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