power has become odious fince
that time, and full of horror to the Colonies,
it is becaufe the unfufpicious confidence is loft ;
and the parental affection, in the boibm of
whofe boundlefs authority they repofed their
privileges, is become eftranged and hoftile.
It will be alked, if fuch was then my opinion
of the mode of pacification, how I came to be
the very perfon who moved, not only for a re-
peal of all the late coercive ftatutes, but for
mutilating, by a politive law, the entirenefs of
the legiflative pbwef of Parliament, and cutting
off from it trie whole right of taxation ? I
anfwer, becaufe a different {rate of things re-
quires a different conduct. When the difpute
had gone to the laft extremities (which no
man laboured more to prevent than I did) the
conceffions which had fatisfied in the beginning,
could fatisfy no longer ; the violation of tacit
faith required explicit fecurity. The fame
caufej which has introduced all formal com-
pacts and covenants among men made it ne-
ceiTary : I mean, habits of foreriefs, jealoufy,
and diftruft. I parted with it, as with a limb :
but as with a limb to fave the body ; and I
would have parted with mdre, if more had
been neceflary. Any thing rather than a fruit-
lefs, hopelefs, unnatural civil war. This
mode of yielding would, it is faid, give way
to independency, without a war. I am per-
fuaded
t 64 ]
fuaded from the nature of things, and from
every information, that it would have had a
directly contrary effect. But if it had this ef-
fect, I confefs, that I mould prefer indepen-
dency without war, to independency with it ;
and I have fo much truft in the inclinations
and prejudices of mankind, and fo little in any
thing el fe, that I mould expect ten times more
benefit to this Kingdom frotrr the affection of
America, though under a feparate eftablifh-
ment, than from her perfect lubmiffion to the
Crown and Parliament, accompanied with her
terror, difguft, and abhorrence. Bodies tied
together by fo unnatural a bond of union, as
mu.tual hatred, are only connected to their
ruin.
One hundred and ten refpectable Members
of Parliament voted for that conceflion. Many
not prefent, when the motion was made, were
of the fentiments of thofe who voted. I knew
it would then have made peace. I am not
without hopes that it would do fo at prefent, if
it were adopted. No benefit, no revenue, could
be loft by it. F]or be fully affured, that, of all
the phantoms that ever deluded the fond hopes
of a credulous world, a parliamentary revenue
in the Colonies is the moft perfectly chime-
rical. Your breaking them to any fubjection,
far from relieving your burthens, (the pretext
for this war,} will never pay that military
which will be kept up to the deftruction
of
[ 65 ]
of their liberties and yours. I rifque nothing
in this prophecy.
Gentlemen, you have my opinion on the
prefent ftate of public affairs. Mean as thefe
opinions may be in themfelves, your partiality
has made them of fome importance. Without
troubling myfelf to enquire whether I am
under a formal obligation to it, I have a plea-
fure in accounting for my conduct to my Con-
flituents. I feel warmly on this fubject, and
I exprefs myfelf as I feel. If I prefume to
blame any public proceeding, I cannot be fup-
pofed to be peribnal. Would to God I could
be fufpected of it. My fault might be greater,
but the public calamity would be lefs exteniive.
If my conduct has not been able to make any
impreflion on the warm part of that antient
and powerful party, with whofe fupport, I
was not honoured at my Election ; on my fide,
my refpect, regard, and duty to them is not
at all leflened. I owe the Gentlemen who
compofe it my moft humble fervice in every
thing. I hope that whenever any of them
were pleafed to command me, that they found
me perfectly equal in my obedience. But
flattery and friendfhip are very different things ;
and to miflead is not to ferve them. I cannot
purchafe the favour of any man by concealing
from him what I think his ruin,
Bv
...
By the favour of my fellow-citizens, I am the
reprefentative of an honeft, well-ordered, virtu-
ous City ; of a people, who , preferve more pf
the original Englifh fimplicity, and purity of
manners, than perhaps any other. You poffefs
among you feveral men and magiftrates of large
and cultivated understandings, fit for any em-
ployment in any fphere. I do, to, the Deft of
my power, act fo as io make myfelf worthy o
fo honourable a chpice. If I were ready, on
any call of my r own vanity or iriterefl, or to
anfwer any election purpofe, to forfake princi-
ples, (whatever they are) which I had formed'
at a mature age, on full reflexion, and which
have been confirmed by long experience, 1
mould forfeit the only thing which makes you
pardon fo many errors and imperfections iii
j A-' *
me.
Not that I think it fit for any one to rely
too much on his own understanding ; or to be
filled with a prefumption, not becoming a
Chriftian man, in his own perfonal liability and
rectitude. 1 hope I am far from that vain con-j
fidence, which alnioft always fails in trial. I
know my weaknefs in an refpe^cts, as much at
leaft as any enemy I have ; and I attempt to,
take fecurity againft it. The only methodf
Which has ever been found efFe&ual to preferve
any man againft the corruption of nature ancl
example, is an habit of life and communica-7
tibri of councils with the moft virtuous ancf
public
t 67 ]
public fpiritecl men of the age you live in. Such
a fociety cannot be kept without advantage, or
deferted without mame. For this rule of con-
duct I may be called in reproach a party man\
but I am little affected with fuch afpeifions.
In the way which they call party, I worfhip the
conftitution of your fathers ; and I fhall never
blufh for my political company. All reverence
to honour, all idea of what it is, will be loft
out of the world, before it can be imputed as
a fault to any man, that he has been clofely
connected with thofe incomparable perfons,
living and dead, with whom for eleven years I
have constantly thought and acted. If I have
wandered out of the paths of rectitude, into
thofe of interefted faction, it was in company
with the Saviles, the Dowdefwells, the Went-
worths, the Bentincks ; with the Lenoxes, the
Manchefters, the Keppels, theSaunders's; with
the temperate, permanent, hereditary virtue of
the whole houfeof Cavendifh ; names, among
which, fome have extended your fame and
empire in arms, and all have fought the buttle
of your liberties in fields not lefs glorious.
Thefe, and many more like thefe, grafting
public principles on private honour, have re-
deemed the prefent age, and would have adorn-
ed the -moit fplendid period in your hiftory,
Where couid .\ man, confcious of h;s inability
to act alone, and willing to act as he ought to
do, have arranged himfelf better? If any one
thinks this kind of fociety to be taken up as
F 'the
[ 68 -]
the beft method of gratifying low perfonal
pride, or ambitious intereft, he is miftaken ;
and knows nothing of the world.
Preferring this connexion ; I do not mean to
detract in the flighted degree from others.
There are fpme of thofe, whom I admire at
fomething of a greater diftance, with whom I
have had the happinefs alfo perfectly to agree,
in almoft all the particulars, in which I have
differed with fome fucceftive adrmniftrations ;
and they are fuch, as it never can be reputable
to any government to reckon among its
enemies.
I hope there are none of you, corrupted with
the doctrine taught by wicked men for the
worft purpofes, and greedily received by the
malignant credulity of envy and ignorance,
which is, that the men who a6l upon the public
ftage are all alike; all equally corrupt ; all in-
fluenced by no other views than the fordid lucre
of falary and penfion. The thing, 1 know by
experience to be falie. Never expecting to
find perfection- in men, and not looking for
divine attributes in creatbd beings, in my com-
merce with my cotemporaries, I have found
much human virtue. I have feen not a little
public fpirit ; a real fubordination of intereft to
duty ; and a decent and regulated fenfibility to
honeft fame and reputation. The age unquef-
tionably
C 6 9 ]
tionably produces, (whether in a greater or lefs
number than in former times, 1 know not)
daring profligates, and inhdious hypocrites.
What then ? Am I not to avail myfelf of what-
ever good is to be found in the world, becaufe
of the mixture of evil that will always be in
it? The fmallnefs of the quantity in currency
only heightens the value. They, who raife
fufpicions on the good on account of the be-
haviour of ill men, are of the party of the lat-
ter. The common cant is no juftification for
taking this party. I have been deceived, fay
they, by Titius and Mcevius. I have been the
dupe of this pretender or of that mountebank ;
and I can truft appearances no longer. But my
credulity and want of difcernment cannot, as
I conceive, amount to a fairprefumption againft
any man's integrity. A confcientious perfbn
would rather doubt his own judgment, than
condemn his fpecies. He would fay, I have
obferved without attention, or judged upon
erroneous maxims ; I trufted to profeffion,
when I ought to have attended to conduct.
Such a man will grow wife, not malignant, by
his acquaintance with the world. But he that
accufes all rmnkind of corruption ought to re-
member that he is fure to convi& only one. In
truth I (hould much rather admit thofe, whom
at any time I have diffeliuScd the moft, to be
patterns of perfection, than feek a conlolation
to my own unworthinefs, in a general com-
'munion of depravity with all about me.
F 2 That
[ 70 ]
That this ill-natured doctrine fliould be
preached by the miffionaries of a court, I do not
wonder. It anfwers their purpofe. But that
it (hould be heard among thofe who pretend tq
be ftrong aflertors of liberty, is not only fur-
priiing, but hardly natural. This moral level-
ling is a Jervile principle. It leads to practical
paffive obedience far better, than all the doc-
trines, which the pliant accommodation of
Theology to power, has "ever produced. It
cuts up by the roots, not only all idea of forci-
ble refinance, but even of civil oppolition. It
difpoies men to an abject fubmiiiicn, not by
opinion, which may be fhaken by argument
or altered by paffion, but by the ftrong ties of
public and private intereft. For if all men
who act in a public iituation are equally felfifti,
corrupt, and venal, what reafon can be given
for defiririg any fort of change, which, befides
the evils which muft attend all changes, can
be productive of no poffible advantage ? The
active men in the ftate are true famples of the
mafs. If they are univerfally depraved, the
common-wealth itlelfis not found. We may
amufe ourfelves with talking as much as we
pleafe of the virtue of middle or humble life ;
that is ; we may place our confidence in the
Virtue of thofe'who have never been tried. But
if the perfons who are continually emerging
but of that fphere, be no better than thofe whom
' ' birth
[ 7' 1
birth has placed above it, what hopes are there
in the remainder of the body which is to fur-
nifh the perpetual fucceffion of the ftate?
All who have ever written on government, are
unanimous, that among a people generally cor-
rupt, liberty cannot long exift. And indeed
how is it poflible? when thofe who are to make
the laws, to guard, to enforce, or to obey
them, are, by a tacit confederacy of manners,
indifpofed to the fpirit of all generous and noble
inftitutions.
I am aware that the age is not what we all
wifh. But I am fure, that the only means of
checking its precipitate degeneracy, is heartily
to concur with whatever is the beft in our
time; and to have fome more correct ftandard
of judging what that bell is, than the tranfient
and uncertain favour of a court. If once we
are able to find, and can prevail on ourfelves
to ftrengthen an union of fuch men, whatever
accidentally becomes indifpofed to ill-exercifed
power, even by the ordinary operation of hu-
man paiTions, muft join with that fbciety, an4
cannot long be joined, without in fome degree
aflimilating to it. Virtue will catch as well as
vice by contact ; and the public flock of
honeft manly principle will daily accumulate.
We are not too nicely to icrutinize motives as
long as action is irreproachable. It is enough,
(and for a worthy man perhaps too much) to
deal
[ 72 ]
deal out its infamy to convicted guilt and de-
clared apoftacy.
To act on the principles of the confutation,
with the beft men the time affords, has been
from the beginning the rule of my conduct;
and I mean to continue it, as long as Inch a
body as I have defcribed, can by any poffibiiity
be kept together. For I mould think it the moft
dreadful of all offences, not only towards the
prefent generation but to all the future, if I
were to do any thing which could make the
minuted breach in this great confervatory of
free principles. Thofe who perhaps have the
fame intentions, but are feparated by fome Iktle
political animofities, will, I hope, difcern at
]atf, how little conducive it is to any rational
ptirpoie, to lower its reputation. For my part,
Gentlemen, from much experience, from no
little thinking, and from comparing a great
variety of things, I am thoroughly perfuaded,
that the lad hopes of preferving the fpirit of
the Engltfh ConftrtOtion, or of re-uniting the
difliipated members of the Englifh race upon a
common plan of tranquillity and liberty, does
entirely depend on the firm and lafting union
of fuch men ; sr-d above all on their keeping
themfelves from that defpair, which is fb very
apt to fall on thole, whom a violence of cha-
racter, and a mixture of ambitious views, do
not iuppoit through a long, painful, and un-
luccefslul itruggle.
There
I 73 ]
There never, Gentlemen, was a period in.
which the ftedfaftnefs of fome men has been
put to fo fore a trial. It is not very difficult
for well-formed minds to abandon their in-
tereft ; but the feparation of fame and virtue
is an harm divorce. Liberty is in danger of
being made unpopular to Englishmen. Con-
tending for an imaginary power, we begin to
acquire the fpirit of domination, and tolofe the
relifh of honeft equality. The principles of
our forefathers become fufpected to us, be-
cauie we fee them animating the prefent oppo-
fition of our children. The faults which grow-
out of the luxuriance of freedom, appear much
more (hocking to us, than the bafe vices which
are generated from the ranknefs of fervitude.
Accordingly the leaft refinance to power ap-
pears more inexcufeable in our eyes than the
greateft abu-fes of authority. AH dread of a
{landing military force is looked upon as a fu-
perllitious panick. All mame of calling in
foreigners and favages in a civil conteft is worn
off. We grow indifferent to the confequences
inevitable to ourfelves from the plan of ruling
half the empire by a mercenary fword. We
are taught to believe, that a defire of domi-
neering over our countrymen, is love to our
country ; that thofe who hate civil war abet
rebellion j and that the amiable and concilia-
toiy virtues of lenity, moderation, and ten-
dernefs to the privileges of thofe who depend
on
[ 74 ]
on this kingdom, are a fort of treafon to the
ftate.
It is impoflible that we (hould remain long in
a fituation, which breeds fuch notions and dif-
politions, without fome great alreration in the
national character. Thole ingenuous and feel-
ing minds, who are fo fortified againft all other
things, and fo unarmed to whatever approaches
in the fhape of difgrace, finding the principles,
which they confidered as fure means of honour,
to be grown into difrepute, will retire dimeart-
ened and difgufted. Thofe of a more robufl
make, the bold, able, ambitious men, who pay
fome part of their court to power through the
people, and fubftitute the voice of tranfient
opinion in the place of true glory, will give
into the general mode. The iuperior under-
ftandings, which ought to correct vulgar preju-
dice, will confirm and aggravate its errors.
Many things have been long operating towards
a gradual change in our principles. But this
American war has done more in a very few
years than all the other caufes could have ef-
fected in a century. It is therefore not on its
J
own feparate account, but becaufe of its atten-
dant circumftances, that I confider its conti-
nuance, or its ending in any way but that of an
honourable and liberal accommodation, as the
greateft evils which can befal us. For that realbn
1 have troubled you with this long letter. For
that reafon I intreat you again and again, nei-
i ther
t 75 ]
ther to be pcrfwaded, fliamed, or flighted out
of the principles that have hitherto led fo
many of you to abhor the war, its cnufe, and
its confequences. Let us not be amongft the
firft who renounce the maxims of our fore-
fathers*
1 have the honour to be,
GENTLEMEN,
Tour tnojl obedient ',
and faithful humble Servant,
Apki 3, 1777.' EDMUND BURKE.
P. S. You may communicate this Letter in
my manner you think proper to my Confti*
.uents*
FIN! S.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below
JJCI18 1973
f
flflpn 10 ui?t
I AN 2 8 1981
KEFO ID-ORT
JUL 241985
aum-l, '41(1122)
3 1158 00596 8853
A 001 122 589 3