MEMOB8IM. University of California Berkeley 1 i Jfl, I THE REVOLUTION O F AMERICA. THE REVOLUTION ^ / ,^.^'<^ AMERICA. <$ /' B Y THE ABBE RAYNAL, AUTHOR OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE ESTA- BLISHMENTS AND COMMERCE OF THE EUROPEANS IN BOTH THE INDIES. DUBLIN: PRINTED BY C. TALBOT, For Meflrs. PRICE, w. WATSON, SLEATOR, WHITE- STONE, SHEPPARD, LYNCH, COLLES, WILSON, WILLIAMS, CHAMBERLAINE, R. CROSS, T, STEWART, WOGAN, BURNET, JENJCIN, MONCRIEFFE, POTTS, WALKER, WHITE, BEATTY, BURTON, M'DONNEL, MILLS, PARKER, HIGLY, TALBOT, BYRN, EXSHAW, and WEBB. ADVERTISEMENT, BY THE TRANSLATOR. JL HE Philofophical and political Hiftory of the Eftablifhments and Commerce of the Europeans, in both the Indies, by the Abbe R A Y- NAL, is certainly one of the fineft works which have appeared fince the revival of letters; and perhaps the moft inftrudtive of any which have been known. It is an origi- nal as to its formation ; and ought to ferve henceforward for a 'mo- del. An additional part to this work, difcuffing the difputes of Great Britain with her Colonies, has been long and ardently ex- A pefted. peded. In the courfe of his tra- vels, the tranflator happily fuc- ceeded in obtaining a copy of this exquifite little piece, which has not yet made its appearance from any prefs. He publifhes a French edition, in favour of thofe who will feel its eloquent reafoning more forcibly in its native lan- guage, at the fame time with the following tranflation of it ; in which he has been defirous, per- haps in vain, that all the warmth, the grace, the ftrength, the dignity of the original, fhould not be loft. And he flatters himfelf, that the indulgence of the illuftrious hifto- rian will not be wanting to a man, who [ vii ] who of his own motion, has taken the liberty to give this compofition to the public, only from a ftrong per- fuafion, that its momentous argu- ment will be ufeful, in a critical conjun&ure, to that country which he loves with an ardour, that can be exceeded only by the nobler flame, which burns in the bofom of the philanthropic author, for the freedom and happinefs of all the countries upon earth. It may not, perhaps, be quite needlefs to obferve, though it ought to be understood, that the valua- tion of fums, made in the original in foreign money, is, in the tran- flation made in fterling, A 2 The The abundant good fenfe, the political fagacity, and even the fa- lutary farcafm, to be found, amidft the effufions of benevolence, in this hiftorical tradt, could never, it is apprehended, be more opportunely laid before thofe whom it may con- cern, than now. It now feems to be the general and anxious expec- tation, that, before the rifing of Parliament from its prefent feffion, fome proper and efficacious fteps will at laft, at this high time, be thought of, towards clofing the un- natural, the fhameful, and diftrefs- ful breach, between the mother- country and her colonies ; a breach in which, as it is obferved, with great great truth, by the author of a Plan of Accommodation*, founded in juftice and liberality, "The peo- " pie on both fides are robbed of " their trueft intereft, and made to " facrifice their mutual happinefs, '* to gain nothing but contempt " and mifery." Let not wifdom utter her voice in the ftreets, and no man regard ben * Printed in 1780. The The Tranflator cannot help moft folicitoufly wifhing that fome of his fellow-fubjefts, of the Britifh dominions, may enter the lifts for the prize propofed in the following Advertifement from the Academy of Lyons, in the hope that he fhall have the happinefs to fee it borne from the reft of the lettered world, by a hero of that people, who have been dear, tarn Marti quam Mercurio, who are diftinguifhed for their eloquence, and who, he trufts, when frater- nal feuds (hall be reconciled, will vindicate their faperiority in arms. He humbly offers his fervice to any candidate for this prize, produc- tive tive of fo great celebrity, who may not know the ready means of doing it himfelf, to get his per- formance conveyed to Lyons, free of poftage, provided that it be left with his Bookfeller, Mr, Lock- yer Davis, before the firft of De- cember, 1782* London^ March $ f 178 it AD- [ xiii ] ADVERTISEMENT FROM THE ACADEMY OP SCIENCES, POLITE LITERATURE, AND ARTS, AT LYONS. A HE ABBS' RAYNAL, after having inftru&ed mankind by his writings, would ftill contribute to the improve- ment of their knowledge, by exciting, emulation. An AfTociate in the labours of the Academy of Lyons, he propofed to it to give out two fubjedts. for prizes, of which he has conftituted the fund, to be diftributed by the Academy, to the authors authors whom it fliall judge to have beft anfwered the views of the propounded queftions. The Academy accepted of the offer with gratitude, and publilhes the fubjeds without delay.. The fir ft fubjeft propofed for the year 1782, relating exclujively to the manu- faftures and profperity of the city of Lyons is omitted here, as, however ju- dicious and patriotic in the founder of the prize, it is an objeft only of particu- lar concern, and* confequently, not in- terejiing, like the fecond, to the world at large. FOR FO.R THE YEAR 1783. THE ACADEMY propofes the follow- ing fubjedt. Has the dif cowry of America been ufe- ful or hurtful to mankind? If advantages have refulted from /'/, 'what are the means to preferve and increafe them ? If disadvantages * 'what are the means to remedy them ? The prize confifts of the fum of fifty Louis d'or, which will be remitted to the fuccefsful author, or his afllgns. CONDITIONS. Any perfon of any nation may be a competitor for this prize, except titulary and veteran academicians. The aflbci- ates of academies will be admitted. The [ xvi ] The authors muft not let themfelves Jbe known, diredtly or indirectly; they will put fome line, or motto, at the head of their performance, which will be ac- companied by a note fealed up, contain- ing the fame line or motto, with their names and places of abode. The Academy confidering the impor- tance of the fubjeft, fees no Jimits to the length of the compofition, but only wiflies the author to write in French or Latin, No work can be admitted after the firft of February, 1783, The Aca- demy will proclaim the prize the fame year, in its public affembly, after St. Lewis's day, or the 25th of Auguft. The packets are to be fent to Lyons, free of poflage, directed to M.LA [ xvii ] M. LA TOURRETTE, Secretaire per- petuel pour la Clajje des Sciences^ Rue Boiffac ; or to M. DE BORY, Secretaire perpetuel pour la claffe des Belles-Lettres, Rue Boiffac - 9 or to M. AIME' DE LA ROCHE, Imprimeur- Libraire de FAcademie, maifon des halles de la Grenette. Signed, LA TOURRETTE, Perpetual Secretary. Lyons, Sept. 5, 1780. CONTENTS. DISTRESSED ftate of England in 1763 page i England calls the colonies to her aid 4 England exafls from her colonies what fhe fhould but have requefted 17 After having given way, England would be obeyed by her colonies. Meafures which they take to refift her 25 The colonies were in the right to fepa- rate themfelves from their mother- country, independently of all difcon- tent 42 What was the part which England fhould have taken, when (he faw the fermen- tation of her colonies 78 England determines to reduce her colo- nies by force 102 The colonies break the ties which united them to England, and declare them- felves independent of her 1 20 Com- [ XX ] Commencement of the war between the United States and England 136 Why the Englifh did not fucceed in bringing the confederate provinces to fubmiflion 1 49 Why the confederate provinces did not fucceed in driving the Englifh from the contient of America 1 65 France acknowledges the independence of the United States. This meafure occafions war between this crown and that of England 182 Spain, not having fucceeded in reconcil- ing England and France, declares for the latter power ait What ought to be the politics of the Houfe of Bourbon, if victorious 224 What idea fhould be formed of the thir- teen united provinces 232 THE THE REVOLUTION O F AMERICA. [ Dijlrejfed State of England in \ 763. ] ENGLAND was juft dlfengaged from a long and bloody war, in which her fleets had difplayed the banner of viftory in all feas ; in which a dominion, already too vaft, was augmented by an immenfe acceffion of territory in both the Indies. This fplendul face of things might have an impc fing air abroad ; but the nation was reduced within to <^ioan for its acquifitior.s and iis triumph? Over- B whelmed whelmed with a debt of ,1 48,000^000, which coft her an intereft of 4,959,000, fhe was fcarcely fufficient to the moil necefTary expences with the five milli- ons eight hundred thoufand pounds which remained to her of her revenue ; and this revenue, fo far from being ca- pable of increafe, had no certain arid affured confiftency. Land remained loaded with a higher tax than it ever had been in time of peace. New taxts had been laid on windows and on houfts. Thefe ads laid a heavy charge on all real eftate. Wine, plate, cards, dice, all that was regarded as an objecft of luxury, or amufement, paid more than could have been thought poflible. To rcimburfe itfelf for the facrifice made to the pre- fervation of the public health, in the prohibition of fpirituous liquors, the treafury had recourfe to malt, beer, cy- der, t 3 3 der, and all the ufnal beverages of the people. The fea-ports difpatched no- thing to foreign countries, and received nothing from them, but what wjs bur- tbenrd cruelly with duties, on the im- port and the export. Rav\ mattrials and woikmanfhip were rifen to fo high a price in Great Britain, that her mer- chants found thernfelves fuppltnttdin countries wheie they had never before experienced a competi ion. The pro- fits of her commerce, -with all pans of the globe, amounted not aunua.ly to above two millions and a halt - 9 and, from this balance in her favour, there muft have been deducted a million and a half, paid in interdi to foreigners, on their capitals placed in her public funds. The fpi ings of the (late were drained. All the mufcles of the body-politic, experiencing at once a violent tenfion, B 2 were I 4 1 were in fome fort difplaced. ft was a critical moment. It was neceffary to let the peop'e breathe. They could not be relieved by a diminution of ex- pence. That of the government was necefiary, cither to give value to con- quefts bought at the price of fo much treafure, at the price of fo much blood ; or to reftrain the houfe of Bourbon, an- gered by the humiliations of the laft war, and by the facrifices of the laft peace. In default of other means, to fix both the fecurity of the prefent, and the profperity of the future, an idea was formed of calling the colonies to the aid of the mother-country. This view was wife and juft. [ England calls the colonies to her aid. ] The members of a confederacy ought all, in proportion to the extent of their powers, to contribute to its defence and [ 5 ) and to its fplendour, flnce it is by the public power alone that each clafs can preferve the intire and peaceable enjoy- ment of its pofleflions.. The indigent man has, without doubt, lefs intereft in it than the rich ; but he has the intereft of his quiet in the firft in- fiance, and in the next, that of the prefervation of the public wealth, which he is called upon to partake of by his induftry. There is no principle of fociety more evident ; and yet no fault in politics more common than its 5n- fra&ion, Whence can arife this perpe- petual contradiction between the know- ledge and the conduct of thofe who go- vern ? From the vice of the legiflative power, which exaggerates the mainten- ance of the public power, and ufurps, for its fancies, a part of the funds cjeftined to this maintenance. The gold of the trader, and of the hufbandman, with the fubfiftence of the poor, torn B 3 from [ 6 ] from th^m, in th? name of the (late, in their fields and their habitations, and proftitmed in courts to intereft and to vice, goes to fwell the pomp of a fet of men who flatter, ha e, and corrupt their matter ; goes ultimately into (till viler hands, to pay the fcandal and the ignominy of their pie .fares. It is prodi- gally fquandcred in a faftuous fhew of grandeur, the vain decoration of thofe who cannot attain to real grandeur, and in fcflivities and entertainments, the re- fotirce of impotent idlenefs, in the midft of the cares and labours which the right government of an empire would de- mand. A portion of it, it is true, is given to the public wants ; but inatten- tion, and incapacity, apply it without judgment, as without oeconomy. .Au- thority deceived, and which will not condefcend even to make an effort at being undeceived, fuffers an unjuft dif- tribution in the taxes, and a manner of gathering [ 7 1 gathering them which is itfelf but an oppreffion more. Then is every patri- otic fentiment extinguiflv.d. A war is eftablifhed between the prince and fub- jedts. They who raife the reve r ius of the date appear to be no other than the- enemies of the citizen. He defends his fortune from taxation as he would defend it from invafion. Whatever cunning can purloin from power feems lawful gain ; and the fubjedts, corrupt- ed by the government, make reprifals on the mafter by whom they are pillag- ed. They perceive not, that in this un- equal combat, they are themfelves dupes and vidims. 1 he infatiable and ar- dent treafury, lefs fatisfied with what is given, than irritated by what has been refufed, reaches eagerly, with a hundred hands, after what one alone has dared to divert from its gripe. It joins the a&ivity of power to that of intereft. Vexations are multiplied, under the fpe- B 4 cious [ 8 ] cious name of chaftifement and juitice ; and the monfler who beggars all thofe whom he torments, thanks heaven de- voutly for the number of the criminals \vho have been punifhed by him, and of the crimes by which he is enriched. Happy the fovereign who fhould not difdatn, for the prevention of fo may abufes, to render to his fubjedls a faith- ful account of the employment of the fums he might exadt ! But this fove- reign has not yet appeared ^ and, with- out doubt, he never will appear. The debt, however, of the proteded peo- ple, towards the prote<5tor-ftate, is not a lefs neceflary and facred tie ; and no nation has difowned it. The Englifh colonies in North America had not given an example of it ; and never had the Britifh miniftry recourfe to them without obtaining the fuccour it foli- cited. But [ 9 1 But this fuccour was granted in gifts, and not in taxes ; fmce the concefllon of it was preceded by free and public deli- berations in the aflemblies of each efta- blifhment. The mother-country had found herfelf engaged in expenfive arid cruel wars. Tumultuous and enterpriz- ing parliaments had difturbed her tran- quillity. She had fallen into the hands of minifters corrupt and bold ; unhap- pily difpofed to raife the authority of the throne upon the ruin of all the rights, and all the powers of the people. And even revolutions had taken place, before an attack upon a cuftom, ftablifhed and ftrengthened by the happy experience of two ages, had ever once been dream- ed of. , * * .* " The colonies in the new world had been accuftomed to regard this mode of furnifhing their contingent, in men and money, as a right. Had this pretenfion B 5 been [ 10 ] been doubtful, or erroneous, prudence would have forbidden its being too openly attacked The art of main- taining authority is a delicate art, which requires more circumfpeftion than is generally thought. They who govern are perhaps too much accuftomed to hold them in contempt. They regard them too much as flaves, fubdued and bent down by nature, whilft they are only fo from habit. If you lay on them a new load, take care left they fhake it off with fury and with intereft. Forget not that the lever of power has no other fulcrum than opinion ; that the power of thofe who govern is in reality but the power of thofe who fuffer government. Remind not people attentively occupied by their labours, or fleeping in their chains, lift up their eyes to truths too terrible for you; and whilft they are obeying, bring not to their remembrance their right to command. When the moment of this fearful [ II ] fearful roufing fhall arrive ; when they fhall have thought in earned that they are not made for their magiftrates, but that their magiftrates are made for them ; when they fhall once have been able to bring themfelves together, to feel the communication of kindred minds, and to pronounce with a voice unanimous ; IV e will not have this law ; this practice is offevfae ; medium is no more ; you will be conftrained, by an unavoidable alternative, either to punifh or to yield ; either to be tyrannical or weak ; and your authority henceforth detefled or defpifed, whichever part it take, will have to chufe from the people but their open infolence, or their hidden hate. The firft duty, therefore, of a wife adminiftration, is to manage the pre- vailing opinions in any country : for opinion is the property rnoft dear to man, dearer even than his life, and con- fequently C 12 3 fequently much dearer than his wealth. A wife adminiftration, may without doubt, endeavour to reftify opinions by information, or to alter them by perfua- fion, if they tend to the diminution of the public power. But it is not permitted to thwart them without neceflity ; and there never was any neceffity for re-* jelling the fyftem adopted by North America. In effeft, whether the different fet- tlements in this new world had been authorized, as they wifhed, to fend reprefentatives to parliament, where they might have deliberated with their fel- low-citizens on the neceflhies of the Britifh empire at large ; or, whether they had continued to examine within themfelves what fhould be the contri- bution which it was right for them to make, no inconvenience could have re- fulted from it to the treafury. In one cafe, [ 13 ] cafe, the voice of their delegated claim- ants would have been drowned in that of the majority; and thefe provinces would have found themfelves legally loaded with fuch a portion of the bur- den as it fhould be wifhed to make them bear. In the other, the miniftry> continuing to difpofe of the dignities, the employments, the penfions, and even of the elections, would have experienced no more refinance to its will in that he- mifphere than in this. But the maxims confecrated by cuf- tom in America were not founded in prejudice alone. The pretenfions of the colonifls refted on the nature of their charters, and on the ftill more fo- lid bafis of that right of every Englifh fubjeCl not to be taxed without con- fent, exprefled by himfelf or his repre- fentative. This right, which ought to be that of every people, fmce it is founded [ 14 ] founded on the eternal law of reafon, ori- ginated fo far back as in the nign of the firft Edward. From that epoch the EngHfhman has never loft fight of it. In peace, in war, under weak or wicked kings, in flavifh or tumultuous times, it has been his unremitted claim. Under the Tudors, this Englifhman has been feen to give up fome of his moft preci- ous privileges, and, unrefiftingly, to fub- mit his neck to the axe of tyrants; but never to renounce the right of felf- tax- ation. It was in the defence of it that he has fhed rivers of blood, that he has punifhcd or dethroned his kings. In fhort, at the revolution in 1688, this right was folemnly acknowledged, by the ce- lebrated a6t, in which liberty was feen to tract", with the fame hand with which it had driven out the royal defpot, the con- ditions of the contraft between a nation and the fovereign it had newly chofen. This prerogative of a people, much more facred, [ '5 ] facred, without all queftion, than fo ma- ny imaginary rights which fuperfHtion would fandtify in tyrants, was, with re- gard to England, at once both the in- ftrument and the rampart of her liberty. She thought, fhe felt, that it was the only barrier which could for ever limit defpo- tifm ; that the moment which drips a people of this privilege, condemns it to opprefiion ; and that the funds, raifed in appearance for its fecurity, are fooner or later fubfervient to its ruin. The Englifhman, in founding his colony, had carried with him thefe principles beyond the feas ; and the fame ideas had been tranfmitted to his progeny. Ah! if in the countries even of Eu- rope, in which flavery feems long fince to have taken its feat in the midft of vices, of riches, and of arts ; in which the depotifm of armies fupports the defpo- tifm of courts -, in which man, chained from [ 16 I from his cradle, and bound tightly by all the cords both of policy and fuperftition, has never breathed the air of liberty ; if in thefe countries, notwithftanding, they who have once in their lives refledted on the fate of nations, cannot forbear adopt- ing the maxims, and envying the hap- pinefs of the people who knew how to make it the ground-work and foundation of thtir conftitution ; how much more ought the Englifli natives of America to be attached to the glorious birth-right they inherit ! They know the price at which their anceftors had bought it. The very foil which they inhabit muft produce in them a fentiment favourable -to thefe ideas. Difperfed throughout an immenfe continent ; free as the wild nature which furrounds them, amidft their rocks, their mountains, the vaft plains of their de- ferts, on the confines of thofe forefts m which all is ftill in its favage ftate, and where there are no traces of either the flavery C 17 3 flavery or the tyranny of man, they feem to receive from every natural objeft a lefibn of liberty and independence. Be- fides, thefe people, given upalmoft all of them to agriculture and to commerce, to ufeful labours which elevate and for- tify the foul in infpiring fimple manners, hitherto as far removed from riches as from poverty, cannot be yet corrupted either by the excefs of luxury, or by the excefs of want. It is in this (late above all others, that the man who enjoys li- berty is moft capable to maintain it, and to fhew himfelf jealous in the defence of an hereditary right, which feems to be the moft -certain fecurity for all the reft. Such was the refolution of the Ameri- / cans. [England exacts from her cvlonies what foe foould but have requefted.] Whether the Britifh miniftry were ig- norant of thefe difpofitions, or whether they they hoped that their delegates would fucceed in changing them, they laid hold of the moment of a glorious peace for exacting a forced contribution from the colonies. For war, and let it be well re- marked, war, whether unfortunate or fuccefsful, ferves always as a pretext for the tifurpations of governments; as if the directors of the warring powers propofed to themfelves by it Ids to vanquifh thtir enemies than to enflave their fubjedts. The year 1764 faw the birth of the fa- mous ftamp-i'.d, which forbid the admif- fion in the courts of juftice of any inftru- rnent which fhould not be written on pa- per marked and fold for the profit of the Britifh treafury^ The Englifh provinces of North Ame- rica become indignant at this ufurpation of their mod precious and moft facred rights By an unanimous agreement they renounce the confumption of whatever was r '9 ] was furnifhed them by the mother- country, till it fhould have with- drawn this illegal and oppreilive bill. Even the women, whofe weaknefs might have been feared, are the moft ardent, facrificing the fubferviencies to their drefs and ornament; and the men, animated by this example, give up on their part other conveniencies and enjoyments. Ma- ny cultivators of land quit the plough, to form themfelves to the induftry of the workfhop ; and wool, flax, and cot- ton, coarfely wrought, are fold at the price which would before have purchafed the finefl cloths and the moft beautiful fluffs. This kind of confpiracy ftuns the go- vernment. By the clamour of the mer- chants, whofe wares are without vent,, its inquietude is encreafed. The enemies of the miniftry uphold thefe difcontents; and the ftamp-a& is revoked after two years [ 20 ] years of a convul five agitation, which m other times would have lighted up a civil war. , But the triumph of the Colonies is of fhort duration. The parliament which had retreated but with extreme repug- nance, ordains, in 1767, that the revenue which could not be obtained by means of ftamps fhould be raifed by taxes on the glafs, the lead,, the pafte- board,, the co* lours, the paper-hangings, and the tea, which are carried, from England to Ame- rica. The people of the Northern con- tinent are not lefs revolted at this innova- tion than at the former. In vain are they told that no one could difpute the right of Great Britain to lay on her exportati- ons the duties which her intereft demands, fince fhe denies not to her Colonies, fitu- ated beyond the feas, the liberty of fa- bricating themfclves the wares fubjedted to the new taxation. This fubterfuge appeals [ 21 ] appears but as a derifion to men, who, being cultivators of land alone, and re- duced to the having no communication but with their mother-country, cannot procure, either by their own induftry, or by foreign connexions, the objeds which had recently been taxed. Whe- ther this tribute be paid in the old or new world, they perceive that the word makes no alteration in the thing, and that their liberty would not be Ids attacked by this mode, than by that which had been repelled by them with fuccefs. The colonifts fee clearly that the govern- ment would beguile them ; and they will not be beguiled. Thefe political fophifms appear to them as they are, the maik of tyranny. Nations in general are made more for feeling than for thinking. The greateft part of them never had an ideaofana- lyfing the nature of the power by which they t 22 1 t!iey are governed. They obey without reflection, and bee aife they have the habit of obeying. The origin and the objedt of the firft national aflocianons being unknown to them, all refinance to government appears to them a crime. It is chiefly in thofe ftates where the principles of leg fiuion are confounded with thofe of religion, that this blindnefs is to be met with. I he habit of believ- ing f ivours the habit of differing. Man renounces not an) one object with im- punity. It feems as if nature would re- venge herfelfupon him who dares thus to degrade her. The fervile difpofition. which (he (lamps upon his foul in confe- qucnce,- extends itielf throughout. It mak-s a duty of rdignation as of mean- n-- (s , and killing chains of all kinds with refp-:6t, trembles to examine either its dodtii)ies or its laws. In the fame man- ner that a fingle extravagance in religi- ous opinions is fufficient to make many more t 23 1 fnore to be adopted by minds once de- ceived, a fuft ufurpation of government opens the door to all the reft. He who believes the greater, believes the lefs; he who can do the greater, can do the lefs. It is by this double abufe of 7 cre- dulity and authority that alt the abfurdi- ties in matters of religion and of policy have been introduced into the world for the ha raffing and the crufhing of the human race. Thus at the firft fignal of liberty amongft nations, they have been prompted to fhake off both thefe yokes together ; and the epoch in which the human mind began to difcufs the abufes of the church and clergy, is that in which reafon perceived at laft the rights of men ; and in which courage attempted to fet the firft limits to defpotic power. The principles of toleration and of liberty, ^ftabiifhcd in the Englifh colonies, had made them a different people from all others. There it was known what was the I 24 ] the dignity of man ; and when the Bn- tifh miniftry violated it, it could not be otherwife bat that a people all compofed of denizens, fhould rife againil the wick- ednefs of the attempt. Three years elapfed, without a reve- nue from any one of the taxes which had fo wounded the Americans to the ciety tends always to good ; government ought always to tend to the reprefling of evil. Society is the firft, it is in its origin independent and free; govern- ment was instituted for it, and is but its inftrument. It is for one to com- mand ; it is for the other to obey. So- ciety .created the public power ; govern- ment, which has received it from fo- ciety, ought to confecrate it entirely to its ufe. In fhort, fociety is efientially good ; government, as is well known, may be, and is but too often evil. It has been faid that we were all born equal ; that is not fo : that we had all the fame rights. I am ignorant of what are lights, where there is an inequality of [ 46 ] of talents, or of ftrength, and no fecurity nor fandion : that nature offered to us all the fame dwelling,and the fame re- fources ; that is not fo: that we were all endowed indifferently with the fame means of defence -, that is not fo : and I know not in what fenfe it can be true, that we all enjoy the fame qualities of mind and body. There is amongft men an original in- equality which nothing can remedy. It rnuft laft for ever; and all that can be obtained by the befl legiflation, is not to deftroy it, but to prevent the abufe of it. : f, TV- But in making diftinftions between her children like a ftep-mother, in creat- ; ing fome children ftrong and others weak, has not nature herfelf formed the |germ or principle of tyranny ? I do not think [ 47 1 think it can be denied ; efpecially if we look back to a time anterior to all legifla- tion, a time in which man^j^j^Jo^^Qn as afllonateni^sj^ a What then have founders of nations, what have legiflators propofed to them- felves ? To obviate all the difafters arif- ing from this germ when it is expanded, by a fort of artificial equality, which might reduce all the members of a fo* ciety, without exception, under an im- partial, fole authority. It is a fword which moves gently, equably, and indif- ferently, over every head : but this fword was ideal. It was neceffary that there (hould be a hand, a corporeal being who Ihould hold it. What has refulted thence ? Why, that the hiftory of civilized man is but the hiftory of his mifery. All the pages of it I 48 3 it are ftained with blood ; fome with the blood of the opprefibrs, the others with the blood of the opprefled. 1 '--v-*' In this point of view, man appears / more wicked and more miferable than I a beaft Different fpecies of beafts fub- / fifton different fpecies. But focieties of men have never ceafed to attack each i other. Even in the fame fociety there is no condition but devours and is devour- ed, whatever may have been or are'the forms of the government, or artificial equality, which have been oppofed to the primitive and natural inequality. But are thefe forms of government, fnppofmg them made by the choice, and the free choice, of the firft fettlers in a country, and whatever fan&ion they may have received, whether that of oaths, or of unanimous accord, or of theii duration, are they obligatory upon their [ 49 1 their defendants? There is no fuch thing: and it is impoffible that you Englifhmen, who have fucceffively un- dergone fo many different revolutions in your political conftitution, tofled as you have been from monarchy to tyranny, from tyranny to ariftocracy, from arif- tocracy to democracy, and from demo- cracy to anarchy ; it is impoffible that you, without accufing yourfelves of re- bellion and of perjury, can think other- wife than I do. We examine things with a philofophic eye ; and it is well known, that it is not the fpeculations of philofophers which bring on civil troubles. No fubjedts are more patient than we are. I proceed then in purfuit of my objeft, without any caufe to fear that mifchief can follow from my reafoning. D If f 50 ] If the people are happy under their form of government, they will keep it. If they are unhappy, it will not be either your opinions or mine, it will be the im~ poflibility of fuffering more, and longer, which will determine them to change it^ a falutary impulfe, which the oppreflbr will call revolt, though it be but the juft exercife of a natural and unaliena- ble right of the man who is opprefled, and even of the man who is not op- prefled. A man wills and chufes for himfelf. He cannot, will not chufe for another; and it would be a madnefs to will and to chufe for him who is yet unborn, for him who will not yet exifl for ages. There is no individual but who, difcon- tented with the form of the government of his country, may go elfewhere to feek a better. P t 5i 3 better. There is no fociety but which has the fame right to change, as their anceftors had to adopt, their form of go- vernment Upon this point, it is with focieties. as if they were at the firft mo- ment of their civilization. \yithout which there would be a great evil ; nay, the greateft of evils would be without a remedy. Millions of men would be con- demned to mifery without end. Con- clude then with me, I * .rmil'-v I That there is no form of government which has the prerogative to be immu- table. No political authority, which,, created yeftcrday, or a thoufand years ago, may not be abrogated in ten years' time or to-morrow. No power, however refpe&able, how- D 2 ever -[ 52 3 ever facred, that is authorized to regard the flate as its property. Whoever thinks otherwife is a flave. It is to be an Idolater of the work of his own hands. Whoever thinks otherwife, is a mad- man, who devotes himfelf to eternal mi- fery, who devotes to it his family, his children, and his childrens* children, in allowing to his anceftors the right of fli- pulating for him when he exifled not, and in arrogating to himfelf the right of ilipulating for a progeny which does not yet exifL All authority in this world has begun either by the confent of the fubjedls, or by the power of the mailer. In both one and the other cafe, it may juftly end. There C 53 1 There is no prefcription in favour of ty- ranny againfl liberty. The truth of thefe principles is fo much the more efTential, becaufe that all power by its very nature tends to defpo- tifm, even in the moft jealous nations, even in yours, ye Englifhmen, yes, in yours. I have heard it faid by a whig, by a fanatic, if you will; but words of great fenfe efcape fometimes from a madman ; I have heard it faid by him, that fo long as the power fhould be wanting of tak- ing to Tyburn a bad king, or at leaft a bad minifter, with as little formality, preparation, tumult, or fur prize, as the obfcureft malefadtor is condudted thi- ther, the nation would not have either that juft idea, or that full enjoyment, of their rights, which became a people D 3 who [ 54 1 who dared to think or to fay that they were free; and yet an adminiftration, by your own acknowledgment* igno- rant, corrupted, and audacious, precipi- tates vou with imperioufnefs and with impunity, into the ipoft profound abyfs ! The quantity of your circulating cafh is inconfiderable. You are overwhelmed with paper 5 which you have under all forts of denominations. Were all the gold y of Europe collected 'in your trea- fury, it v^ould fcarcely pay the nation's debt. We know not by what incredi- ble illufion this fictitious money is kept up. The mofl frivolous event might in the courfe of a day throw it into dif- credit. There is need but of an alarm to bring on a fudden bankruptcy. The dreadful confequences which would fol- low this failure of faith, are beyond our imagination. And, behold, fuch is the inftant [ 55 3 inftant marked out for you to make you declare againft your colonies, that is, to make you raife up againft your- felves, an unjuft, mad, ruinous war. What will become of you, when an important branch of your commerce lhall be deftroyed ; when you fhall have but a third of your poiTeffions ; when you (hall have maflacred a million or two of your countrymen ; when your force fhall be exhaufted, your traders ruined, your manufa&urers reduced to ftarve ; when your debt lhall be augmented, and your revenue decreafed ! Look well to it ; the blood of the Americans will fooner or later fall heavy on your heads. Its effufion will be revenged by your own hands \ and you are arriving at the point. But) fay you, thefe people are re- bels Rebels ! And why ? becaufe they will not be your flaves. A people flib- jedted to the will of another people, D 4 who [ 56 1 who can difpofe as they chnfe of their government, of their laws, and of their trade ; tax them at their pleafure ; fet bounds to their induftry, and enchain it by arbitrary prohibitions, are bond- fervants, yes, certainly are bond-fer- vants ; and their fervitude is worfe than what they would undergo if governed by a tyrant. Deliverance from the op- prefTion of a tyrant is effe&ed by his expulfion, or his death. You have de- livered yourfelves by each of thefe me- thods. But a nation is not to be put to death, is not to be expelled. Liberty is only to be expedted from a rupture, which by its confequences involves one of the nations, and fometimes both of them, in ruin. A tyrant is a monfter with a fingle head, which may be flruck off at a fingle blow. A tyrannic nation 5s an hydra with a thoufand heads, for the cutting off of which a thoufand fwords [ 57 1 fwords muft be lifted up together. The crime of oppreffion committed by a tyrant colle&s all the indignation upon him alone. The commiflion of the fame crime by a numerous fociety, fcat- ters the horrour and the fliame of it upon a multitude, which never blufhes. It is every body's fault and nobody's ; and the refentment of injury wan- ders wildly in defpair,, without know- ing where to fix,, or whither it is car- ried. But they arc our Jubjefts Your fubje&s !. no more than the inhabitants of Wales are fubjeds to thofe of Lan- cafhire. The authority of one nation over another cannot be founded but upon conqueft, upon general confent, or upon conditions propofed on one part, and accepted on the other. Con- queft binds no more than theft: the D 5 confent [ 58 1 confent of anceflors cannot be obliga- tory upon dependents : and there can be no condition which muft not be un- derftood to be exclufive of the facrifice of liberty. Liberty is not to be bar- tered for any thing, becaufe there is not any thing which is of a compara- ble price. Such have been the dif- courfes held by you to your tyrants, fuch hold we to you for your colo- nifts. earth which they occupy is our*s- Your's! it is thus you call it becaufe you ufurped it. But be it fo. Does not the charter of coneeffion oblige you to treat the Americans as countrymen ? Do you do fo ? But we are well em- ployed here truly in talking of conceffi- ons by charters, by which men grant what they are not mafters of, what con- fequently they have not the right to grant C 59 ] grant to a handful of weak people, forced by circumftances to receive as a gratification that which belongs to them of natural right. And then, have the defendants who are now living been called to a compact figned by their anceftors ? Either confefs the truth of? this principle, or recall the defendants of James. What right had you to drive him away which we have not to feparate ourfelves from you ? fay the Americans to you: and what have you to fay in anfwer ? : ;/ t'l- They are ungrateful, we are their foun- ders ; we have been their defenders ; | we have run in debt upon their ac- count Say, as much or more upon your own than theirs. If you have undertaken their defence, it was as you would have undertaken that of the Sul- tan of Conftantinople, had your ambi- tion [ 60 ] tion or your intereft required it. But have they not requited you, in deliver- ing up to you their productions ; in receiving your merchandize exclufively at the exorbitant price you would pleafe to put upon it ; in fujefting themfelves to prohibitions which cramped their in- duftry, and to reftri&ions by which you have opprefled their poverty ? Have they not helped you ? Have they not run in debt upon your account ? Have they not taken arms and fought for you ? When you have made your fequefls to them, which is the proper way of dealing with freemen, have they not complied with them ? When did you ever experience a refufal from them, but v/hen you clapped a bayonet to their breaft, and faid, Tour money or life, die or be flaws ? What! becaufe you have been beneficent, have you a right to C 61 ] to be oppreflive ? What ! and fhall nations too build on gratitude the bir- barous claim, to debafe, and trample under foot, thofe who have had the misfortune to receive their favours ? Ah! individuals perhaps, though it is by no means a duty, individuals may, perhaps, in a benefador tolerate a ty- rant. In them, it is great r it is magna- nimous, undoubtedly, to confent to be wretched, that they may not be ungrate- ful. But nations have a different mora- lity. The public happinefs is the firft Jaw, as the firft duty. The firft obli- gation of thefe great bodies is with themfelves. They owe, before all other things, liberty andjuftice to the mem- bers which compofe them. Every child which is born to the ftate, every new citizen who comes to breathe the air of the country he has chofen, or nature given given him, is in titled to the greateft hap- pinefs he can enjoy. Every obligation which cannot be reconciled with that, is broken. Every contrary claim, is a wicked attempt upon his rights. And what is it to him, that his anceftors have been relieved, if he is deftined to be himfelf oppreffed ? With what right can be exacted from him the payment of his ufurious d^bt of benefits, which he has never felt ? No, no. The wifh- ing to arm one's felf wkh fuch a claim, again ft a whole nation, and its pofterity, is to overthrow all the ideas of policy and order, and, whilft one invokes the name of morality, to betray all its laws. What have you not done for Hanover ? Do you command at Hanover? All the republics of Greece were bound together by mutual fervices ; but did any one exvift, as a mark of gratitude, the rght of difpofing of the government of the fuccoured ftate ? Our [ 63 3 Our honour is engaged Say, that of your bad minifters> and not your's. In what confifts the true honour of him who has been miftaken ? is it to perfift in his error, or to acknowledge it ? Has he who returns to a fenfe of juftiee,. any caufe to blufh ? Englifhmen, you have been too hafly. Why did you not wait, till the Americans had been corrupted, as you are, by riches I Then, they would have thought no more highly of their liberty, than you do of your own. Then it would have been needlefs to take arms, againft men fubdued by opulence. But what inftant have you chofen for attack- ing them ? That in which what they had to lofe, their liberty, could not be balanced by what they had to keep. But later they would be more numerous - I agree, they would. What then have r 6 4 j have you attempted ? the enflaving a people who (hall be unfettered in fpite of you by time. In twenty, in thirty years, the remembrance of your atrocious deeds will dill be frefh ; and the fruit of them will be raviftied from you. Then, there will remain to you but remorfe and fhame. There is a decree of nature which you fhatt not change ; which is, that great bodies give laws to little ones. But, tell me, if the Americans ftiould then undertake againft Great Britain what you have now undertaken againft them, what would you fay ? Precifely what they at this moment fay to you. "Why fhould motives which affedt you fo little m their mouths, appear to you more folid in your own ? They will not obey our parliament, nor adopt our ordinances Did they make them ? Can they change them ? We [ % J We obey them readily enough, without Moving had, in time pajf, or having in the prefent, any influence over them That is to fay, that you are flaves ; and that you cannot bear that men ihould be free, However do not confound the fituation of the Americans with your own. You have reprefentatives, and they have not. You have voices which fpeak for you, and no perfon ftipulates for them. If indeed thefe voices are bought and fold, it is an excellent reafon for their difdain- ing fuch a frivolous advantage. They wifh to be independent of us Are not you fo of them ? They will never be able tofupport them- fehes without us If that be fo, be quiet. Neceffity will bring them back. And if we Jhould not be able to fubfijl without them It would be a great mif- [ 66 ] misfortune : but to cut their throats in order to get out of it, is a fingular ex- pedient. // is for their inter eft ^ h is for their good, that we are fevere with them, as one is fevere with frantic children ~~Their intereft ! Their good ! And who made you judges of thefe two objedls which fo nearly touch them,and which they fhould better know than you ? If it fhould hap- pen that a man fhould make a forcible entry into another's houfe, becaufe, for- footh, he is a man of great fenfe, and nobody more able to maintain peace and good order for his neighbour, fhould not one be in the right to humbly beg he would be pleafed to take himfelf a.- way, and to trouble his head about his own affairs? And if the affairs of this officious hypocrite fhould' be very badly ordered? ordered ? If he fhouM be at the bottom but an ambitious mortal, who, under the pretence of fettling and ordering, fhould have a violent inclination co ufurp? If he fhould cover wi*h the mafk of be- nevolence, but views full of injuftice, fuch for example, as to get himfelf out of ftraits and difficulties at his neigh- bour's coft ? We are the mother- country What, always the mod holy names to ferve as a veil to interefl and ambitroii ! The mother-country ! Fulfil the duties of it then. Befides, colonies are formed of different nations, amongft which fome will grant, others refufe you this appel- lation ; and all will with one voice tell you, There is a time when the autho- rity of parents over their children ceafes ; and this time is when the children are able [ 68 ] able to provide for themfelves. What term have you fixed for our emancipa- tion ? Be candid, and you will allow that you had promifed yourfelves to be able to hold us in a wardship or minority which fhould never end. If, indeed, this wardftiip were not to have turned for us into an infupportable conftraint ; if our advantage were not for ever to be facrificed to yours ; if we were not to have had a multitude of thofe minor op- preffions, which, together, fwell to a bulk mofl burdenfome, to bear from the go- vernors, the judges, the collectors, and the military, whom you fend us ; if the greatefl part of them, at their arrival in our climate, were not to have brought with them, blafted characters, ruined fortunes, rapacious hands, and the in- folenee of fubaltern tyrants, who r tired,, in I 69 ] in their own country, with obeying laws, come to requite themfelves, in a new world, by the exercife of an arbitrary power. You are the mother-country: but fo far from encouraging, you fear our progrefs, bind our hands, and reprefs and ftrangle our growing ftrength. Na- ture in favouring us deceives your fecret wiflies ; or rather, you would chufe, that we ftiould remain in an eternal chilhood, with regard to all that can be ufeful to ourfelves, and that, notwithftanding, we fliould be robuft vaflals, to be employed in your fervice, and in the furnifhing, without remiffion, new fources of riches to your infatiable avidity. Is it this then to be a mother ? Is it this to be a country to her children ? Ah, in the forefts which furround us, nature has given a gemler Jnftind to the favage beaft, I 70 3 beaft, which, become a mother, devours not at leaft thofc which fhe has pro- duced. * Were all their pretenfions to be acqiiief- ced in, they would foon be happier than we are. And why not ? If you are corrupt- ed, is it neceflary that they mutt be cor- rupted too? If you have adifpofition to flavery, muft they too follow your ex- ample? If they had you for mafters, why fhould you not confer the property of their country upon another power, upon your fovereign ? Why fhould you not render him their defpot, as you have by a folemn aft declared him the defpot of Canada ? Would it then be ne- ceflary that they (hould ratify this extravagant conceflion ? And even if they fhould have ratified it, muft they obey the fovereign whom you fhould have I 7i 1 liave given them, and, if he command- ed it, take arms againft you ? The King of England has a negative power. No law can be promulgated without his confent. Why fhould the Americans grant him, in their' country, a power, of the inconvenience of which you are continually made fenfible ? Should it be, in order one day to diveft him of it, fword in hand, as it will happen to you, if your government be perfected? What advantage do you find in fubje&ing them to a vicious conftitution ? Vicious or not, th'is is our conjlitittion ; and ought to be generally acknowledged and received, by all who bear the Englijh name ; 'without which, each of our pro- vinces governing itfelf in its own way, having its own laws, and pretending to independence, we ceafe to form a national body, I 72 I and, are no more than a heap of little republics, detached, divided, con- tinually rifing again/I one another, and eafily to be ufurped by a common enemy* The adroit and powerful Philip, capable of attempting fuch an enterprize, is at our door. If he is at your door, he is far from the Americans. A privilege which may have fome inconvenience with regard to you, is not the lefs a privilege. But fepa- rated, as they are, from Great Britain by immenfe feas, of what importance is it to you, whether your colonies re- ceive, or rejeft, your conftitution ? What does that make, for, or againft, your power; for, or againft, your fafety ? This unity, of which you ex- aggerate the advantages, is ftill but a vain pretext. You objeft your laws to your [ 73 ] your colonies, when they are haraffed by them ; and you tread them under foot, when they make in their favour. You tax yourfelves, and you would tax them. If the leaft attempt is made upon this privilege, you make a furious outcry, fly to arms, and are ready to run on fwords in its defence ; and yet, you hold a dagger to your countryman, to oblige him to renounce it. Your ports are open to all the world ; and you (hut up the ports of your colonifts. Your merchandize is wafted where you pleafe ; and theirs muft neceflarily come to you. You manufacture, and you will not fuffer them to manufacture. They have Ikins, they have iron ; and they muft deliver up to you, unwroughc, this iron and thefe (kins. What you ac quire at a low price, they mud buy of you at the price which your rapacity E impofcs. I 74 ] impofes. You offer them up as vidlims to your traders ; and becaufe your India Company was in danger, the Ameri- cans muft needs repair their lofles. And yet you call them your country- men and fellow- citizens ; and it is thus that you invite them to receive your conftitution. Go to, go to. This unity, this league which feems fo necef- fary to you, is but that of the filly animals in the fable, amongft which you have referved to yourfelves the lion's part. Perhaps you have not fuffered your- felves to be drawn to the filling the new world with blood and devaftation, but by a falfe point of honour. We wifti to perfuade ourfelves that fo many crimes have not been the confequences of a projeft deliberately formed. You had been t 75 ] been told, that the Americans were but a vile herd of cowards, whom the leaft threat would bring, terrified and trem- bling, to acquiefce in whatever it fliould pleafe you to exaft. Inftead of the cowards which had been defcribed and promifed-you, you find true men, true Engliihmen, country men worthy of your- felves. Is this a reafon for your being irritated? What! your anceftors ad- mired the Hollander ftiaking off the Span ifh yoke; and fliould you, their defcendants, be angry or furprized, that your countrymen, your brethren, that they who feel your blood circulate in their veins, fliould rather pour it on the ground and die, than live fin yokes and bondage ? A. flranger, upon whom you fhould have formed the fame pre- tenfions, would have difarrned you, if, ftiewing you his naked breaft, he had E 2 faid, [ 76 ] faid, Plunge in your poignard here, cr leave me free : and yet you flab your brother ; and you flab him without re- morfe, becaufe he is your brother! Englifhmen! what can be more igno- minious than the favagenefs of a man, proud of his own liberty, and wickedly attempting to deflroy the liberty of ano- ther ! Would you have us believe, that the greatefl -enemy to freedom is the man that is free? Alas 1 we are but too much inclined to it. Enemies of kings, you have their arrogance and pride. Enemies of royal prerogative, you carry it every where. Every where you fhew yourfelves tyrants. Well then, tyrants of nations, and of your colonies, if in the event you prove the flrongefl, it will be becaufe heaven is deaf to the prayers which are directed to it from all .the countries upon earth. ;:$':: ?n Since I 77 3 Since the feas have not fwallowed up your hindering ruffians, tell me, what will become of them, if there fhould arife in the new world a man of elo- quence, promifmg eternal happinefs to the martyrs of liberty who die in arms* Americans ! let your preachers be feen iriceflantly in their pulpits, with crowns of glory in their hands, pointing to heaven open. Priefts of the new world, now is the time for it ; expiate the de~ teflable fanaticifm, which once laid wafte America, by the happy fanaticifm, be- gotten by policy upon freedom. No; you will not deceive your countrymen. To God, who is the principle of juftice and of order, tyrants are abomination. God has imprinted on the heart of man this facred love of liberty ; he wills not that flavery disfigure and debafe his nobleft work. If deification be due to t 78 I man, it is, undoubtedly, to that man who fights and dies for his native foil. Put his image in your temples - 9 fet it on your altars. It fhall be worfhipped by his country. From a political and religious calendar, marking each day by the name of fome hero, who (hall have fpilled his blood to fet you free. Your pofterity (hall one day read them with holy joy : thefe, (hall it fay, behold, thefe were the men who gave liberty to half a world ; and who t charging themfelves with our happinefs, before we had exiftence, fecured our infant (lumbers from the being difturb- ed and terrified by the clank of chains. \lVhat 'was the part 'which England Jhould have taken, - I -'>.*.>" " anxious to preferve both their riches " and their power. ''" " We ourfelves, O countrymen, O u friends, we ourfelves fhall profit by w your example. If our conftitution 4< -(hould be altered for the worfe; if and E 9i 1 " and the court the nation ; if our kings 44 to whom we have given fb many ter- 44 rible examples, fhould at laft forget " them ; if we fhould be in danger, we 44 who were an anguft people, of d win- " dling to a vile herd of abjefts, by, 44 bafely felting ourfelves to fale ; we 44 might be re-animated by the fight of " your virtues and your laws. It might c4 recall to our depraved and daftard " hearts, with a fenfe of the value and " the grandeur of liberty, the energy ta " preferve it. But if it muft be, that a fuch an example as yours fhall want ic power to prompt us; if it muft be^ " that flavery, the never-failing follower can you hefitate a moment ? It is your * 6 rights, it is your mofl important inte- " refts, it is the glory of your name, " that you are called upon to defend. * c It is not a foreign power which attacks " thefe eflential objects. They are me- I jkould have ftill enough ; and that h'e will find, in the event, that 1 have too many for him and for the tyrants whom he ferves. Thefe Tentiments were he- ^ roic, but they were rare ; and they be- came lefs common every day. The intoxication was never general ; and it could be but mom^ntaneous. None of thofe energetic caufes, which I have I 170 ] have produced fo many revolutions upon the globe, exifted in North America, Neither religion nor laws had there been outraged. The blood of martyrs or pa- triots had not there flreamed from fcaf- folds. Morals had not been there in- fulted. Manners, cuftoms, habits, no objeft dear to nations had there been the fport of ridicule. .Arbitrary power had not there torn any inhabitant from the arms of his family and his friends, to xlrag him to a dreary dungeon. Public Border had not been there inverted. The principles of adminiftration had not been changed there ; and the maxims of go- vernment had there always remained the fame. The whole queflion was reduced to the knowing whether the mother- ecuntry had, or had not, the right to lay direftly, or indire&Iy, a flight tax upon the C 171 3 the colonies : for the accumulated griev- ances in the manifefto Were valid only in confequence of this leading grievance. This, almoft metaphyfical, queflion was fcarcely of fufficient importance to caufe the multitude to rife, or at lead to interefl them ftrongly in a quarrel for which they few their land deprived of the hands deftined to its cultivation, their harvefts laid wafte, their fields covered with the dead bodies of their kindred, or ftained with their own blood. To thefe calami- ties, the work of the royal troops upon the coaft, were foon added more infup- portable ones in the heart of the coun- try. Never had the reflleflhefs of the courts of London and Verfailles difturbed the tranquillity of North America but both thefe powers brought fome of the migra- 1 2 tory [ 172 ] tory clans in this part of the new hemi- fphere to partake in their fanguinary flrife. Inftru&ed by experience in the weight which thefe v hordes could add to the (bale, the Englifli and the colonifts were equally refolved to employ them -for their mutual destruction. Carleton tried, firft, to arm thefe barbarous hands in Canada. * 4 It is the iC difpute," faid they in anfwer to his fo- licitations, " of a father with his chil- 4< dren ; we do not think it right for us tc to enter into thisdomeftic fquabble." * f : But if the rebels fhould come to at- " tack this province, would not you