Washington's Vision One afternoon as I was busy writing A woman beautiful my eyes beheld, 1 asked her for the n-aFon of her waiting On mo, against my rrder known en well. No answer, onlv to the ea.^t s-he pointed, And suddenly 1 hraul a voice, which said: Look what for future time theie is appointed A centmy is coining, watch and se. A heavy fop, first br< ke away and cleared, All countries of the e:irth I (hen beheld. An entrd on Ad&utic now appeared, Took of its water threw it, j>ntl it loll, On England and America, and heavy Clouds pasf-fd lite Ocean for Amevicu. The 8'ghs f'-ll on my onr, the people weaiy, And nmlcrtrodden, then were very pad. The a rip- 1 tlr- w of water, thtn a portion. Just as bei'< re, Uie c!e.rds soon cleared away. From the Atlantic., to Pacific Ocean, I saw the Towns and Cities peaceful lay. Then suddenlv I iw n sprcire earning, To the United Stau-s from Attica, The angry jcoplo now to war was running, "When conies an angel beautiful, which had. A Union Flag, thit he amoncr thr-m planted. Said; Yd are brother?, stop that awful tight. A voice again said: look, it is i.hee i;rantft Union is all your JA.VM r !:;y'r.r',- 'i h;.-j etdfl tbe tLjx.f', U:ul vras shi;;va to xue. T f I HISTORY 7 OF THE OF THE * UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. BY CHARLES BOTTA. TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN, BY GEORGE ALEXANDER OTIS, ESQ. NINTH EDITION, IN TWO VOLUMES, REVISED AND CORRECTED. VOL. I. COOPERSTOWN, N. Y. PUBLISHED BY H. & E. PHINNEY. 1845. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1837, by NATHAN WHI- TING, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut District. TO THE M AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, HELD AT PHILADELPHIA, FOR THE PROMOTION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, THIS fourth edition of " Otis's Botta," is dedicated, in token of acknowledgment for the distinction conferred upon the Translator, on the appearance of the first edition. This honor was not the less flattering for having beer* imparted early, and in 1821, before the public voice had been declared upon the merit of the work. " Gloria est consentiens laus bonorum, in- currupta vox bene judicantium de excellent! virtute." The writer has not been unmindful of his obligations as a member of this So- ciety, whose objects are the most noble that man can have in view ; but has now in manuscript, a careful translation of Cicero's Offices, Old Age and Friendship, comprising the best system of moral Phi- losophy, by common consent of the wiser part of mankind, for two thousand years, that the world has ever seen ; and of which there has never been an American edition by any other author Boston, January 9, 1834. 2054887 ; TRANSLATOR'S NOTICE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE translator of this history, in laying before his fellow-citizens a second edition of it, would offer them his sincere acknowledg- ments for their favorable reception of the first ; a reception the more gratifying, as, notwithstanding his own high value of the work, it surpassed his most sanguine expectations. It evidently appeared that Botta, like all his great predecessors in the march of immortality, was greeted with the most enthusiasm and admiration by those who were, doubtless, the most conscious of being his fellow-travelers on the road to posterity. How warmly was he welcomed by the sur- viving patriots who had distinguished themselves the most eminently In the great scenes he describes ! The venerable John Adams, on receiving the second volume of the translation, expressed himself in the words following : ' I unite with many other gentlemen in the opinion that the work has great merit, has raised a monument to your name, and performed a valuable service to your country. If it should not have a rapid sale at first, it will be, in the language of booksellers, good stock, and will be in demand as long as the Ameri- can Revolution is an object of curiosity. It is indeed the most clas- sical and methodical, the most particular and circumstantial, the most entertaining and interesting narration of the American War, that I have seen.' In like manner, the hand that penned the De- claration of American Independence, on receiving the first volume of the translation, having already for some years been possessed of the original, addressed the translator the words of encouragement which are here set down : ' I am elad to find that the excellent his- O tory of Botta is at length translated. The merit of this work has been too long unknown with us. He has had the faculty of sifting the truth of facts from our own histories with great judgment, of suppressing details which do not make part of the general history, and of enlivening the whole with the constant glow of his holy en- thusiasm for the liberty and independence of nations. Neutral, as an historian should be, in the relation of facts, he is never neutral in his feelings, nor in the warm expression of them, on the triumphs and reverses of the conflicting parties, and of his honest sympathies with that engaged in the better cause. Another merit is in the ac- curacy of his narrative of those portions of the ?nme war which passed in other quarters of the globe, and especially on the ocean. Vlii TO THE READER. We must thank him, too, for having brought within the compass of three volumes every thing we wish to know of that war, and in a style so engaging, that we cannot lay the book down. He had been so kind as to send me a copy of his work, of which I shall manifest my acknowledgment by sending him your volumes, as they come out. My original being lent out, I have no means of collating it with the translation ; but see no cause to doubt correctness.' On receipt of the second volume of the translation, Mr. Jeflerson re- news his eulogies of the history, in the expressions which follow : I 'join Mr. Adams, heartily, in good wishes for the success of your labors, and hope they will bring you both profit and fame. You have certainly rendered a good service to your country ; and when the superiority of the work over every other on the same subject shall be more known, I think it will be the common manual of our Revolutionary History.' Mr. Madison is no less decisive in his ap- probation of the undei taking. He writes the translator on receiv- ing his first volume : ' The literary reputation of this author, with the philosophic spirit and classic taste allowed to this historical work justly recommended the task in which you are engaged, of placing a translation of it before American readers ; to whom the subject must always be deeply interesting, and who cannot but feel a curiosity to see the picture of it as presented to Europe by so able a hand. The author seems to have the merit of adding to his other qualifications much industry and care in his researches into the best sources of information, and it may readily be supposed that he did not fail to make the most of his access to those in France, not yet generally laid open.' &c. Thus cotemporary witnesses, and the most promi- nent actors in some of the principal events recorded in these vol- umes, have authorized and sanctioned the unexpected indulgence, with which they were received by the American people. Grateful for such high approbation, and content with having been the first to present his countrymen, at his own peril, with however imperfect a copy of so inimitable an original, the translator will always be hap- py to congratulate them on the appearance of a better. TABLE OF CONTENTS. BOOK FIRST. SUMMARY. Opii.ions, manners, customs, and inclinations of the inhabitants of the English colonias in America. Mildness of the British government towards its colonists. Seeds of discontent between the two people. Plan of colonial government proposed by the jolonists. Other motives of discontent in America. Justification of ministers. Desigas and instigations of the French. All the states of Europe desire to reduce the power of England. New subjects of complaint. Stamp duty projected by the minis- ters and proposed to parliament. The Americans are alarmed at it, and make remon- strances. Long and violent debates between the advocates of the stamp act and the opposition. The stamp act passes in parliament. BOOK SECOND SUMMARY. Troubles in America on account of the stamp duty. Violent tumult at Boston. Movements in other parts of America. League of citizens desirous of a new order of things. New doctrines relative to political authority. American associations against English commerce. Admirable constancy of the colonists. General congress ot New York and its operations. Effects produced in England by the news of the tu- mults in America. Change of ministers. The new ministry favorable to the Amer- icans. They propose to parliament the repeal of the stamp act. Doctor Franklin ia interrogated by the parliament. Discourse of George Grenville in favor of the tax. Answer of William Pitt. The stamp act is revoked. Joy manifested in England on this occasion. The news is transmitted with all dispatch to America. BOOK THIRD. SUMMARY. Extreme joy of the colonists on hearing of the repeal of the stamp act. Causes of new discontents. Deliberations of the government on the subject of the opposition of the Americans. Change of ministry. The new ministers propose to parliament, and carry, a bill imposing a duty upon tea, paper, glass, and painters' col- ors. This duty is accompanied by other measures, which sow distrust in the colonies. New disturbances and new associations in America. The royal troops enter Boston. Tumult, with effusion of blood, in Boston. Admirable judicial decision in the midst of so great commotion. Condescendence of the Englisn government ; it suppresses the taxes, with the exception of that on tea The Americans manifest no greater sub- mission in consequence. The government adopts measures of rigor. The Americana break out on their part ; they form leagues of resistance. The Bostonians throw tea overboard. The ministers adopt rigorous counsels. Violent agitations in America. Events which result from them. New confederations. All the provinces determine to hold a general congress at Philadelphia. BOOK FOURTH SUMMARY. Confidence of the Americans in the general congress. Dispositions of minds in Europe, and particularly in France, towards the Americans. Deliberations of congress. Approved by the provinces. Indifference of minds in England relative to the quarrel with America. Parliament convoked. The ministers will have the in- habitants of Massachusetts declared rebels. Oration of Wilkes against this proposi- tion. Oration of Harvey in support of it. The ministers carry it. They send troops to America. They accompany the measures of rigor with a proposition of arrantxs- ment, and a promise of amnesty. Edmund Burke proposes to the parliament another plan of reconciliation ; which does not obtain. Principal reason why the ministers will hearken to no proposition of accommodation. Fury of the Americans on learning Ui.it the inhabitants of Massachusetts have been declared rebels, rjjvery thing, in America takes the direction of war. Battle of Lexington. Siege of Boston. Unanimous reso iution of the Americans to take arms anc* enter the field. fi CONTENTS. BOOK FIFTH. SUMMARY. Situation of Boston. State of the two armies. The provinces mak* i-eparation for war. Taking of Ticonderoga. Siege of Boston. Battle of Breed's ill. New congress in Philadelphia. George Washington elected captain-general. Repairs to the camp of Boston. The congress make new regulations for the army. Eulogy of doctor Warren. The congress take up the subject of finances. Endeavor to secure the Indians. Their manifesto. Religious solemnities to move the people. Address of the congress to the British nation. Another to the king. Another to the Irish people. Letter to the Canadians. Events in Canada. Resolutions of congress relative to the conciliatory proposition of lord North. Articles of union between the provinces proposed by the congress. The royal governors oppose the designs of the popular governors. Serious altercations which result from it. Massachusetts begins to tabor for independence. The other provinces discover repugnance to imitate the exam- ple. Military operations near Boston. Painful embarrassments in which Washington finds himself. General Gage succeeded by sir William Howe, in the chief command of the English troops. Boldness of the Americans upon the sea. Difficulties experienced by Howe. Invasion of Canada. Magnanimity of Montgomery. Montreal taken. Surprising enterprise executed by Arnold. Assault of Quebec. Death of Mont- gomery. BOOK SIXTH. SUMMARY. State of parties in England. Discontent of the people. The ministers take Germans into the pay of England. Parliament convoked. Designs of France. King's speech at the opening of parliament. Occasions violent debates. The ministers carry their Address. Commissioners appointed with power of pardon. Siege of Bos- ton. The English are forced to evacuate it. New disturbances in North Carolina. Success of the American marine. War of Canada. Praises of Montgomery. De- signs of the English against South Carolina. They furiously attack fort Moultrie. Strange situation of the American colonies. Independence every day gains new parti- sans ; and wherefore. The congrtss propose to declare Independence. Speech of Richard Henrv Lee in favor of the proposition. Speech of John Dickinson on the other side. T"he congress proclaim Independence. Exultation of the people BOOK SEVENTH. SUMMARY. Immense preparations of the British for the reduction of \merica. Con- ference for an arrangement. The Americans lose the battle of Brooklyn. New con- ferences. The troops of the king take possession of New York. Forts Washington and Lee fall into their power. The English victoriously overrun New Jersey. Danger of Philadelphia. The royal armv pause at the Delaware. General Lee is made pris- oner. War with the Indians. Campaign of Canada. Firmness of Washington and of congress in adverse fortune ; and their deliberations to re-establish it. Dictatorial power granted to Washington ; in what manner he uses it. Overtures of congress to the court of France. Franklin sent thither. His character. The fortune of America regains at Trenton. Prudence and intrepidity of Washington. Howe, after variouii movements, abandons New Jersey. Embarks at New York to carry the war into another part. BOOK EIGHTH. SUMMARY. Designs of the British ministry. Expedition of Burgoyne. Assembly of the savages. Proclamation of Burgoyne. He puts himself in motion. The Ameri- cans prepare to combat him. Description of Ticonderoga. Capture of that fortress; operations which result from it. Burgoyne arrives upon the banks of the Hudson. Siege of fort Stanwix. Affair of Bennington. Embarrassed position of Burgoyne. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK FIRST AMERICA, and especially some parts of it, having been discovered by the genius and intrepidity of Italians, received, at various times, as into a place of asylum, the men whom political or religious dis- turbances had driven from their own countries in Europe. The security which these distant and desert regions presented to their minds, appeared to them preferable even to the endearments of country and of their natal air. Here they exerted themselves with admirable industry and forti- tude, according to the custom of those whom the fervor of opinion agitates and stimulates, in subduing the wild beasts, dispersing or destroying pernicious or importunate animals, repressing or subject- ing the barbarous and savage nations that inhabited this New World, draining the marshes, controlling the course of rivers, clearing the forests, furrowing a virgin soil, and commkting to its bosom new and unaccustomed seeds ; and thus prepared themselves a climate less rude and hostile to human nature, more secure and more commo- dious habitations, more salubrious food, and a part of the conve- niences and enjoyments proper to civilized life. This multitude of emigrants, departing principally from England, in the time of the last Stuarts, landed in that part of North America which extends from the thirty-second to the forty-fifth degree of noith latitude ; and there founded the colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, which took the gene- ral name of New England. To these colonies were afterwards join- ed those of Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jer- sey, Maryland, the two Carolinas, and Georgia. Nor must it be understood, that in departing from the land in which they were 12 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. born, to seek in foreign regions a better condition of life, they aban- doned their country on terms of enmity, dissolving every tie of early attachment. Far from this, besides the customs, the habits, the usages and man- ners of their common country, they took with them privileges, granted by the royal authority, whereby their laws were constituted upon the model of those of England, and more or less conformed to a free government, or to a more absolute system, according to the charac- ter or authority of the prince from whom they emanated. They were also modified by the influence which the people, by means of their organ, the parliament, were found to possess. For, it then being the epoch of those civil and religious dissensions which caused English blood to flow in torrents, the changes were extreme and rapid. Each province, each colony, had an elective assembly, which, under certain limitations, was invested with the authority of parlia- ment ; and a governor, who, representing the king to the eyes of the colonists, exercised also a certain portion of his power. To this was added the trial, which is called by jury, not only in criminal matters, but also in civil causes ; an institution highly important, and corresponding entirely with the judicial system of England. But, in point of religion, tho colonists enjoyed even greater latitude than in their parent country itself; they had not preserved that ec- clesiastical hierarchy, against which they had combated so strenu- ously, and which they did not cease to abhor, as the primary cause of the long and perilous expatriation to which they had been con- strained to resort. It can, therefore, excite no surprise, if this generation of men not only had their minds imbued with the principles that form the basis of the English constitution, but even if they aspired to a mode of government less rigid, and a liberty more entire ; in a word, if they were inflamed with the fervor which is naturally kindled in the hearts of men by obstacles which oppose their religious and political opin- ions, and still increased by the privations and persecutions they have suffered on their account. And how should this ardor, this excite- ment of exasperated minds, have been appeased in the vast solitudes of America, where the amusements of Europe were unknown, where assiduity in manual toils must have hardened their bodies, and in- c reased the asperity of their characters ? If in England they had shown themselves averse to the prerogative of the crown, how, as to this, should their opinions have been changed in America, where scarcely a vestige was seen of the royal authority and splendor ? where the same occupation being common to all, that of cultivating the earth, must have created in all the opinion and the love of a gene- BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAA. 13 ral equality ? They had encountered exile, at the epoch when the war raged most fiercely in their native country, between the king and the people ; at the epoch when the armed subjects contended for the right of resisting the will of the prince, when he usurps their lib- erty ; and even, if the public good require it, of transferring the crown from one head to another. The colonists had supported these prin- ciples ; and how should they have renounced them ? they who, out of the reach of royal authority, and, though still in the infancy of a scarcely yet organized society, enjoyed already, in their new country, a peaceful and happy life? the laws observed, justice administered, the magistrates respected, offences rare or unknown ; persons, property and honor, protected from all violation ? They believed it the-iflJaEenTflllr rifjlil iifnirr English subject, whether freeman or ^eerlolojer, not to give his property without his own consent ; that thehtiuuu uf iAHumuiflTonly, as the representative of the English people, had the right to grant its money to the crown ; that taxes are free gifts of the people to those who govern ; and that princes are bound to exercise their authority, and employ the public treasure, for the sole benefit and use of the community. ' These privileges,' said the colonists, ' we have brought with us ; distance, or change of climate, cannot have deprived us of English preroga- tives ; we departed from the kingdom with the consent and under the guarantee of the sovereign authority ; the right not to contribute with our money without our own consent, has been solemnly recog- nized by the government in the charters it has granted to many of the colonies. It is for this purpose that assemblies or courts have been established in each colony, and that they have been invested with authority to investigate and superintend the employment of the public money.' And how, in fact, should the colonists have relin- quished such a right ; they who derived their subsistence from the American soil, not given or granted by others, but acquired and possessed by themselves ; which they had first occupied, and which their toils had rendered productive ? Every thing, on the contrary, in English America, tended to favor and develop civil liberty , every thing appeared to lead towards national independence. The Americans, for the most part, were not only Protestants, but Protestants against Protestantism itself, and sided with those who in England are called Dissenters; for, besides, as Protestants, not acknowledging any authority in the affair of religion, whose decision, without other examination, is a rule of faith, claiming to be of themselves, by the light of natural reason alone, sufficient judges of religious dogmas, they had rejected the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and abolished even the names of its dignities ; they had h short, divested THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. themselves of all that deference which man, by^ his nature, has for the opinions of those who are constituted in eminent stations ; and whose dignities, wealth and magnificence, seem to command respect. The intellects of the Americans being therefore perfectly free upon this topic, they exercised the same liberty of thought upon other subjects unconnected with religion, and especially upon the affairs of government, which had been the habitual theme of their conversation, during their residence in the mother country. The colonies, moro than any other country, abounded in lawyers, who, accustomed to the most subtle and the most captious arguments, are commonly, in a country governed by an absolute prince, the most zealous advocates of his power, and in a free country the most ardent defenders of liberty. Thus had arisen, among the Americans, an almost universal familiarity with those sophistical discussions which appertain to the professions of theology and of law, the effect of which is often to generate obstinacy and presumption in the human mind ; accordingly, however long their disquisitions upon political and civil liberty, they never seemed to think they had sifted these matters sufficiently. The study of polite literature and the liberal arts having already made a remarkable progress in America, these discussions were adorned with the graces of a florid elocution ; the charms of eloquence fascinated and flattered on the one hand the defenders of bold opinions, as, on the other, they imparted to their discourses greater attraction, and imprinted them more indelibly on the minds of their auditors. The republican maxims became a common doctrine ; and the" memory of the Puritans, and of those who in the sanguinary con- tentions of England had supported the party of the people, and per- ished for its cause, was immortalized. These were their apostles, these their martyrs : their names, their virtues, their achievements, their unhappy, but to the eyes of the colonists so honorable, death, formed the continual subject of the conversations of children, with the authors of their days. If, before the revolution, the portrait of the king was usually seen in every house, it was not rare to observe near it the images of those who, in the time of Charles I. sacrificed their lives in defense of what they termed English liberties. It is impossible to express with what exultation they had received the news of the victories of the republicans in England ; with what grief they heard of the resto- ration of the monarchy, in the person of Charles II. Thus their incli- nations and principles were equally contrary to the government, and to the church, which prevailed in Great Britain. Though naturally reserved and circumspect, yet expressions frequently escaped them which manifested a violent hatred for the political and religious BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 15 establishments of the mother country. Whoever courted popular favor, gratified both himself and his hearers, by inveighing against them ; the public hatred, on the contrary, was the portion of the feeble party of the hierarchists, and such as favored England. AI! things, particularly in New England, conspired to cherish the germs of these propensities and opinions. The colonists had few books ; but the greater part of those, which were in the hands of all, only treated of political affairs, or transmitted the history of the persecu- tions sustained by the Puritans, their ancestors. They found in these narratives, that, tormented in their ancient country on account of their political and religious opinions, their ancestors had taken the intrepid resolution of abandoning it, of traversing an immense ocean, of flying to the most distant, the most inhospitable regions, in order to preserve the liberty of professing openly these cherished princi- ples ; and that, to accomplish so generous a design, they had sacrifi- ced all the accommodations and delights of the happy country where they had received birth and education. And what toils, what fatigues, what perils, had they not encountered, upon these unknown and savage shores ? All had opposed them ; their bodies had not been accustomed to the extremes qf cold in winter, and of heat in sum- mer, both intolerable in the climate of America ; the land chiefly covered with forests, and little of it habitable, the soil reluctant, the air pestilential ; an untimely death had carried off most of the first founders of the colony . those who had resisted the climate, and survived the famine, to secure their infant establishment, had been forced to combat the natives, a ferocious race, and become still more ferocious at seeing a foreign people, even whose existence they had never heard of, come to appropriate the country of which they had so long been the sole occupants and masters. The colonists, by their fortitude and courage, had gradually surmounted all these obstacles ; which result, if on the one hand it secured them greater tranquillity, and improved their condition, on the other it gave them a better opinion of themselves, and inspired them with an elevation of senti- ments, not often paralleled. As the prosperous or adverse events which men have shared to- gether, and the recollections which attend them, have a singular tendency to unite their minds, their affections and their sympathies ; the Americans were united not only by the ties which reciprocally attach individuals of the same nation, from the identity of language, of laws, of climate, and of customs, but also by those which result from a common participation in all the vicissitudes to which a people is liable. They offered to the world an image of those congregations of men, subject not only tn the general laws of the society of which 16 THE AMERICAN WAIl. BOOK I. ". they are members, but also to particular statutes and regulations, to which they have voluntarily subscribed, and which usually produce, .besides an uniformity of dpinious, a common zeal and enthusiasm. It should not be omitted, that even the composition of society in the English colonies, rendered the inhabitants averse to every spe- cies of superiority, and inclined them to liberty. Here was but one class of men ; the mediocrity of their condition tempted not the rich and the powerful of Europe, to visit their shores ; opulence, and hereditary honors, were unlyiown among them ; whence no vestige remained of feudal servitude. From these causes resulted a general opinion that all men are by nature equal ; and the inhabitants of America would have found it difficult to persuade themselves that they owed their lands and their civil rights to the munificence of princes. Few among them had'^ieard mention of Magna Charta ; and those who were hot ignorant of the history of that important period of the English revolution, in which this compact was con- rirmed,VGonsidered it rather a solemn recognition, by the king of England, of the rights of the people, than any concession. As they referred to heaven the protection which had conducted them through so many perils, to a land, where at^ length they had found that repogeAvhich in their ancient country they had sought in vain ; and as they owed to its beneficence the harvests of their exuberant fields, the only and the genuine source of their riches ; so not from the concessions of the king of Great Britain, but from the bounty and infinite clemency of the King of the universe, did they derhe every right ; these opinions, in the minds of a religious and thoughtful peo- ple, were likely to have deep and tenacious roots. From the vast extent of the province occupied, and the abundance of vacant lands, every colonist was, or easily might have become, ai the same time, a proprietor, farmer, and laborer. Finding all his enjoyments in rural life, he saw spring up, grow, prosper, and arrive at maturity, under his own eyes, and often by the labor of his own hands, all things necessary to the life of man ; IK; felt himself free from all subjection, from all dependence ; anc' individual liberty is a powerful incentive to civil independence Each might hunt, fowl and fish, at his pleasure, without fear of possible injury to others ; poachers were consequently unknown in America. Their parks and reservoirs were boundless forests, vast and numerous lakes, immense rivers, and a sea unrestricted, inex- haustible in fish of every species. As they lived dispersed in the country, mutual affection was increased between the members of the same family ; and finding happiness in the domestic circle, they had no temptation to seek diversion in the resorts of idleness, where meD POOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 17 loo often contract the vices which terminate in dependence and habits of servility. The greater part of the colonists, being proprietors and cultivators of land, lived continually upon their farms ; merchants, artificers, and mechanics, composed scarcely a fifth part of the total population. Cultivators of the earth depend only on Providence and their own industry, while the artisan, on the contrary, to render himself agree- able to the consumers, is obliged to pay a certain deference to their caprices. It resulted, from the great superiority of the first class, that the colonies abounded in men of independent minds, who, knowing no insurmountable obstacles but those presented by the very nature of things, could not fail to resent with animation, and oppose with indignant energy, every curb which human authority might attempt to impose The inhabitants ci the colonies were exempt, and almost out of danger, from ministerial seductions, the seat of government being at such a distance, that far from having proved, they had never even heard of, its secret baits. It was not therefore customary among them to corrupt and be corrupted ; the offices were few, and so little lucrative, that they were far from supplying the means of corruption to those who were invested with them. The love of the sovereign, and their ancient country, which the first colonists might have retained in their new establishment, grad^- ually diminished in the hearts of their descendants, as successive generations removed them further from their original stock ; and when the revolution commenced, of which we purpose to write the history, the inhabitants of the English colonies were, in general, but the third, fourth, and even the fifth generation from the original colonists, who had left England to establish themselves in the new regions of America. At such a distance, the affections of consanr guinity became feeble, or extinct ; and the remembrance of their ancestors lived more in their memories, than in their hearts. Commerce, which has power to unite and conciliate a sort of friendship between the inhabitants of the most distant countries, was not, in the early penods of the colonies, so active as to produce these effects between the inhabitants of England and America. The greater part of the colonists had heard nothing of Great Britain, ex- cepting that it was a distant kingdom, from which their ancestors had been barbarously expelled, or hunted away, as they had been forced to take refuge in the deserts and forests of wild America, in- habited only by savage men, and prowling beasts, or venomous and horrible serpents. VOL. i. 2 18 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. The distance of government diminishes its force ; either because, in the absence of the splendor and magnificence of the throne, men yield obedience only to its power, unsupported by the influence of illusion and respect ; or, because the agents of authority in distant countries, exercising a larger discretion in the execution of the laws, inspire the people governed with greater hope of being able to es- cape their restraints. What idea must we then form of the force which the British gov- ernment could exercise in the new world, when it is considered, that the two countries being separated by an ocean three thousand miles in breadth, entire months sometimes transpired, between the date of an order, and its execution ? Let it be added also, that except in cases of war, standing armies, this powerful engine of coercion, were very feeble in England, and much more feeble still in America ; their existence even was con- trary to law. ^ It follows, of necessity, that, as the means of constraint became almost illusory in the hands of the government, there must have arisen, and gradually increased, in the minds of the Americans, the hope, and with it the desire, to shake off the yoke of English supe- riority. All these considerations apply, especially, to the condition of the eastern provinces of English America. As to the provinces of the south, the land being there more fertile, and the colonists conse- quently enjoying greater affluence, they could pretend to a more ample -liberty, and discover less deference for opinions which differ- ed from their own. Nor should it be imagined, that the happy fate they enjoyed, had enervated their minds, or impaired their courage. Living continually on their plantations, far from the luxury and se- ductions of cities, frugal and moderate in all their desires, it is cer- tain, on the contrary, that the great abundance of things necessary to life rendered their bodies more vigorous, and their minds more impatient of all subjection. In these provinces also, the slavery of the blacks, which was in use, seemed, however strange the assertion may appear, to have in- creased the love of liberty among the white population. Having continually before their eyes, the living picture of the miserable con- dition of man reduced to slavery, they could better appreciate the liberty they enjoyed. This liberty they considered not merely as a right, but as a franchise and privilege. As it is usual for men, when their own interests and passions are concerned, to judge partially and inconsiderately, the colonists supported impatiently the superiority of the British government. They considered its pretensions as ten:l- BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 19 ing to reduce them to a state little different from that of their own slaves ; thus detesting, for themselves, what they found convenient to exercise upon others. The inhabitants of the colonies, especially those of New England, enjoyed not only the shadow, but the substance itself, of the English constitution ; for in this respect, little"was panting to their entire independence. They elected tKeir own rjhagistrates ; they paid them; and decided all affairs /relative to/internal administration. The sole evidence of their denendenc^-oli the mother country, con- sisted in this ; that they couldVpefenact laws or statutes, contrary to the letter or spirit of the English laws ; that the king had the pre- rogative to annul the deliberations of their assemblies ; and that they were subject to such regulations and restrictions of commerce, as the parliament should judge necessary and conducive to the general good of the British empire. This dependence, however, was rather nominal than actual, for the king very rarely refused his sanction ; and as to commercial restrictions, they knew how to elude them dexterously, by a contraband traffic. The provincial assemblietf^ere perfectly free, and more perhaps than the parliament of Efigjmid itself; the ministers not being there, to diffuse corruption daffy. The democratic ardor was under no restraint, or little less than none ; for the governors who intervened, in the name of the king, had too lirtlef redit to control it, as they re- ceived their salaries, not from the crown, but from the province itself; and in some, they were elected by the suffrages of the inhab- itants. The religious zeal, or rather enthusiasm, which prevailed among the colonists, and chiefly among the inhabitants of New Eng- land, maintained the purity of their manners. Frugality, tempe- rance, and chastity, were virtues peculiar to this people. There were no examples, among them, of wives devoted to luxury, hus- bands to debauch, and children to the haunts of pleasure. The ministers of a severe religion were respected and revered ; for they gave themselves the example of the virtues they preached. Their time was divided between rural occupations, domestic parties, prayers, and thanksgivings, addressed to that God by whose bounty the seasons were made propitious, and the earth to smile on their labors with beauty and abundance, and who showered upon them so many blessings and so many treasures. If we add, further, that the inhabitants of New England, having surmounted the first obsta- cles, found themselves in a productive and healthful country, it will cease to astonish, that, in the course of a century, the population of the American colonies should have so increased, that from a few destitute families, thrown by misfortune upon this distant shore, should have sprung; a great and powerful nation. 20 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. Another consideration presents itself here. The fathers of fami- lies, in America, were totally exempt from that anxiety, which in Europe torments them incessantly, concerning the subsistence and future establishment of their offspring. In the new world, the in- crease of families, however restricted their means, was not deemed a misfortune : on the contrary, it was not only for the father, but for all about him, that the birth of a son was a joyful event. In this immensity of uncultivated lands, the infant, when arrived at the age of labor, was assured of finding a resource for himself, and even the means < >f aiding his parents ; thus, the more numerous were the chil- dren, the greater competence and ease were secured to the household. It is therefore evident, that in America, the climate, the soil, the civil and religious institutions, even the interest of families, all con- curred to people it with robust and virtuous fathers, with sw r arms of vigorous and spirited sons. Industry, a spirit of enterprise, and an extreme love of gain, are characteristic qualities of those who are separated from other men, and can expect no support but from themselves ; and the colonists being descended from a nation distinguished for its boldness and ac- tivity in the prosecution of traffic, it is easily conceived that the in- crease of commerce was in proportion to that of population. Posi- tive facts confirm this assertion. In 1704, the sum total of the com- mercial exports of Great Britain, inclusive of the merchandise des- tined for her colonies, had been six millions five hundred and nine thousand pounds sterling ; but from this year to 1772, these colonies had so increased in population and prosperity, that at this epoch they of themselves imported from England to the value of six millions twenty-two thousand one hundred and thirty-two pounds sterling ; that is to say, that in the year 1772, the colonies alone furnished the mother country with a market for a quantity of merchandise almost equal to that which, sixty-eight years before, sufficed for her com- merce with all parts of the world. Such was the state of the English colonies in America, such the opinions and dispositions of those who inhabited them, about the middle of the eighteenth century. Powerful in numbers and in force, abounding in riches of every kind, already far advanced in the career of useful arts and of liberal studies, engaged in commerce with all parts of the globe, it was impossible that they should have remained ignorant of what they were capable, and that the progres- sive development of national pride should not have rendered the British yoke more intolerable. But this tendency towards a new order of things did not as yet menace a general combustion j and, without particular irritation, BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 21 would still have kept within the bounds which had already so long sufficed to restrain it. During a century, the British government had prudently avoided to exasperate the minds of the colonists : with parental solicitude, it had protected and encouraged them, when in a state of infancy ; regulating, afterwards, by judicious laws, their commerce with the mother country and with foreign nations, it had conducted them to their present prosperous and flourishing condition. In effect, in times immediately following the foundation of the colo- nies, England, as a tender mother, who defends her own children, had lent them the succor of her troops and her ships, against the attacks of the savage tribes, and against the encroachments of other powers ; she granted immunities and privileges to Europeans who were disposed to establish themselves in these new countries ; she sup- plied her colonists, at the most moderate prices, with cloths, stuffs, linens, and all necessary instruments as well for their defense against enemies as for the exercise of useful professions in time of peace, and especially such as were required for clearing the lands, and the labors of agriculture. The English merchants also assisted them with their rich capitals, in order to enable them to engage in enterprises of great importance, such as the construction of ships, the draining of marshes, the diking of rivers, the cutting of forests, the establishing of new plantations, and other similar works. In exchange for so many advantages, and rather as a necessary consequence of the act of navigation, than as a fiscal restriction, and peculiar to commerce, England only required the colonists to furnish her with the things she wanted, on condition of receiving in return those in which she abounded, and of which they had need. The Americans were therefore obliged to carry to the English all the com- modities and productions which their lands abundantly supplied, and, besides, the fleeces of their flocks for the use of her manufacturers. It was also prohibited the colonists to purchase the manufactures of any other part of the world except England, and to buy the produc- tions of lands appertaining to any European people whatever, unless these productions had been first introduced into the English ports. Such had been the constant scope and object of a great number of acts of parliament, from 1660 down to 1764 ; in effect, establishing a real commercial monopoly, at the expense of the colonies, and in favor of England : at which, however, the colonists discovered no resentment ; either because they received in compensation a real pro- tection on the part of the government, and numerous advantages on that of individuals, or because they considered the weight of this de- pendence as an equivalent for the taxes and assessments to which the inhabitants of Great Britain were subjected, by laws emanating from parliament. 22 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK f. In all this space of time, parliamentary taxes formed no part of the colonial system of government. In truth, in all the laws relative to the colonies, the expressions sanctioned by usage in the pream- bles of financial statutes, to designate taxes or duties to be raised for the use of government, were studiously avoided, and th*se only of free gifts, of grants, and aids lent to the crown, were employed. The parliament, it is true, had frequently imposed export duties upon many articles of commerce in the colonies ; but these were considered rather as restrictions of commerce, than as branches of public reve- nue. Thus, until the year 1764, the affair of taxation by authority of parliament, slept in silence. England contented herself with the exercise of her supremacy, in regulating the general interests of her colonies, and causing them to concur with those of all the British empire. The Americans submitted to this system, if not without some repugnance, at least with filial obedience. It appears evident that, though they were not subjected to parlia- mentary taxes, they were not useless subjects to the state, since they contributed essentially, on the contrary, to the prosperity of the mother county. It cannot be asserted, however, that ill humors were not agitated, at intervals, between the people of the two countries, by attempts on the one part to maintain and even extend the superiority, and on the other to advance towards independence. A year after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, (1749,) a grant was made, near the river Ohio, of six hundred thousand acres of excellent land, to some merchants, whose association was called the Ohio Company. The governor of Canada, at that time a province of France, having had intelligence of this establishment, was apprehensive the English had the inten- tion of interrupting the commerce of the Canadians with the In- dians, called Tuigtuis, and of intercepting the direct communication between Canada and Louisiana. He therefore wrote to the govern- ors of New York and of Pennsylvania, to express his surprise that the English merchants had violated the French territory, in order to trade with the Indians : he threatened that he would cause them to be seized, wherever he could find them. This traffic, however, not having been discontinued, detachments of French and Indians made prisoners of the English traders, at the commencement of the year 1751. The Indians friendly to England, indignant at the outrage their confederates had sustained, assembled, and, scouring the forests, fell upon the French traders, whom they transported to Philadelphia. Not content with this vengeance, the inhabitants of Virginia dis- patched to M. de Saint Pierre, commanding, for the king of France,a BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 23 fort, situated upon the Ohio, major Washington, the same who com- manded afterwards the American armies, with orders to demand an explanation of these acts of hostility, and summon him to draw off his troops. Saint Pierre answered, that he could not comply with the demands of the English ; that the country appertained to the king of France, his master ; that the English had no right to traffic upon those rivers ; that, consequently, in execution of the orders he had received, he should cause to be seized and conducted to Cana- da, every Englishman who should attempt to trade upon the river Ohio, and its dependencies. This proceeding of the French greatly incensed the ministers of Great Britain ; they could not endure to see their friends and con- federates oppressed. Their resolution was soon taken ; they dis- patched instructions to America, that resistance should be made, by force of arms, to the usurpations of the French. This order ar- rived seasonably in Virginia ; hostilities immediately followed, and blood flowed on both sides. The Board, which in England superintends especially the interests of commerce and the plantations, perceiving that the colonists, divid- ed among themselves, could not resist, without delay and disadvan- tage, the enterprises of an audacious and determined people, sup- ported by a great number of Indians, recommended to the different provinces to choose deputies, to convene for the purpose of forming a general confederation, and a formal alliance with the Indians, in the name and under the protection of his Britannic majesty. It was agreed that the assembly of the governors and chief men of each colony should be convened at Albany, situated upon the Hudson river. This convention, after having conciliated the affection of the Indians of the Six Tribes, by suitable presents, proceeded to delib- erate upon the most expedient means of defending themselves and their effects from the attacks of the enemy. They came to the resolution, that it was of urgent importance to unite all the colonies, by a general league. The conditions of it were concluded on the 4th of July, 1754. They purported, in sub- stance, that a petition should be presented to parliament, to obtain an act for the establishment of a general government in America ; that under this government, each colony should preserve its internal constitution, with the exception of the changes introduced by the same act ; that the general government should be administered by a president-general, appointed and paid by the crown, and by a grand council, elected by the representatives of the people of the colonies ; that the president-general should be invested with the right of nega- tive over the acts of the grand council, and authorized to put them 24 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK I. in execution ; that with the advice of the grand council, he should have authority to conclude, and carry into effect, any treaties with the Indians, in which all the colonies should have a common interest, as also to make peace with them, or to declare war against the same ; and to take the measures he might judge suitable for regulating the traffic with these tribes ; that he should have power to purchase of the Indians, and for account of the crown, lands, situated without the territories of the particular colonies ; that he should have author- ity to establish new colonies upon the acquired lands, and to make laws for the regulation and government of these colonies ; that he should have power to levy and pay troops, to construct fortresses, and to equip a fleet for the defense of the coasts, and the^ protection of commerce ; and also, in order to accomplish these purposes, that he should have power to impose such duties, taxes, or excises, as he might deem most convenient ; that he should appoint a treasurer- general, and a particular treasurer for the provinces in which it might be thought necessary ; that the president-general should have the right to appoint all officers of the service, by land or sea ; and that the appointment of all civil officers should appertain to the grand council ; and finally, that the laws passed by these two au- thorities could not be contrary, but should even be conformable to the English laws, and transmitted to the king for approbation. Such was the model of future government, proposed by the colo- nies, and sent to England for determination. The Americans at- tached great hopes to the success of their plan ; already every ap- pearance announced an open rupture with France, and the colonists affirmed, that if the confederation was approved, they should be quite able to defend themselves against the French arms, without any other succor on the part of England. It is not difficult to perceive how much an order of things, thus constituted, would have impaired the authority of the British gov- ernment, and approached the colonies towards independence. By this establishment, they would have obtained a local power, which would have exercised all the rights appertaining to sovereignty, how- ever dependent it might appear to be on the mother country. But tnis project was far from being agreeable to the English ministry, who saw with a jealous eye, that the confederation proposed, fur- nished a plausible pretext for a concert of intrigues in America, all tending to the prejudice of British sovereignty : and, therefore, not- withstanding the imminent peril of a foreign war against a powerful enemy, the articles of the confederation were not approved. But the ministers of England were not disposed to let this occa sion escape them, of increasing, if it was possible, the authority of BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAK. 2ft the government in America, and especially that of imposing taxes ; a thing most of all desired on the one side of the ocean, and detested on the other. Instead, therefore, of the plan proposed by the Americans, the ministers drew up another, which they addressed to the governors of the colonies, to be offered by them to the colonial assemblies. It was proposed by the ministers, ' That the governors of all the colonies, assisted by one or two members of the councils, should assemble, to concert measures, for the organization of a gene- ral system of defense, to construct fortresses, to levy troops, with authority to draw upon the British treasury for all sums that might be requisite ; the treasure to be reimbursed by way of a tax, which should be laid upon the colonies, by an act of parliament.' The drift of this ministerial expedient is not difficult to be under- stood, if it be considered that the governors," and members of the council, were almost all appointed by the king. Accordingly, the scheme had no success in America ; its motives were ably developed, in a letter of Benjamin Franklin ,tp governor Shirley, who had sent him the plan of the ministers. In this letter, the seeds of the dis- cord which followed soon after, begin to make their appearance.* The general court of Massachusetts wrote to their agent in Lon- don, to oppose every measure which should have for its object the establishment of taxes in America, under any pretext of utility what- ever. On the contrary, the governors, and particularly Shirley, in- sisted continually, in their letters to the ministers, that the thing was just, possible, and expedient. These suspicions, this jealous inquietude, which agkated the minds of the Americans, ever apprehensive of a parliamentary tax, obtained with the more facility, as they found them already imbitter- ed by ancient resentments. They had never been able to accustom themselves to certain laws of parliament, which, though not tending to impose contributions, yet greatly restricted the internal commerce of the colonies, impeded their manufactures, or wounded, in a thou- sand shapes, the self-love of the Americans, by treating them as if they were not men of the same nature with the English, or as if, by clipping the wings of American genius, it was intended to retain them in a state of inferiority and degradation. Such was the act prohibiting the felling of pitch and white pine trees, not compre- hended within enclosures ; such was that which interdicted the ex- portation from the colonies, and also the introduction from one colony into another, of hats, and woollens, of domestic manulacture, and forbade hatters to have, at one time, more than two apprentices ; also * See Note I 26 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. that passed to facilitate the collection of debts in the colonies, by tvhich houses, lands, slaves, and other real effects, were made liable for the payment of debts ; and finally, that which was passed in 173M, at the instance of the sugar colonies, which prohibited the importa- tion of sugar, rum, and molasses, from the French and Dutch colo- nies in North America, without paying an exorbitant duty. To these should be added another act of parliament, passed in 1750, according to which, after the 24th of June of the same year, certain works in iron could not be executed in the American colonies ; by a clause of the same act, the manufacture of steel was forbidden. Nor should we omit another, which regulated and restricted the bills of credit issued by the government of New England, and by which it was declared, that they should not have legal currency in the pay- ment p.f debts, that English creditors might not be injured by the necessity of receiving a depreciated paper, instead of money. This regulation, though just, the Americans received with displeasure, as tending to discredit their currency. Hence originated the first dis- contents on the part of the colonists, and the first sentiments of distrust on the part of the English. At the same time it was pretended, in England, that if the colo- nists, on account of the commercial restrictions, so beneficial to the mother country, had merely demanded to be treated with tenderness and equity in the imposition of taxes, nothing would have been more just and reasonable ; but that it could not be at all endured, that they should refuse the European country every species of ulterior succor ; that England, in reserving to herself the commerce of her colonies, had acted according to the practice of all modern nations ; that she had imitated the example of the Spaniards and of the Por- tuguese, and that she had done so with a moderation unknown to the governments of these nations. In founding these distant colonies, it was said, England had caused them to participate in all the rights and privileges that, are enjoyed by English subjects themselves m their own country ; leaving the colonists at liberty to govern vhem- selves, according to such local laws as tie wfedom and prudence of their assemblies had deemed expedient ^~ih a word, she had granted the colonies the most ample authority to pursue their respective in- terests, only reserving to herself the benefit of their commerce, and a political connection under the same sovereign. The French and Dutch colonies, and particularly those of Spain and Portugal, were far from being treated with the same indulgence ; and also, notwith- standing these restrictions, the subject of so much complaint, the English colonies had immense capitals in their commerce, or m their funds; for besides the rich cargoes of the products of theii lands, BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 27 exported in British ships which came to trade in their ports, the Americans had their own ships, which served to transport, with an incredible profit, their productions and merchandise, not only to the mother country, but also, thanks ;o her maternal indulgence, to al- most all parts of the world, and to carry home the commodities and luxuries of Europe at will. And thus, in the English colonies, the enormous prices at which European merchandise is sold in the Spanish and Portuguese establishments, were not only unusual, but absolutely unheard of; it was even remarkable that many of these articles were sold in the American colonies at the same, or even at a lower price than in England itself. The restrictions imposed by Great Britain upon the American commerce, tended rather to a just and prudent distribution of this traffic, between all the parts of its vast dominions, than to a real prohibition ; if English subjects were allowed to trade in all parts of the world, the same permission was granted to American subjects, with the exception of the north of Europe and the East Indies. In Portugal, in Spain, in Italy, in all the Mediterranean, upon the coasts of Africa, in all the American hemisphere, the ships of the English colonies might freely carry on commierce. The English laws, for the protection of this commerce, were wise and well conceived, since they were calculated to increase the exportation of their own produce from the American ports, and to facilitate, for the colciiists, the means of clearing their forests and cultivating their soil, by the certain vent of an immense quantity of timber, with which their country is covered. They could not, it was admitted, procure themselves certain articles, except in the ports of England ; but it was just to consider, that the American lands, from their nature and vast extent, must offer sufficient occupation both for the minds and the hands of the inhabitants, without its being neces- sary that they should ramble abroad in search of gain, like the in- habitants of other countries, already cultivated to perfection. Besides, if England reserved to herself an exclusive commerce in certain kinds of merchandise, how did this concern, or how injure, the Americans ? These objects appertaining for the most part to the refined luxury of social life, in what country could they procure them in greater perfection, or at a more moderate price, than in England ? The affection and liberality of the British government towards its colonies, had gone so far, as not only to abstain from imposing duties upon English manufactures destined for their ports, but even had induced it to exempt foreign merchandise from all duties, when ex- ported by England to America ; thus causing it to become so com- mon in some colonies, as to be sold at a lower price than in certain countries of Europe. 28 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. It should not be forgotten, that the most entire liberty was grant- ed for the exchange of productions between North America and the islands of the West Indies, a trade from which the English colonists derived immense advantages. And in fact, notwithstanding the re- strictions laid upon the commerce of the Americans, did there not remain amply sufficient to render them a rich, happy, and enterpris- Jw ing people ? Was not their prosperity known, and even envied, by the whole world? Assuredly, if there was any part of the globe where man enjoyed a sweet and pleasant life, it was especially in English America. Was not this an irrefragable proof, a striking example, of the maternal indulgence of England towards her colo- nies ? Let the Americans compare their condition with that of foreign colonists, and they would soon confess, not without grati- tude towards the mother country, both their real felicity, and the futility of their complaints. But all these and other considerations that were alleged by Eng- land, had not the effect to satisfy the Americans, and many discon- tents remained. The French, animated by the spirit of rivalship, which has so long existed between their nation and the British, neg- lected no means of inflaming the wounds which the Americans had received, or thought they had received, from their fellow citizens in England. The flourishing state of the English colonies, was a spec- tacle which the French had long been unable to observe with indif- ference. They had at first the design of establishing others for themselves, in some part of this immense continent, hoping to reap from them the same benefits which the English derived from theirs ; and to be able, at length, to give another direction to the commerce of America, and of Europe. They intended, by good laws, or by the employment of their arms, to repair the disadvantages of soil and of climate, observable in the countries which had fallen to their shore. But the French government being more inclined for arms than for commerce, and the nation itself having a natural bias much stronger in favor of the one than towards the other of these profes- sions, their resolutions were soon taken accordingly. And as their character, also, disposes them to form vast designs, and renders them impatient to enjoy without delay, they began immediately to fortify themselves, and to enlarge their limits. Bastions, redoubts, arsenals, and magazines, were established at every point, and in a short time a line of French posts was seen to extend from one ex- tremity of the continent to the other ; but military power can neither supply population or commerce, nor develop the advantages of either. These fortresses, these arms, these garrisons, occupied BOOK I THE AMERICAN WAR. 29 desert or sterile regions. An immense solitude, impenetrable forests, surrounded them on all sides. The conduct of the English was very different ; they advanced only step by step, restricting themselves to the cultivation of what they possessed, and not seeking to extend themselves, until urged by the exigencies of an increased population. Their progress was there- fore slow, but sure ; they occupied no new lands, until those they had occupied at first were carried to the highest degree of cultiva- tion, and inhabited by a sufficient number of individuals. A method so different, could not fail to produce effects totally contrary ; and in effect, a century after the foundation of the English and French colonies, the former presented the image of fertility and abundance, while the latter exhibited but a sterile and scarcely inhabited region. Meanwhile the French, reflecting that either from the rigor of the climate, or the sterility of the soil, or from defect of industry, or of suitable laws, they could not hope to direct towards their establish- ment the commerce of the English colonies, or at least to share its benefits ; convinced, on the other hand, that these colonies were an inexhaustible source of riches and power for a rival nation, they re- solved to resort to arms, and to obtain by force what they had failed to acquire by their industry. They hoped that the discontent of the Americans would manifest itself, and produce favorable events ; or at least, that they would be less prompt to engage in the contest. They well knew that in the American arms, men, munitions, and treasure, must consist all the nerve and substance of the war. Proceeding with their accustomed impatience, without waiting till their preparations were completed, they provoked the enemy, some- times complaining that he had occupied lands appertaining to them, sometimes themselves invading or disturbing his possessions. This the British government deeply resented ; and war between the two nations broke out in the year 1755. But the effects little corre- sponded with such confident hopes ; the councils of England being directed by William Pitt, afterwards earl of Chatham, a man, for the power of his genius, and the purity of his manners, rather single, than rare ; the affairs of Great Britain succeeded so prosperously, and her arms acquired so decided a superiority, by land and sea, that her enemies, wearied, worsted, and having lost all hopes of vic- tory, accepted the conditions of the peace of Paris, which was con- cluded in 1763. It guarantied to the English the possession of the vast continent of North America, from the banks of the Mississippi to the shores of Greenland ; but the most important point for them, was the cession made them, by France, of Canada. England also gained, by this treaty, many valuable islands in the 30 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. West Indies ; and so greatly was her power extended in the east, and so solid were the foundations on which it reposed, that her commerce and her arms soon reigned there almost without a com- petitor. The Americans, on their part, displayed so much zeal in sus- taining, with their arms and resources, the efforts of the common country, that, besides the glory they acquired, they were deemed worthy to participate in the advantages which resulted to England from so many successes. The French, renouncing the hope of reaping any advantage from the chances of war, resorted to the means of address ; emissaries trav- ersed the American continent,,jsaying to all that would hear them, ' To what^nd have the Americans lavished their blood, encountered so many dangers, and expended so much treasure, in the late war, if the English supremacy must continue to press upon them with so much harshness and arrogance ? In recompense of such fidelity, of so much constancy, the English government, perhaps, has moderated its prohibitions, has enfranchised commerce from trammels so preju- dicial to the interests of America ? Perhaps the odious and so much lamented laws against manufactures, have been repealed ? Perhaps the Americans no longer need toil upon their lands, or traverse the immensity of the seas, exclusively to fill the purses of English mer- chants? Perhaps the government of England had shown a disposi- tion to abandon for ever the project of parliamentary taxes ? Is it not, on the contrary, too evident, that, with its forces and power, hjive increased its thirst of gold, and the tyranny of its caprices? Was not this admitted by Pitt himself, when he declared, the war being terminated, he should be at no loss to find the means of draw- ing a public re\enue from America, and of putting an end, once for all, to American resistance ? Has not England, at present being mis- tress of Canada, a province recently French, and, as such, more pa- tient of the yoke, has she not the means of imposing it on her colo- nists themselves, by the hand of her numerous soldiery ? Is it not time that the Americans, no longer in a state of infancy, should, at length, consider themselves a nation, strong and formidable of itself ? Is it only for the utility of England they have demonstrated, in the late war, what they were capable of achieving ? And by what right should a distant island pretend to govern, by its caprices, an im- mense and populous continent ? How long must the partialities and j the avarice of England be tolerated? Did ever men, arms, riches, ! courage, climate, invite to a more glorious enterprise ? Let the Amer- icans, then, seize the occasion, with a mind worthy of themselves, now they have proved their arms, now that an enormous public del' BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 31 overwhelms England, now that her name has become detestable to all! America can place her confidence' in foreign succors. What could be objected to a resolution so generous ? Consanguinity? But have not the English hitherto treated the colonists more as vassals, than as brothers ? Gratitude ? But have not the English strangled it, under the pretensions of that mercantile and avaricious spirit which animates them ?' The general state of Europe was eminently favorable to the secret designs ot France. It is certain, that at this epoch, all the powers concurred in considering the enormous increase of the strength of the British nation, both upon land and sea, as imminently menacing to the repose and liberty of Europe ; excessive prosperity but too rarely permitting men to know where to limit their enterprises. Sup- ported with one hand upon her colonies of America, and willi the other upon her possessions of the East Indies, England seemed to press the two extremities of the globe, and to aspire at the entire dominion of the ocean. From the day in which was concluded the peace of 1763, England was viewed with the same jealousy which France had inspired under Lewis XIV. She was the object of the same umbrage, of the same distrusts. All desired to see her power reduced ; and the more she had shown herself formidable in the pre- ceding war, the more ardently was it wished to take advantage of the present peace, to humble and reduce her. These wishes were much the most fervent with the maritime states, and especially in Holland, to whom England, in these late times, had caused immense losses. The English squadrons had often interrupted, and some- times by the most outrageous proceedings, the commerce, in the munitions of w ar, which the Dutch carried on with France ; and, on many occasions, the officers of the British navy made use of this pretext to detain ships, laden with articles that could not really be considered as munitions of war. The kingdoms of the north reluctantly supported the prepotence of England, and openly complained that she had presumed to harass the commerce of neutrals, in time of war. It was evident they were prepared to seize the first occasion to give her a check. But France, more than any other power, being of a martial spirit, was inflamed with a desire to avenge her defeats, to repair her losses, and ^reconquer her glory, eclipsed by recent discomfiture ; she was in- cessantly occupied with calculations which might lead to this object of all her wishes ; and no means more efficacious could be offered her for attaining it, than to lacerate the bosom of her adversary, by separating from England the American colonies, so important a part of her power and resources. 32 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK 1 Excited by so many suggestions, the inhabitants of English Amer- ica conceived an aversion, still more intense, for the avaricious pro- ceedings of the British government. Already, those who were the most zealous for liberty, or the most ambitious, had formed, in the se- cret of their hearts, the resolution to shake off the yoke of England, whenever a favorable occasion should present. This design was en- couraged by the recent cession of Canada : while that province con- tinued a dependency of France, the vicinity of a restless and pow- erful nation kept the colonists in continual alarm ; they v ere often constrained to solicit the succors of England, as those from which alone they could expect protection against the incursions of the en- emy. But the French having abandoned Canada, the Americans necessarily became more their own protectors ; they placed greater reliance upon their own strength, and had less need of recurring to others, for their particular security. It should be considered, be- sides, that in the late war a great number of the colonists had re- nounced the arts of peace, and assuming the sword instead of the spade, had learned the exercise of arms, inured their bodies to mili- tary fatigues, and their minds to the dangers of battle : they had, in a word, lost all the habits of agriculture and of commerce, and ac- quired those of the military profession. The being that has the con- sciousness of his force, becomes doubly strong, and the yoke he feels in a condition to break, is borne with reluctance : thus, the skill recently acquired in the use of arms, become general among the Americans, rendered obedience infinitely more intolerable to them. They considered it a shameful and outrageous thing, that a minister, residing at a distance of three thousand miles from their countrv. could oppress, by his agents, those who had combated with so much valor, and obtained frequent victories over the troops of a powerful, brave, and warlike nation. They often reflected, that this prosperi- ty, in which England exulted, and which was the object of envy to so many nations, was in great part the work of their hands. They alledged that they had repaid with the fruit of their toils, and even with their blood, the fostering cares with which the mother country had protected and sustained them, in the infancy of their establish- ment ; that now there was a greater parity between the two nations, and therefore they had claims to be treated on terms of greater equality. Thus the Americans habitually discoursed, and perhaps the less timid among them aspired to loftier things. The greater number, however, satisfied with the ancient terms of connection with England, were reluctant to dissolve it, provided she would abandon all idea of ulterior usurpations. Even the most intrepid in the de- fense of their privileges could not endure the thought of renounc- BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 33 ing every species of dependence on their legitimate sovereign. This project they condemned the more decidedly, as they perceived that in its execution they must not only encounter all the forces of Eng- land, by so many victories become formidable to the universe, but also must resort to the assistance of a nation, in language, manners and customs, so different from themselves ; of a nation they had so long been accustomed to hate, and to combat under the -banners of their mother country. Notwithstanding the suggestions of the French, and the new im- pulse which their military essays had given to the minds of the Americans, this state of things might have continued still for a long, time, if, after the conclusion of the peace of 1763, England had not conceived the extravagant idea of new taxes, of new prohibitions,, of new outrages. The English commerce, about the close of the war with France, having arrived at the highest point of prosperity, it would be difficult to estimate the immense number of vessels which brought the productions of all parts of the globe into the ports of Great Britain, and received, in exchange, the produce, and especially the manufactures, of the country, esteemed above all others in for- eign markets ; and, as these various commodities were subject when introduced or exported, to duties, more or less considerable, this commerce had become a source of riches for the public treasu- ry. But it soon appeared that, to the great prejudice of this reve- nue, the increase of smuggling was in proportion to that of commerce. Government, desirous of arresting so pernicious a scourge, made a regulation, in 1764, by which it was enjoined the commanders of vessels stationed upon the coasts of England, and even those of ships that were destined for America, to perform the functions of revenue officers, and conform themselves to the rules established for the pro- tection of the customs ; a strange and pernicious measure, by which those brave officers, who had combated the enemy with so much glo- ry, found themselves degraded into so many tide-waiters and bailiffs of the revenue. The most deplorable effects soon resulted from it ; the naval commanders, little conversant with the regulations of the custom-house, seized and confiscated promiscuously the cargoes pro- hibited, and those that were not. This confusion was the occasion of manifold abuses, which, if they were soon repaired in England, could not be remedied without ex- treme difficulty in America, from the distance of places, and the for- malilies required. Hence loud complaints were heard from all the colonies against the law. It produced, however, consequences still more pernicious. A commerce had been established, for a great length of time, between the English and Spanish colonies, extremely VOL. i. 3 .'34 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I lucrative to both the parties, and, ultimately, also to England. On the part of the British .colonies, the principal objects of this traffic were the manufactures of England, which the Americans had ac- quired in exchange for their productions, and on the part of the .Spanish, gold and silver, in specie or ingots, cochineal, medicinal drugs ; besides live stock, especially mules, which the Americans transported to the islands of the West Indies, where they were de- manded at great prices. This commerce procured for the Americans an abundance of these metals, and enabled them to make ample purchases of English merchandise : and furnished their own country, at the same time, with a sufficient quantity of gold and silver coin. This traffic, if it was not prohibited by the commercial laws of England, was not expressly authorized. Accordingly, the new reve- nue officers believed it was their duty to interrupt its course, as if it had been contraband ; and captured, without distinction, all vessels, whether English or foreign, laden with merchandise of this nature. Hence, in a short time, this commerce was destroyed, to the great prejudice, not only of the colonies upon the continent, but even of the English islands themselves, and particularly of Jamaica. From" the same cause proceeded the ruin of another very impor- tant commerce, which was exercised between the English colonies of America on the one part, and the islands appertaining to France on the other; and which had been productive of the .greatest recip- rocal utility. Its materiel consisted principally of such productions and commodities as were superfluous to the one and totally wanting to the other. It is, therefore, not surprising, that the colonists, at the news of losses so disastrous, should have resolved not to pur- chase, in future, any English stuffs, with which they had been ac- customed to clothe themselves ; and, as far as possible, to use none but domestic manufactures. They determined, besides, to give every encouragement to those manufactories which wrought the materials abundantly produced by their lands and animals. But in Boston, particularly, a rich and populous city, where the luxury of British merchandise had been extensively introduced, it is difficult to express how extremely the public mind was exasperated, or with what promptitude all the inhabitants renounced superfluities, and adhered to the resolution of returning to the simplicity of early times : a re- markable example of which was soon observed in the celebration of funerals, which began to take place without habiliments of mourning, and without English gloves. This new economy became so general at Boston, that, in the year 1764, the consumption of British mer- chandise was diminished upwards of ten thousand pounds sterling. BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 35 Other towns followed this example ; and, in a short time, all the colonists concurred in abstaining from the use of all objects of luxury, produced by the manufactories, or by the soil, of England. Besides this, and even of necessity, from the scarcity of money, the mer- chants of the colonies, finding themselves debtors for large sums to the English, and having no reason to expect new advances, without new payments, which they were not in a situation to make, resorted also to the plan of non-consumption ; they renounced all purchase and all expense, to the incredible prejudice of the manufacturers in England. . . ^^_- But the English government did not stop here ; as i *ngt satisfied with having excited the discontent of the colonists, i^ desired also to urge them to desperation. In the month of March, 1764, the parliament passed a regulation, by which, if on the one hand a traffic was permitted between the American colonies and the French islands of the West Indies, and others appertaining to other Euro- pean powers ; on the other, such enormous duties were imposed on merchandise imported from the latter, as to create, as usual, an almost universal contraband, in every article, with immense disad- vantage to the commerce itself, and equal prejudice to mercantile habits and probity. To crown so great an evil, it was ordered, by the same bill, that the sums proceeding from these duties should be paid, in specie, into the treasury of England. The execution of this ordinance must have completely drained the colonies of the lit- tle money they had remaining, to be transported to Europe. The secret exasperation redoubled, at the first intelligence of measures so extraordinary. They remarked that they were even contradictory ; that it was requiring a thing, and, at the same time, withholding the means to perform it; since the government de- prived them of all faculty of procuring specie, and yet would have them furnish it, to be transported to a distance of three thousand miles. But as if the ministry were afraid the tempest of indigna- tion, excited by these new laws, should be appeased too soon, they wrested from the parliament another act, which appeared fifteen days after. It purported, that bills of credit, which might be issued in future by the American colonies, should no longer have legal cur- rency in payments ; and that, as to those in circulation, they like- wise could not be received as legal payment, after the term prefixed for their redemption and extinction. It is true, however, that all the money proceeding from the duties above mentioned, was directed, by other clauses of the bill, to be kept in reserve, and could only be employed for expenses relative to the colonies ; it is true, also, that at the same time the act was framed concerning bills of credit, some 36 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. others were passed, to promote and regulate the reciprocal commerce between the colonies and mother country, and between the colonies themselves. But these regulations failed to produce the expected effects : for they were necessarily slow in their operation ; while those which restricted and attacked the external commerce of the colonies, or shackled their domestic trade, were immediately opera- tive. Some also attempted to demonstrate, that the money carried off by these duties must infallibly flow back into the colonies, for the payment and support of the troops stationed there, to protect and de- fend them. But who would guaranty to the colonists, that the troops should be quartered among them so long as the law might continue in force ? If such was the intention of the legislator, why cause this treasure to travel, with no little risk and expense, from America to England, and thence back to the place from whence it came ; thus imposing the necessity of passing it through so many and so different hands ? Perhaps, they said, in order that it might have the honor of visiting the British exchequer. And why was it not more expe- dient to employ it where it was found, without so many voyages and circuits ? This plainly demonstrated, that it was but a pretext for the most pernicious designs. Besides, for what purpose, for what good, were so many troops maintained in America ? External ene- mies at present there were none ; and for the repression of Indians, the colonies were, doubtless, sufficient of themselves. But the fact was, they continued, the ministers had formed a design to oppress their liberty ; and for this purpose did they arm themselves with so many soldiers, and incur such vast expense, in the midst of a people abounding in loyalty and innocence. All these new regulations, which succeeded each other with such precipitation, were indeed but too well calculated to surprise and alarm the inhabitants of North America. Such a proceeding on the part of the government appeared to them, and was in fact, both new and inauspicious. They felt it profoundly ; and by their remon- strances, demonstrated how unjustly they were aggrieved, and de- manded incessantly to be restored to their former condition. But they did not stop at bare complaints. When they found that their remonstrances were ineffectual, they resolved to employ some more efficacious means to convince the ministers of the error they had committed. The resolutions taken against British manufactures, which at first had been merely individual, now became general, by combinations to this effect, contracted in the principal cities of America, which were observed with an astonishing constancy and punctuality. Great Britain experienced from these associations an immense detriment, and feared, not without reason, still greater ; for BOOK 1. THE AMERICAN WAR. 37 as they comprehended men of all conditions, they tended, by de- grees, to conduct the manufactures of the country to a certain de- gree of perfection, the more probable, as the abundance of raw materials would permit their products to be sold at very moderate prices. Finally, it was to be expected, that with the progressive increase of industry, the manufacturers of the colonies might supply with their fabrics the neighboring provinces of Spain and Portugal But, without anticipating the future, it is certain that the interrup- tion alone of commerce between the American colonies and Eng- land, was extremely prejudicial to the latter ; for it is known, that the colonies, without including the foreign merchandise they received from the hands of England, annually purchased to the value of three millions sterling, of English productions or manufactures. The pub- lic revenues suffered materially from the effects of this new policy ; the duties upon the exportation of merchandise destined for America, and those upon the importation of articles which foreign merchants sent in exchange for the productions of the English colonies, expe- rienced a continual diminution. Henceforth began to germinate those fatal seeds, which the British government, instead of extirpating, seemed to take pleasure in cultivating, till they produced all the ruin which followed. But, although these unusual duties had excited a general discon- tent in America, and although the inhabitants complained of them bitterly, as unjust and oppressive burdens, they considered them, nevertheless, not as taxes or imposts, but merely as regulations of commerce, which were within the competency of parliament. They believed, indeed, that in this instance it had departed from that pa- rental benevolence which it had discovered towards them during more than a century ; still they did not think it had transcended the limits of its authority. But the English ministers revolved in their minds a design far more lucrative for the exchequer, and still more prejudicial to the interests and liberty of the colonists. This was to impose taxes or excises upon the colonies, by acts of parliament ; and to create, in this way, a branch of public revenue, to be placed at the disposal of parliament itself. This project, far from being new, had long been fermenting in English heads. Some of those schemers, who are ever ruminating new plans and expedients to filch money from the pockets of the people, had already suggested, in 1739, during the Spanish war, to Robert Walpole, then prime min- ister, the idea of taxing the colonies ; but this man, no less sagacious than profoundly versed in the science of government and commerce, answered, with an ironical smile, ' I will leave this operation to some one of my, successors, who shall have more courage than I, and 38 TITE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. less regard for commerce. I have always, during my administration, thought it my duty to encourage the commerce of the American colonies ; and I have done it. Nay, I have even chosen to wink at some irregularities in their traffic with Europe ; for my opinion is, that if, by favoring their trade with foreign nations, they gain five hundred thousand pounds sterling, at the end of two years, full two hundred and fifty thousand of it will have entered the royal coffers; and that by the industry and productions of England, who sells them an. immense quantity of her manufactures. The more they extend their foreign commerce, the more will they consume of our mer- chandise. This is a mode of taxing them, more conformable to their constitution, and to our own.' But, at the epoch in question, the power of England had arrived at such a height, that it appeared impossible for the American colo- nies, though supported by all Europe, to resist her will. So much glory and greatness, however, had not been acquired without enor- mous sacrifices ; and the public debt amounted to the prodigious sum of one hundred and forty-eight millions sterling, or about six hundred and fifty-seven millions five hundred thousand dollars. Thuis it had become necessary to search out every object, and every occu- pation, susceptible of taxes or contributions. It was, therefore, thought expedient, and even necessary, to tax the colonies, for whose security and prosperity, principally, a war so terrible had been waged, such dangers encountered, so much blood and treasure ex-, pended. As to the species of the tax, it was decided for that of stamped paper, which was already established in England ; and it was understood, so far as related to its nature, to be the least odious to the Americans, provided, however, it was established by the president and the grand council, according to the plan of colonial administra- tion proposed by themselves, and not by authority of parliament. There were even found Americans, who, being then in London, not only favored, but perhaps first suggested, this new mode of taxing the colonies; and, among others, it appears that a certain Huske, a native of Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, was one of its principal promoters. This proposition was received with eagerness, as are, commonly, all the projects of those who are industrious to extort money from the people. English ears could hear no sound more grateful than this ; for if the people of England groaned under the weight of taxes, both old and new, they were persuaded from what had been told them, that in America there was a redundance of all good tilings. ' Shall our colonists,' they said, ' erijcy the magnificence of^rinces, while we must drudge, and corfsurae ourselves with ef|brt to pro- BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 39 cure a scanty subsistence ? ' The officers, who had served in the colo- nies, painted, on their return, in vivid colors, the American pros- perity and affluence. These details were not so much exaggerated as might be tjiought, at the time of their residence in America. Money was then very abundant in the colonies, the government necessarily remitting thither considerable sums, for the .support of the troops, and expenses of the war. At that time, American productions were in great request, and their commerce very flourishing. The inhabitants, being natu- rally courteous and hospitable, expended generously, to render their houses agreeable to strangers, then very numerous. The war termi- nated, all dangers averted, the power of an inveterate enemy, hither- to intrenched in the heart of the country, extinguished, the colo- nists conceived it a duty to offer the most honorable reception in their power to those who had contributed so greatly to their present secu- rity and felicity. The necessity of drawing a public revenue from the colonies, be- ing therefore no longer doubted, and the willingness of the colonists to concur in it, by means of the duty upon stamped paper, being presumed, as well as their ability to support it, the house of com- mons, on the 10th of March, 1764, voted a resolution, purporting ' that it was proper to charge certain stamp duties, in the colonies and plantations.' This resolution, not being followed, this year, by any other to carry it into effect, existed merely as an intention to be executed the succeeding year. If the stamp act had been carried into immediate execution in the colonies, they would perhaps have submitted to it, if not without murmuring, at least without that open opposition which was mani- fested afterwards ; and it is known how much more easily the peo- ple are retained in quiet, than appeased when once excited. The principal colonists would not have had time to launch into discus- sions, in which they predicted to their fellow-citizens the evils which must result from their consent to this new tax ; and as evils inspire more alarm at a distance than at approach, the colonists, not having experienced from this sudden imposition the prejudice apprehended in the uncertain future, would probably have become tranquil ; they certainly would not have had so much scope to inflame 'each other against the duty, as they afterwards did. For no sooner was the news of the impost in question received in any place, than it was spread, as it were, in a moment, throughout the country, and pro- duced such an impression upon the minds of all, and especially of the lower classes, that all orders of citizens, waving their ancient ri- valships, difference of habits, and diversity of opinions in political and religious matters, were unanimous in maintaining, that it was 40 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. impossible to submit to a law enacted in a mode so contrary to an- cient usages, to their privileges as colonists, and to their rights as English subjects. Thus, for having chosen to warn before the blow, the British government prepared in the colonies an unanimous and most determined concurrence of opinion against one of its solemn decrees ; and deprived itself of that docility resulting among the people from their intestine divisions, and the diversity of their in- terests. The prime minister, Grenville, had been the author of this delay, hoping the colonies, upon advice of the bill in agitation, if they dis- liked the stamp duty, would have proposed some other mode of rais ing the sum intended to be levied by it. Accordingly, when the agents of the colonies went to pay him their respects, he informed them that he was prepared to receive, on the part of the colonies, any other proposal of a tax which would raise the sum wanted ; shrewdly insinuating, also, that it was now in their power, by con- senting, to establish it as a principle, that they should be consulted before any tax whatever was imposed upon the colonies by authority of parliament. Many in England, and possibly the agents them- selves, attributed this conduct of the minister to moderation ; but beyond the Atlantic it found a quite different reception, all with one voice exclaiming that this was an interested charity. For they thought, that however civil his offers, the minister would nevertheless exact, to a penny, the entire sum he desired, which in substance was saying, that willingly or otherwise, they must submit to his good pleas- ure ; and, consequently, his complaisance was but that of an ac- complished robber. It was known that he would not be satisfied with less than three hundred thousand pounds sterling a year, the sum considered necessary for the support of the army it was resolv- ed to maintain in the colonies for their defense. Not one of the agents was authorized to comply. Two only alledged, they were commissioned to declare that their provinces were ready to bear their proportion of the duty upon stamps, when it should be estab- lished according to ancient usages. Tho minister, therefore, having heard no proposal that appeared to him acceptable, resolved to pur- sue the design of a stamp act. Meanwhile, the fermentation in America was violent, not only among private citizens, but also among the members of public and corporate bodies ; and all were of one mind, in asserting that the parliament had no right to tax the colo- nies. In all places, political circles and clubs were formed ; the sub- ject of all conversations was the fatal tax. Every day, every hour, diminished the respect and affection of the Americans towards the British nation, and increased their disposition to resist. As it hap- F.OOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 41 pens in all popular commotions, he that declaimed with the most vehemence was the most applauded, and deemed the best citizen. The benefits conferred by the mother country, during so long a pe- riod, were consigned to oblivion ; and it had become as frequent as it was grateful to the people, to read the list of British vexations These outrages were represented in the most odious colors by the orators of the multitude, whose minds were continually exasperated by similar harangues. The assemblies of representatives, and par- ticularly those of Massachusetts and Virginia, dispatched instruc- tions to their agents in London, to use all diligence, by all possible means, to prevent the intentional act from being passed into a law. 'They also addressed remonstrances to the king, and to the two houses of parliament, all tending to the same end. But those of the province of Massachusetts were the most energetic and vehe- ment. This province was particularly distinguished for the warmth with which it had opposed the new and pernicious direction which the ministers had for some time given to American affairs. The colo- nists acquired a still more determined resolution, when they learned, that in the present contest they were not abandoned to themselves, but that many were found in the mother country itself, even persons illustrious by their rank, their merit, or their dignities, who, from con- viction, from the desire of renown, or from a wish to supplant the ministers, were continually exclaiming, both in parliament and else- where, that ' Such was not the aqcustomed mode of conduct of the English government towards its subjects ; that it was a new tyranny, which, if tolerated, would one day rebound from the shores of Amer- ica upon those of England ; the evil should be resisted in its princi- ples ; that governments in prosperity were but too much disposed to arrogate an extension of power ; there was much appearance that the government of Great Britain inclined to imitate this usurpation ; that it was therefore essential to watch it with attention ; the desires and the arts of Scottish favorites were sufficiently notorious ; that America was the means or the instrument, but England the object. And what occasion was there for these new imposts? To protect and defend America, or the conquered territories ? Was it to re- press the Indian tribes ? The colonists, with their light arms, and divided into detachments, were more proper for this service than the heavy English infantry. The Americans had all the courage requi- site to defend themselves, and to succor, if necessary, the advanced posts: they had given the proof of this, on numerous occasions. There no longer existed a powerful enemy upon the American con- tinent ; whence, therefore, these continual apprehensions of an at- tack, when the vestige of an enemy is no where to be seen ? And 42 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. what necessity was there for maintaining an army in America, the expense of which must be extorted from the Americans ? Precious fruits, truly, had already been gathered from this military parade ! the minds of the colonists exasperated, affection converted into hatred, loyalty into a desire of innovation. In other times, had not the ministers obtained from the colonies, by legitimate means, and without such a display of troops, according to the exigency, all the succors at their disposal ? Since they had been thought able to furnish subsidies to the mother country, they had never been de- manded, except in the mode of requisitions on the part of the crown, addressed by the governors to the different assemblies. By adhering to this mode, the same subsidies might be obtained, without giving offence, and without clanger of revolt. But they would exact a ser- vile obedience, in order to introduce, in due time, into the very bo- som of the kingdom, the principles and government of the Stuarts ! Too certain indications had been remarked of this, the day George Grenville ventured to produce his project of a bill to authorize offi- cers in the colonies to quarter their soldiers in the houses of the citi- zens ; a thing expressly calculated to strike the people with terror, to degrade them by permitting themselves to be trampled upon, and thus prepare them to receive the intended taxes with submission. The murmurs which had arisen, from every quarter, against so shock- ing an enormity, had indeed alarmed the minister ; but it was time to act more vigorously ; for it was the duty of every good citizen to oppose these first attempts. But the ministers w r ere not to be diverted from their plan ; either because they were encouraged by the favorites concealed behind them, or from personal obstinacy, or because they believed, in defi- ance of all demonstration to the contrary, that the Americans would be intimidated by the confusion and dangerous uncertainty which would prevail in all their affairs, if, in their civil and commercial transactions, they did not make use of stamped paper, and thus pay the duty established. Hence the ministers were often heard to say, that the measure proposed should be a law which would execute itself. The memorials, the remonstrances, the petitions, the resolu- tions, of the American provinces, were rejected. The bill for im- posing a stamp duty was therefore submitted to parliament, in its session of 1765. It is easy to imagine with what animation it was discussed. It may be doubted whether upon any other occasion, either in times past or present, there has been displayed more vigor or acuteness of intellect, more love of country, or spirit of party, or greater splendor of eloquence, than in these debates. Nor was the shock of opinions less violent, without the walls of Westminster. BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 43 All Europe, it may be said, and especially the commercial countries, were attentive to the progress, and to the decision, of this important question.. The members of parliament who opposed the bill, discovered great energy. They cited the authority of the most celebrated political writers, such as Locke, Selden, Harrington, and PufTendorff, who establish it as an axiom, that the very uncpation, and ultimate point in view, of all governments, is the good oreociety. Then, retracing their national history, they alleged ; ' That it resulted from Magna Charta, and from all the writs of those times relative to the imposition of taxes for the benefit of the crown, and to the sending of representatives to parliament, as well as from the Declaration of Rights, and the whole history of the Eng- lish constitution, that no English subject can be taxed, except, in their own phrase, fjpei\communem consensum parliamenti,' that is, by his own conse/u, or/nat of his representatives ; that such was the original and ge/eraimght which the inhabitants of the colonies, as English subject&^arried with them, whei>they left their native land, to establish themselves in these distant countries ; that therefore it must not be imagined their yghts were derived from charters, which were granted them merely to regulate the external form of the con- stitution of the colonies ; but that the great interior foundation of their constitution was this general right of the British subject, Which is the first principle of British liberty, that is, that no man shall be taxed, but by himself, or by his representative. ' The counties palatine of Chester, Durham and Lancaster,' added these orators, ' and the marches of Wales, were not taxed, except in their own assemblies or parliaments, until, at different times, they were called to participate in the national representation. ' The clergy, until the late period, when they were admitted to a share in the general representation, always taxed themselves, and granted the king what they called benevolences, or free gifts. . ' There are some, who, extending the power of parliament beyond all limits, affect to believe that this body can do every thing, and is invested with all rights ; but this is not supported, and though true, could only be so in violation of the constitution ; for then there would exist in parliament, as might occur in the instance of a single individ- ual, an arbitrary power. But the fact is, that many things are not within the power of parliament. It cannot, for example, make itself executive ; it cannot dispose of the offices that belong to the crown ; it cannot take the property of any man, not even in cases of enclo- sures, without his being heard. The Lords cannot reject a money bill passed by the commons ; nor the commons erect themselves 44 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. into a court of justice ; neither can the parliament of England tax Ireland. 1 It is the birthright of the colonists, as descendants of. English- men, not to be taxed by any but their own representatives ; and so far from being represented in the parliament of Great Britain, they are not even virtually represented here, as the meanest inhabitants of Great Britain are, in consequence of their intimate connection with those who are actually represented. ' And if laws made by the British parliament to tax all except its own members, or even all except such members and those actually represented by them, would be deemed tyrannical, how much more tyrannical and unconstitutional must not such laws appear to those who cannot be said to be either actually or virtually represented ! ' The people of Ireland are much more virtually represented in the parliament of Great Britain than the colonists, in consequence of the great number of Englishmen possessed of estates and places of trust and profit in Ireland, and their immediate descendants set- tled in that country, and of the great number of Irsh noblemen and gentlemen in both houses of the British parliament, and the greater number still constantly residing in Gfcat Britain. But, notwith- standing this, the British parliament has never claimed any right to tax the people of Ireland. ' The first founders of the colonies were not only driven out of the mother country by persecution, but they left it at their own risk and expense. Being thus forsaken, if not worse treated, all ties, except those common to mankind, were dissolved between them. They absolved from all duty of obedience to her, as she dispensed herself from all duty of protection to them. ' If they accepted of any royal charters on the occasion, it was done through mere necessity ; and, as this necessity was not of their own making, their charters cannot be binding upon them ; and even allowing these charters to be binding, they are only bound thereby to that allegiance which the supreme head of the realm may claim in- discriminately from all its subjects. ' It is extremely absurd to affirm that the Americans owe any sub- mission to the legislative power of Great Britain, which had not au- thority enough to shield them against the violences of the executive ; and more absurd still, to say that the people of Great Britain can exercise over them rights which that very people affirm they might justly oppose, if claimed over themselves by others. 'The English people combated long, and shed much blood, with a view of recovering those rights which the crown, it was believed, had usurped over themselves ; and how can they now, without be- BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 45 coming guilty of the same usurpation, pretend to exercise these rights over others? ' But. admitting that, by the charters granted to the Americans at the time of their emigration, and by them from necessity accepted, they are bound to make no laws but such as, allowing for the differ- ence of circumstances, shall not clash with those of England, this no more subjects them to the parliament of England, than their having been laid under the same restraint with respect to the laws of Scot- land, or any other country, would have subjected them to the parlia- ment of Scotland, or the supreme authority of this other country ; since, by these charters, they have a right to tax themselves for their own support and defense. ( Whatever assistance the people of Great Britain may have given to the people of the colonies, it must have been given either from motives of humanity and fraternal affection, or with a view of being one day repaid for it, and not as the price of their liberty ; at least the colonies can never be presumed to have accepted it in that light. 'If it was given from motives of humanity and fraternal affection, as the people of the colonies have never given the mother country any room to complain of them, so they never will. If, finally, it was given with a view of being one day repaid for it, the colonists are willing to come to a fair account, which, allowing for the assistance they themselves have often given the mother country, for what they must have lost, and the mother country must have gained, by pre- venting their selling to others at higher prices than they could sell to her, and their buying from others at lower prices than they could buy from her, would, they apprehend, not turn out so much to her advantage as she imagines.' ' Their having heretofore submitted to laws made by the British parliament, for their internal government, can no more be brought as a precedent against them, than against the English themselves their tameneSs under the dictates of a Henry, or the rod of a Star Chamber; the tyranny of many being as grievous to human nature as that of a few, aad the tyranny of a few as that of a single person. A ^ ' If liberty is the due of those who have sense enough to know the value of it, and courage enough to expose themselves to every danger and fatigue to acquire it, the American colonists are better entitled to possess it thatf'even their brethren of Great Britain ; since they not only renounced their native soil, the love of which is so con genial with the human mind, and all those tender charities insepara- ble from it, but exposed themselves to all the risks and hardships unavoidable in a long voyage ; and, after escaping the danger of be- 46 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK. I. ing swallowed up by the waves, encountered, upon those uninhab- ited and barbarous shores, the more cruel danger of perishing by a slow famine ; which having combated, and surmounted, with infi- nite, patience and constancy, they have, as if by a miracle of Divine Providence, at length arrived at this vigorous and prosperous state, so eminently profitable to those from whom they derive their origin. < If, in the first years of their existence, some of the colonists dis- covered a turbulent humor, and all were exposed to the incursions of the neighboring tribes, a savage and hostile race, which condition' required the interposition and assistance of the British parliament, they have now arrived to such a degree of maturity, in point of polity and strength, as no longer to need such interposition for the future ; and therefore, since the proportions are changed which existed be- tween the two nations, it is proper also to change the terms of their ancient connection, and adopt othefs, more conformable to their pres- enl; respective power and circumstances. ' The present statutes, promulgated by parliament, do not bind the colonies, unless they are expressly named therein ; which evi- dently demonstrates, that the English general laws do not embrace in their action the American colonies, but need to be sanctioned by special laws. 1 The colonies, therefore, stand in much the same relation towards England, as the barons with respect to the sovereigns, in the feudal system of Europe ; the obedience of the one, and the submission of the other, are restricted within certain limits. ' The history of colonies, both ancient and modern, comes to the support of these views. Thus the Carthaginians, the Greeks, and other celebrated nations of antiquity, allowed their colonies a very great liberty of internal government, contenting themselves with the advantages they derived from their commerce. Thus the barbari- ans of the north, who desolated the Roman empire, carried with them their laws, and introduced them among the vanquished, retain- ing but an extremely slender obedience and submission towards the sovereigns of their country. ' Thus also, in more recent times, the House of Austria had acted in regard to its colonies of the Low Countries, before the latter to- tally withdrew themselves from its dominations. ' Such examples ought to apprize the English of the conduct they should pursue, in respect to their colonies ; and warn them of what hould avoid.' ' The colonies are already sufficiently taxed, if the restrictions up- on thoir commerce are taken into view. No other burden should, therefore, DC laid upon the Americans, or they should be restored to BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 47 an entire liberty of commerce ; for otherwise they would be charged doubly, than which nothing can be deemed more tyrannical. ' It is not argued, however, that the American colonies ought not to be subject to certain external duties, which the parliament .has authority to establish in their ports, or to some other restrictions, which have been laid upon their commerce by the act of navigation, or other regulations. They are in the same case as all other colonies, belonging to the rest of the maritime powers in Europe ; from their first establish- ment, all commerce with foreign nations has been prohibited them. What is spoken of are internal tajroe, to be levied on the body of the people ; and it is contended, thaV before they can be liable to such taxes, they must first be jepresfented. ' Even admitting, what is ue\aied( that the British parliament has the right to make laws for the cotonies, still more to tax them with- out their concurrence, there lie many objections against all the duties lately imposed on the colonies, and more still, and weightier, against that of the stamps lately projected by the ministers, and now pro- posed for the sanction of parliament. For, whereas these stamp duties were laid gradually on the people of Great Britain, they are now to be saddled, all at once, with all their increased weight, on those of the colonies ; and if these same duties were thought so grievous in England, on account of the great variety of occasions in which they were payable, and the great number of heavy penal- ties, which the best meaning persons might incur, they must be to the last degree oppressive in the colonies, where the people, in general, cannot be supposed so conversant in matters of this kind, and numbers do not even understand the language of these intri- cate laws, so foreign to their ordinary pursuits of agriculture and commerce.* 'It should be added, that these laws, which savor too much of their native soil, and bear too distinctly the character of that subtilty for which the English financial system is distinguished, must be viewed by foreigners as insidious snares, and tend to discourage them from emigrating, with their families, to the American shores. IVeed any one be told how prejudicial this would prove to their growing population, and, by rebound, to the interests of England herself? ' Finally, as the money produced by these duties, according to the terms of the bill proposed, is required to be paid into the English treasury, the colonies, already impoverished by commercial prohibi- * See Note II. 48 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. tions, must, in a short time, be drained of all their specie, to the ruin of their commerce, both internal and external.' On the part of the ministers, thesXx>bjections were answered, as follows : ' First of all, it is necessary to banish\from the present question all this parade of science and arudition, lo pompously displayed by our opponents, and which thfty have collected from the books of speculative men, who have written upon the subject of government. All these refinements and arguments of natural lawyers, such as Locke, Selden, Puffendorff, arkl othera/are little to the purpose, in a question of constitutional lawx^x^ ' And nothing can be more absurd, than to hunt after antiquated charters, to argue from thence the present English constitution ; be- cause the constitution is no longer the same ; and nobody knows what it was, at some of the times that are quoted ; and there are things even in Magna Charta, which are not constitutional now. All these appeals, therefore, to the records of antiquity, prove nothing as to the constitution such as it now is. 1 This constitution has always been subject to continual changes and modifications, perpetually gaining or losing something ; nor was the representation of the commons of Great Britain formed into any certain system, till the reign of Henry VII. ' With regard to the modes of taxation, when we get beyond the reign of Edward I. or king John, we are all in doubt and obscurity ; the history of those times is full of uncertainty and confusion. As to the writs upon record, they were issued, some of them according to law, and some not according to law ; and such were those con- cerning ship money ; to call assemblies to tax themselves, or to com- pel benevolences ; other taxes were raised by escuage, or shield ser- vice, fees for knight's service, and other means arising from the feu- dal system. Benevolences are contrary to law ; and it is well known how people resisted the demands of the crown, in the case of ship money ; and were prosecuted by the court. ' With respect to the marches of Wales, this privilege of taxing themselves was but of short duration ; and was only granted these borderers, for assisting the king, in his wars against the Welsh in the mountains. It commenced and ended with the reign of Edward 1 . ; and when the prince of Wales came to be king, they were an- nexed to the crown, and became subject to taxes, like the rest of the dominions of England. ' Henry VIII. was the first king of England who issued writs for it to return two members to parliament ; the crown exercised the right of issuing writs, or not, at pleasure ; from whence arises the BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 49 inequality of representation, in our constitution of this day. Henry VIII. issued a writ to Caiais, to send one burgess to parliament ; and one of the counties palatine was taxed fifty years to subsidies, be- fore it sent members to parliament. ' The clergy at no time were unrepresented in parliament. When they taxed themselves in their assemblies, it was done with the con- currence and consent of parliament. 4 The reasoning about the colonies of Great Britain, drawn from the colonies of antiquity, is a mere useless display of learning ; for it is well known the colonies of the Tyrians m Africa, and of the Greeks in Asia, were totally different from our system. No na- tion, before England, formed any regular system of colonization, but the Romans ; and their colonial system was altogether military, by garrisons placed in the principal towns of the conquered prov- inces ; and the jurisdiction of the principal country was absolute and unlimited. ' The provinces of Holland were not colonies ; but they were states subordinate to the House of Austria, in a feudal dependence. And, finally, nothing could be more different from the laws and cus- toms of the English colonies, than that inundation of northern bar- barians, who, at the fall of the Roman empire, invaded and occu- pied all Europe. Those emigrants renounced all laws, all protec- tion, all connection with their mother countries ; they chose their leaders, and marched under their banners, to seek their fortunes, and establish new kingdoms upon the ruins of the Roman empire. ' On the contrary, the founders of the English colonies emigrated under the sanction of the king and parliament ; their constitutions were modeled gradually into their present forms, respectively by c harters, grants and statutes ; but they were never separated from the mother country, or so emancipated as to become independent, and sui juris. ' The commonwealth parliament were very early jealous of the colonies Separating themselves from them ; and passed a resolution or act, and it is a question whether it is not now in force, to declare and establish the authority of England over her colonies. But if there was no express law, or reason founded upon any necessary inference from an express law, yet the usage alone would be suffi- cient to support that authority ; for, have not the colonies submit- ted, ever since their first establishment, to the jurisdiction of the mother country ? Have they not even invoked it in many instances ? In all questions of property, have not the appeals of the colonies been made to the privy council here ? And have not these causes been determined, not bv the law of the colonies, but by the law 4 .' SO THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK 1 'of England ? And have they not peaceably submitted to these de- cisions ? -'These cases of recourse, however, have been very frequent. "New Hampshire and Connecticut have been in blood about their differences ; Virginia and Maryland were in arms against each other. Does not this show the necessity of one superior decisive jurisdic- tion, to which all subordinate jurisdictions may recur ? Nothing, at any time, could be more fatal to the peace and prosperity of the col- onies, than the parliament giving up its superintending authority over them. From this moment, every bond between colony and colony would be dissolved, and a deplorable anarchy would ensue. The elements of discord and faction, already diffused among them, are too well known, not to apprehend an explosion of this sort. * From this to the total annihilation of the present colonial sys- tem, to the creation of new forms of government, and falling a prey to some foreign potentate, how inevitable is their career ! ' At present, the several forms of their constitution are very vari- ous, having been established one after another, and dictated by the circumstances and events of the times ; the forms of government in every colony, were adapted from time to time, according to the size of the colony, and so have been extended again from time to time, as the numbers of the inhabitants, and their commercial connections, outgrew the first model. In some colonies, at first there was only a governor, assisted by two or three counsellors ; then more were added ; then courts of justice were erected ; then assemblies were created. ' As the constitutions of the colonies are made up of different principles, so they must, from the necessity of things, remain de- pendent upon the jurisdiction of the mother country ; no one ever thought the contrary, till this new doctrine was broached. Acts of parliament have been made, not only without a doubt of their le- gality, but accepted with universal applause, and willingly obeyed. Their ports have been made subject to customs and regulations, which cramped and diminished their trade ; and duties have been laid, affecting the very inmost parts of their commerce, and among others that of the post ; and no one ever thought, except these new doctors, that the colonies are not to be taxed, regulated, and bound by parliament. ' There can be no doubt, but that the inhabitants of the colonies are as much represented in parliament, as the greatest part of the people in England are, among nine millions of whom, there are eight who have no votes in electing members of parliament ; and, therefore, all these arguments, brought to prove the colonies not BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAR. 51 bependent on parliament, upon the ground of representation, are vain ; nay, they prove too much, since they directly attack the whole present constitution of Great Britain. But the thing is, that a member of parliament, chosen for any borough, represents not only the constituents and inhabitants of that particular place, but he represents the inhabitants of every other borough hi Great Britain. He represents the city of London, and all other the commons of the land, and the inhabitants of all the colonies and dominions of Great Britain, and is in duty and conscience bound to take care of their in- terests. ' The distinction of internal and external taxes, is false and ground- less. It is granted, that restrictions upon trade, and duties upon the ports, are legal, at the same time that the right of the parliament of Great Britain, to lay internal taxes upon the colonies, is denied. What real difference can there be in this distinction ? Is not a tax, laid in any place, like a pebble falling into and making a circle in a lake, till one circle produces and gives motion to another, and the whole circumference is agitated from the center ? ' Nothing can be more clear, than that a tax of ten or twenty per cent, laid upon tobacco either in the ports of Virginia or London, is a real duty laid upon the inland plantations of Virginia itself, an hundred miles from the sea, wherever the tobacco grows. 1 Protection is the ground that gives the right of taxation. The obligation between the colonies and the mother country is natural and reciprocal, consisting of defense on the one side, and obedience on the other ; and common sense tells, that the colonies must be de- pendent in all points upon the mother country, or else not belong to it at all. The question is not what was law, or what was the con- stitution ? but the question is, what is law now, and what is the con- stitution now? ' And is not this law, is not this the constitution, is not this right, which without contradiction, and for so long a tune, and in number- less instances, as such has been exercised on the one part, and ap- proved by obedience on the other ? * No attention whatever is due to those subtile opinions and vain abstractions of speculative men ; as remote from the common expe- rience of human affairs, and but too well adapted to seduce and in- flame the minds of those, who, having derived such signal advan- tages from their past submission, ought for the future also to obey the laws of their hitherto indulgent but powerful mother. ' Besides, is not the condition of the Americans, in many respects, preferable to that of the English themselves ? The expenses of in- ternal and civil administration, in England, are enormous ; so incon- 52 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. sidcrable, on the contrary, in the colonies, as almost to surpass belief. e The government of the church, productive of so heavy an ex- pense in England, is of no importance In America ; there tithes, there sinecure benefices, are unknown. Pauperism has no existence in the colonies ; there, according to the language of Scripture, every one lives under his own fig tree ; hunger and nakedness are banished from the land ; and vagrants, or beggars, are never seen. Happy would it be for England, if as much could be affirmed of her sub- jects on this side of the ocean ! But the contrary, as every body knows, is the truth. * What nation has ever shown such tenderness towards its colo- nies as England has demonstrated for hers ? Have they, in their ne- cessities, ever sought in vain the prompt succor of Great Britain ? Was it for their own defense against the enemy, or to advance their domestic prosperity, have not the most ample subsidies been grant- ed them without hesitation ? ' Independently of these benefits, what other state has ever ex- tended to a part of its population this species of favor, which had been bestowed by England upon her colonies ? She has opened them a credit without which they could never have arrived at this height of prosperity, which excites the astonishment of all that visit them ; and this considered, the tax proposed must be deemed a very moderate interest for the immense sums Avhich Great Britain has lent her colonies. ' As to the scarcity of money, the declamations upon this head are equally futile : gold and silver can never be wanting in a country so fertile in excellent productions as North America. The stamp duty proposed being not only moderate, but even trivial, could never with- draw from the country so considerable a quantity of specie, as to drain its sources, especially as the product of this duty will be kept in reserve in the treasury, and being destined to defray the ex- penses of the protection and defense of the colonies, must there- fore of necessity be totally reimbursed. 'This supremacy of England, about which such clamor has been raised, amounts then, in reality, to nothing but a superiority of power and of efforts to guard and protect all her dependencies, and all her dominions ; which she has done at a price that has brought her to the brink of ruin. Great Britain, it is true, has acquired in this struggle a glory which admits of no addition ; but all her colo- nies participate in this. The Americans are not only graced by the reflected splendor of their ancient country, but she has also lavished upon them the honors and benefits which belong to the members of BOOK I. THE AMERICAN WAK. 53 the British empire, while England alone has paid the countless cost of so much glory.' Such were the arguments advanced in parliament, with equal ability and warmth, on the one part, and on the other, in favor, and against, the American tax. While the question was in suspense, the merchants of London, inie rested in the commerce of America, tor- tured with the fear of losing or not having punctually remitted, the capitals they had placed in the hands of the Americans, presented a petition against the bill, on the day of its second reading ; for they plainly foresaw that among their debtors, some from necessity, and others with this pretext, would not fail to delay remittances. But it was alledged, that the usage of the house of commons is not to hear petitions directed against tax laws ; and this of the London mer- chantsj was, accordingly, rejected. Meanwhile, the ministers, and particularly George Grenville, ex- claimed ; 1 These Americans, our own children, planted by our cares, nour- ished by our indulgence, protected by our arms, until they are grown to a good degree of strength and opulence ; will they now turn their backs upon us, and grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy load which overwhelms us ?' Colonel Barre caught the words, and with a vehemence becom- ing in a soldier, said ; ' Planted by your cares 1 No ! your oppression planted them in America ; they fled from your tyranny, into a then uncultivated land, where they were exposed to almost all the hardships to which human nature is liable, and among others, to the savage cruelty of the ene- my of the country, a people the most subtle, and, I take upon me to say, the most truly terrible, of any people that ever inhabited any part of God's earth ; and yet, actuated by principles of true Eng- lish liberty, they met all these hardships with pleasure, compared with those they suffered in their own country, from the hands of those that should have been their friends.' ' They nourished up by your indulgence 1 They grew by your neglect ; as soon as you began to care about them, that care was ex- ercised in sending persons to rule over them, in one department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of some members of this house, sent to spy out thfeir liberty, to misrepresent their ac- tions, and to prey upon them ; men) whose behavior, on many oc- casions, had caused the blood of these sons of liberty to recoil within them ; men, promoted to the highest seats of justice, some of whom, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to foreign countries, to escape the vengeance of the laws in their own. 54 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK I. ' Thty protected by your arms ? They have nobly taken up arms in your defense, have exerted their valor amidst their constant and laborious industry, for the defense of a country, whose frontiers, while drenched in blood, its interior parts have yielded, for your en- largement, the little savings of their frugality, and the fruits of their toils. And believe me, remember, I this day told you so, that the same spirit which actuated that people at first, will continue with them still; but prudence forbids me to explain myself any further. God knows, I do not, at this time, speak from motives of party heat ; what I assert proceeds from the sentiments of my heart. However superior to me in general knowledge and experience, any one here may be, yet I claim to know more of America, having seen, and been more conversant in that country. The people there are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has ; but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them, if they should be vio- lated ; but the subject is delicate ; I will say no more.' This discourse was pronounced by the colonel without prepara- tion, and with such a tone of energy, that all the house remained, as it were, petrified with surprise, and all viewed him with attention, without uttering a word. But the pride of the ministers would not permit them to retreat, and the parliament could not hear, with patience, its authority to tax America called in question. Accordingly, many voted in favor of the bill, because they believed it just and expedient ; others, because the ministers knew how to make it appear such ; others, finally, and perhaps the greater number, from jealousy of their contested au- thority. Thus, when the house divided on the 7th of February-, 1765, the nays were not found to exceed fifty, and the yeas were two hundred and fifty. The bill was, therefore, passed, and was ap- proved with great alacrity in the house of lords, on the 8th of March following, and sanctioned by the king the 22d of the same month. Such was this famous scheme, invented by the most subtle, by the most sapient heads in England ; whether the spirit of sophistry in which it originated, or the moment selected for its promulgation, be the most deserving of admiration, is left for others to pronounce. Certain it is, that it gave occasion in America to those intestine com- motions, that violent fermentation, which, after kindling a civil war, involving all Europe in its flames, terminated in the total disjunction from the British empire of one of its fairest possessions. If, in this great revolution, the arms of England suffered no dim- inution of splendor and glory, owing to the valor and gallantry dis- played by her soldiers throughout the war, it cannot be disguised that BOOK I THE AMERICAN WAR. 55 her power and influence were essentially impaired among all nations of the world. The very night tne act was passed, doctor Franklin, who was then in London, wrote to Charles Thompson, afterwards secretary of congress, ' Tf>e sun of liberty is set ; the Americans must light the lamps of industry and economy.' To which Mr. Thompson an- swered ; ' Be assured we shall light torches of quite another sort.' Tims predicting the convulsions that were about to follow. END OF BOOK FIRST. NOTES TO BOOK I. NOTE I. PAGE 25. FRANKLIN'S LETTER. ' EXCLUEIKG the people of the colonies from all share in the choice of the grand council, would probably give extreme dissatisfaction, as well as the taxing them by act of parliament, where they have no representation. ' In matters of general concern to the people, and especially when burthens are to be laid upon them, it is of use to consider, as well what they will be apt to think and say, as what they ought to think ; I shall, therefore, as your excellency requires it of me, briefly mention what of either kind occurs to me on this occasion. ' First, they will say, and perhaps with justice, that the body of the people in the col onies are as loyal, and as firmlv attached to the present constitution, and reigning family, as any subjects in the king's dominions. ' That there is no reason to doubt the readiness and willingness of the representatives they may choose, to grant, from time to time, such supplies for the defense of the coun- try, as shall be judged necessary, so far as their abilities allow. ' That the people in the colonies, who are to feel the immediate mischiefs of invasion and conquest by an enemy, in the loss of their estates, lives, and liberties, are likely to be better judges of the quantity offerees necessary to be raised and maintained, forts to be built and supported, and of their own abilities to bear the expense, than the par- liament of England, at so great a distance. ' That governors often come to the colonies merely to make fortunes with which thev intend to return to Brita^ii ; are not always men of the best abilities or integrity ; have, many of them, no estates here, nor any natural connections with us ; that should make them heartily concerned for our welfare ; and might, possibly, be fond of raising and keeping up more forces than necessary, from the profits accruing to themselves, and to make provision for their friends and dependants. ' That the counsellors, in most of the colonies, being appointed by the crown, on the recommendation of governors, are often persons of small estates, frequently dependent on the governors for offices, and therefore too much under influence. ' That there is, therefore, great reason to be jealous of a power in such governors and councils, to raise such sums as they shall judge necessary, by drafts on the lords of the treasury, to be afterwards laid on the colonies by act of parliament, and paid by the people here ; since they might abuse it, by projecting useless expeditions, harassing the people, and taking them from their labor to execute such projects, merely to create offices and employment, and gratify their dependants, and divide profits. ' That the parliament of England is at a great distance, subject to be misinformed and misled by such governors and councils, whose united interests might, probably, secure them against the effect of any complaint from hence. ' That it is supposed an undoubted right of Englishmen, not to be taxed, but by their own consent, given through their representatives ; that the colonies have no representatives in parliament. ' That to propose taxing them by parliament, and refuse them the liberty of choosing a representative council, to meet in the co'.onies, and consider and judge of the ne- cessity of any general tax, and the quantum, shows a suspicion of their loyalty to the crown, or of their regard for their country, or of their common sense and understand- ing; which they have not deserved. BOOK I. NOTES. 57 ' That compelling the colonies to pay money without their consent, would bo rather like raising contributions in an enemy's country, than taxing of Englishmen for their own public benefit ; that it would be treating them as a conquered people, and not as true British subjects. ' That a tax laid by the representatives of the colonies might be easily lessened as the occasions should lessen ; but being once laid by parliament, under the influence of the representations made by governors, would probably be kept up and continued for the benefit of governors, to the grievous burthen and discontentment of the colonies, and prevention of their growth and increase. ' That a power in governors, to march the inhabitants from one end of the British and French colonies to the other, being a country of at least one thousand five hundred miles long, without the approbation or the consent of their representatives first obtained, to such expeditions, might be grievous and ruinous to the people, and would put them upon a footing with the subjects of France in Canada, that now groan under such oppression from their governor, who, for two years past, has harass- ed them with long and destructive marches to Ohio. ' That if the colonies, in a body, may be well governed, by governors and councils appointed by the crown, without representatives, particular colonies may as well, or better, be so governed ; a tax may be laid upon them all by act of parliament, for support of government; and their assemblies may be dismissed as an useless part of the constitution. ' That the powers proposed by the Albany plun of vision, to be vested in a grand council representative of the people, even with regard to military matters, are not so great as those which the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut are entrusted with by their charters, and have never abused ; for oy this plan, the president-gen eral is appointed by the crown, and controls all by his negative ; but in those governments, the people choose the governor, and yet allow him no negative. ' That the British colonies bordering on the French, are frontiers of the British empire ; and the frontiers of an empire are properly defended at the joint expense of the body of the people in such empire : it would now be thought hard, by act of par- liament, to oblige the Cinque Ports, or sea coasts of Britain, to maintain the whole navy, because they are more immediately defended by it, not allowing them, at the same time, a vote in choosing members of parliament ; and as the frontiers of Ameri- ca bear the expense of their own defense, it seems hard to allow them no share in voting the money, judging of the necessity of the sum, or advising the measures. ' That besides the taxes necessary for the defense of the frontiers, the colonies pay yearly great sums to the mother country unnoticed ; for, 1. Taxes paid in Britain Dy the land-holder, or artificer, must enter into and in- crease the price of the produce of land and manufactures made of it, and great part of this is paid by consumers in the colonies, who thereby pay a considerable part of the British taxes. 2. We are restrained in our trade with foreign nations : and where we could be supplied with any manufacture cheaper from them, but must buy the same dearer from Britain, the difference of price is a clear tax to Britain. 3. We are obliged to carry a part of our produce directly to Britain ; and when the duties laid upon it lessen its price to the planter, or it sells for less than it would in foreign markets, the difference is a tax paid to Britain. 4. Some manufactures we could make, but are forbidden, and must take them of British merchants ; the wlwle price is a tax paid to Britain. 5. By our greatly increasing demand and consumption of British manufactures, their price is considerably raised of late years ; the advantage is clear profit to Britain, and enables its people better to pay great taxes ; and much of it being paid by us, is clear tax to Britain. 6. Ir. short, as we are not suffered to regulate our trade, and restrain the importation and consumption of British superfluities, as Britain can the consumption of foreign superfluities, our whole wealth centers finally among the merchants and inhabitants of Britain; and if we. make them richer, and enable them better to pay tbeir taxes, it is nearly the same as being taxed ourselves, and equally beneficial to the crown. 1 These kind of secondary taxes, however, we do not complain of, though we have no share in laying or disposing of them ; but to pay immediate heavy taxes, in th? lay- ing, appropriation, and disposition of which, we have no part, and which, perhaps, we may know to be as unnecessary as grievous, must seem hard measures to Englishmen, who cannot conceive, that by hazarding their lives and fortunes in subduing and set- tling new countries, extending the dominion, and increasing the commerce of the mother nation, thev have forfeited the native rights of Britons, which they think 58 NOTES, BOOK 1. ought rather to be given to them as due to such merit, if they had been before in a state of slavery. These, and such kinds of things as these, I apprehend will be thought and said by the people, if the proposed alteration of the Albany plan should take place. Then the administration of the board of governors and council no appointed, not having the representative body of the people to approve and unite in its measures, and con- ciliate the minds of the people to mem. will probably become suspected and odious : dangerous animosities and feuds will arise between the governors and governed, and every thing go into confusion.' This was the letter of Franklin. NOTE II. PAGE 47. STAMP ACT. WHEREAS, by an act made in the last session of Parliament, several duties were granted, continued, and appropriated towards defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securin-g the British colonies and plantations in America ; and where as it is first necessary, that provision be made for raising a further revenue within your majesty's dominions in America, towards defraying the said expenses; we, your ma- jesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Great Britain, in parliament as- sembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant unto your majesty tne several rights and duties hereinafter mentioned ; and do most humbly beseech your majesty that it may be enacted, And be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in thia present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his majesty, his heirs, and successors, through- out the colonies and plantations in America, which now are, or hereafter may be, undsr the dominion of his majesty, his heirs and successors, 1. Forevery skin of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demur- rer, or other pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court of law within the British colories and plantations in America, a stamp duty of three pence. 2. YOT every'skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed, any special bail, and appearance upon such bail in any such court, a stamp duty of two shillings. 3. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which may be engrossed, written or printed, any petition, bill or answer, claim, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading in any court of chancery or equity within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and six. pence. 4. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any copy of any petition, bill, answer, claim, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, in any such court, a etamp duty of three pence. 5. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall Le engrossed, written or printed, any monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in any court of probate, court of the ordinary, or other court exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling. 6. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed, any copy of any will, (other than the probate thereof,) monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in any such court, a stamp duty of six pence. 7. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed, any donation, presentation, collation or Institution, of or to any benefice, or any writ or instrument for the like purpose, or any register, entry, testimonial, or certificate of any degree taken in any university, acadamy. college, or seminary of learning, within the said colonies and plantations a stamp auty of ttoo pounds. BOOK I. NOTES 59 8. For every skin or piece of vellum 01 parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, iniv/mation, letter of request, execution, renunciation, inventory, or other pleading in any admiralty court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one skating. 9. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any copy of any such roonition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, information, letter of request, execution, renunciation, inventory, or other pleading shall be en- grossed, written, or printed, a stamp duty of sixpence. 10. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any appeal, writ of error, wi it of dower, ad quod damuum, certiorari, statute merchant, statute staple, attestation, or certificate, by any officer, or exemplification of any record or preceding, in any court whatso- ever within the said colonies and plantations, (except appeals, writs of error, certiorari, attestations, certificates, and exemplifications, for, or relating to the removal of any proceedings from before a single justice of the peace,) a stamp duty of ten shillings. 11. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any writ of covenant for levying fines, writ of entrv for suffering a common recovery, or attachment issuing out of or returnable into any court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of Jive shillings. 12. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any judgment, decree, or sentence, or dimission, or any record of nisi prius or postea, in any court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four shillings. 13. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any affidavit, common bail, or appear- ance, interrogatory, deposition, rule, order or warrant of any court, or any dedimus pot&statum, capias subpiena, summons, compulsory citation, commission, recognizance, or any other writ, process, or mandate, issuing out of, or returnable into, any court, or any office belonging thereto, or any other proceeding therein whatsoever, or any copy thereof, or of any record not herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, (except warrants relating to criminal matters, and proceedings there- on, or relating thereto,) a stamp duty of one shilling 14. For every skin cr piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any note or bill of lading, which shall be signed for any kind of goods, wares, or merchandise, to be exported from, or any cocket or clearance granted within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four pence. 15. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, letters of mart or commission for private ships of war, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of twenty shillings. 16. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece ot paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any grant, appointment, or admission of or to any public beneficial office or employment, for the space of one year, or any lesser time, of or above twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, within the said colonies and plantations, (except commissions and ap- pointments of officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, of judges, and of jus- tices of the peace.) a stamp duty of ten shillings. 17. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any grant of any liberty, privilege, or franchise, under the seal or sign manu- al of any governor, proprietor, or putlic officer, alone, or in conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, or any exempli- fication of the same, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, within the said coljnie and plantations, a stamp duty of six pounds. IB. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license for retailing of spirituous liquors, to be granted to rny person who shall take out the same, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of ticenty shillings. 19. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchrrent. or sheet cr niece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license for retailing of wine, to be granted to any person who shall not take out a license for retailing of spirituous li- quors, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four pounds. 20. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license, for retailing of wine, to be granted to anv person who shall take oi:t a license for retailing of spiritous liquors, within the said colonies and plantations, a s t ump duty of titree pounds. 60 NOTES. . BOOK I 21. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any probate of will, letters of administra- tion or of guardianship for any estate above the value of twenty pounds sterling money, within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp duty of Jive shil- lings. 22. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or pioce of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed,, any such probate, letteis of Administra- tion or of guardianship, within all other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of ten shillings. 23. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money, not exceeding the sum often pounds, sterling money, within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp duty of six pence. 24. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money above ten pounds, and not exceeding twenty pounds, sterling money, within such colonies, plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling. 25. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money above twenty pounds, and not exceeding forty pounds, sterling money, within such colonies, plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling and sixpence. 26. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any order or warrant for surveying or setting out any quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, issued by any governor, proprietor, or any public officer, alone, or in conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, within the Brit- ish colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of six pence. 27. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such order or warrant for surveying or setting out any quantity of land above one hundred and not exceeding two hun- dred acres, within the said colonies and plan'ations, a stamp duty of one shilling. 28. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such order or warrant for surveying or setting out any quantity of land above two hundred and not exceeding three hun- dred and twenty acres, and in proportion for every such order or warrant for survey- ing or setting out every other three hundred and twenty acres, within the said colo- nies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence. 29. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any original grant or any deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land, not ex ceedingone hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, (except leases for any term not exceeding the term of twenty-one years) a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence. 30. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land, above one hundred and not exceeding two hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two shilling s. 31. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land, above two hundred, and not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, shall be granted, conveved, or assigned, and in proportion for every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument, granting, conveying, or assigning, every other three hundred and twenty acres, within such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two shillings and sit pence. 32. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrunu nt whatsoever, by which any quantity 01 land, not exceeding one hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within ai other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of three shillings. BOOK I. NOTES. 61 33. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, oil which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land, above one hundred and not exceeding two hundred acres, shall be granted, con- veyed, or assigned, within the same parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty of four shillings. 34. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity o*" land, above two hundred and not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in proportion for every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument, granting, conveying, or assigning every other three hundred and twenty acres, within the same parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty of Jice shillings. 35. For every skin, or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any grant, appointment, or admission, of or to any beneficial office or employment, not herein before charged, above the value of twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, or any exemplification of the same, within the British colonies and plantations upon the con- tinent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, (except commissions of officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, and of justices of the peace,) a stamp duty of four pounds. 36. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such grant, appointment, or ad- mission, of or to any such public beneficial office or employment, or any exemplifica- tion of the same, within all "ther parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of six pounds. 37. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any indenture, lease, conveyance, con- tract, stipulation, bill of sale, charter party, protest, articles of apprenticeship, or cove- nant, (except for the hire of servants not apprentices, and also except such other mat- ters as herein before charged,) within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shillings and six pence. 3d For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any warrant or order for auditing any public accounts, beneficial warrant, order, grant, or certificate, under any public seal, or under the seal or sign manual of any gov- ernor, proprietor, or public officer, alone, or in conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, not herein before charged, or any passport or letpass, surrender of office, or policy of assurance, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, within the said colonies and plantations, (except warrants or orders for the service of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, and grants of offices under twen- ty pounds per annum, in salary, fees, and perquisites,) a stamp duty of Jive shillings. 39. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any notarial act, bond, deed, letter of attorney, procuration, mortgage, release, or other obligatory instrument, not herein be- fore charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings and three pence. 40. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enrollment of any grant, deed, or other instrument whatsoever, herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of three pence. 41 . For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enrollment of any jrant, deed, or other instrument whatsoever, not herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings. 42. And for and upon every pack of playing cards, and all dice, which shall be sold or used within the said colonies and .plantations, the several stamp duties following; (that is to say ;) 43. For every pack of such cards, one shilling. 44. And for every pair of such dice, ten shillings. 45. And for and upon every paper called a pamphlet, and upon every newspaper containing public news, or occurrences, which shall be printed, dispersed, and made public, within any of the said colonies and plantations, and for and upon such adver- tisements as are hereinafter mentioned, the respective duties following; (that is to say ,) 46. For every such pamphlet and paper, contained in a half sheet, or any lesser piece 62 NOTES. BOOK I. of paper, which shall be BO printed, a stamp duty of one half-penny for every printed copy thereof. 47. For every such pamphlet and paper, (being larger than half a sheet, and not ex- ceeding one whole sheet,) which shall be so printed, a stamp duty of one penny for every printed copy thereof. 48. For every pamphlet and paper, being larger than one whole sheet, and not ex- ceeding six sheets in octavo, or in a lesser page, or not exceeding twelve sheets in quarto, or twenty sheets in folio, which shall be so printed, a duty alter the rate of one shilling for every sheet of any kind of paper which shall be contained in one printed copy thereof. 49. For every advertisement to be contained in any gazette, newspaper, or other paper, or any pamphlet which shall be so printed, a duty of two shillings. 50. For every almanac or calendar for any one particular year, or for any lime less than a year, which shall be written or printed on one side only of any one sheet, skin or piece of paper, parchment, or vellum, within the said colonies and plantations, a tamp duty of two pence. 51. For every other almanac, or calendar, for any one particular year, which shall be written or printed within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty off our pence. 52. And for every almanac or calendar, written or printed in the said colonies and plantations, to serve for several years, duti* to the same amount respectively shall be paid for every such year. 53. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any instrument, proceeding, or other matter or thing aforesaid, shall be engross- ed, written, or printed, within the said colonies and plantations, in any other than the English language, a stamp duty of double the amount of the respective duties before charged thereon. 54. And there shall be also paid, in the said colonies and plantations, a duty of six pence for every twenty shillings, in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling money, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with or in relation to any clerk, or apprentice, which shall be put or placed to or with any master or mis- tress, to learn any profession, trade, or employment. II. And also a duty of one shilling for every twenty shillings, in any sum exceeding fifty pounds which shall be given, paid, contracted, or ajyreed for, with, or in relation to, any such clerk or apprentice. 55 Finally, the produce of all the aforementioned duties shall be paid into /iis majes- ty's treasury; and there held in reserve, to be used, from time to time, by the parlia- ment, for the purpose of defraying the expenses necessary for the defense, protection, and security of the said colonies and plantations. [1765. Statutes at Pickering's edition. 4. 5, Gtor^e HI. Vol. XXVI. Chap. XI I. page 179.] HOOK. II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 63 BOOK SECOND. 1765. IT is difficult to describe the effervescence excited in America, by the news that the stamp act had been adopted in parliament. The minister, Grenville, knowing how odious it was to the Ameri- cans, and foreseeing the tumults it might cause, had endeavored to mitigate its severity, by strictly avoiding to employ, as collectors of the duty, any individuals born in England ; but this precaution proved ineffectual to abate, in the least, the tempest of indignation with which it was received. The American gazettes began to be filled with complaints of lost liberty ; the most influential citizens declared openly, that this was a manifest violation of their rights, which proceeded from no tran- sient error of the English government, but from a deliberate design to reduce the colonies to slavery ; ' This,' they exclaimed, ' is but the commencement of a system of the most detestable tyranny.' Such as opposed the schemes attributed to the government either to contract a stricter union by a common name, or to render them- selves more agreeable to the people, alluding to the words of r>olonel Barre in his speech before parliament, assumed the specious title of sons of llhcrtij. They bound themselves mutually, among other things, to march at their own expense to any part of the continent, where it should be necessary to maintain the English constitution in America, and to use all their efforts to prevent the execution of the stamp act. A committee of correspondence was organized, to address circular letters to the principal inhabitants of the country ; exhorting them to adopt the same principles and the same resolutions. These meas- ures gave a powerful activity to the opposition, and to the tumults which soon followed. The people were prepared for insurrection, the moment an occasion, or a signal, should be given them. The Virginians, again at this time, were the first to give it. The 29th of May, 1765, the house of burgesses of Virginia, upon the motion of George Johnson and Patrick Henry, came to the follow- ing resolutions : ' Whereas the honorable house of commons in England, have of late drawn into question, how far the general assembly of this colo- ny hath power to enact laws for laying taxes and imposing duties, payable by the people of this his majesty's most ancient colony ; for settling and ascertaining the samo to all future times, the house of 64 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK 11 biirgesses of this present general assembly, have come to the several following resolutions ' That the first adventurers and settlers of this his majesty's colony and dominion of Virginia, brought with them and transmitted to their posterity, and all other his majesty's subjects since inhabiting in this his majesty's colony, all the privileges and immunities that have at any time been held, enjoyed and possessed by the people of Great Britain. That by the two royal charters granted by James* I., the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all privileges of faithful, liege and natural born subjects, to all intents and purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within the realm of England. ' That his majesty's liege people of this his most ancient colony, \ have enjoyed the right of being thus governed by their own assem- \bly, in the article of taxes and internal police, and that the same nave never been forfeited, or any other way yielded up, but have A>een constantly recognized by the king and people of Great Britain. ' That consequently the general assembly of this colony, together with his majesty, or his substitute, have in their representative capaci- ty the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony ; that every attempt to vest such a power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the general assembly aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British, as well as American freedom. That his majesty's liege people, the inhabitants of this colony, are not bound to yield obedience to any law or ordinance whatsoever, designed to impose any taxation whatsoever upon them, other than the laws and ordinances of thie general assembly. That any person who shall by speaking or writing, maintain that any person or per- sons, other than the general assembly of this colony, have any right or power to impose or lay any taxation whatsoever upon this people, shall be deemed an enemy to this his majesty's colony.' These resolutions were passed on this day, by an immense ma- jority ; but the day following, the assembly being more full, as many of the older and more prudent citizens attended, the subject was re- considered ; and by their influence and representations, the last two articles were retrenched. M. Fauquier, the lieutenant-governor, being informed of these debates, dissolved the assembly ; but this measure had little success, for when the new elections took place, those who did not assent teethe Resolutions were excluded^frnd gjl those who did were re-elected. MBRMwhile, the resolutions circu- lated from hand to hand, not as they had been modified, but in their original form. The members of the confederacy, called the sons of liberty, were BOOK II. -THE AMERICAN WAK. 65 especially active in comiiMinicating them from one to another, and in a short time they were dispersed every where, and every where perused and reperused with equal avidity and enthusiasm. But in New England, and particularly in the province of Massa- chusetts, the warm advocates of American privileges were not con- tent with these marks of approbation, but to propagate them the more rapidly among all classes of people, caused them to be printed in the public journals, which was the principal occasion of the tu- mults that shortly ensued. Very early on Wednesday morning, the 14th of August, and it is believed at the instigation of John Avery, Thomas Crafts, John. Smith, Henry Welles, Thomas Chase, Stephen Cleverling, Henry Bass, and Benjamin Edes, all individuals extremely opposed to the pretensions of England, and zealous partisans of innovation, two effigies were discovered hanging on a branch of an old elm, near the southern entrance of Boston, one of which, according to the label that was attached to it, represented a stamp officer, the other a jack- boot, out of which rose a horned head, which appeared to look around. This spectacle attracted the curious multitude, not only from the city, but as the rumor spread, from all the adjacent country. As the crowd increased, their minds, already but too much heated, were inspired with a spirit of enthusiasm by this strange exhibition* and the day was immediately devoted to recreation. About dusk, the images were detached from the tree, placed on a bier, and car^ ried in procession with great solemnity. The people followed, stamp- ing, and shouting from all quarters, ' Liberty and propertyforever-^, no stamp.' Having passed through tKe Ttowrrtimtg?Cthey proce"eaea with their pageantry down King street, and into Kilby street ; when arrived in front of a house owned by one Oliver, which they sup- posed was designed for a stamp office, they halted, and without further ceremony, demolished it to the foundation. Bearing oft', as it were in triumph, the wood of the ruined house, with continually increasing shouts and tumult, they proceeded to the dwelling of Oli- ver himself, and there having beheaded his effigy, broke all his win- dows in an instant. Continuing to support the two figures in pro- cession, they ascended to the summit of Fort hill, where, kindling with their trophies a bonfire, they burnt one of them, amidst peals of universal acclamation. Not satisfied with this, the populace re- turned to the house of Oliver, with clubs and staves ; the garden, fences, and all tjie dependencies of the edifice were destroyed. Oliver had fled, to avoid the popular fury, leaving only a few friends to use their discretion, for the prevention of further damage. But VOL. i. 5 66 THE AMERICAN WAK. BOOK II. :Some imprudent words of theirs having exasperated the rage of the multitude, they broke open the doors, entered the lower part of the ihouse, and destroyed the furniture of every description. At mid- night they disbanded. The next day, Oliver, rinding himself thus the object of public detestation, and apprehensive of a second visit, notified the principal citizens that he had written to England, re- questing the liberty of being excused from the office of distributor of stamps. In the evening, the people re-assembled, erected a pyra- mid, intending another bonfire, but upon hearing of Oliver's resigna- tion, they desisted, and repaired to the front of his house, gave three cheers, and took their departure without damage. Meanwhile, a rumor having got abroad, that Hutchinson, the lieu- tenant-governor, had written to England in favor of the stamp du- ties, the multitude immediately repaired to his house, and could not be persuaded to retire till they were assured, that this gentleman had even written to dissuade from the bill. Upon which their cries of rage were followed by shouts of acclamation ; they kindled a bonfire, and quietly returned to their respective habitations. But far more serious were the disorders of the 26th of the same month. Some boys were playing around a fire they had kindled in King street ; the fire ward coming to extinguish it, he was whispered, by a person un- known, to desist, which he not regarding, received a blow on his arm, "and such other marks of displeasure, as obliged him to withdraw. Meanwhile, a particular whistle was heard from several quarters, which was followed by innumerable cries of ' Sirrah ! Sirrah !' At this signal advanced a long train of persons disguised, armed with clubs and bludgeons, who proceeded to invest the house of Paxtori, marshal of the court of admiralty, and superintendent of the port, ' who had time to escape ; and, at the invitation of the steward,* the assailants accompanied him to the tavern, were pacified, and the house was spared. But their repeated libations having renewed their frenzy, they sallied forth, and assaulted the house of William Story, register of the vice-admiralty, opposite the court-house, the lower part of which, being his office, they broke open, seized and committed to the flames the files and public records of that court, and then destroyed the furniture of the house. Nor did the riot end here. The mob, continually increasing in numbers and intoxi- cation, stimulated by the havoc already committed, rushed onwards to the house of Benjamin Hallowell, collector of the customs, the furniture of which they soon destroyed. They renewed their pota- tions, in the cellar ; and what they were unable to drink, they wast- * Paxton was only a tenant ; the owner of the house, T. Palmer esq., gave the ntertainment. BOOK H. THE AMERICAN WAR. 67 ed ; they searched ev3ry corner, and carried off about thirty pounds sterling in money. They are joined by fresh bands. In a state bor- dering on madness, they proceed to the residence of Hutchinson, the lieutenant-governor, about ten o'clock at night ; they invest it, and employ every means to enter it by violence. After having sent his children, as yet of tender age, to a place of safety, he barricaded his doors and windows, and seemed determined to remain ; but, un- able to resist the fury of the assailants, he was constrained to quit the place, and take refuge in another house, where he remained con- cealed till four in the morning. Meantime, his mansion, perhaps the most magnificent and the best furnished house in the colony, was devoted to ruin and pillage. The plate, the pictures, the furni- ture of every kind, even to the apparel of the governor, were car- ried off, besides nine hundred pounds sterling in specie. Not con- tent with this, they dispersed or destroyed all the manuscripts which the governor had been thirty years in collecting, as well as papers, relating to the public service, deposited in his house ; an immense and irreparable loss. It appears that Hutchinson had become the object of a hatred so universal, because he was accused of having been accessory in lay- ing on the stamp duties ; which imputation, however, was absolutely false ; for it is ascertained, on the contrary, that he had always op- posed that measure, in his letters to the government. Hence it is seen how erroneous are often popular opinions ; and that those who govern should propose to themselves a nobler object, in the per- formance of their duty, than that of pleasing the multitude, who are more often found to fawn upon their oppressors, than to applaud their benefactors. The next morning was the time for holding the assize and the su preme court of judicature. Hutchinson, who was its president, was obliged to appear on the bench in the dress of a private citizen, while the other judges, and the gentlemen of the bar, were in their re- spective robes. This contrast was observed with grief and pity by the spectators. The court, to evince with what indignation they re- ceived the affront they had sustained in the person of their presi- dent, and how much they detested the scenes of anarchy which the preceding day had witnessed, resolved to abstain from all exercise of their functions, and adjourned to the 15th of October. Some individuals who had been apprehended, refusing to de- nounce the authors of the tumult, were committed to prison ; but one of them effected his escape, and the rest were released soon af- ter ; for it was seen distinctly, that the people were not disposed to tolerate any further proceedings against the delinquents. 68 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK, tl Meanwhile, the principal citizens, either from a real detestation of the excesses committed by the rioters, or perceiving that such outrages must infallibly injure a cause they considered just, were very strenuous to distinguish this tumultuous conduct from a truly noble opposition, as they called it, to the imposition of internal taxes by authority of parliament. They assembled, in consequence, at Faneuil Hall, a place destined for public meetings, in order to de- clare solemnly how much they abhorred the extraordinary and vio- lent proceedings of unknown persons, the preceding night ; and voted, unanimously, that the selectmen and magistrates of the city be desired to use their utmost endeavors, agreeable to law, to sup- press such disorders for the future ; and that the freeholders and other inhabitants, would do every thing in their power to assist them therein. The next day, a proclamation was published by the governor, of- fering a reward of three hundred pounds for the discovery of any of the ringleaders, and one hundred pounds for any of the other per- sons concerned in that tumult. The tranquillity of the city was re- stored, and preserved by a nightly military watch. But the disorders were not confined to the limits of the city of Boston, or the province of Massachusetts. They also broke out in many other places, and almost at the same time ; which renders it probable that they had been previously concerted between the inhab- itants of the different provinces. On Tuesday, the 27th of August, about 9 o'clock in the morning, the people of Newport, in Rhode Island, began to manifest their agitation, by bringing forth, in a cart, three images, intended as the effigies of Martin Howard, Thomas Moffatt, and Augustin Johnston, with halters about their necks, to a gallows placed near the town-house, where they were hung to public view, till near night, when they were cut down and burnt amidst the acclamations of the multitude. The following day, having probably received the news of what had taken place in Boston, they assembled again, and beset the house of Martin Howard, a celebrated advocate, who had written with great zeal in favor of the rights of parliament. All was plun- dered or destroyed, except the walls. Thomas Moflfatt, a physi- cian, maintained the same opinions, in all societies ; his house was pillaged, also, in a moment. Both fled and took shelter on board an English ship of war, at anchor in the port ; and soon al- ter, believing it no longer safe to remain in the country, departed for Great Britain. The populace proceeded towards the house of Johnston, prepared to commit the same disorders ; but were met, iiOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 69 **. and parleyed with, by a gentleman, who persuaded diem to desist and disperse. At Providence, the principal city of Rhode Island, a gazette ex- traordinary was published, on the 24th of August, with ' Vox POP- DLI, vox DEI,' in large letters, for the frontispiece ; and underneath, ' Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. St. Paul.' It congratulated the people of New England, on the glorious ac- counts, from all pails, of the laudable commotions of the people in the cause of liberty ; and on the lawful measures adopted to pre- vent the execution of the stamp act, not hesitating to treat as such thse blamable excesses of the populace. The writers ex- tolled to the skies the zeal of the Bostonians, who, they said, had not degenerated from their fathers, but had preserved entire that spirit of freedom which had already rendered them so celebrated throughout the world. Pasquinades, farces, satires, and popular railleries were not spared, in the public prints. The effigies of such as were the objects of popular displeasure, were dragged, with halters about their necks, through the streets, hung to gibbets, and afterwards burnt. **->^ In Connecticut, Ingersoll, the principal: s tamp officer, having appointed for his deputy an inhabitant of Windham, wrote him to come and receive his commission at New Haven. The inhabitants of Windham, on hearing of this, demanded the letter of Ingersoll, and warned him not to accept the office ; which, preferring the less evil, he consented to renounce. Ingersoll himself was reduced to the same extremity, at New Haven. He wrote a letter, which was afterwards published, in which he declared, that since the inhabit- ants had such an aversion to stamped paper, he would not compel them to use it. He hoped, however, that if they should change their minds on further consideration, or from a conviction of ne- cessity, they would receive it from him. This declaration was much applauded ; but the people having conceived new suspicions of his sincerity, they surrounded his house, and he was informed that he must decide immediately, either for or against the resigna- tion of his office. He answered, that this choice was not in his power. They next demanded, whether, when the stamped paper arrived, he would deliver it to them, to make a bonfire ? Or have his house pulled down ? He then replied, and with evident reluctance, that when the stamps arrived he would either reship them to be sent back ; or when they were in his house, he would leave his doors open, that they might then act as they thought proper. Similar tumults also took place in the town of Norwich, and that 70 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK H. of Lebanon ; but in the latter the ceremony of a mock trial was added, by which the effigies were condemned, in due form, to be hung and burnt. The next morning the same scenes were repeated, with the ex- ception of the trial ; but the deputy collector of the stamp duty had already resigned. In New Hampshire, Messerve, another stamp officer, was com- pelled by the multitude to renounce the exercise of his functions. In Maryland, Flood, principal distributor of stamped paper, was menaced in property if he refused to resign ; he fled for refuge, first to New York, and afterwards to Long Island. But the mul- titude, having unexpectedly crossed the strait, constrained him not only to renounce his employment, but to confirm his resignation apon oath before a magistrate. 9 At New York, the stamp act was held in such contempt, that it was printed and cried through the country as the Fo'.ly of England and Ruin of America. The stamp officers in this quarter perceived they could not resign too promptly. Similar scenes took place in the other American provinces. To foment the general excitement, and encourage the people to persevere in the opposition commenced, their leaders took care to multiply satirical pamphlets and pasquinades ; epigrams and popular jests were incessant in the public prints. At Boston, among others, a newspaper was published, under the following title ; ' The Constitu- tional Courant ; containing matters interesting to Liberty, and no wise repugnant to Loyalty.' The frontispiece represented a serpent cut into eight pieces ; on the part of the head, were the initial let- ters of New England ; and on that of the body, the initials of the other colonies, as far as South Carolina ; and over it, ' JOIN OK DIE,' in large letters. In many places, the advocates, attorneys and notaries, held meet- ings, in which the query was proposed, Whether, when the stamps should arrive, and the day prefixed for using them, they would agree to purchase stamped paper for their legal writings ? The negative was decided unanimously : they protested, however, in strong terms, against all riotous and indecent behavior, and pledged themselves to discountenance it, by every moans in their power ; their sole inten- tion being, by the refusal of the stamps, and other quiet methods, to endeavor to procure the repeal of the law. The justices of the peace for the district of Westmoreland, in Vir- ginia, published, that, on account of the stamp act, they had discon- tinued their functions ; unwilling, they said, to become instruments BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 71 of the destruction of the most essential rights, and of the liberty of their country. Thus, while the frantic populace rushed headlong into the most odious excesses, men of reputation only testified their resistance by moderate acts, but not less, and perhaps even more, efficacious, to obtain the repeal of a law they abhorred, and to re-establish Amer- ican liberty. Thus the spirit of independence, originating at first in Virginia and Massachusetts, was progressively propagated in the other provinces ; and passed from the populace to the middle classes, and from these to the most eminent citizens. Meanwhile the time drew nigh, when the stamped paper destined for America was expected to arrive from England ; and the day was no longer distant, when, by the terms of the law, the stamp act was to go into effect: it was the first of November. The Americans already viewed it as a day of sinister presage, and the harbinger of future calamities to their country. On the 5th of October, the ships which brought the stamps, appeared in sight of Philadelphia, near Gloucester Point. Immediately, all the vessels in the harbor hoisted their colors half-staff high ; the bells were muf- fled, and tolled for the rest of the day ; and every thing appeared to denote the most profound and universal mourning. At four in the afternoon, several thousands of citizens met at the State House, to consult on proper measures to prevent the execution of the stamp act. Upon the motion of William Allen, son of the president of the court of justice, it was agreed to send a deputation to John Hughes, principal officer of the stamps for the province, to request he would resign his office ; to which, after long resistance, and with extreme reluctance, he at length consented. The tumult continued many days ; during which Hughes was ac- tive in barricading his house, and securing the succors of his friends, apprehensive, notwithstanding his resignation, of being attacked ev- ery moment. Amidst this general effervescence, the quakers, who are very numerous in Philadelphia, maintained a perfect calm, and appeared disposed to submit to the stamp act. The same also was the conduct of the Episcopal clergy ; but they were few in number. The stamped paper arrived at Boston the 10th of September. The governor immediately wrote to the assembly of representatives, requesting their advice, Oliver having resigned his office. The as- sembly replied, that this affair was not within their competency ; and therefore the governor, they hoped, would excuse them, if they could not see their way clear, to give him either advice or assistance. The representatives thus avoided the snare, and left the governor alone, to extricate himself as he could. He finally caused the bales of ~ THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. stamped paper to be lodged in the castle, where they could be de- fended, if necessary, by the artillery. But on the first of November, at dawn of day, all the bells of Boston sounded the funeral knell. Two figures, of immense pro- portions, were found suspended on the elm, of which we have spo- ken before. This tree, since the date of the first tumults, had ac quired the name of ' the tree of liberty.' Under its shade the pat- riot* assembled to confer upon their affairs ; and thence arose the custom of planting, in every town, or naming those already planted, trees of liberty. The Bostonians poured into the streets in throngs, and all was uproar. At three in the afternoon, the two effigies were detached from the tree, in the midst of universal acclamations* car- ried round the city, hung to a gallows, and afterwards cut in pieces, and thrown to the winds. This executed, the people withdrew to their habitations, and tranquillity seemed re-established. But the agitators, soon after, proceeded to a highly biamable excess. Oli- ver, who had long since resigned his employment, was dragged with violence to the foot of the tree of liberty, through th 3 tumultuous crowd, and there compelled, a second time, to renoum e upon oath ; as if any importance could be attached to these oaths, extorted by coercion ! They attest the tyranny of those who exact them, not the will of him that takes them. In many places, over the doors of the public offices, was seen this inscription : ' Let him that shall first distribute or employ stamped paper, look well to his house, his person, and his furniture. Vox POPULI.' The people went armed ; the friends of stamps were in- timidated. Nor less serious were the disorders in the city of New York. The stamped paper arrived there about the last of October. Mac Ever, who had been appointed distributor, having resigned the of- fice, the lieutenant-governor, Golden, a person little agreeable to the multitude on account of his political opinions, caused the paper to be lodged in fort George ; and having taken some precautions for its security, the people began to suspect some sinister intention on nis part. In consequence, on the first of November, towards evening, the populace assembled in great numbers, and rushed furiously to the citadel. The governor's stables were forced, his coach taken out, and drawn in triumph through the principal streets of the city. A gallows having been erected in the grand square, the effigy of the lieutenant-governor was there hung, with a sheet of stamped paper in the right hand, and the figure of a demon in the left. It was af- terwards taken down, and carried in procession, the coach in the van. BO OK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 73 to the gates of the fortress, and finally to the counterscrap, under the very mouths of the cannon, where they made a grand bonfire of the whole, amidst the shouts and general exultation of many thou- sands of people. But this irritated multitude did not stop here. They soon repaired to the residence of major James. It was dis- tinguished for its rich furniture, a library of great value, and a gar- Jen of singular beauty. In a moment all was ravaged and destroy- ed. They kindled also the accustomed bonfire ; exclaiming, Such are the entertainments the people bestow on the friends of stamps ! The coffee-houses had become a species of public arena, and schools for political doctrines, where the popular orators, mounting the benches or tables, harangued the multitude, who commonly re- sorted to these places in great numbers. In a very crowded con- course of this sort, an honest citizen of New York arose and exhort- ed the people to a more regular and less blamable conduct. He entreated the inhabitants even to take arms, in order to be prepared to repress the factious on the first symptoms of tumult. His dis- course was received with great approbation. But captain Isaac Sears, who had commanded a privateer, and was violently opposed to the stamps, urged the people not to give ear to these timid men, who take alarm at cobwebs ; let them follow him, and he would soon put them in possession of the stamped paper. He is joined at first by a few popular chiefs ; all the rest follow their example. A deputation is sent to the lieutenant-governor, to inform him that he will do well to deliver up tha stamped paper. He endeavored at first to gain time, alleging that the governor, Hen- ry Moore, was expected shortly, and would determine what was proper in this conjuncture. The answer was by no means satisfactory. It was represented more imperiously to the lieutenant-governor, that, peaceably or by force, the people must have the stamped paper ; and that a moment's delay might cause the effusion of blood. To avoid; therefore, a greater evil, he consented to put it in their hands ; and they, with great exultation, deposited the same in the City-Hall. Ten bales, however, which arrived afterwards, were seized by the populace and burnt. Notwithstanding all the disorders committed in New York by the lower classes, citizens of a more quiet character abounded in this city ; who, if, on the one hand, they were averse to the pretensions of the British parliament, and especially to the stamp act, on the other, felt an equal abhorrence for these excesses of popular inso- lence ; well knowing, that they are only excited by the worthless and desperate, who alone can be gainers by anarchy. Believing, therefore, it was no longer advisable to leave the headlong multitude 74 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. without a check, but, on the contrary, that it was essential to direct their movements towards the object proposed by themselves, they convoked a general meeting of the people, in the fields adjacent to the city. It was there proposed to appoint a committee of persons of known patriotism, to correspond with the friends of liberty in other provinces, and communicate intelligence of all occurrences ; in order to enable the people of the different provinces to move, if requisite, all at once, and as it were in a single body. This meas- ure, however, was not without danger, since it inclined towards an open rebellion, if not even already of this character. Many, therefore, who had been nominaTefPrnembers of the com- mittee, excused themselves upon various pretexts ; but finally, Isaac Sears and four others of distinguished intrepid'ty, offered themselves, and were approved by the multitude. They commenced their labors immediately, subscribing the letters with all their names. They re- quested their correspondents of Philadelphia, to transmit their dis- patches to the more southern colonies ; and the Bostonians, to those of the north. This produced, as it were, a second generation of the Sons of Liberty, who, by means of regular couriers, were enabled to reciprocate intelligence, and to form a league in opposition to par- liamentary taxation. But if the utility of a regular correspondence was recognized by all the party, they were not long in perceiving that it was insufficient to accomplish their views. They saw that it was requisite to determine all the principles of the association, and cause them to be accepted by all its members, in order that each might know his duty, and the counsels to be pursued. The authors of this plan believed, also, that as the articles of confederation were to be solemnly subscribed, many even of the adverse party would not dare to oppose it, and would therefore give their signatures : they would thus have been rendered accessaries, and their future support consequently secured. The articles were soon drawn up, and accepted by the Sons of Liberty in the two provinces of New York and Connecticut ; and afterwards, passing from hand to hand, by those of the other colonies. In the preamble to this league, which was composed very ably, the confederates affirmed, that perverse men had formed a design to alienate the minds of the loyal and affectionate American subjects from his majesty's person and government, and therefore they pro- fessed and declared their fidelity and allegiance to the king to be immutable ; that they would defend and support the crown with all their forces ; that with the greatest promptitude they submitted to its government, and this in conformity to the British constitution, founded upon the eternal principles of equity and justice ; that BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 75 every violation of this constitution was at the same time a high of- fense against Heaven, and an audacious contempt of the people, from whom, under God, all just government proceeds ; that they were therefore resolved to unite all their endeavors, their vigilance and their industry, to defeat these criminal designs. ' And since,' they added, ' a certain pamphlet (thus designating a law passed by the parliament of Great Britain) has appeared in America, under the form of an act of parliament, and under the name of the stamp act, although it has not been legally published nor introduced ; by which the colonists would be divested of their dearest rights, and especially that of taxing themselves ; in order to preserve these rights entire, and to defend them as well as every other part of the British constitution, we bind ourselves, and promise to march with all our forces, and at our own expense, upon the first advice, to the succor of those who shall be menaced with any peril whatever, on ^accunt_of any thing done in opposition to the stanjp act. We will attmitrvely^v^IcTi^ir'fh^s^Twn'o^by (Tonmftssionor of their own ac- cord, shall endeavor to introduce the use of stamped paper, which .would be the total subversion of the English constitution, and of American liberty. We will reciprocally designate to each other all persons of this sort that we may discover, whatever shall be their rank or their names, and will endeavor, with all our power, by every lawful means, to bring these traitors to their country to condign punishment. We will defend the liberty of the press from all ille- gal violation, and from every impediment which may result from the stamp act ; the press being the only means, under Divine Providence, of P re seryingour liveB^Jiberty, a&Q property. We will also defend and p1-o7&cttEe*judgeT, advocates, attorneys; notaries, and similar persons, against all penalties, fines or vexations, they may incur by not conforming to the act aforesaid, in the exercise of their respec- tive avocations.' Such was the league of New York, which increased tha ardor* and concert of the parties, then fermenting at every point of the American colonies. Meanwhile, the seeds of the new doctrine, in respect to govern- ment, were rapidly propagated in the province of New York ; the public journals offered them to the daily consideration of their read- ers. It was every where asserted, that the colonies ought not to have any other connection with Great Britain but that of living un- der the same sovereign ; and that all dependence ought to cease, as to legislative authority. These opinions, supported with equal ardor and ingenuity, were daily acquiring new roots ; they were disseminated in the other col- 76 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. onies, and insensibly prepared the minds of the people for the new order of things, towards which the multitude advanced without sus- pecting it. but its leaders, with deliberate purpose a revolution, for which England, with quite opposite views, had herself paved the way, and prepared the most favorable circumstances. The merchants of New York resorted to another mode of oppo- sition, very efficacious, and well adapted to obtain the repeal of the act. They entered into reciprocal agreements, not only to order no more goods from Great Britain, until the act was repealed, and to withdraw all the orders already given, and which should not be exe- cuted previous to the 1st of January, 1766, but also, not even to permit the sale of any English merchandise, which should be shipped after this date. According to the ordinary progress of minds once agitated, which become continually more bold in their opinions, the merchants added, that they would persevere in these resolutions, until the acts relative to sugar, molasses, and bills of credit, were also revoked. The same resolutions were voluntarily adopted also by the retail traders, who agreed not to buy or sell any English mer - chandise, that should be introduced into the country in contraven- tion of these stipulations. The merchants and traders of Philadelphia also assembled, and entered into an agreement ; but not with the same unanimity. The "Quakers refused their concurrence. They thought it was prudent, however, to conform to circumstances ; and wrote to England, re- questing that no more goods might be sent them. The Philadelphi- ans went still further, and prohibited any lawyer from instituting an action for moneys due to an inhabitant of England ; and no Ameri- can was to make any payment for the benefit of a subject of that kingdom, until the acts should be repealed. At Boston, although a little later, similar associations were formed ; and the example of these principal cities was imitated by nearly all the other cities and commercial towns of English America. From these measures, England experienced, in her manufactures, an incalculable prejudice ; while Ireland, on the contrary, derived an immense advantage from their effects ; for the Americans resort- ed to the latter country, to obtain such articles of merchandise as they considered indispensably necessary, and carried, in exchange, immense quantities of the seed of flax and of hemp. But the colo- nists were desirous also to withdraw themselves from this necessity. A society of arts, manufactures and commerce, was formed at New York, after the model of that in London. Markets were opened, in different places, for the sale of articles manufactured in the country ; to which were brought, in abundance, cloths and linens, stuffs of BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR 77 wool and of flax, works in iron, of a tolerable quality, though a lit- tle rough, spirits, distilled from barley, paper stained for hangings, and other articles of general utility. That the first materials of fabrics in wool might sustain no diminution, it was resolved to ab- stain from eating the flesh of lambs, and also from buying meat, of any sort, of butchers who should kill or offer for sale any of those animals. Every citizen, even the most opulent, the most ostentatious, con- forming to the general mode, preferred to wear clothing made in the country, or their old clothes, to using English manufactures. Thus a general opinion obtained, that America could suffice to her- self, without need of recourse to the industry and productions of England. And, as if these wounds, inflicted upon the commerce of the mother country, were not sufficiently severe, it was proposed, in Virginia and South Carolina, to suspend all exportation of tobac- co to any pert of Great Britain ; from which the latter must have sustained a very serious detriment, not only by the diminution of public revenue, consequent to that of the duties upon importation, but by the diminution of commerce itself; for the English supplied foreign markets with great quantities of these tobaccos. On the first of November, the day prefixed by the law for the emission of stamped paper, not a single sheet of it could have been found in all the colonies of New England, of New York, of New. Jersey, of Pennsylvania, of Maryland, and of the two Carolinas. It had either been committed to the flames during the popular com- motions, or sent back to England, or fallen into the hands of the party in opposition, who guarded it carefully. Hence originated a sudden suspension, or rather a total cessation, of all business that could not be transacted without stamped paper. The printers of newspapers only continued their occupation ; alledging for excuse, that if they had done otherwise, the people would have given them such admonitions as they little coveted. None would receive the gazettes coming from Canada, as they were printed upon stamped paper. The courts of justice were closed ; the ports were shut ; even marriages were no longer celebrated ; and in a word, an ab- solute stagnation in all the relations of social life was established. The governors of the provinces, though bound by their oaths, and the severest penalties, to cause the stamp act to be executed, considering, on the one hand, the obstinacy of the Americans, and, on the other, the impossibility of finding any stamped paper, in the greater part of the towns, considering also the incalculable detri- ment that must result, as well to the public as to individuals, from a total stagnation of all civil transactions, resolved to grant letters of - 78 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK II. dispensation to such as requested them, and particularly to ships about to sail from the ports ; for the captains, without this precau- , tion, would have been liable to heavy penalties, in other ports of the British dominions, for not having conformed to the stamp act. The lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, the governor being absent, alone obstinately persisted in exacting a strict execution of the law, and never consented to grant dispensations. Nor is it easy to con- ceive how great was the damage sustained, in all civil transactions, by the inhabitants of this opulent colony, in consequence of the obstinacy shown by the two parties. But the province of Massachusetts, the most populous of all, and that in which the opposition to the designs of England was the most determined and the most universal, took another resolution, of ex- treme importance, which was soon adopted by all the others. The leading patriots of Massachusetts reflected that popular commotions are commonly of little duration ; and that governments, to preserve their dignity, are more disposed to punish their authors, than to re- move their causes ; and consequently, that both reasons of state, and the wounded pride of those they had braved, would be united against them. They reflected, also, that the regular correspondence I established between the Sons of Liberty in the different provinces. / although of great importance to diffuse and uphold a common / opinion, was still but a correspondence of private men, acting by no j public authority ; and that, although the assemblies of representa- tives of each province, had opposed the late laws by suitable de- liberations, yet these acts were but the remonstrances of particular provinces, which did not represent the entire united body of the English colonies. They resolved, therefore, to take measures pre- liminary to the formation of a general congress, to which each of the provinces should send its deputies, for the purpose of .concluding a general and public confederacy against the laws of which America complained. They hoped that England would pay more regard to the opposition and remonstrances of such a body than to those of private individuals, or of the provincial assemblies, separated one from another. Perhaps they also hoped, as they probably already meditated the design of independence, that, by means of this con- 'gress, the colonies would become accustomed to act in concert, and consider themselves as a single and united nation. The first au- thors of this deliberation were the Otises, father and son, and James Warren, who took a more active part than others in affairs of this nature. The proposition having been submitted to the house of assembly, it was immediately adopted by passing a resolution, that it was high- BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 79 ly expedient to form a congress without delay, to be composed of all the deputies that should be sent by the houses of representatives or burgesses of the different colonies, to consult together respecting the present occurrences, and to form and transmit to England the remonstrances which might be deemed proper. It was decided, that this congress should be convoked in the city of New York, on the first Tuesday of October. This was the first general congress held in the colonies since the commencement of the tumults ; it served as a model to the other, which governed the affairs of America during the course of the war which broke out some time after. The other colonies addressed their acknowledgments to the province of Massachusetts, for its zeal in the common cause ; and sent their deputies to the congress of New York a memorable example ! The same councils which tended to establish a law by the divisions supposed to have resulted from the conflict of interests, produced, on the contrary, an univer- sal combination against this law ; and where it was expected to find general obedience, an unanimous resistance was encountered a manifest proof, that where no powerful armies exist, to constrain the opinion of the people, all attempts to oppose it are fraught with danger. The rulers of free states ought to show themselves their administrators, rather than masters ; they should be capable of guid- ing, without frequent use of the curb, or of the spur. On Monday, the 7th of October, 1765, the delegates of the American provinces convened in the city of New York. The bal- lot being taken, and the votes examined, Timothy Ruggles was elect- ed president. The congress, after a long preamble, full of the ordi- nary protestations of affection and loyalty towards the person of the king, and the English government, inserted a series of fourteen arti- cles, which were but a confirmation of the rights claimed by the Americans, both as men and as subjects of the British crown, of which we have already made frequent mention ; concluding with complaints of the restraints and impediments to their commerce, created by the late laws. They afterwards drew up three petitions, or remonstrances, ad- dressed to the king, to the lords in parliament, and to the house of commons. They enlarged upon the merits of the Americans, in having converted vast deserts, and uncultivated lands, into populous cities and fertile fields ; inhospitable shores into safe and commodi- ous ports ; tribes of ignorant and inhuman savages into civilized and sociable nations, to whom they had communicated the knowl- edge of things, divine and human; and thus had greatly advanced the glory, power, and prosperity of the British nation. \ 80 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. c We have always enjoyed,' they said, < the privileges of English subjects : to these we are indebted for the happy life we have led for so long a time. We cannot, we ought not, to renounce them ; none has the right to tax us but ourselves. We have been aggrieved and injured, beyond measure, by the late commercial restrictions ; but especially by the new and extraordinary act for imposing stamp duties. The peculiar circumstances of the colonies render it impos- sible to pay these duties ; and, though it were possible, the payment Vould soon drain them of all their specie. The execution of these laws would, by reaction, becoma extremely detrimental to the com- mercial interest of Great Britain. The colonies owe an immensely heavy debt, as well to England for British manufactures, as to their own inhabitants, for advances made by them for the public service in the late war. It is evident, the more the commerce of the colo- nies is favored, the more also that of England is promoted and in- creased. In such a country as America, where the lands are ex- tremely divided, and transfers of property very frequent, where a multiplicity of transactions take place every day, the stamp act is not only vexatious, but altogether insupportable ; the house of com- mons cannot, at so great a distance, be acquainted with our wants or with our faculties ; every one knows the distinction between the jurisdiction of parliament, in regulating the affairs of commerce in all parts of the empire, and colonial taxation ; for the latter object, the provincial assemblies have been expressly instituted in the colo- nies, which would become altogether useless, if the parliament should arrogate the right of imposing taxes ; the colonists have never obstructed, but have always promoted, to the extent of their power, the interests of the crown ; they bear a filial affection towards the government and people of England ; they love their opinions, their manners, their customs ; they cherish the ancient relations, which unite them ; they hope, therefore, that their humble representations will be heard ; that their deplorable situation will be taken into a just consideration ; that the acts which have oppressed their com- merce and their property, with such grievances, will be repealed, or that the Bntish government will otherwise relieve the American peo- ple, as in its wisdom and goodness shall seem meet.' But, as if they feared being called to participate in the general representation in parliament, by sending, their delegates also, they inserted in their petitions an assertion entirely new, which was, that, considering the remote situation, and other circumstances of the col- onies, it would be impracticable that they should be otherwise repre- sented, than by their provincial assemblies. Another of their com- plaints was directed against the clauses of the late laws, by whidi BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 81 the penalties and forfeitures, that might be incurred by the violation of the late regulations, and of the stamp act, were not to be decided, as in England, by the ordinary tribunals, but, at the election of the informer, by one of the courts of admiralty. Thus, they affirmed, at the good pleasure of the first suborner, they were liable to be car- ried, for trial, from one end of the continent to the other ; while, at the same time, they would be deprived of the right, so dear to all,, of being tried by a jury ; their fortunes, their characters, would be in the hands of a single judge. The 24th of October, it was determined by congress, that the pe- titions should be preferred in England, with the. requisite solicita- tions, by special agents, to be appointed for this purpose by the several provinces, and indemnified for all their expenses. The day following, having accomplished the objects for which it was con- vened, the congress dissolved itself. The news of the disturbances excited in America, by the stamp act, being arrived in England, the minds of all were deeply but dif- ferently affected, according to their various opinions and interests. The merchants, foreseeing that the sums they had lent the Ameri- cans could not be reimbursed, censured and detested the extraordi- nary law which had interrupted the ancient course of things. The greater part of them did not blame, but even appeared to approve the resolution taken by the Americans, to discontinue all remittances to England, persuaded that the new duties had deprived them of the means. The manufacturers, finding their orders diminished, and their business rapidly declining, were reduced to the greatest straits, and many to ruin. Some abandoned themselves to dejection and despondency, others manifested a lofty indignation at the ex- cesses committed by the Americans. Disputations and controversies were without number. Pamphlets were daily published, written upon different, and even opposite principles. In some, the Ameri-' : cans were extravagantly extolled, and praised as the defenders of liberty, the destroyers of tyranny, the protectors and supporters of all that is dear to man upon earth ; in others, they were acrimoni- ously accused of ingratitude, avarice, turbulence, suspicion, and finally, of rebellion. Those who in parliament, or elsewhere, had promoted the late la\vs, were disposed to employ force, and constrain the obedience of the Americans at all hazards ; and to inflict condign punishment upon the authors of such enormities. Those, on the contrary, who had opposed the act, declared for more lenient measures ; they af- firmed, that all other means should be tried before resorting to force ; that an attempt should first be made to soothe the minds of the colo VOL. i. 6 82 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. nists, as it was never too late to employ coercion ; that the signal of .civil war once given, the first blood once shed, it was impossible to foresee the consequences, or the termination of the contest. It was believed, at the time, that lord Bute, who had the king's entire confidence, and, concealed behind the scenes, was the prompt- er of all, had strongly advistd to trample down all obstacles, and to use the promptest means to subdue all opposition. The gentlemen of the royal household, who in their ambrosial life are ignorant of human miseries, would have winged the dispatches to America with fire and sword. The members of the episcopal clergy itself, for- getting the clemency of their character, professed the same senti- ments ; perhaps they already imagined that the Americans being reduced to submission, and the petulance, as they said, of their spirits brought under the curb, to prevent the return of similar disorders, il would be determined to introduce in the colonies the English hi- erarchy. It was also known that the king was inclined to enforce the execution of the stamp act, but that if this could not be effected without bloodshed, he wished its repeal. Meanwhile, the ministry, who had been the authors ol the restraints imposed on American commerce, and of the stamp act, had received their dismission. In appearance, and perhaps in reality, this change took place on account of the coldness with which they had proposed and supported the regency bill, before the two houses of parliament ; such at least was the general opinion ; but it is not improbable that it was occasioned by the alarming commotions raised in England by the silk-weavers, who complained of the declension of their manu- facture ; the cause of which was imputed, by some, to the intro- duction of an unusual quantity of foreign silks, and particularly those of France, bat the real or principal cause, was the diminution of purchases for American account. Perhaps, also, the government ' already suspected, or was apprised of the tumults in America. But it was given out and circulated with much industry, that the change of ministry ought to be attributed solely to the statute of regency. The government thus sheltered itself from the blame incurred by the new direction given to the affairs of America, and left the people at liberty to throw it upon the late ministry. For it is a salutary prin- ciple of the English constitution, that when, in consequence of a false or unfortunate measure, the state is menaced with serious dan- gers, (as this measure could not, however, be renounced without pre- judice to the dignity of government,) some occasion of a nature quite foreign, is eagerly sought as a pretext for dismissing the ministers. Then, without other accusation, the censure attaches to them ; the affair is again brought under deliberation, and the plan of conduct BOOK II. THE AEMRICAN WAR. 83 is entirely changed. Thus it is seen, that what, in other govern- ment?, where the sovereign is absolute, could only be obtained by his abdication, or otherwise would expose the state to the most disas- trous events, and perhaps total ruin, is easily obtained in England, by a simple change of ministers. In this manner the wishes of the nation are gratified without impairing the dignity of the throne, or the security of the state. But, as in all human things evil is always mingled with good, this procedure has also its inconveniences, and the new ministers are placed in a situation full of embarrassment ; for to march in a direction altogether opposite to that of their pred- ecessors, would be giving a complete triumph to the factious, to in surgents, to enemies, domestic or foreign, and would tend to ani- mate them with new audacity. On the other hand, to follow tame- ly the same track, would be continuing in evil, and doing precisely that which it is desired to avoid. It happens, therefore, too often, that the new ministers are obliged to pursue a certain middle course, which rarely leads to any desirable end ; a remarkable example of which is exhibited in the history of the events we retrace. The marquis of Rockingham, one of the wealthiest noblemen of the kingdom, and much esteemed by all for the vigor of his genius, and especially for the sincerity of his character, was appointed first lord of the treasury, in the room of George Grenville ; the other de- partments of the ministry passed from the friends of the latter to the friends of the former. The greater part were, or at least pro- fessed to be, friendly to the American cause. One of them, general Conway, had been appointed secretary of state for the colonies ; and no choice could have been more agreeable to the Americans. The new ministers soon turned their attention to the state of the colo- nies, which they resolved to meliorate, by procuring the abroga- tion of the laws which had caused such bitter complaints, and par- ticularly of the stamp act. But this they could not do at present, without a great prejudice to the dignity of government ; it was also necessary to wait for the regular meeting of parliament, which is usually convened at the close of the year ; finally it was requisite to take, at least in appearance, sufficient time to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the state of affairs in America, and to weigh them with much deliberation, in order to lay them before parliament with all due precision and illustrations. They endeavored in the mean time to soothe the minds of the Americans, and bring them back to reason, by pruning from the odious acts all the conditions that could be removed by an extreme laxity of interpretation ; by speaking, in their correspondence with the governors of the colonies, with great indulgence of the American disturbances ; and by encourag- 84 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. ing the colonists themselves to hope that their grievances would be redressed. The boai i of treasury decided that all the produce of the Ameri- can stamp duties should be paid, from time to time, to the deputy paymaster in America, to defray the subsistence of the troops, and any military expenses incurred in the colonies. The members of the board of trade, having taken into considera- tion the energetic resolutions of the assembly of Virginia, were ur- gent in their representations to the king, that he should notice them, ty a declaration of the royal disapprobation, and send instructions t3 the agents of the crown in Virginia, to enforce the strict execution of the stamp act, and all other laws proceeding from the legitimate authority of parliament. But all this was but a vain demonstration, for they well knew that their opinion would not be approved by the king's privy council. In effect, the council decided that the present matter could not be determined by the king in his privy council, but was within the competency of parliament. The resolutions of the other colonial assemblies having been de- nounced to the king, the privy council made the same answer in respect to them. Thus it was apparent, that a disposition existed to discourage all deliberations directed against America. The secretary of state, Conway, found himself in a very difficult situation. He could not but condemn the excesses to which the Americans had abandoned themselves ; but, on the other hand, he detested the thought of procuring, by force, the execution of a law which had been the cause of such commotions, and was considered by the new ministers, and by himself, perhaps, more than any other, if not unjust, certainly, at least, unseasonable and prejudicial. H;, therefore, had recourse to temporizing and subterfuges ; and dis- played in all his conduct a surprising address. In the letters addressed to the lieutenant-governor of Virginia, and to the other colonial governors, he expressed a full persuasion of the attachment of the mass of the Virginians to the mother country ; that the violent proceedings of some among them, had in no degree diminished the confidence his majesty had always placed in his good colony of Virginia ; that neither the crown nor its servants had any intention to violate the real rights and liberties of any part of his majesty's dominions ; that, on the other hand, the government would never endure that the dignity of parliament should be made a sac- rifice to certain local and anticipated opinions. He therefore ex- horted the governors to maintain, with all their power, but by all prudent measures, the just rights of the British government, (without, however, explaining what rights were intended.) He recommended BOOK II. THE AMERICAN WAR. 85 to them, especially, to preserve the peace and tranquillity of the provinces committed to their care ; then, adverting to the violences and outrages which had taken place in the colonies, he did not hesi- tate to attribute them to the lowest of the population, always fond of change ; he was confident, the better and wiser part of the citi- zens had taken no part in them, who must know that submission and decency are more efficacious than violence and outrage, to ob- tain redress, indulgence and favor. ' If prudence and lenity should pi-ove insufficient to calm the fermentation, it would be necessary to provide for the maintenance of peace and good order, by such a timely exertion of force as the occasion might require ; for which purpose, they would make the proper applications to general Gage or lord Colvil, commanders of his majesty's land and naval forces in America.' He praised, however, the patience and magnanimity of the gov- ernor of New York, in having abstained from firing the artillery of the fort on the infatuated populace, which so provokingly approached ; and testified his joy, that amidst so many disorders no blood had been spilt. He remarked that the distance of places prevented him from giving them more precise instructions ; and, finally, that he placed great reliance upon their wisdom, discretion and prudence. These dispatches of the secretary of state sufficiently evince what was his mode of thinking, with respect to American affairs : for, although he recommends the employment of force, if requisite, for the repression of tumults, he no where speaks of constraining the Americans to submit to the stamp act. In the midst of so many storms, the year 1765 approached its con- clusion, when the parliament was convoked, on the 17th of Decem- ber. Although the king, in his opening speech, had made mention of American affairs, this subject, which held in suspense not only Great Britain and her colonies, but even all Europe, was adjourned till the meeting of parliament, after the Christmas holidays. Ac- cordingly, on the 14th of January, 1766, the king adverted again to the events which had occurred in America, as matters of extreme importance, which would require the most serious attention of par- liament during its present session. Things were on all sides brought to maturity. The new ministers had laid before parliament all the information relating to this subject ; and, having previously arranged the system of measures they intended to pursue, they were fully pre- pared to answer the objections which they knew it must encounter from the opposite party. Likewise, those who from personal inter- est, or from conviction, voluntarily, or at the suggestion of others, proposed to support the ministers in their debates, had made all tho 86 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK II. dispositions they believed conducive to the object hi view. On the other hand, the late ministers, and all their adherents, had strenu- ously exerted themselves, in making preparations to defend a law they had ushered into being, and the darling object of their solici- tude ; fully apprised, apart from partiality for their own opinion, what dishonor, or at least what diminution of credit, they must sus- tain from its abrogation. But, whatever might have been the mo- tives, deducible from reasons of state, for the maintenance of the law, the prejudice which must result from it to the commerce of Great Britain, was already but too evident. , Accordingly, as if the merchants of the kingdom had leagued for the purpose, they presented themselves at the bar of parliament, with petitions, tending to cause the repeal of the act. They represented how much their commerce had been affected in consequence of the new regulations and new laws concerning America. ' At this moment,' they said, ' we see accumulated or perishing in our warehouses, immense quantities of British manufactures, which heretofore have found a ready market in America ; a very great number of artisans, manufacturers, and seamen, are without employment and destitute of support. England is deprived of rice, indigo, tobacco, naval stores, oil, whale fins, furs, potash, and other eommodities of American growth, that were brought to our ports in exchange for British manufactures. The merchants of Great Britain are' frustrated of the remittances, in bills of exchange and bullion, which the Americans have hitherto procured them ; and which they obtained in payment for articles of their produce, not required for the British market, and therefore exported to other, places ; already, many articles are wanting, heretofore procured by the Americans with their own funds, and with English manufac- tures, and which they brought eventually to the ports of England. From the nature of this trade, consisting of British manufactures exported, and of the import of raw materials from America, it must be deemed of the highest importance to the British nation ; since, among other advantages, it tended to lessen its dependence on for- eign states ; but it is henceforth annihilated, without the immediate interposition of parliament. The merchants of Great Britain are in advance to the colonists for the sum of several millions sterling, who are no longer able to make good their engagement* as they have heretofore done, so great is the damage they have sustained from the regulations of commerce recently introduced ; and many bankruptcies have actually occurred of late in the colonies a thin commanded a subdivision, and a movement being given by the first,"*^* was communicated progressively, and without delay, to the whole / province. These committees, or clubs, were composed of individu- als of different characters ; some entered them mechanically, and because they saw others do it ; some from attachment to the public cause ; others to acquire authority, to gratify their ambition, or their avarice ; others, finally, because they believed the general good is the supreme law, and that all the maxims of private morals should bend to this sovereign rule. All were resolved, or said they were resolved, to secure the liberty of their country, or part with life in the glorious attempt. The governor affirmed, that the greater part of them were athe- -^ ists, and contemners of all religion ; which made him wonder, he said, to see deacons, and other members of the church, who pro- ,., fessed a scrupulous devotion, in league with characters of such a_ description. This new political order, instituted by the few, was soon adopted, by the whole province ; and every city, village, or town, had its committee, which corresponded with the others. Their deliber- ations and decrees were considered as the will and voice of the people. The minds of the inhabitants were thus regularly inflamed and prepared for a general explosion. The other provinces imitated this example. The first occasion to act was offered to the committee of Boston* by the determination of the government, to charge itself with the\ salaries of the judges. Very spirited resolutions were framed, and ^ distributed profusely throughout the provinces. The committee ac- j companied them with a vehement letter, in which they exhorted the 5 inhabitants to rouse from their long slumber, to stand erect, and shake off indolence ; ' now while,' as it was said in the turgid style of that epoch, ' the iron hand of oppression is daily tearing the choicest fruits from the fair tree of liberty.' The effervescence became as extreme as universal. 1773. Meanwhile, an event occurred, which supplied fresh fuel to this fire, which already menaced a general conflagration. Doc- tor Franklin, agent at London of several colonies, and particularly of Massachusetts, had found means, it is not known how, to obtain, THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK III. from the office of state, the letters of governor Hutchinson, of lieu- tenant-governor Oliver, and of some others adhering to the party of government in America. In these dispatches, they acquainted the ministers with all that passed in the colonies ; and delivered their opinions with great freedom. They represented, that the members of the American opposition were generally persons of little weight, audacious and turbulent, but few in number ; that they were even without influence with the multitude ; that the mildness and for- bearance of the government had been the sole cause of their bold- ness ; that if it should take vigorous measures, all would return to their duty ; they recommended, especially, that the public officers should receive their stipends from the crown. Franklin transmitted these letters to Massachusetts ; they were printed and distributed copiously in all parts of the province. It is easy to imagine the ebullition they produced. While the inhabitants of the colonies were thus exquisitely sensi- ble to whatever they deemed hostile to their rights, resenting with equal indignation the most trivial as the most serious attack, a reso- lution was taken in England, which, if it had been executed, would have given the victory to the governnient, and reduced the Ameri- cans to the condition for which they demonstrated such an extreme repugnance. Their obstinacy, in refusing to pay the duty on tea, rendered the smuggling of it very frequent ; and their resolutions against using it, although observed by many with little fidelity, had greatly diminished the importation into the colonies of this com- modity. Meanwhile, an immense quantity of it was accumulated in the warehouses of the East India company in England. This com- pany petitioned the king to suppress the duty of three pence per pound upon its introduction into America, and continue the six pence upon its exportation from the ports of England ; a measure which would have given the government an advantage of three pence the pound, and relieved the Americans from a law they abhorred. The government, more solicitous about the right than the revenue, would not consent. The company, however, received permission to transport tea, free of all duty, from Great Britain to America ; and to introduce it there, on paying a duty of three pence. Here it was no longer the small vessels of private merchants, who went to vend tea, for their own account, in the ports of the colo- nies, but, on the contrary, ships of an enormous burthen, that trans- ported immense quantities of this commodity, which, by the aid of the public authority, might easily be landed, and amassed in suitable magazines. Accordingly, the company sent to its agents at Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, six hundred chests of tea, and a pro- BOOK HI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 119 portionate numoer to Charleston, and other maritime cities of the American continent. The colonists were now arrived at the decisive moment, when they must cast the die, and determine their cause in regard to par- liamentary taxes ; for if the tea was permitted to be landed, it would be sold, and the duty consequently paid. It was therefore resolved to exert every effort to prevent the landing. Even in England, in- dividuals were not wanting who fanned this fire ; some from a desire to baffle the government, others from motives of private interest, and jealousy at the opportunity offered the East India company to make immense profits to their prejudice. They wrote, therefore, to Amer- ica, encouraging a strenuous resistance. They represented to the colonists, that this would prove their last trial ; and if they should triumph now, their liberty was secured forever ; if they should yield, they, must bow their necks to the yoke of slavery ! The materials were too well prepared and disposed not to kindle. At Philadel- phia, those to whom the teas of the company were intended to be consigned, were induced by persuasion, or constrained by menaces, to promise not in any mode to accept the proffered consignment. At New YoA, captains Seers and Macdougall, daring and enterprising men, effected a concert of will between the smugglers, the merchants and the Sons of Liberty. Pamphlets, suited to the conjuncture, were daily distributed ; and nothing was left unattempted, by the popular leaders, to obtain their purpose. The factors of the company were obliged to resign their agency, and return to England. In Boston, the general voice declared the time was come to face the storm. ' Why do we wait ?' they exclaimed ; ' soon or late, we must engage in conflict with England. Hundreds of years may roll away, be- fore the ministers can have perpetrated as many violations of our rights as they have committed within a few years. The opposition is formed ; it is general ; it remains for us to seize the occasion. The more we delay, the more strength is acquired by the ministers. Do you not see how many arrogant youths they send us, to exercise the offices of the revenue, to receive enormous salaries, and to infect us with their luxury and corruption ? Tney will take AmerWdll wives, and will become powerful instruments of ministerial tyranny. This is the moment to strike a decisive blow, while our cause is strong in hope ; now is the time to prove our courage, or be disgraced with our brethren of the other colonies, who have their eyes fixed upon us, and will be prompt in their succors, if we show ourselves faithfi and firm.' The factors were urged to renounce their agency ; but they re- fused, and took refuge in the fortress. Immediately after, captain 120 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK III. Hall arrived in port, with a cargo of more than an hundred chests of tea. The people instantly assembled, in great fury, and sent notice to Rotch, the consignee of this cargo, that if he valued his safety and interest, he must abstain from receiving the tea, and cau- tion captain Hall against attempting to land it. They also placed a guard on Griffin's wharf, near which the ship was moored. It was agreed, that a strict watch should be kept ; that, in case of any in- sult during the night, the bell should be rung immediately ; that some persons should be always in readiness to bear the intelligence of what might occur to the neighboring towns, and to call in the assistance of the country people. The committee of correspondence performed their duty with activity. Captain Bruce and Coffin having arrived, with other car- goes of tea, they were ordered to cast anchor near captain Hall. The people from the country arrived in great numbers ; the inhab- itants of the town assembled. Rotch was requested to demand a certificate of clearance, that captain Hall might put back to sea with his ship. Things appeared hastening to a disastrous issue. In this conjunc- ture, Josiah Quincy, a man of great influence in the colony, of a vigorous and cultivated genius, and strenuously opposed to ministe- rial enterprises, wishing to apprise his fellow citizens of the impor- tance of the crisis, and direct their attention to results, demanded silence, and said, ' This ardor, and this impetuosity, which are mani- fested within these walls, are not those that are requisite to conduct us to the object we have in view ; these may cool, may abate, may vanish, like a flitting shade. Quite other spirits, quite other efforts, are essential to our salvation. Greatly will he deceive himself, who shall think, that with cries, with exclamations, with popular resolu- tions, we can hope to triumph, in this conflict, and vanquish our in- veterate foes. Their malignity is implacable, their thirst for ven- geance insatiable. They have their allies, their accomplices, even in the midst of us, even in the bosom of this innocent country ; and who is ignorant of the power of those who have conspired our ruin 7 who knows not their artifices ? Imagine not, therefore, that you can bring this controversy to a happy conclusion, without the most strenuous, the most arduous, the most terrible conflict. Con- sider attentively the difficulty of the enterprise, and the uncertainty of the issue. Reflect and ponder, even ponder well, before yon embrace the measures which are to involve this country in the most perilous enterprise the world has witnessed.' The question was put, whether the landing of the tea should be opposed ? and carried in the affirmative unanimously. Rotch was BOOK III. THE AMERICAN WAR. 121 then requested to demand of the governor a permit to pass the cas- tle. The latter answered, haughtily, that for the honor of the laws, and from duty to /vards the king, he could not grant the permit until the vessel was regularly cleared. A violent commotion immediately ensued. A person disguised after the manner of the Indians, who was in the gallery, shouted, at this juncture, the cry of war ; the meeting was dissolved in the twinkling of an eye. The multitude rushed in mass to Griffin's wharf. About twenty persons, also dis- guised as Indians, then made their appearance ; all either masters of ships, carpenters or calkers. They went on board the ships laden with tea. In less than two hours, three hundred and forty chests were staved, and emptied in the sea. They were not interrupted ; the surrounding multitude on shore served them as a safeguard. The affair was conducted v ithout tumult ; no damage was done to the ships, or to any other effects whatever. When the operation was terminated, every one repaired to his own habitation, either in the city or in the country. In New York and in Philadelphia, as no person could be found that would venture to receive the tea, the ships of the company, which had arrived in these ports, returned, with their cargoes, to England. In the former city, however, captain Chamber, having on board his ship some chests of tea for account of a private mer- chant, they were thrown into the sea. At Charleston, the tea was permitted to be landed; but, having been deposited in certain humid cellars, it perished. 1774. The news of these events having come to the ears of the ministers, they determined to take more vigorous measures. The province of Massachusetts, and especially the city of Boston, had always stood foremost in resistance, had been the scene of the great- est disorders, and appeared the head-quarters of sedition. The ministers therefore resolved to distinguish them by the first marks of their displeasure. They hoped that the principal agitators being thus repressed, the rest, would voluntarily return to submission. Considering, also, that the city of Boston was very flourishing : that it was accounted not only one of the most commercial cities of the continent, but even considered as the emporium of all the provinces of New England ; it is not surprising that they should have taken the resolution to deprive it entirely of its commerce, by means of a rigorous interdict, and turn it all towards some other maritime city of this coast. It was thought, likewise, that the civil magistrates, who, according to the statutes of the province, were chosen by the people, ought, for the future, to be appointed by the government ; that, placed thus entirely under its influence, they might no longer 122 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK III be inclined to favor the popular tumults, but become, from duty as well as inclination, interested to suppress them, by requiring the ne- cessary assistance from the military authorities ; for it was seen that the late tumults owed their origin and alarming increase to the inac- tivity of the military, which, according to the established laws, could not interfere without the requisition of the civil magistrates, from which they had purposely abstained. It was also in deliberation to pass a law for enabling the soldiers to execute with perfect security the orders they might receive for the suppression of tumults, without any fear of consequences. The ministers expected thus to create divisions, to render the civil magistrates absolutely dependent on the government, and to re-establish the soldiery in that independence which is essential to the complete exertion and efficacy of their force. But whoever has a competent share of natural capacity, and a slight acquaintance with political affairs, will readily see how wide were these resolutions of the British ministers from corresponding with the urgency of circumstances. Is it not surprising, that a govern- ment like that of England, which at all times had exhibited the evi- dences of an extreme ability, and of singular energy, having before its eyes the example of the revolutions of Switzerland and of Hol- land, well knowing the inflexible pertinacity inherent to the Ameri- can people, and the astonishing unity of sentiments they had recent- ly manifested in all their movements, is it not even astonishing that this government could have brought itself to believe, that the block- ing up a port and change of some old statutes, things that tended more to irritate than coerce, Would suffice to curb such headlong fury, vanquish such unyielding obstinacy, dissolve a league so formidable, and re-establish obedience where rebellion had already commenced its impetuous career? The display of a formidable force, and not the reforms of charters, presented the only mode of promptly termi- nating the contest, maintaining the ancient order of things, and re- storing tranquillity in America. The ministers ought to have been the more prompt in their military preparations, as they should not have been ignorant that France se- cretly encouraged these commotions, and was no stranger to their ul- timate object. Arms were not wanting ; they abounded. Due fore- cast, or the requisite vigor, were indeed wanting in the British coun- cils. Twenty or thirty thousand men, sent to America immediately after the commencement of the disorders, would indubitably have surmounted all resistance, and re-established obedience ; which it was idle to expect from a few modifications of the laws. England, in this instance, appeared to have forgotten the familiar aphorism, that wars, to be short, must be vigorous and terrible. BOOK III. THE AMERICAN WAR. 123 Nor could it be alledged, that the principles of the British constitu- tion would not have permitted the sending of a regular army into a British province, and in time of peace ; for, if the parliament sub- verted the fundamental statutes of the province of Massachusetts, and destroyed the most essential bases of the constitution itself, by the laws it was about to enact, it could also have authorized the presence of an efficient standing army. But lord Bute, the favorite counsellor of the king, and author of most of the secret resolutions', was a man whose passions were more remarkable than his sagacity ; and lord North, the prime minister, was rather an accurate and la- borious financier, than a statesman. He had formed about him a council of the most celebrated lawyers of the kingdom, to have their advice upon the present state of affairs ; and too many examples attest, what is to be expected from these doctors, when, with their schemes, and sophistical refinements, they undertake to interfere in the government of states, and to direct the revolutions of nations Good armies, large and vigorous measures, are the only means of success in such circumstances. In critical moments, the direction of affairs should be confided to men of firmness and decision, not to those whose cautious timidity can venture only half measures, and who are incapable of embracing a magnanimous policy. Lord North, on the 14th of March, proposed in the house of com- mons a bill, of the following purport; -that, dating from the 1st of June, 1774, it should be prohibited to land or discharge, lade or em- bark, any goods, wares, or merchandise, whatsoever, at the town or within the harbor of Boston ; and that the officers of the customs should be transferred immediately to the port of Salem. The min- ister remarked, that this law was no less necessary than just ; as from this city had issued all the mischief which disturbed the colo- nies, and all the venom that infected America. ' Thrice already have the officers of the customs been prevented from discharging their duty. At the epoch of the disorders, the in- habitants, instead of interfering to appease them, maintained regular guards, day and night, to prevent the landing of tea and other Brit- ish merchandise. Nay, more ; still fearing it might be landed, with an excess of popular insolence, absolutely unheard of, they have thrown into the sea the tea of the East India company. The meas- ure proposed is more severe in appearance than in reality ; for the Bostonians may cause it to cease, by yielding due respect to the laws. A few frigates stationed at the entrance of the harbor, will be suffi- cient to carry it into effect, without calling in the aid of the military ' It is now quite time to assume a firm attitude, and to take such vigorous steps as shall ultimately persuade the Americans that Eng- 124 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK III land has not only the power, but also the will, to maintain them m obedience ; in a word, that she is unalterably determined to pro- tect her laws, her commerce, her magistrates and her own dig- nity.' The project of the minister was opposed by the agent of Massa- chusetts, named Bollan, and by several orators of the house of ccm- mons, among whom Burke and Dowdeswell appeared the most animated ; 1 It is wished, then, to condemn the accused without a hearing, to punish indiscriminately the innocent with the guilty ! You will thus irrevocably alienate the hearts of the colonists from the mother country. Before the adoption of so violent a measure, the principal merchants of the kingdom should at least be consulted. The bill is unjust ; since it bears only upon the city of Boston, while it is noto- rious that all America is in flames ; that the cities of Philadelphia, of New York, and all the maritime towns of the continent, have ex- hibited the same disorders. You are contending for a matter which the Bostonians will not give up quietly. They cannot, by such means, be made to bow to the authority of ministers ; on the con- trary, you will find their obstinacy confirmed, and their fury exasper- ated. The acts of resistance in their city have -not been confined to the populace alone ; but men of the first rank and opulent fortune, in the place, have openly countenanced them. One city in pro- scription, and the rest in rebellion, can never be a remedial measure for general disturbances. Have you considered whether you have troops and ships sufficient to reduce the people of the whole American continent to your devotion ? It was the duty of your governor, and not of men without arms, to suppress the tumults. If this officer has not demanded the proper assistance from the military commanders, why punish the innocent for the fault and the negligence of the offi- cers of the crown ? Who is ignorant that certain foreign powers wait only for an occasion to move against England ? And will England now offer them this object of their desires ? The resistance is general in all parts of America ; you must therefore let it govern itself by its own internal policy, or make it subservient to all your laws, by an exeition of all the forces of the kingdom. These partial counsels are well suited to irritate, not to subjugate.' Notwithstanding all these arguments, the ministers obtained an immense majority of the suffrages ; and the bill passed, almost with- out opposition. A few days after, lord North proposed another law, which went to subvert entirely the fundamental statutes of Massachusetts, by investing the crown with the power to appoint the counsellors, judges BOOK III. THE AMERICAN WAR. 125 and magistrates of all denominations ; with the clause that each should hold his office during the pleasure of the king. Thus the people of Massachusetts no longer had authority to interfere, either directly or by their representatives, in the administration of the province, which became, therefore, completely dependent on the government ; as the latter controlled, at will, the measures of all the civil authorities. The ministers alledged that in doing this, no more was attempted than to place that province on the same footing as several others ; that the government did not, at present, possess a sufficient share of power, too much being lodged in the hands of the people ; ' If such a state of things be suffered to continue, it will no longer be possible to repress the seditious, and prevent the repetition of dis- orders. The magistrates, so long as they are chosen by the people, will never attempt to resist them ; but, on the contrary, will endeavor to flatter their caprices, than which nothing can be imagined more fatal, or more contrary to the public repose. In this province, all is confusion and uproar. In desperate cases, the most active remedies are necessary. Such is the crisis of the moment, that we must either renounce all supremacy over America, or curb with more effectual means these unruly spirits ; and, in such an extremity, what is the use of cavils and subtile distinctions ?' But the members of the opposition, and the agents of Massachu- setts, represented, on their part, that the measure proposed was flagrantly tyrannical ; that this alone, setting aside the affair of taxation, was more than sufficient to excite the greatest commotions in America. ( What can the Americans believe, but that England wishes to de- spoil them of all liberty, of all franchise ; and, by the destruction of their charters, to reduce them to a state of the most abject slavery ? It is a thing of no little peril, however, to undertake the reformation of charters. The princes of the house of Stuart found it so ; who lost the crown in attempting to gratify so fatal an ambition. Great Britain has always held similar proceedings in just abhorrence ; and how can she now herself pretend to imitate them ? Hitherto the Americans have only complained of the loss of one of their immu- nities ; but at present it is proposed to usurp them all. The other colonies will believe, that what is commenced in Massachusetts will soon be introduced in each of them ; and thus, it cannot be doubted, they will al! combine to oppose such attempts in the outset. As the Americans are no less ardently attached to liberty than the Eng- lish themselves, can it even be hoped they will submit to such ex- orbitant usurpations, to such portentous resolutions ?' ;\ 126 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK III. These, with other considerations, were advanced by those who advocated the American cause ; but all was in vain. The bill was passed, by an immense majority. Lord North then proposed a third, by which it was provided, that in case any individual should be questioned, in the province of Mas- sachusetts, for homicide, or other capital offense, and it should ap- pear to the governor, that the act was done in the execution of the law, or in assisting any magistrate to suppress tumults, and that a just and impartial trial was not to be expected in the province, the same governor should have authority to send the accused to take his trial in another colony, or, if expedient, even in Great Britain. This act was to be in force, for the term of four years. The minister insisted in his discourse, that without the measure proposed, those whose office it was to enforce the execution of the laws, would be very remiss in the discharge of this duty, having no hope to find, in case of need, an impartial tribunal to judge them. ' It is impossible, without inconsistency, to 'commit the trial of such persons to those against whom, in obedience to the laws, they may have acted. The bill now submitted will crown the resolutions taken with respect to the colonies ; your work, without this, would remain unfinished and defective. We must consider, that every thing we have, that is valuable to us, is at stake ; and the question at issue is very shortly this, Whether the Americans shall continue the subjects of Great Britain or not ? I feel assured of a good result, when all these new arrangements shall be carried properly into execution.' But colonel Barre, and Edmund Burke, opposed the minister with great warmth ; and spoke, in substance, as follows : ' This is indeed the most extraordinary resolution that was ever heard in the parliament of England. It offers new encouragement to military insolence, already so insupportable ; which is the more odious, in the present case, as the soldiers are expected to act against their own fellow citizens ! By this law, the Americans are deprived of a right which belongs to every human creature, that of demanding justice before a tribunal composed of impartial judges. Even captain Preston, who, in their own city of Boston, had shed the blood of citizens, found among them a fair trial, and equitable judges. It is an idea so extravagant, this of taking the trial over the Atlantic seas, three thousand miles, to Great Britain, where the prisoner may call upon and subpoena as many witnesses as he pleases, that it is hard to conceive how it could have entered the brain of any man in his senses. Instead of stimulating the audacity of regular troops, on the contrary the provincial militia should be encouraged, that they BOOK III. THE AMERICAN WAR. 127 may serve as a shield and a bulwark against them in favor of civil liberty. To approve this law is equivalent to a declaration of war against the colonies. Let us but look a little into our behavior. When we are insulted by Spain, we negotiate ; when we dispute with our brethren of America, we prepare our ships and our troops to attack them. In the one house of parliament, ' we,, have passed the Rubicon;' in the other, ' delenda est Carthago.' But I see nothing in the present measures, but inhumanity, injustice, and wickedness ; and I fear that the hand of Heaven will fall down on this unhappy country, with the same degree of vengeance we desire to wreak on our brethren of America. And what is the unpardon- able offense the Americans have been guilty of? Of no other but that of refusing their consent to ah act that was contrary to the writ- ten laws, and to the unalterable principles of the British constitu- tion. And if England herself, in certain ancient times, had not re- sisted such arbitrary laws, should we have enjoyed our present free government, or should we have existed as a house of commons here this day ? ' Lord Germaine, having risen, spoke thus on the side of ministers ; ' If I believed that the measure in question could be deemed unjust and tyrannical, I certainly should not undertake to support it against such vehement attacks. But as I think it, on the contrary, not only just, but seasonable and necessary, I shall freely defend it, even at the risk, in so doing, of wounding the delicate ears of the orators seated opposite. The trial of the military on this side of the water has been much objected to. What is it, sir, but a protection of inno- cence ? Can any thing be more desirable to generous minds, than that ? America, at this instant, is nothing but anarchy and confu sion. Have they any one measure, but what depends upon the will of a lawless multitude? Where are the courts of justice ? Shut up. Where are your council ? Where is your governor ? All of them intimidated by the infuriate rabble. Can you expect^ in the midst of such tumults, in the midst of such ferocious anarchy, that these men could have a fair tria.? No; assuredly not. It has been ob- served, that we negotiated, however, with Spain. But the Spaniards disavowed the fact, and acknowledged our right with respect to the Falkland Islands ; whereas, the contumacious Americans continue to resist and deride us ! It is objected, that these proceedings are to deprive persons of their natural right. Let me ask, of what natu- ral right ? Whether that of smuggling, or of throwing tea over- board r or of another natural right, which is not paying their debts ? But surely this bill does not destroy any of their civil rights. You have given the innocent man a fair trial. It is not a military govern- :\ u- \ 11 128 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK III. ment that is established ; but the alteration of a civil one, oy which it is made conformable to existing circumstances. If peace, if obe- dience to the laws and legitimate authorities, are still to be re-estab- lished in the province of Massachusetts, this is the only measure that can conduct us to a result so desirable.' The question being put, it was resolved in the affirmative ; an hundred and twenty-seven voted in favor of the bill, and only twenty-four against. Notwithstanding the resolutions recently taken, which were to produce such salutary effects in the colonies, the government re- flected that the Americans might possibly proceed to the last ex- tremities, and thus render it necessary to use open force to reduce them ; the ministers therefore thought it might be well to secure a place near the colonies, where they could make the necessary prep- arations, and disembark, upon occasion, their troops and munitions of war, without obstacles, without discontent on the part of the in- habitants, and, especially, without these eternal complaints of the violation of rights and of statutes. For such a purpose, no prov- ince appeared more suitable than Canada, which, from its situation, was well adapted to overawe the colonies where the late tumults had arisen. But, to facilitate this design, it was requisite to satisfy the Canadians, who, till very lately, having been French, were not yet accustomed to the laws of their new masters, and were even much inclined to detest them. The Canadian nobility, heretofore possessed of great authority in their province, complained that they had no longer so considerable a part in public affairs, as they had enjoyed under the French dominion. The people, professing generally the Catholic religion, were dissatisfied because they were not permitted to partake of all the privileges and civil advantages enjoyed by Protestant subjects. These motives determined the government to extend the author- ity of the nobility, and establish a perfect equality of rights between the Catholics and Protestants. Accordingly, upon the motion of lord North, the parliament passed an act, establishing, in the prov- ince of Canada, a legislative council, invested with all powers, ex- cept that of imposing taxes. It was provided, that its members should be appointed by the crown, and continue in authority during its pleasure ; that the Canadian subjects professing the Catholic faith, might be called to sit in this council ; that the Catholic clergy, with the exception of the regular orders, should be secured in the enjoy- ment of their possessions, and of their tithes towards all those who professed the same religion ; that the French laws, without jury, should be re-established, preserving, however, the English laws, with BOOK III. THE AMERICAN WAR. trial by jury, in criminal cases. It was also added, in order to fur nish the ministers with a larger scope for their designs, that the limits of Canada should be extended so as to embrace the territory situ- ated between the lakes, the river Ohio and the Mississippi. Thus, it was hoped, that being flanked by a province reduced to a state of absolute dependence on the government, and with this bridle, as it were, in the mouth, the Americans would no longer dare to renew their accustomed sallies. In the last place, a bill was proposed and passed, which author- ized, in case of exigency, the quartering of soldiers in the houses of citizens. These new laws were received in England with universal applause ; as a general and violent indignation had been excited there, by the insolence and enormities of the Americans. The bill of Quebec, however, as that of Canada was called, found a much less cordial re- ception. It even occasioned much murmuring among the English people. ' The other laws,' it was said, ' are just and proper, because they tend to establish English authority over the seditious ; but this is an attempt against the national liberty and religion.' Governor Hutchinson, become odious to the Americans, was suc- ceeded by general Gage, a man much known, and highly respected^ in America. He was invested with the most ample authority, to- pardon and remit, at discretion, all treason or felony, and even all murders or crimes, of whatever denomination, as also all forfeitures and penalties whatsoever, which the ir habitants of Massachusetts might have incurred. An universal curiosity prevailed, to know the result of the new measures taken by the English ministers, and what would be the issue of a contest, in which all the authority of a most ancient and powerful kingdom, formidable even from the terror of its name, and the recent glory of its arms, combated against the obstinacy of a people naturally headstrong, and attached to their privileges almost to infatuation. Nor did the course of events remain long in doubt. For, upon the arrival in Boston of the news of the port bill, a meet- ing of the inhabitants was immediately called ; in which, the act was declared to be unjust and cruel ; they made their appeal to God and to the world. A vast number of copies of the act were printed and dispersed throughout the colonies ; and, to make the deeper impres- sion on the multitude, the copies were printed on mourning paper, bordered with black lines ; and they were cried through the country, as the e Z>arZar'ersiE had not taken so alarming a character, nor had the government then! displayed so much rigcr, nor prostrated so many colonial statutes On the other hand, the members of this congress, though possessec of much, had not so entire an influence with the American people as those of the congress of Philadelphia ; nor did they excite sucf public expectation of future events as the latter assembly. The col- onists looked upon it as a convention of men who, in some mode or other, were to deliver their country from the perils that menaced it. The greater part believed that their ability, their prudence and their immense influence with the people, would enable them to ob- tain from the government the removal of the evils that oppressed them, and the re-establishment of the ancient order of things. Some others cherished the belief, that they would find means to conduct the American nation to that independence which was the first and most ardant of their aspirations, or rather the sole object of that in- tense passion which stung and tormented them, night and day. The confidence they had placed in the congress, was equal to the aver- sion they had conceived to the new laws. The generality of peo- ple, usually ignorant what obstacles must be encountered in great en- terprises, deem their grievances already removed, when they have confided to a few the interests of all ; the colonists, accordingly, at- tributing to their new delegates greater power than they in reality possessed, were generally elated with the most flattering hopes. They knew that a union of minds is the most efficacious instrument of success ; and their concord was prodigious ; all were ready to sac- rifice their lives and their fortunes to the triumph of their cause. 140 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IT. Not that there existed none of another mind, who would gladly have held a quite different course ; but they were few, in this firsi impulse, and they were reduced to silence by the consent and en- thusiasm of all the others. No other government, however consoli- dated by the lapse of ages or the force of arms, ever experienced so much promptness and punctuality of obedience as the American congress. The colonists were disposed to receive its deliberations, not only as the useful and salutary laws of a good government, bui as the revered precepts and oractes of men consecrated and gener- ously devoted to the salvation of their country. Such was the posture of affairs in America at the epoch of the convocation of congress. But in Europe, the novelty of circum- stances had excited strong emotions in the minds of all ; in some, creating fecr, in others, hope, in all, astonishment. In England, the ministerial party declaimed with vehemence against the audacity of the Americans, who were called rebels ; and the most rigorous counsels were already proposed. They could not comprehend how a people like that of America, divided, as they had always been, by a sectarian spirit, into various schisms and parties, should now be capable of a concord so entire, as to present but one only sentiment, and but one same will ; how, laying aside the mutual rancor result- ing from the diversity of their opinions and interests, they should all, at the present moment, have concurred in a resolution to de- fend and maintain what they considered their rights, against England. ' Is it conceivable, that a nation which subsists by its commerce, that has no naval armament, and whose principal cities are exposed to the vengeance of a maritime enemy, that is unprovided with reg- ular and veteran troops, should have the hardihood to dispute the will of the British nation, powerful in arms, radiant with the glory of its recent achievements, inexhaustible in puL lie and private resources, strong in a government cemented by the hand of time, formidable for the prodigious number of its ships, and abounding in experi- enced commanders, both of land and sea?' But it was answered on the other side : ' Wherefore this astonishment at the resolution of the Americans ? Even though it were true, that, as to the means of sustaining war, they were thus inferior to Great Britain, who is ignorant that men inflamed by the zeal of political opinions do not descend to nice calculations, or spend time in weighing the probabilities of the future ? And has not England herself many difficulties to surmount ? Is she not divided, even upon this question of America, by the spirit of par- ty ? Opinions are so much at variance on this subject, thai a greai number, it is clear, would march against the colonists with extreme BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 141 repugnance. A vast ocean separates from us the countries in which the war must be carried on ; this circumstance alone will, of neces- sity, cause an incalculable expense, an enormous waste of military stores, a frightful sacrifice of men, the most fatal delays, and * frequent defect of correspondence between measures and exigencies The finances of England are exhausted by the exorbitant debt con- tracted in times past, and especially during the late war ; the reve- nue falls far short of meeting the ordinary expenditure ; and so pon derous an increase of burthen as the disbursements of this new war must involve, would absolutely crush the resources of the state. Besides, what country is better adapted than America for a long defense ? It is covered with trackless forests, fortified by lakes, rivers, and mountains ; it has few passable roads ; and abounds in strong defiles, and fords, which are only known to the in- habitants.' Nor should it be omitted, that the recollection of past events must have acted with great force upon the minds of those who directed the counsels of England. They were abandoned to doubt and un- certainty ; for this was the same cause which in the preceding cen- tury had been contested in England, and which, after so many ef- forts, and so much blood, had produced a total revolution, and placed the British scepter in the hands of a ne\ ' line of princes. Bui even this reflection was calculated to excite, in the members of the government, a certain indignation, but too proper to pervert their reason, and alienate them from the counsels of moderation and pru- dence. Assuredly, since the epoch of this revolution, the British cabinet never had a more difficult enterprise to conduct ; it had never witnessed a crisis of such fatal augury, or that menaced, with a wound so deadly, the very heart of the state. Nor was it possible to dissemble, that the Americans would not be destitute of foreign succors ; for, although the European powers, who possessed colo- nies in America, could not, but with certain solicitude, contemplate these commotions in the British provinces, viewing them as a danger- ous example for their own subjects, who, if success should attend the designs of the Americans, might, they apprehended, indulge pernicious thoughts, and contrary to their allegiance, yet they were greatly re-assured, by reflecting that their colonists were far from cherishing the same political opinions that prevailed among the in- habitants of the English colonies. And, on the other hand, their vehement desires to see the power of England reduced, prevented them from perceiving the danger, or caused them to despise it ; for this danger was remote and uncertain ; whereas the advantage of the humiliation of England, which was expected to result from the 142 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. A merican war, was near at hand, and, if not certain, at least ex- tit;mely probable. But, among the various nations of Europe, all more or less favor- able to the cause of the Americans, and equally detesting the tyr- anny of England, none signalized themselves more than the French. The desire of vengeance, the hope of retrieving its losses, the re- membrance of ancient splendor, the anguish of recent wounds, all stimulated the French government to side with the Americans. It waited only for the maturity of events, and a propitious occasion, to declare itself. These dispositions of the ministry were not unknown to the nation ; and, as no people are more susceptible of impres- sions from those in power than the French, the cause of the Ameri- cans found among them the most ardent and the most inge- nious advocates. Many other causes, no less evident, concurred to the same effect. The people of France, though accustomed to live under a very absolute system of government, have uniformly testified a particular esteem for such men, and for such nations, as have valiantly defended their liberty against the usurpations of tyranny ; for, when they are not led astray, and as it were transported out of themselves, by their exorbitant imagination, their character is natu- rally benevolent and gentl ^ ; they are always disposed to succor the oppressed, especially when they support their ill fortune with con- stancy, and contend, with courage to surmount it ; in a word, when their enterprise presents an aspect of glory and of greatness. Such was, or appeared to be, the cause of the Americans ; and such were the general sentiments of the French towards them. It should also be added, that, at this epoch, the writers who had treated political subjects, in all countries, and especially in France, had manifested themselves the advocates of a more liberal mode of government; and thus the opinions which prevailed, at that time, were extremely propitious to civil liberty. These writings were in more eager request, and these opinions were still more rapidly dis- seminated, at the news of the commotions which agitated America ; than which nothing could more evidently prove what was the spirit of that epoch. In all social circles, as well as in numerous publica- tions which daily appeared in France, the Americans were the objects of boundless praise ; their cause was defended by the most spe- cious arguments, and justified by a multitude of illustrious exam- ples. And if, at the epoch when France, after the cession made by the republic of Genoa, had undertaken the conquest of Corsica, ma- ny were found, among the French, who professed themselves the apologists of those islanders, and ventured openly to condemn the determination of their own government to subdue them, it may well BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 143 be thought, the partisans of the Americans were far more numer- ous, and demonstrated an enthusiasm still more ardent. It would be difficult to express what joy and what hopes were excited by the intelligence of the convocation of the American congress. The names' of the deputies were extolled to the skies ; ' Let them has- ten,' it was said, every where, ' to shake off the yoke of English despotism, to sever these bonds of servitude ; let them establish civil liberty in their country ; and let them serve as a perpetual ex- ample that princes cannot, without peril, violate the fundamental laws of their states, nor attack with impunity the privileges and im- munities of their subjects.' Thus the French excited continually by new motives and plausible arguments, the already exasperated minds of the Americans ; and irritated those wounds which had already the appearance of canceration, in order to render them absolutely incurable. Thus the congress saw united in its favor, not only the opinions of the American people, but also those of all the European nations, and even of their governments ; as likewise of no small part of the inhabitants of Great Britain itself. So great was, at this epoch, either the spirit of innovation, or the love of liberty, or the desire to shake off the restraints of all authority whatsoever ! Meanwhile all minds were suspended with expectation, for the issue of so important a contest ; and all eyes were attentive to see what measures the American convention would first adopt to sustain it. It was natural, that the first thoughts of congress should have turned towards the province of Massachusetts, and the city of Bos- ton. The resolutions of the assembly of Suffolk having been the most vigorous, and the most important, it was determined to confirm them. They accordingly resolved, that they deeply felt the suffer- ings of their countrymen, of the province of Massachusetts, under the operation of the late unjust and cruel acts of the British parlia- ment ; that they much approved the wisdom and fortitude which the people of Massachusetts had displayed, in opposing such wicked measures ; they exhorted them to perseverance, and recommended the complete execution of the resolutions taken by the assembly of Suffolk ; they expressed their confident hopes that the united efforts of North America, would so persuade the British nation of the im- prudence, injustice, and danger of the policy of the present minis- ters, as quickly to introduce better men, and wiser measures ; and finally, they recommended, that the contributions which had been commenced, in all the colonies, should continue to be collected, for the relief and support of the Bostonians. And as those who are inclined to war, generally affect the most earnest desire of peace. J44 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. congress addressed a letter to general Gage, praying him to put a stop to the hostile preparations, which might provoke a pacific peo- ple to have recourse to arms, and thus prevent the endeavors of the congress, to restore a good understanding with the parent state, and involve the nation in all the horrors of a civil war. He was 'espe- cially requested to discontinue the fortifications of Boston, to repress military license, and to restore a free communication between the city and country. Although the congress was not, constitutionally, a legitimate as- sembly, general Gage, desirous of testifying his disposition to pre- serve peace, answered, that no troops had ever given less cause for complaint, than those that were then stationed in Boston, notwith- standing the insults and provocations daily given to both officers and soldiers ; that the communication between the city and country had been always free, and should remain so, unless the inhabitants should constrain him to take other measures. The congress also decreed that if it should be attempted to carry into execution, by force, the late acts of parliament, in such case, all America ought to support the inhabitants of Massachusetts in their opposition ; that in case it should be judged necessary to remove the citizens of Boston into the country, the injury they might thereby sustain, should be repaired at the public expense ; and that every person whomsoever, who should accept of any commission, or authority, emanating from the new laws, should be held in universal detestation and abhorrence. The congress also deemed it useful and necessary to resort to the accustomed confederacies against English commerce ; the merchants of the colonies were therefore requested to suspend all importation of merchandise from Great Britain, until the congress should have published its intentions, touching the course to be pursued for the preservation of the liberties of America. The agreement was prompt- ly and universally contracted, according to its desires ; and it was further stipulated, that all exportation of merchandise to Great Brit- ain, Ireland and the West Indies, should cease after ihe 10th of September, 1775, unless the wrongs of which the Ameiicans com- plained, were redressed prior to that period. The league was ob- / served, this time, with an astonishing consent. There still remained an affair of the last importance ; v .hat of de- termining what were the pretensions of America, and the t ;rrns upon which she would consent to resume her ancient relations of amity with Great Britain. To this effect the congress published an elabo- rate declaration, entitled, a Declaration of Rights. This paper com- menced with very bitter complaints, that the parliament had, of late years, undertaken to tax the colonies ; to establish an extraordinary HOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 145 board of customs ; to extend the jurisdiction of the courts of admi- ralty ; to grant salaries to the judges, without the concurrence of the colonial assemblies ; to maintain a standing army in times of peace ; to ordain that persons charged with offenses, affecting the state, shou-ld be transported to England for trial ; to annul the regulations of the government of Massachusetts, respecting the prosecution of ^XlC those who should be questioned for acts committed in the execution/ I) of the laws, and in opposition to tumults ; and, finally, to abolish the English laws in Canada, and to grant in that province extraordi- nary favor to the Catholic religion. Which acts of the parliament were pronounced impolitic, unjust, cruel, contrary to the constitu- tion, most dangerous and destructive of American rights. They continued with saying, that whereas the legal assemblies of Ameri- ca, which had peaceably convened to deliberate on grievances, and remonstrate against unjust'and oppressive laws, had been frequently dissolved, and their petitions and supplications treated with contempt by the ministers of the king; the Americans had, therefore, deter- mined to convoke this congress, in order to vindicate and secure their rights and liberties. Then followed the enumeration of these rights, such as life, lib- erty and property ; which, they affirmed, no power could dispose of without their consent. To these were added the rights peculiar to English subjects, as, for example, to participate in the legislative council ; and as the inhabitants of the colonies were not, and, from local and other circumstances, could not be represented in the Brit- ish parliament, they were entitled, it was asserted, to enjoy this right of legislation in their respective assemblies, consenting cheerfully , however, to the operation of such acts of parliament as were, bone fide, restrained to the regulation of commerce, excluding every idea of taxation, internal or external. They claimed, in like manner, th right of being tried by their peers of the vicinage, and that of peace ably assembling and addressing their petitions to the king. It was also declared, that the keeping a standing army in the colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the respective colonial assem- blies, was altogether contrary to law. The congress here recapitu- lated the acts of parliament which had violated the foregoing rights, affirming that the Americans could not submit to such grievous acts and measures, nor in any mode return to the former state of things, without their revocation. It was hoped, that their fellow citizens of Great Britain, would, on the revision of these laws, see the necessity of repealing them, and thus restore the Americans to that state of happiness and prosper- ity, which they had enjoyed in times past ; that, in the meantime, VOL. I. 10 146 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. and for the present, they were resolved to enter into a non-importa- tion, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement, in respect to all articles of commerce with Great Britain. They determined, also, to prepare an address to the people of Great Britain, and a memo- rial to the inhabitants of British America, as also another to the king, in conformity to resolutions already taken. By the first, their design was to conciliate the English people, and to appease the resentment which they apprehended would be ex- cited by the effect of the American combinations against their com- merce. This they executed with singular address ; on the one hand, flattering the self-love of the British, and on the other, averring that it was with repugnance, and compelled, as it were, by invincible ne- cessity, they were induced to embrace these prejudicial associations. They were ready, they added, to dissolve them the moment the government should have restored them to their original condition. We transcribe a part of this address of the American congress to thi English people, as it is peculiarly proper to demonstrate what were the prevailing opinions at this epoch ; with what ardor and in- flexible resolution the Americans supported their cause ; and the great progress they had made in the art of writing with that elo- quence which acts so irresistibly upon the minds of men. The three members of congress who composed it, were, Lee, Livingston, and Jay ; the last, it is generally believed, was the author. It was con- S^jived in the following terms : ' When a nation, led to greatness by the hand of liberty, and pos- sessed of all the glory that heroism, munificence and humanity can bestow, descends to the ungrateful task of forging chains for her friends and children, and instead of giving support to freedom, turns advocate for slavery and oppression, there is reason to suspect she has either ceased to be virtuous, or been extremely negligent in the appointment of her rulers. ' In almost every age, in repeated conflicts, in long and bloody wars, as well civil as foreign, against many and powerful nations, against the open assaults of enemies, and the more dangerous treach- ery of friends, have the inhabitants of your island^your great and glorious ancestors, maintained their independence, and transmitted the rights of men, and the blessings of liberty, to you their posteri- ty. Be not surprised, therefore, that we, who are descended from the same common ancestors ; that we, whose forefathers participated in all the rights, the liberties, and the constitution, you so justly boast of, and who have carefully conveyed the same fair inheritance to us, guarantied by the plighted faith of government, and the most solemn compacts with British sovereigns, should refuse to surrender BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 147 them to men, who found their claims on no principles of reason, and who prosecute them with a design, that by having our lives and prop- erty in their power, they may, with the greater facility, enslave yon. The cause of America is now the object of universal attention ; it has, at length, become very serious. This unhappy country has not only been oppressed, but abused and misrepresented ; and the duty we owe to ourselves and posterity, to your interest, and the general welfare of the British empire, leads us to address you on this very important subject. 'Know, then, that we consider ourselves, and do insist that we are, and ought to be, as free as our fellow subjects in Britain, and that no power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent. That we shall claim all the benefits secured to the subject by the English constitution, and, particularly, that in- estimable one of trial by jury. That we hold it essential to English liberty, that no man be condemned unheard, or punished for sup- posed offenses, without having an opportunity of making his defense. I That we think the legislature of Great Britain is not authorized by I the constitution, to establish a religion, fraught with sanguinary and/ impious tenets, or to erect an arbitrary form of government, in an\j quarter of the globe. . ' These rights, we, as well as you, deem sacred. And yet, sacred as they are, they have, with many others, been repeatedly and fla- grantly violated. Are not the proprietors of the soil of Great Brit- ain lords of their own property ? can it be taken from them without their consent? will they yield it to the arbitrary disposal of any man or number of men whatever ? You know they will not. Why then are the proprietors of the soil of America less lords of their proper- ty than you are of yours ? or why should they submit it to the dis- posal of your parliament, or any other parliament, or council in the world, not of their election ? Can the intervention of the sea that divides us, cause disparity in rights ? or can any reason be given why English subjects, who live three thousand miles from the royal pal- ace, should enjoy less liberty than those- who are three hundred miles distant from it ? Reason looks with indignation on such dis- tinctions, and freemen can never perceive their propriety. And yet, however chimerical and unjust such discriminations are, the parlia- ment assert, that they have a right to bind us in all cases without ex- ception, whether we consent or not ; that they may take and use our property, when and in what manner they please ; that we are pen- sioners on their bounty for all that we possess, and can hold it no longer than they vouchsafe to permit. Such declarations we con- sider as heresies in English politics, and which can no more operate 148 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK. IV to deprive us of our property, than the interdicts of the pope can divest kings of scepters, which the laws of the land and the voice of the people have placed in their hands. ' At the conclusion of the late war a war rendered glorious by the ability and integrity of a minister, to whose efforts the British empire owes its safety and its fame ; at the conclusion of this war, which was succeeded by an inglorious peace, formed under the aus- pices of a minister, of principles, and of a family unfriendly to the protestant cause, and inimical to liberty. We say, at this period, and under the influence of that man, a plan for enslaving your fel- low subjects in America was concerted, and has ever since been per- tinaciously carrying into execution. * Prior to this era, you were content with drawing from us the wealth produced by our commerce. You restrained our trade in every way that could conduce to your emolument. You exercised unbounded sovereignty over the sea. You named the ports and nations to which, alone, our merchandise should be carried, and with whom, alone, we should trade ; and though some of these restric- tions were grievous, we, nevertheless, did not complain ; we looked up to you as to our parent state, to which we were bound by the strongest ties ; and were happy in being instrumental to your pros- perity and your grandeur. We call upon you yourselves to witness our loyalty and attachment to the common interest of the whole empire ; did we not, in the last war, add all the strength of this vast continent to the force which repelled our common enemy ? Did we not leave our native shores, and meet disease and death, to promote the success of British arms in foreign climates ? Did you not thank us for our zeal, and even reimburse us large sums of money, which, you confessed, we had advanced beytTiH our proportion, and far beyond our abilities ? You did. To whai causes, then, are we to attribute the sudden change of treatment, and that system of slavery which was prepared for us at the restoration of peace ? ' After having gone through a recital of the present disturbances, and specified all the laws of which they complained, they continued thus : ' This being a true state of facts, let us beseech you to consider to what end they lead. Admit that the ministry, by the powers of Britain, and the aid of our Roman Catholic neighbors, should be able to carry the point of taxation, and reduce us to a state of per- fect humiliation and slavery ; such an enterprise would doubtless make some addition to your national debt, which already presses down your liberties, and fills you with pensioners and placemen. We presume, also, that your commerce will somewhat be diminished. BOOK IT. THE AMERICAN WAR. 149 However, suppose you should prove victorious, in what condition will you then be ? What advantages, or what laurels, will you reap from such a conquest ? May not a ministry, with the same armies, enslave you ? It may be said, you will cease to pay them ; but, re- member, the taxes from America, the wealth, and we may add the men, and particularly the Roman Catholics, of this vast continent, will then be in the power of your enemies ; nor will you have any reason -to expect, after making slaves of us, many among us should refuse to assist in reducing you to the same abject state. ' We believe there is yet much virtue, much justice, and much public spirit, in the English nation. To that justice we now appeal. iTou have been told, that we are seditious, impatient of government, and desirous of independency ; but these are mere calumnies. Per- mit us to be as free as yourselves, and we shall ever esteem a union with you to be our greatest glory, and our greatest happiness. But if you are determined that your ministers shall wantonly sport with the liberties of mankind ; if neither the voice of justice, the dictates of the law, the principles of the constitution, or the suggestions of humanity, can restrain your hands from shedding human blood in such an impious cause, we must then tell you, that we shall never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any minister or nation in the world. - < ^^** M *** M * i ' Place us in the same situation that we were at the close of tn*, war, and our former harmony will be restored. But lest the same supineness, and the same inattention to our common interest, which you have for several years shown, should continue, we think it pru- dent to anticipate the consequences. By the destruction of the trade of Boston, the ministry have endeavored to induce submission to their measures. The like fate may befall us all. We will en- deavor, therefore, to live without trade, and recur for subsistence to the fertility and bounty of our native soil, which will afford us all the necessaries, and some of the conveniencies, of life. We have suspended our importation from Great Britain and Ireland ; and, in less than a year's time, unless our grievances should be redressed, shall discontinue our exports to those kingdoms and the West Indies. It is with the utmost regret, however, that we find ourselves com- pelled, by the overruling principles of self-preservation, to adopt measures detrimental in their consequences to numbers of our fel- low subjects in Great Britain and Ireland. But we hope that the magnanimity and justice of the British nation will furnish a parlia- ment of such wisdom, independence and public spirit, as may save the violated rights of the whole empire from the devices of wicked ministers and evil counsellors, whether in or out of office; and there- 150 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV by restore that harmony, friendship and fratei nal affection, between all the inhabitants of his majesty's kingdoms and territories, so ar- dently wished for by every true and honest American.' The scope of their address to the inhabitants of America, was to manifest the justice of their cause, by an exact enumeration of the offensive laws ; to confirm them in resistance ; and to prepare their minds for the worst. They observed, that the designs of the min- isters to enslave America, had been conducted with such constancy, as to render it prudent to expect mournful events, and be prepared, in all respects, for every contingency. In the petition addressed to the king, they made protestations of their attachment towards the crown and the royal family ; they af- firmed that nothing short of the usurpations which wicked counsel- lors, deceiving the paternal heart of his majesty, had attempted, could have induced them to depart from that submission of which they had given, in happier times, such signal examples ; that it was with extreme reluctance, and urged by imperious necessity, they had entered into resolutions detrimental to the commerce of their European fellow subjects ; and after having recapitulated their griev- ances, they proceeded : ' From this destructive system of colonial administration, adopted since the conclusion of the last war, have flowed those distresses, dangers, fears, and jealousies, that overwhelm your majesty's dutiful colonists with affliction ; and we defy our most subtle and inveterate enemies, to trace the unhappy differences between Great Britain and these colonies, from an earlier period, or from other causes than we have assigned. Had they proceeded, on our part, from a rest- less levity of temper, unjust impulses of ambition, or artful sugges- tions of seditious persons, we should merit the opprobrious terms frequently bestowed upon us by those we revere. But, so far from promoting innovations, we have only opposed them ; and can be charged with no offence, unless it be one to receive injuries and be sensible of them. ' Had our Creator been pleased to give us existence in a land of slavery, the sense of our condition might have been mitigated by ignorance and habit. But, thanks toe to his adorable goodness, we were born the heirs of freedom, and ever enjoyed our rights under the auspices of your royal ancestors, whose family was seated on the British throne to rescue and secure a pious and gallant nation from the popery and despotism of a superstitious and inexorable tyrant. 1 Your majesty, we are confident, justly rejoices that your title to the crown is thus founded on the title of your people to liberty ; ami BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAK. therefore we doubt not but your royal wisdom must approve ihe sensibility that teaches your subjects anxiously to guard the blessing they received from Divine Providence, and thereby to prove the per- formance of that compact which elevated the illustrious House of Brunswick to the imperial dignity it now possesses. The apprehen- sion of being degraded into a state of servitude, from the pre-emi- nent rank of freemen, while our minds retain the strongest love of liberty, and clearly foresee the miseries preparing for us and our pos- terity, excites emotions in our breasts, which, though we cannot de- scribe, we should not wish to conceal. Feeling as men, and thinking as subjects, in the manner we do, silence would be disloyalty. By giving this faithful information, we do all in our power to promote the great objects of your royal cares, the tranquillity of your govern- ment, and the welfare of your people ; and, as your majesty enjoys the signal distinction of reigning over freemen, we apprehend the lan- guage of freemen cannot be displeasing. Your royal indignation, we' hope, will rather fall on those dangerous and designing men, who, daringly interposing themselves between your royal person and your faithful subjects, and for several years past incessantly employed to dissolve the bonds of society, by abusing your majesty's authority, misrepresenting your American subjects, and prosecuting the most desperate and irritating projects of oppression, have at length com- pelled us, by the force of accumulated injuries, too severe to be any longer tolerable, to disturb your majesty's repose by our com- plaints.' The congress having, by these different writings, endeavored to mollify the breast of the sovereign, to conciliate the favor of the English people, to dispose and prepare the colonists to brave all the terrors of the crisis, and, generally, to propitiate the favor of the ''-uropean nations, turned their attention towards the inhabitants of Canada, whose benevolence it was desirable to cultivate, in order to secure, if not their adherence, at least their neutrality, in the grand struggle that was approaching ; for, omitting the increase of force which must have resulted to one or other of the belligerent parties, from the alliance of the brave and warlike Canadians, it was of the greatest importance to the colonists, to be secure of the friendly dis* position of a country, which, from its position alone, appeared to menace their provinces. This negotiation, however, required a very delicate management ; for the Canadians were not accustomed to English liberty ; and had been long contented with their condition under the government of France. The difference of religion was also an obstacle of great moment. How was it possible to persuade them to undertake the defense of rights they scarcely knew, or THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. h they esteemed of little vahie ? And how hopeless must have appeared the attempt to induce them to complain of the act of Que- bec, which favored, protected, and placed in a condition, even better than at first, a religion they held so much at heart ! The congress, however, in their address to the Canadian people, eluded these em- barrassments with singular dexterity. They commenced with a declaration that the Canadians were en- titled to possess all the rights enjoyed by English subjects ; they ac- cused the ministers of a design to deprive them thereof, and to en- slave them totally. They endeavored to explain, in the most insin- uating style, what these rights were ; how extreme their importance, and how conducive they were to the happiness of every human being. They sufficed, it was affirmed, to defend the poor from the rich, the feeble from the powerful, the industrious from the rapa- cious, the peaceable from the violent, the tenants from the lords, and all from their superiors. ' These are the rights without which a people cannot be free and happy, and to whose protection and en- couraging influence the English colonies are indebted for their pres- ent prosperity and numerous population. Of these rights the act of Quebec has completely divested the Canadians ! It has not left the people even a shadow of authority, but has placed it all in the hands of those who are themselves absolutely dependent on the crown. Can any government be imagined more arbitrary or tyrannical ? What- ever may have ieen the rigors of the French domination, your pres- ent condition is infinitely worse ; for then they were Frenchmen, who ruled other Frenchmen ; and that benignity which the mode of government appeared to exclude, resulted, nevertheless, from the community of language, manners, opinions, and the bonds of na- tional fraternity. But since they are Englishmen who now govern a French people, the latter can no longer expect from the sympathy of their rulers, but only from the protection of laws, a refuge from the abuses of authority, and the rapacious passions of foreign min- isters, always disposed to suspect them of pernicious designs. Seize; then, the occasion which is offered, by joining with us, to acquire that liberty and those privileges which the colonists have always en- joyed ; and which they are, with one mind, resolved never to resign, but with their lives.' As to religion, in order to quiet their minds upon this subject, it was observed, that the tolerant opinions which prevailed, at the pres- ent epoch, among the French people, would doubtless remove all obstacles to a sincere amity between them. They cited the example of the Swiss, who, notwithstanding the difference of their religion, BCOK IV THE AMERICAN WAR. 153 lived with one another in the utmost concord, and were thus enabled to defy and defeat every tyrant that had invaded them. ' Let the inhabitants of Canada, therefore, take advantage of cir- cumstances. Let them form a provincial convention ; let them elect their delegates to congress, and attach themselves to the com- mon cause of North America. Has not the present congress al- ready resolved unanimously, that they considered the violation of the rights of the Canadians, by the act for altering the government of their province, as a violation of the rights of the colonists them- selves ? ' Letters of a similar style, and tending to the same object, were addressed to the colonies of St. John's, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and the Floridas. At the same time, the congress passed a resolution, declaring, that the arrest of any person in America, in order to transport such per- son beyond the sea, for trial of offenses committed in America, be- ing against law, authorized resistance and reprisal. Having concluded these transactions, and appointed the 10th of the ensuing May for the convocation of another general congress, the present dissolved itseit. No one will deny, thai this assembly knew how to appreciate the circumstances ol the time, and demonstrated a rare sagacity, in leading them to co-operate in their designs. They not only found means to invigorate the opinions which then prevailed in America, but also to diffuse and propagate them surprisingly ; applauding the ardent, stimulating the torpid, and conciliating the adverse. They were lavish in protestations of loyalty to the king ; which could not fail to answer the end they proposed that of finding a pretext and excuse for ulterior resolutions, in case their remonstrances should prove ineffectual. With the same apt policy, they flattered the pride of the British nation, with the view of engaging it to favor their cause. They manifested equal dexterity in fomenting the political opinions that were beginning to prevail in this century. Originating at first in England, they had been diffused, by degrees, among the neighboring nations, and particularly in France, where they had been introduced, and defended with a fascinating eloquence, by the most celebrated writers of that period. Accordingly, in every place and circle, the Americans, and especially the members of congress, were considered as the generous champions of these favorite principles ; for, as to the object they had in view, there no longer existed a doubt. Though it was possible, however, to excuse, and even applaud this resolution of the Americans, to defend, by force of arms, the rights for which thev contended, it was difficult, it must be acknowledged, 154 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. to reconcile with the loyalty they so frequently professed, their in- sinuating writings to draw into their confederacy other subjects of the crown of England, as the Canadians, for example, who had not, or who made no pretensions to have, the same rights. But in af- fairs of state, utility is often mistaken for justice ; and, in truth, no event could have happened more useful to the colonists than the ad. hesion of the Canadians to their cause. 1775. The resolutions of congress were received in America with universal consent. They were approved not only by the peo- ple, but also by the authorities, whether established or provisional. The assembly of Pennsylvania, convened about the close of the year, was the first constitutional authority which ratified formally all the acts of congress, and elected deputies for the ensuing. A con- vention having soon after been formed in this province, it was there- in declared, that, if the petition of congress was rejected, and the government should persist in attempting to execute by force the late arbitrary acts of parliament, it would then be requisite to resist also with open force, and defend, at all hazards, the rights and liberties of America. Not content with words, this assembly recommended that provision should be made of salt, gunpowder, saltpetre, iron, steel, and other munitions of war. Charles Thomson and Thomas Mifflin, afterwards general, both men of great influence in the prov- ince, and much distinguished for their intellectual endowments, were very active on this occasion ; and, by their exertions, the reso- lutions of the convention were executed with singular promptitude and vigor. The inhabitants of Maryland displayed an equal ardor ; all within their province was in movement. Meetings were convoked, in every place ; associations were formed ; men were chosen, for the purpose of seeing that the resolutions of congress were punctually observed and executed. The provincial convention voted funds for the pur. chase of arms and ammunition ; they declared enemies to the coun- try those who should refuse to provide themselves with a military equipment. The most distinguished citizens made it their glory to appear armed in the cause of liberty ; the militia was daily assembled and exercised ; it was withdrawn from the authority of the governor, and placed under that of the province ; they held themselves in read- iness to march to the assistance of Massachusetts. The same precautions were taken in the lower counties of Dela- ware, and in New Hampshire. The legal assembly of the latter was convoked. They approved the proceedings of congress, and wrote to congratulate the Marylanders upon their patriotism and public spirit ; promising to stand prepared to defend this lioerty, so BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 155 dear to every heart. The inhabitants, not content with this, formed a convention at Extler, which ratified the doings of congress, and elected delegates for the new session. But in South Carolina, so important a province, things went for- ward with great animation. A convention was formed of the repre- sentatives of the whole province. Their first decree was t) render immortal thanks to the members of congress, to approve its resolu- tions, and to ordain their strict execution. The manufacturers of the country received encouragement ; and ample liberalities were granted to the indigent inhabitants of the city of Boston. The same enthusiasm inspired every breast. And, to prevent the infractions which the love of gain, or private interest, might occasion, inspectors were appointed, to watch, with rigorous diligence, over the execution of these public resolutions. In Massachusetts and Virginia the ardor of the people was aston- ishing. All places equally presented the images of war, and the semblance of combats. The inhabitants of Marblehead, of Salem, and of other seaports, finding their accustomed maritime occupa- tions interrupted by the present occurrences, turned their efforts to- wards the land service, and engaged in it with incredible zeal. They soon organized several regiments of men wo-11 trained to the exercise of arms, and prepared to enter the field, if things should come to that fatal extremity. The officers of the Virginia militia being assembled at fort Gower, after protesting their loyalty towards the king, declared that the love of liberty, attachment to country and devotion to its just rights, were paramount to every other con sideration ; that, to fulfill these sacred duties, they were resolved to exert all the efforts which the unanimous voice of their fellow-citi- zens should exact. The provinces of New England presented a peculiar character. Their inhabitants being extremely attached to religion, and more ea- sily influenced by this than any other motive, the preachers exer- cised over their minds an authority scarcely conceivable. They of ten insisted, and always with new vehemence, that the cause of the Americans was the cause of Heaven ; that God loves and protects freemen, and holds the authors of tyranny in abhorrence ; that the schemes of the English ministers against America were, beyond measure, unjust and tyrannical, and consequently it was their most rigorous duty, not only as men and citizens, but also as Christians, to oppose these attempts ; and to unite under their chiefs, in defense of what man has the most precious, religion the most sacred. The in habitants of New England thus took the field, stimulated by the fer vor of their religious opinions, and fully persuaded that He?.ven wit ]56 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. nessed their efforts with complacency. The two most powerful springs of human action, religious and political enthusiasm, were blended in their breasts. It is therefore not surprising that, in the events which followed, they exhibited frequent examples of singular courage and invincible resolution. Amidst a concord so general, the province of New York alone hesitated to declare itself. This colony, and principally the capital, was the scene of much party division. Its assembly having taken into consideration the regulations of congress for the interruption of commerce with Great Britain, refused to adopt them ; whereat the inhabitants of the other provinces testified an extreme indignation. This unexpected resolution must be attributed principally to ministe- rial intrigues, very successful in this province, on account of the great number of loyalists that inhabited it ; and who, from the name of one of the parties that prevailed in England at the time of the revo- lution, were called Tories. To this cause should be added the very flourishing commerce of the city of New York, which it was unwil- ling to lose, and perhaps, also, the hope that the remonstrances of congress would dispose the British ministers to milder counsels, if they were not accompanied by such rigorous determinations in regard to commerce. Some also believed, that this conduct of New York was only a wily subterfuge, to be able, afterwards, according to cir- cumstances, to use it as a ground of justification. The first of February was the destined term for suspending the introduction of British merchandise into the American ports, accord- ing to the resolutions of congress. Though it was known every where, yet several vessels made their appearance, even after this period, laden with the prohibited articles ; which the masters hoped to introduce either in a clandestine mode, or even by consent of the Americans, weary of their obstinacy, or yielding to necessity and the love of gain. But their hopes were frustrated in the greater part, or rather in all the provinces except that of New York. Their cargoes were thrown into the sea, or sent back. Thus, while the forms of the ancient government still subsisted in America, new laws were established, which obtained more respect and obedience on the part of the people. The assemblies of the provinces, districts and towns, had concentrated in their hands the authority which belonged to the magistrates of the former system, who had either wanted the will or the power to prevent it. And thus it was no longer the governors and the ordinary assemblies, but the conventions, the committees of correspondence and of inspec lion, that had the management of state affairs. Where these were wanting, the people supplied the deficiency, by assemblages and BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 157 tumultuary movements. The greater number were impressed with a belief, that, by the effect of the leagues against British commerce, this time strictly observed, and by the unanimous firmness of the colonists, the effusion of blood woula be avoided. They hoped the British government would apply itoelf in earnest to give another di- rection to American affairs ; and '<.hat public tranquillity would thus, without effort, be re-established. The popular leaders, on the con- trary, were aware of the necessity of an appeal to arms ; some fear- ed, others desired, this result. Such was the situation of the English colonies, towards the close of the year 1774, and at the commencement of 1775. Meanwhile, whatever was the ardor with which the Americans pursued their de- signs, the interest excited by this controversy in England had mate- rially abated. The inhabitants of that kingdom, as if wearied by the long and frequent discussions which had taken place on either side, betrayed an extreme repugnance to hear any thing further on the subject. They had therefore abandoned themselves to an indif- ference approaching to apathy. As this contest was already of ten years' date, and though often on the point of issuing in an open rupture, had, however, never yet come to this fatal extremity, the prevailing opinion was, that, sooner or later, a definitive arrange- ment would be effected It was even thought, that this object might easily be accomplished, by making some concessions to the Ameri- cans, similar to those they had already obtained. Finally, it was considered possible, that the Americans themselves, finding their in- terests essentially affected by the interruption of commerce, would at length submit to the will of the parent country. This opinion appeared the more probable to all, inasmuch as the courage of the colonists was in no great repute. It was not believed they could ever think of provoking the British nation to arms ; and much less of making a stand before its troops in the field. It was asserted, that, to procure the execution of the late prohibitory laws against the province of Massachusetts, which, if thought expedient, might easily be extended to the other colonies also, would not only not re- quire all the troops of Great Britain, but not even all the immense force of her marine ; that a few ships of the line, stationed at the entrance of the principal ports of the colonies, and a number of frigates ordered to cruise along the coast, to prevent the departure of American vessels, would be more than sufficient to accomplish this affair. ' And how can it be imagined,' it was said, ' that the colonists should persevere in a resistance without an object, as they have no naval force to oppose against England j who, on the other hand, THE AMERICAN WAJl. BOOK IV. can, at a trifling expense, and with a few troops, enforce the prohi- bitions she has pronounced, and reduce the American commerce to an indefinite stagnation ? On the part of the mother country, the means of annoyance are, in fact, almost infinite and irresistible ; whereas, the colonies have nothing to oppose but a mere passive re- sistance, and a patience of which they can neither foresee the re- sult nor the period. Besides, so many other markets remain open for British merchandise, that, even though its introduction into the colonies should be totally interdicted, this commerce would experi- ence but a barely perceptible diminution. Nor can it be doubted, that private interests, and the usual jealousies, will ere long detach from the league, successively, all the maritime parts of America. The towns of the interior will necessarily follow the example ; and then what becomes of this boasted confederacy ? ' From these different considerations, it ceases to be astonishing, that the minds of the English people should have manifested, at this epoch, so perfect a calm ; and that it should have been the general determination to await from time, from fortune, and from the meas- ures of the ministers, the termination of this vexatious quarrel. In the midst of such universal torpor, and near the close of the year 1774, the new parliament convened. The proceedings of the general congress, and the favor they had found in America, not be- ing yet well known, some reliance was still placed in intestine divis- ions, and the efficacy of the plan which had been adopted. The king mentioned in his speech the American disturbances ; he an- nounced, that disobedience continued to prevail in Massachusetts ; that the other colonies countenanced it ; that the most proper meas- ures had been taken to carry into execution the laws of parliament ; and that he was firmly resolved to maintain unimpaired the supreme legislative authority of Great Britain, in all parts of his dominions. The addresses proposed in the two houses were strenuously opposed ; and it was not without difficulty they were at length adopted. On the part of the opposition it was alledged, that, if the preceding par- liament had consented to the measures proposed by the ministers, it was only upon their positive assurance that they would effectually re- establish tranquillity. ' But, do we not see how illusory their prom- ises have proved ? Why persist, then, in resolutions that are fruit- less, and even pernicious ? Has any suppliant voice been heard on the part of America ? Has she given any token of repentance for the past, any pledge of better dispositions for the future ? She has not ; but, on the contrary, has exhibited still greater animosity, a rage more intense, a concord more strict, a faith more confirmed in the justice of her cause. And still, from pride, if net from ven- COOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 159 geance, it is desired to persevere in measures so decidedly repro- bated by reason, equity, and fatal experience ! ' But, from the side of the ministers, it was answered : ' The proceedings of the colonists are so void of all respect, that to endure them longer would be disgraceful. Can any thing be more extraordinary, than to hear it asserted that the Americans are persuaded of the justice of their cause, as if the English were not persuaded also of the justice of theirs ? And if England, as a party, has no right to judge of this controversy, is America to be reputed entirely disinterested ? The Americans know perfectly well that this is a question of right, and not of money ; the impost is a mere trifle, of no importance whatever, but as it concerns the honor of this kingdom. But what care they for the honor of the kingdom ? Noth- ing can ever satisfy these peevish Americans. To content them how many ways of gentleness have been tried ! They have only become the more insolent. They haughtily expect the English to approach them in a suppliant attitude, and to anticipate all their capricious de- sires. To conciliate them, all, except honor, has been sacrificed al- ready ; but Heaven does not permit us to abandon that also. The question is no longer taxation, but the redress of wrongs, the repa- ration for deeds of outrage. This the Americans refuse, and there- fore deserve chastisement ; and, should England fail to inflict it, she must expect a daily increase of audacity on the part of her colonies, and prepare to digest the contempt which the nations of Europe al- ready entertain towards her ; surprised and confused at the tameness and patience of the British ministers, in the midst of provocations so daring and so often repeated.' The address of thanks was voted, according to the wishes of the ministers ; and thus the Americans, who had flattered themselves that the new parliament would be more favorably disposed towards them than the preceding, were forced to renounce this hope. It appeared, however, notwithstanding these animated demonstra- tions on the part of the government, that when, previous to the Christmas recess, the certain intelligence was received of the trans- actions of congress, and the astonishing concord which prevailed in America, the ministers, perhaps loath to embrace extreme counsels, seemed inclined to relax somewhat of their rigor, and to leave an opening for accommodation. Lord North even intimated to the American merchants then in London, that if they presented peti- tions, they should meet attention. But in the midst of these glim- merings of peace, the news arrived of the schism of New York ; an event oi great moment in itself, and promising consequences still more important. The minister felt his pride revive ; he would no 160 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. longer hear of petitions, or of accommodation. Things turned anew to civil strife and war. All the papers, relating to the affairs of America, were laid before the two houses. Lord Chatham, per- ceiving the obstinacy of the ministers in their resolution to persist in the course of measures they had adopted, and fearing it might re- sult in the most disastrous effects, pronounced a long and extremely eloquent discourse in favor of the Americans, and was heard with solemn attention. Nor was the opposition to the projects of the ministers confined to the two houses of parliament ; but even a considerable part of the British nation was of the adverse party. The cities of London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham, Glasgow, and others, where commerce had hitherto flourished, preferred their petitions to parliament. They painted, in glowing traits, the detri- ment their commerce had already sustained, and the still more ruin- ous losses with which they were menaced by the impending contest with America. They implored this body to interpose their authority for the re-establishment of that calm and pacific state, which had been heretofore enjoyed. But the prayers of the merchants had no better success than the authority and the words of the earl of Chat- ham ; the ministerial party even rejected them with an unfeeling harshness. In the meantime, Bollan, Franklin, and Lee, presented themselves before the house of commons, with the petition which the congress had addressed to the king, and by him had been referred to the house. They demanded to be heard in its defense. A very warm discussion arose ; the ministerial party contending, that neither ought the petition to be read, nor the agents to be heard ; and the party in opposition, the contrary. The former affirmed, that the congress was not a legal assembly ; that to receive its petitions would be to recognize it as such ; that the provincial assemblies and their agents were the sole true representatives of the colonies ; and that the petition only contained the customary lamentations about rights, . without offering any means, or any probable hope of coming to an arrangement. But it was answered, that however the congress might not be a legal assembly, it was, nevertheless, more than competent to present petitions ; every one having, either individually, or jointly with others, the right to present them ; that those who had signed the pe- tition were the most distinguished inhabitants of the colonies, and well deserved to be heard, if not in their public, at least in their private character. ' There no longer exists any government in the colonies; the popular commotions have disorganized it absolutely ; BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 161 we should therefore learn to appreciate the representation of this government, which has been established by the force of things. Can it be forgotten, that the American disturbances have originated, and arrived at their present alarming height, from our unwillingness to hear petitions ? Let us seize this occasion ; if we allow it to escape, a second will not be offered, and all hope of accord is vanished. This is probably the last attempt the Americans will make to sub- mit, which, if received with haughtiness, will become the source of . inevitable calamities ; for despair, and with it, obstinacy, will obtain the entire possession of their minds.' But the ministers would hear nothing, pleading the dignity of state. The petition was rejected. Nor was a petition of the West India proprietors, representing the prejudice they suffered from the interruption of their commerce with the Americans, received with greater benignity. The ministers con- sidered petitions as merely the stratagems of faction. ' Admitting,' they said, ' that some detriment may result from the measures re- lating to America, it is a necessary evil, an inevitable calamity. But this evil would become infinitely greater, if the government should appear to yield to the will of the seditious, and descend to nego- tiate with rebels.' After having repulsed, with a sort of disdain, the petitions of the Americans, and those presented in their favor by the islands of the West Indies, and even by England herself; and after having rejected* all the counsels of the party in opposition, the ministers unveiled; their schemes, and announced, in the presence of the two houses,, the measures they intended to pursue, in order to reduce the Ameri- cans to obedience. Always imbued with the opinion, that the di- versity of interests and humors, and the rivalships existing between the different provinces, would, in a short time, dissolve the Ameri- can combinations, independently of the detriment and constraint they occasioned to individuals ; believing, also, that the colonists would not easily support greater privations of things necessary to life ; they flattered themselves, that, without sending strong armies to America, and merely by a few rigorous regulations, a few prohib- itory resolutions, that should extend beyond the province of Mas sachusetts, and affect the most internal parts of the American com- merce, they should be able to accomplish their purpose. It should also be added, that the ministers thought the partisans of England were very numerous in America, that they were among its most dis- tinguished inhabitants, and waited only for an occasion to show themselves with effect ; and, finally, that the Americans, as they were, according to the notions of the ministers, of a pusillanimous spirit, and little accustomed to war, would not dare to look the Brit- VOL. I. 11 162 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. V*i *v ish soldiers in the face. Thus they were induced to adopt certain resolutions, which were perhaps more cruel, and certainly more irri- tating, than open war ; for man feels less bitterness towards the foe, who, in combating against him, leaves him the means of defense, than the adversary who exposes him to the horrors of famine, while he is unable to escape them by a generous effort. Such, as we shall soon see, was the plan of the British, from which they gathered the fruits they ought to have expected. But, in order to carry it into execution, it was necessary that they should first arm themselves with a word that should legitimate all their measures, and this was, rebellion. The doctors, whom they had invited to their consulta- tions, after having considered the affair under all its faces, came to a conclusion, which, however admissible in other kingdoms, might still have appeared extremely doubtful in England. They pronounced, that the province of Massachusetts was found in a state of rebellion. Accordingly, the 2d of February, lord North, after having expatiated on the benignity with which the king and parliament had proceeded in maintaining the laws of the kingdom, and the necessity incum- bent on the ministers, of protecting loyal and affectionate subjects against the rage of the seditious, proposed, that in the address to the king, it should be declared, that rebellion existed in the province of Massachusetts, and that it was supported and fomented by illegal combinations and criminal compacts with the other colonies, to the great prejudice of many innocent subjects of his majesty. To declare the inhabitants of Massachusetts rebels, was to refer the decision of their cause to the chance of arms was to denounce war against them. Accordingly, the opponents of ministers exhib- ited great ardor in combating this proposition ; and even in their own party, a great number of individuals appeared to feel great re- pugnance, and a species of horror, at so grave a determination, and so fraught with future calamities. The orators of the opposition contended, that all the disorders in Massachusetts, however multi- plied and aggravated, ought to be attributed, origina41y, to the at- tempts of those who were aiming to establish despotism, and whose measures evidently tended to reduce the Americans to that abject condition of slavery, which they hoped to introduce afterwards into the very heart of England. ' To resist oppression,' it was said, ' is the subject's right, and the English kingdoms have presented fre- quent examples of its exercise. No act of violence has been com- mitted in the province of Massachusetts, that has not been equaled, or surpassed, in each of the others ; from what fatal partiality, then, is this province alone to be made responsible for all ? To press with rigor upon a single province, in the hope of separating it from un BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAP 1 63 others, is a false measure ; all are united in the same cause , ali de- fend the same rights. To declare rebellion, is an act full of danger, and of no utility ; it only tends to aggravate the evil, to increase the obstinacy of dispositions, to prepare a resistance more desperate and sanguinary, as no other hope will be left them but in victory.' But the partisans of the ministers, and particularly the doctors,* who backed them, maintained, that acts of rebellion constituted re- bellion itself; that to resist the laws of the kingdom being reputed rebellion in England, ought also to be so reputed in America ; ' As for the rest,' they said, ' due clemency and liberality towards those who shall submit, will be mingled with the rigor to be exercised against the obstinate. Reasons of state, no less than justice, demand the chastisement of these insurgents ; which being visited upon a few, will reclaim all to their duty ; and thus the union of the colo- nies will be dissolved. Can we, in fact, make a serious matter of the resistance of the Americans ? Cowards by nature, incapable of any sort of military discipline, their bodies are feeble, and their inclina- tions are dastardly. They would not be capable of sustaining a single campaign, without disbanding, or becoming so wasted by sick- ness, that a slight force would be more than sufficient for their com- plete reduction.' General Grant was so infatuated with this opinion, that he declared openly, he would undertake, with five regiments of infantry, to traverse the whole country, and drive the inhabitants from one end of the continent to the other. The ministers, whose * It may amuse, if not surprise, the reader, to look at the outline, traced by another historian, of the characters whose sagacity the author seems to question more often than once : ' I took my seat in parliament,' says Mr. Gibbon, ' at the beginning of the memo- rable contest between Great Britain and America ; and supported, with many a sincere and silent vote, the rights, though not perhaps the interests, of the mother country After a fleeting, illusive hope, prudence condemned me to acquiesce in the humble station of a mute. I was not armed by nature and education with the intrepid energy of mind and voice, ' Vincentum strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.' Timidity was fortified by pride ; and even the success of my pen discouraged the trial of my voice. But 1 assisted at the debates of a. free assembly ; I listened to the attack and defense of eloquence and reason ; I had a near prospect of the characters, views, and passions, of the first men of the age. The cause of government was ably vindicated by lord .Vortli, a statesman of spotless integrity, a consummate master of debate, who could wield, with equal dexterity, the arms of reason and of ridicule. He was seated on the treasury bench, between his attorney and solicitor-general, the two pillars of the law and state, ' magis pares quam similes ;' and the minister might indulge in a short slumber, while he was upholden, on either hand, by the majestic sense of Thurlow, and the skillful eloquence of Wedderburne. From the adverse side of the house, an ardent and powerful opposition was supported, by the lively declamation of Barre ; the legal acuteness of Dunning ; the profuse and philosophic fancy of Burke ; and the argumentative vehe- mence of Fox, who, in conduct of a party, approved himself equal to the conduct of an empire. By such men, every operation of peace and war, every principle ef justice or policy, every question of authority and freedom, was attacked and defended; and the subject of the momentous contest was the union or separation of Great Britain and America.' [Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works.] 164 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV comprehension seems to have had certain limits, suffered themselves, without reluctance, to be guided by such opinions as these ; and this was one of the principal causes of their precipitancy to commence the war with such feeble preparations. The propositions of lord North were adopted, by a majority of more than two thirds of the suffrages. But the party in opposition, aware of the importance of pro- nouncing so formal a declaration of rebellion, did not suffer them- selves to be discouraged; and, on the 6th of the same month, lord John Cavendish moved, in the house of commons, to reconsider the vote. It was then that Wilkes, one of the most ardent defenders of liberty of that epoch, and the declared partisan of republican prin- ciples, arose, and spoke in the following terms : ' I am indeed surprised, that in a business of so much moment as this before the house, respecting the British colonies in America, a cause which comprehends almost every question relative to the com- mon rights of mankind, almost every question of policy and legis- lation, it should be resolved to proceed with so little circumspection, or rather with so much precipitation and heedless imprudence. With what temerity are we assured, that the same men who have been so often overwhelmed with praises for their attachment to this country, for their forwardness to grant it the necessary succors, for the valor they have signalized in its defense, have all at once so de- generated from their ancient manners, as to merit the appellation of seditious, ungrateful, impious rebels ! But if such a change has in- deed been wrought in the minds of this most loyal people, it must at least be admitted, that affections so extraordinary could only have been produced by some very powerful cause. But who is ignorant, who needs to be told of the new madness that infatuates oar minis- ters ? who has not seen the tyrannical counsels they have pursued for the last ten years ? They would now have us carry to the foot of the throne, a resolution stamped with rashness and injustice, fraught with blood, and a horrible futurity. But before this be allowed them, before the signal of civil war be given, before they are per- mitted to force Englishmen to sheath their swords in the bowels of their fellow subjects, I hope this house will consider the rights of humanity, the original ground and cause of the present dispute. Have we justice on our side ? No ; assuredly, no. He must be al- together a stranger to the British constitution, who does not know that contributions are voluntary gifts of the people ; and singularly blind, not to perceive that the words ' liberty and property, so grate- ful to English ears, are nothing better than mockery and insult to the Americans, if their property can be taken without their con. BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 165 sent. And what motive can there exist for this new rigor, for these extraordinary measures ? Have not the Americans always demon- strated the utmost zeal and liberality, whenever their succors have been required by the mother country ? ' In the last two wars, they gave you more than you asked for, and more than their faculties warranted ; they were not only liberal towards you, but prodigal of their substance. They fought gallantly and victoriously by your side, with equal valor, against our and their enemy, the common enemy of the liberties of Europe and America, the ambitious and faithless French, whom now we fear and flatter. And even now, at a moment when you are planning their destruc- tion, when you are branding them with the odious appellation of rebels, what is their language, what their protestations ? Read, in the name of heaven* the late petition of the congress to the king ; and you will find, ' they are ready and willing, as they ever have been, to demonstrate their loyalty, by exerting their most strenuous efforts in granting supplies and raising forces, when constitutionally re- quired.' And yet we hear it vociferated, by some inconsiderate indi- viduals, that the Americans wish to abolish the navigation act ; that they intend to throw off the supremacy of Great Britain. But would to God, these assertions were not rather a provocation than the truth ! They ask nothing, for such are the words of their peti- tion, but for peace, liberty and safety. They wish not a diminution of the royal prerogative ; they solicit not any new right. They are ready, on the contrary, to defend this prerogative, to maintain the royal authority, and to draw closer the bonds of their connection with Great Britain. But our ministers, perhaps to punish others for their own faults, are sedulously endeavoring not only to relax these pow- erful ties, but to dissolve and sever them forever. Their address represents the province of Massachusetts as in a state of actual rebellion. The other provinces are held out to our indignation, as aiding and abetting. Many arguments have been employed, by some learned gentlemen among us, to comprehend them all in the same offense, and to involve them in the same proscription. ' Whether their present state is that of rebellion, or of a fit and just resistance to the unlawful acts of power, to our attempts to rob them of their property and liberties, as they imagine, I shall not de- clare. But I well know what will follow, nor, however strange and narsh it may appear to some, shall I hesitate to announce it, that I may not be accused hereafter of having failed in duty to my country, on so grave an occasion, and at the approach of such direful calami- ties. Know, then, a successful resistance is a revolution, not a rebel- lion. Rebellion, indeed, appears on the back of a flying enemy, but 166 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IT. revolution flames on the breastplate of the victorious warrior. Who can tell whether, in consequence of this day's violent and mad address to his majesty, the scabbard may not be thrown away by them as well as by us ; and whether, in a few years, the independent Americans may not celebrate the glorious era of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of 1668? The generous efforts of our forefathers for free- dom, heaven crowned with success, or their noble blood had dyed our scaffolds, like that of Scottish traitors and rebels ; and the period of our history which does us the most honor, would have been deemed a rebellion against the lawful authority of the prince, not a resistance authorized by all the laws of God and man, not the ex- pulsion of a detested tyrant. 'But suppose the Americans to combat against us with more unhappy auspices than we combated James, would not victory itself prove pernicious and deplorable ? Would it not be fatal to British as well as American liberty ? Those armies which should subjugate the colonists, would subjugate also their parent state. Marius, Syl- la, Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, did they not oppress Roman liberty with the same troops that were levied to maintain Roman suprema- cy over subject provinces ? But the impulse once given, its effects . extended much farther than its authors expected ; for the same sol- , diery that destroyed the Roman republic, subverted and utterly de- molished the imperial power itself. In less than fifty years after fthe death of Augustus, the armies destined to hold the provinces in fubjection, proclaimed three emperors at once ; disposed of the em- pire according to their caprice, and raised to the throne of the Cae- sars the object of their momentary favor. ' I can no more comprehend the policy, than acknowledge the justice of your deliberations. Where is your force, what are your armies, how are they to be recruited, and how supported ? The sin- gle province of Massachusetts has, at this moment, thirty thousand men, well trained and disciplined, and can bring, in case of emer- gency, ninety thousand into the field ; and doubt not, they will do it, when all that is dear is at stake, when forced to defend their lib- erty and property against their cruel oppressors. The right honor- able gentleman with the blue ribin assures us that ten thousand of our troops and four Irish regiments, will make their brains turn in the head a little, and strike them aghast with terror. But where does the author of this exquisite scheme propose to send his army ? Boston, perhaps, you may lay in ashes, or it may be made a strong garrison ; but the province will be lost to you. You will hold Bos- ton as you hold Gibraltar, in the midst of a country which will not be yours j the whole American continent will remain in the power BOOK 17. THE AMERICAN WAR. of your enemies. The ancient -story of the philosopher Calanus and the Indian hide, will be verified ; where you tread, it will be kept down ; but it will rise the more in all other parts. Where your fleets and armies are stationed, the possession will be secured, while they continue ; but all the rest will be lost. In the great scale of empire you will decline, I fear, from the decision of this day ; and the Americans will rise to independence, to power, to all the great- ness of the most renowned states ; for they build on the solid basis of general public liberty. ' I dread the effects of the present resolution; I shudder at our in- justice and cruelty ; I tremble for the consequences of our impru- dence. You will urge the Americans to desperation. They will certainly defend their property and liberties, with the spirit of free- men, with the spirit our ancestors did, and I hope we should exert on a like occasion. They will sooner declare themselves indepen- dent, and risk every consequence of such a contest, than submit to the galling yoke which administration is preparing for them. Recollect Philip II. king of Spain ; remember the Seven Provinces, and the duke of Alva. It was deliberated, in the council of the monarch, what measures should be adopted respecting the Low Countries ; ome were disposed for clemency, others advised rigor ; the second prevailed. The duke of Alva was victorious, it is true, wherever he appeared ; but his cruelties sowed the teeth of the serpent. The beggars of the Briel, as they were called by the Spaniards, who de- spised them as you now despise the Americans, were those, however, who first shook the power of Spain to the center. And comparing the probabilities of success in the contest of that day, with the chances in that of the present, are they so favorable to England as they were then to Spain ? This none will pretend. You all know, how- ever, the issue of that sanguinary conflict how that powerful em- pire was rent asunder, and severed forever into many parts. Profit, then, by the experience of the past, if you would avoid a similar fate. But you would declare the Americans rebels ; and to your in- justice and oppression, you add the most opprobrious language, and the most insulting scoffs. If you persist in your resolution, all hope of a reconciliation is extinct. The Americans will triumph the whole continent of North America will be dismembered from Great Britain, and the wide arch of the raised empire fall. But 1 hope the just vengeance of the people will overtake the authors of these per- nicious counsels, and the loss of the first province of the empire be speedily followed by the loss of the heads of those ministers who first invented them.' Thus spoke this ardent patriot. His discourse was a prophecy ; 168 THE AMERICAN WA. BOOK IV. and hence, perhaps, a new probability might be argued for the vul- gar maxim, that the crazed read the future often better than the sage ; for, among other things, it was said also of Wilkes, at that time, that his intellects were somewhat disordered. Captain Hervey answered him, in substance, as follows : ' I am very far from believing myself capable of arguing the pres- ent question with all the eloquence which my vehement adversary has signalized in favor of those who openly, and in arms, resist the ancient power of Great Britain ; as the studies which teach man the art of discoursing with elegance, are too different and too remote from my profession. This shall not, however, deter me from declar- ing my sentiments with freedom, on so important a crisis ; though my words should be misinterpreted by the malignity of party, and myself represented as the author of illegal counsels, or, in the language of faction, the defender of tyranny. ' And, first of all, I cannot but deplore the misery of the times, and the destiny which seems to persecute our beloved country. Can f see her, without anguish, reduced to this disastrous extremity, not only by the refractory spirit of her ungrateful children on the other side of the ocean, but also by some of those who inhabit this king- dom, and whom honor, if not justice and gratitude, should engage, in words and deeds, to support and defend her ? Till we give a check to these incendiaries, who, with a constancy and art only equaled by their baseness and infamy, blow discord and scatter their poison in every place, in vain can we hope, without coming to the last ex- tremities, to bring the leaders of this deluded people to a sense ol their duty. * To deny that the legislative power of Great Britain is entire, general ar d sovereign, over all parts of its dominions, appears to me too puerile to merit a serious answer. What I would say is, that, under this cover of rights, under this color of privileges, under the?-? pretexts of immunities, the good and loyal Americans have concealed a design, not new, but now openly declared, to cast off every species of superiority, and become altogether an independent nation. They complained of the stamp act. It was repealed. Did this satisfy them ? On the contrary, they embittered more than ever our re- spective relations ; now refusing to indemnify the victims of their violence, and now to rescind resolutions that were so many strides towards rebellion. And yet, in these cases, there was no question of taxes, either internal or external. A duty was afterwards imposed on glass, paper, colors, and tea. They revolted anew ; and the bounty of this too indulgent mother again revoked the greater pan of these duties ; leaving only that upon tea. which may yield, at ths BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 169 utmost, sixteen thousand pounds sterling. Even this inconsiderable impost, Great Britain, actuated by a meekness and forbearance without example, would have repealed also, if the colonists had peaceably expressed their wishes to this effect. At present they bitterly complain of the regular troops sent among them to main- tain the public repose. But, in the name of God, what is the cause of their presence in Boston ? American disturbances. If the colo- nists had not first interrupted the general trajnquillity, if they had re- spected property, public and private ; if they had not openly resist- ed the Laws of parliament and the ordinances of the king, they would not have seen armed soldiers within their walls. But the truth is, they expressly excite the causes, in order to be able afterwards to bemoan the effects. When they were menaced with real danger, when they were beset by enemies from within ana from without, they not only consented to admit regular troops into the very heart of their provinces, but urged us, with the most earnest scjcitations, to send them ; but now the danger is past, and the colonists, by our treasure and blood, are restored to their original security, now these troops have become necessary to repress the factious, to sustain the action of the laws, their presence is contrary to the constitution, a manifest violation of American liberty, an attempt to introduce tyranny ; as if it were not the right and the obligation of the supreme authority, to protect the peace of the interior as well as that of the exterior, and to repress internal as effectually as external enemies. 1 As though the Americans were fearful of being called, at a fu- ture day, to take part in the national representation, they pre-occupy the ground, and warn you,- in advance, that, considering their dis- tance, they cannot be represented in the British parliament ; which means, if I am not deceived, that they will not have a representative power in common with England, but intend to enjoy one by them- selves, perfectly distinct from this of the parent state. But why do [ waste time in these vain subtleties ? Not content with exciting discord at home, with disturbing all the institutions of social life, they endeavor also to scatter the germs of division in the neighbor- ing colonies, such as Nova Scotia, the Floridas, and especially Canada. Nor is this the end of their intrigues. Have we not read here, in this land of genuine felicity, the incendiary expressions of their address to the English people, designed to allure them to the side of rebellion ? Yes ; they have wished, and with all their power nave attempted, to introduce into the bosom of this happy country, outrage, tumults, devastation pillage, bloodshed, and open resistance 10 the laws ! A thousand times undone the English people, should they suffer themselves to be seduced by the flatteries of the Ameri- . 170 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. cans ! The sweet peace, the inestimable liberty, they now enjoy, would soon be replaced by the most ferocious anarchy, devouring their wealth, annihilating their strength, contaminating and destroy- ing all the happiness of their existence. Already have the colonists trampled on all restraints ; already have they cast off all human re- spect ; and, amidst their subtle machinations, and the shades in which they envelop themselves, they suffer, as it were, in spite of themselves, their culpable designs to appear. If they have not yet acquired the consistence, they at least assume the forms of an inde- pendent nation. ' Who among us has not felt emotions kindling deep in his breast, or transports of indignation, at the reading of the decrees of con- gress, in which, with a language and a tone better beseeming the haughty courts of Versailles or of Madrid than the subjects of a great king, they ordain imperiously the cessation of all commerce between their country and our own ? We may transport our mer- chandise and our commodities among all other nations. It is only under the inhospitable skies of America, only in this country, dyed with the blood, and bathed in the sweat, we have shed for the safety and prosperity of its inhabitants, that English industry cannot hope for protection, cannot find an asylum ! Are we then of a spirit to endure that our subjects trace around us the circle of Popilius, and proudly declare on what conditions they will deign to obey the an- cient laws of the common country ? But all succeeds to their wish ; they hope from our magnanimity that war will result, and from war, independence. And what a people is this, whom benefits cannot oblige, whom clemency exasperates, whom the necessity of defense, created by themselves, offends ! ' If, therefore, no doubt can remain as to the projects of these ungrateful colonists ; if an universal resistance to the civil govern- ment and to the laws of the country ; if the interruption of a free and reciprocal commerce between one part and another of the reaim ; if resisting every act of the British legislature, and absolute- ly, in word and deed, denying the sovereignty of this country ; if laying a strong hand on the revenues of America; if seizing his majesty's forts, artillery and ammunition ; if exciting and stimu- lating, by every means, the whole subjects of America to take arms, and to resist the constitutional authority of Great Britain, are acts of treason, then are the Americans in a state of the most flagrant rebellion. Wherefore, then, should we delay to take resolute meas- ures ? If no other alternative is left us, if it is necessary to use the power which we enjoy, under heaven, for the protection of the whole empire, let us show the Americana that, as our ancestors BOOK IV THE AMERICAN WAR. 171 deluged this country with their blood to leave us a free constitution, we, like men, in defiance of faction at home and rebellion abroad, are determined, in glorious emulation of their example, to transmit it, perfect and unimpaired, to our posterity. I hear it said by these propagators of sinister auguries, that we shall be vanquished in this contest. But all human enterprises are never without a something of uncertainty. Are high minded men for this to stand listless, and indolently abandon to the caprices of fortune the conduct of their affairs ? If this dastardly doctrine prevailed, if none would ever act without assurance of the event, assuredly no generous enterprise would ever be attempted ; chance and blind destiny would govern the world. I trust, however, in the present crisis, we may cherish better hopes ; for, even omitting the bravery of our soldiers and the ability of our generals, loyal subjects are not so rare in America as some believe, or affect to believe. And, besides, will the Americans long support the privation of all the things necessary to life, which our numerous navy will prevent from reaching their shores ? 1 This is what I think of our present situation ; these are the sentiments of a man neither partial nor vehement, but free from all prepossessions, and ready to combat and shed the last drop of nis blood, to put down the excesses of license, to extirpate the germs of cruel anarchy, to defend the rights and the privileges of this most innocent people, whether he finds their enemies in the savage des- erts of America, or in the cultivated plains of England. ' And if there arc Catilines among us, who plot in darkness per- nicious schemes against the state, let them be unveiled and dragged to light, that they may be offered a sacrifice, as victims to the just vengeance of this courteous country; that their names may be stamped with infamy to the latest posterity, and their memory held in execration by all men of worth, in every future age ! ' The vehemence of these two discourses excited an extraordinary agitation in the house of commons ; after it was calmed, the propo- sition of the ministers was put to vote and carried, by a majority of two thirds of the house. Such was the conclusion of the most important affair that for a long time had been submitted to the decision of parliament. The inhabitants of all Europe, as well as those of Great Britain, awaited, with eager curiosity, the result of these debates. During their con tinuance, the foreign ministers, resident in London, attentively watched all the movements of the ministry, and the discussions oi parliament, persuaded that whatever might be the decision, it could not fail to prove fertile in events of the highest importance, not only for England, but also for all the other European states. 172 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IV. On the same day was read a petition from the island of Jamaica, very energetic, and totally in favor of the colonies. It displeased, and, as usual, was thrown aside. The ministers, having attained their object, in causing the inhab- itants of Massachusetts to be declared rebels, resolved to lay before parliament the system of measures they intended to pursue, in regard to the affairs of America. Having either no adequate idea of the inflexibility of men, inflamed by the zeal of new opinions, or being pre-occupied by passion, or perhaps restrained by the timidity of their characters, they persisted in believing, that the Americans would not long endure the privation of their commerce, and thus becoming divided among themselves, would solicit an arrangement. Relying also too implicitly on the assertions of Hutchinson, and other officers of the crown, that had been, or still were in America, who assured them that the friends of England, in the colonies, were powerful in numbers, resources and influence, they no longer hesitated to adopt the most rigorous measures, without supporting them by a com- mensurate force. Thus guided, as usual, by their spirit of infatuation, they confided their cause, not to the certain operation of armies, but to the sup- posed inconstancy and partiality of the American people. Upon such a foundation, lord North proposed a new bill, the object of which was to restrict the commerce of New England to Great Britain, Ire- land and the West India islands, and prohibit, at the same time, the fishery of Newfoundland. The prejudice that must have resulted from this act, to the inhabitants of New England, may be calculated from the single fact, that they annually employed in this business about forty-six thousand tons and six thousand seamen ; and the produce realized from it, in foreign markets, amounted to three hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling. This bill, however, did not pass without opposition in the two houses ; on the contrary, the debates and the agitation it excited, were vehement in both. Many of the members exerted all their efforts to defeat it, and more than any, the marquis of Rockingham, who presented, to this end, a petition of the London merchants. The bill was, however, approved by a great majority. The oppo- sition protested ; the ministers scarcely deigned to perceive it. This prohibition of all foreign commerce, and of the fishery of Newfoundland, at first comprehended only the four provinces of New England ; but the ministers, finding the parliament placid and docile, afterwards extended it to the other colonies, with the excep- tion of New York and North Carolina. They alledged it was ex- pedient to punish all the provinces which had paiticipated in the BOOK IT. THE AMERICAN WAR. 173 league against British commerce and manufactures. This proposi- tion was approved without difficulty. After a few days had trans- pired, they moved, that the counties situated on the Delaware, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, should be subjected to the same laws, as they also had manifested a spirit of rebellion. The clause was added. Thus the English ministers employed only partial measures ; imitating those little children, who, having constructed a dyke of clay for their amusement, are incessantly occupied in stop- ping, one after another, all the apertures through which the water seeks to escape. Meanwhile they had given orders to embark a corps of ten thou- sand men for America, as they considered this force sufficient to re-establish submission and obedience to the laws ; always confident- ly relying upon the divisions of the Americans, and the great number of those they conceived to be devoted to the British cause. To this error of the ministers must be attributed the length of the war and the termination it had ; as it was essential to success, that the first impressions should have been energetic ; that the first movements should have compelled the Americans to banish all idea of resist- ance ; in a word, that a sudden display of an overwhelming force should have reduced them to the necessity of immediately laying down arms. But the ministers preferred to trust the issue of this all important contest, to the intrigues, however at all times uncer- tain, of factions and parties, rather than to the agency of formida- ble armies. But the counsels of the ministers ended not here. Wishing to blend with rigor a certain clemency, and also to prevent new occa- sions of insurrection in America, they brought forward the project of a law, purporting, that when, in any province or colony, the gov- ernor, council, assembly, or general court, should propose to make provision according to their respective conditions, circumstances and faculties, for contributing their proportion to the common defense ; such proportion to be raised under the authorities of the general court or assembly in each province or colony, and disposable by parliament ; and should engage to make provision also for the sup- port of the civil government, and the administration of justice in such province or colony, it would be proper, if such proposal should be approved by the king in his parliament, and for so long as such provision should be made accordingly, to forbear in respect of such province or colony, to impose any duties, taxes, or assessment, except only such as might be thought necessary for the regulation of commerce. If this proposition displeased many among the members of the 174 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOB. IV. ministerial party, as being greatly derogatory to the dignity and rights of the parliament, which ought to make no concessions to rebels, while they have arms in their hands ; it may be presumed that it was received with every mark of the most violent disapprobation by the adverse party ; they declared it to be base, vile, and insidious. But the ministers considered, that whatever might be the fate of the law in America, and even supposing it should not be accepted, the people of England, at least, would be convinced that nothing could subdue the obstinacy of the colonists, and that, as to finances, they were determined to bear no part of the public burthens. According to the views of the ministry, if this law was to produce greater con- cord in England, it would be likely, they apprehended, to create divisions in America ; for if a single province accepted the offer, and consented to an accommodation, the confederacy of the Amer- icans, by which alone they were formidable, dissolved of itself. Lord North, in his discourse to the parliament, did not dissemble this last hope. The colonists affected to resent this project as a violent outrage ; they complained that the minister attempted to follow the too well known maxim of divide and reign ; as if the English ministers ought not to consider laudable what they reputed blamable ; as if, between declared enemies, things were to be estimated by a com- mon weight and measure. Such were the sentiments of the ministers respecting American affairs. Meanwhile, those who in England, and even in parliament, favored the cause of the colonists, had not been discouraged by the little success it obtained. They plainly foresaw the extent of the evils to which the Americans would be exposed if the resolutions of the ministers should be executed. Unwilling to fail in their duty to their country, and perhaps also stimulated by ambition, in case things should take an unfortunate direction, they resolved to renew their efforts, to induce, if possible, the government to embrace measures more calculated to calm the exasperated minds of the colonists, and dispose them to concord ; for they were very far from believing that the mode proposed by lord North would have the expected result. Accordingly, Edmund Burke, one of the members of the house of commons, who, by his genius, his knowledge, and his rare elo- quence, had acquired the most brilliant reputation, declared upon this occasion, lhat it gave him singular satisfaction to find the minis- ters disposed to make any concessions to the Americans, and since lord North himself had proposed a way which he supposed might lead to conciliation, he accepted it as a most happy augury ; as an avowal, that in the present question, no regard was to be had for BO OK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 175 vain imaginations, for abstract ideas of rights, and general theories of government, but on the contrary, that it was essential to reason from the nature of things, from actual circumstances, from practice, and from experience. He then entered into an accurate investigation of the actual state of the colonies ; he considered their situation, extent, wealth, popu- lation, agriculture, commerce, with their power and weight in the scale of empire. He adverted to that invincible spirit of freedom which distinguishes them in so peculiar a manner from all other people. He observed, that while Great Britain had governed America, conformably to all these circumstances, both countries had been united and happy ; and that to re-establish this prosperous state of things, it was only necessary to resume the accustomed sys- tem of government. In examining the different plans proposed for the government of America, he animadverted particularly upon that of force ; a method which, as the most simple and easy to compre- hend, men were apt to have recourse to in all difficult circum- stances ; without reflecting that what appears the most expeditious, is frequently the least expedient. He remarked, that the utility of employing force, depended upon times and circumstances, which were always variable and uncertain ; that it destroyed the very ob- jects of preservation ; that it was a mode of governing hitherto un- known in the colonies, and therefore dangerous to make trial of; that their flourishing condition, and the benefits thence resulting to England, were owing to quite other causes, to a method totally dif- ferent ; that all discussions of right and of favors, should be disclaim- ed in such a subject ; the surest rule to govern the colonies was to call them to participate in the free constitution of England, by giving the Americans the guaranty of parliament, that Great Britain shall never depart from the principles which shall be once established ; that, in such matters, it was better to consult prudence than cavil about right ; that the solemn doctors of the laws had nothing to do with this affair ; that practice was always a wiser counsellor than speculation ; that experience had already marked the road to be taken on this occasion ; it had long been followed with advantage and safety ; that this tested system could not be resumed too soon, by abandoning all new and extraordinary projects. He concluded by saying, that, as there existed no reason for believing that the col- onists would be less disposed in future to grant subsidies, voiuntari ly, than they had been in times past, he would have the secretaries of state address the customary requisitions to their assemblies. The ministers rose to reply ; and this time, a thing rather strange, and not to have been expected from the partisans of lord Bute, they 176 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK IT. demonstrated great solicitude for liberty ; so true it is, that if some- times the promoters of popular anarchy, as also those of absolute power, frequently vociferate the name of liberty, it is because they know that if the people cannot love what oppresses them, they may at least easily be deceived by the appearance and tbs name alone of I hat which constitutes their happiness. Accordingly, the ministers declared, that it would be a dangerous thing for liberty, if the colo- nies could, without the consent of parliament, and simply upon the requisition of ministers, grant subsidies to the crown. ' Besides,' they added, ' the colonial assemblies have never had the legal faculty to grant subsidies of themselves ; it is a privilege peculiar to parliament, which cannot be communicated to any other body whatsoever. We read, in the Declaration of Rights, " that levying money for the use of the crown, by pretense of prerogative, and without the consent of parliament, is an act contrary to law." A minister who should suffer the grant of any sort of revenues from the colonies to the crown, without the consent of parliament, would be liable to impeachment. Although, in time of war, and from the urgency of circumstances, this abuse has sometimes been tolerated, it could not be admitted in times of peace, without the total subver- sion of the constitution. What will be the consequence, if the par- liament once divests itself of the right to tax the colonies ? It will no longer be possible to ground calculations upon any subsidies on their part ; for, because they have furnished them heretofore, can it be inferred that they will always furnish them in future ? It may happen, that on some pressing occasion they will refuse ; and if they should, what means will remain to enforce their contributions ? Finally, if they passed resolutions for levying money in the late war, it was because their own interests were concerned, and the dangers immediately menaced themselves; but, in other circum- stances, and for interests more remote, whether they would furnish similar subsidies, appears extremely doubtful.' Such was the answer of the ministers. The motion of Burke was rejected ; not, however, without causing pain to many among the English, who ardently desired that some means mighi be de- vised, by which a reconciliation could be effected. But such were not the impressions of the still greater number that adhered to the party of the ministers. In the present state of things, the affair of taxation was, or appeared to have become, the least important part of the controversy ; the quarrel, increasing In. virulency, had extend- ed to other objects of still greater moment, and concerning the very nature of the government. The ministerial party entertained the most violent suspicions, that, BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 177 under this shadow of pretensions about taxes and constitutional liberty, machinations were concealed, tending to alter the form of government, to propagate, and perhaps to realize, those ideas of a republic which had occasioned in England so much discord and so many wars. The present partisans of liberty in America, and those who favor- ed them in Great Britain, much resembled those of times past ; and it was apprehended they were plotting the same designs. The least partiality for the cause of the Americans was viewed as a criminal scheme against the state ; all those who declared themselves in their favor were considered as an audacious set of men, full of ambition and obstinacy, who, to acquire power and gratify their vengeance, would have involved the whole empire in devastation and carnage. It was believed, that, as fathers leave their inheritance to their chil- dren, the patriots of the times of the revolution had transmitted the venom of their opinions to those of the present epoch ; and that these, by means of the American revolution, were seeking to ac- complish their pernicious plots. The insurrection of the colonies, and the intestine dissensions in England, seemed to be the prelude of their nefarious purposes. It appeared manifest, that, in the ex- pectation of future events, unable as yet to make themselves masters of the state, they had formed a conspiracy to attack incessantly those who governed it, with their odious imputations and incendiary clamors. In effect, the partisans of the Americans had, for some time, abandoned themselves to the most extraordinary proceedings. They observed no human respect, no sort of measure ; all ways-, all means, they reputed honest, if conducive to their purposes. Con- sequently in a discussion sustained with so much vehemence, and nnbittered by the remembrance of ancient outrages, every motion, in favor of the Americans was interpreted in the most unfavorable manner. It was thought that Great Britain had no interest in com- ing to an accommodation with her colonists, until this republican spirit was first put down and extinguished ; and, as this could not be effected but by force of arms, the friends of government wished they might be employed ; ' Whatever,' said they, ' may be the result of mild counsels, they will but palliate the evil, not effect its cure j it will re-appear, on the first favorable occasion, more formidable than ever.' Such were the prevailing opinions, both within and without the parliament To these apprehensions must be attributed, principally, the harsh reception encountered by all the propositions for an accom- modation, which were made by the friends of the Americans. The ministers, besides, were persuaded that the insurrection of the colo- VOL. L 12 178 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK IV. nies proceeded rather from a popular effervescence than a concerted plan ; and that this flame would expire, as promptly as it had been kindled. Propositions of arrangement, and petitions, continued, however, still to be offered ; but perhaps they were made merely because it was known they would be rejected, as they were in effect. Thus were extinguished all hopes of reconciliation ; thus the last extrem- ities were rendered inevitable ; thus was announced the precipitate approach of war; and good citizens perceived, with horror, the calamities about to fall upon their country. Meanwhile, the horizon became every day more lowering, in America ; and civil war seemed only waiting the signal to explode. The congress of Massachusetts had passed a resolution for the pur- chase of all the gunpowder that could be found, and of every sort 5 of arms and ammunition requisite for an army of fifteen thousand I men. This decree was executed with the utmost solicitude ; and, ' as these objects abounded principally in Boston, the inhabitants ( employed all their address to procure and transport them to places of safety in the country, by deceiving the vigilance of the guard stationed upon the isthmus. Cannon, balls, and other instruments of war, were carried through the English posts, in carts apparently loaded with manure ; powder, in the baskets or panniers of those who came from the Boston market ; and cartridges were concealed in candle boxes. Thus the provincials succeeded in their preparations ; but, as it was feared that general Gage might send detachments to seize the military stores in places where they were secreted, men were chosen to keep watch at Charlestown, Cambridge and Roxbury, and be ready to dispatch couriers to the towns where the magazines were kept, as often as they should see any band of soldiers issuing from Boston. General Gage was not asleep. Having received intima- tion that several pieces of artillery were deposited in the neighbor- hood of Salem, he sent a detachment of the garrison at the castle to seize them, and return to Boston. They landed at Marblehead, and proceeded to Salem ; but without finding the object of their search. They had to pass a drawbridge, which formed the commu- nication with Danvers, where the people had collected in great num- bers. The bridge had been drawn, to impede the passage of the royal troops ; the captain in command ordered the bridge down the people refused ; and a warm altercation ensued with the sol- diers A sinister event appeared inevitable. At this juncture, came up a clergyman, named Bernard, a man of great authority with the people, who persuaded them to let down the bridge. The BOOK IT. THE AMERICAN WAR. 179 soldiers passed it ; and having made a slight incursion on the other side, in token of the liberty they had obtained to SCOUT the country, they returned peaceably on board. But the country people had already concealed, in places more secure, the artillery and ammu- nition. Accordingly, the expedition of general Gage completely failed of success. Thus, by the prudence of a single man, the effusion of blood was prevented ; of which the danger was imminent. The resistance, however, which the soldiers encountered, had greatly exasperated their minds ; and if, before, the people of Boston lived in a state of continual jealousy, after this event, the reciprocal irritation and rancor had so increased, that it was feared, every moment, the sol- diers and the citizens would come to blows. But war being momently expected, the particular fate of the in- habitants of Boston had become the object of general solicitude. The garrison was formidable ; the fortifications carried to perfec- tion ; and little hope remained that this city could be wrested from British domination. Nor could the citizens flatter themselves more ' with the hope of escaping by sea, as the port was blockaded by a squadron. Thus confined amidst an irritated soldiery, the Bosto- nians found themselves exposed to endure all the outrages to be ap- prehended from military license. Their city had become a close prison, and themselves no better than hostages in the hands of the British commanders. This consideration alone sufficed greatly to impede all civil and military operations projected by the Americans. Various expedients were suggested, in order to extricate the Bosto- nians from this embarrassing situation ; which, if they evinced no great prudence, certainly demonstrated no ordinary obstinacy. Some advised, that all the inhabitants of Boston should abandon the city, and take refuge in other places, where they should be suc- cored at the public expense ; but this design was totally impractica- ble ; since it depended on general Gage to prevent its execution. Others recommended, that a valuation should be made of the houses and furniture belonging to the inhabitants, that the city should then be fired, and that all the losses should be reimbursed from the public treasure. After mature deliberation, this project was also pronounced not only very difficult, but absolutely impossible to be executed. Many inhabitants, however, left the city privately, and withdrew into the interior of the country ; some, from disgust at this species of captivity; others, from fear of the approaching hostilities; and others, finally, from apprehensions of being questioned for acts against the government ; but a great number, also, with a firm reso- lution, preferred to remain, and brave all consequences whatever. 180 THE AMERICAN WAK BOOK IV The soldiers of the garrison, weary of their long confinement, de- sired to sally forth, and drive away these rebels, who interrupted their provisions, and for whom they cherished so profound a con- tempt. The inhabitants of Massachusetts, on the other hand, were proudly indignant at this opinion of their cowardice, entertained by the soldiers ; and panted for an occasion to prove, by a signal ven- geance, the falsehood of the reproach. In the meantime, the news arrived of the king's speech at the opening of parliament ; of the resolutions adopted by that body ; and, finally, of the act by which the inhabitants of Massachusetts were declared rebels. All the province flew to arms ; indignation became fury, obstinacy, desperation. All idea of reconciliation had become chimerical ; necessity stimulated the most timid ; a thirst of vengeance fired every breast. The match is lighted, the materials disposed, the conflagration impends. The children are prepared to combat against their fathers ; citizens against citizens ; and, as the Americans declared, the friends of liberty against its oppressors, against the founders of tyranny. ' In these arms,' said they, ' in our right hands, are placed the hope of safety, the existence of country, the defense of property, the honor of our wives and daughters. With these alone can we re- pulse a licentious soldiery, protect what man holds dearest upon earth, and unimpaired transmit our rights to our descendants. The world will admire our courage ; all good men will second us with their wishes and prayers, and celebrate our names with immortal praises. Our memory will become clear to posterity. It will be the example, as the hope of freemen, and the dread of tyrants, to the latest ages. It is time that old and contaminated England should be made ac- quainted with the energies of America, in the prime and innocence of her youth ; it is time she should know how much superior are our soldiers, in courage and constancy, to vile mercenaries. We must look back no more ! We must conquer or die ! We are placed between altars smoking with the most grateful incense of glory and gratitude, on the one part, and blocks and dungeons on the other. Let each then rise, and gird himself for the combat. The dearest interests of this world command it ; our most holy religion enjoins it ; that God, who eternally rewards the virtuous, and pun- ishes the wicked, ordains it. Let us accept these happy auguries : for already the mercenary satellites, sent by wicked ministers to re- duce this innocent people to extremity, are imprisoned within the walls of a single city, where hunger emaciates them, rage devours them, death consumes them. Let us banish every fear, every alarm ; foitune smiles upon the efforts of the brave 1 ' BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR 181 By similar discourses, they excited one another, and prepared themselves for defense. The fatal moment is arrived ; the signal of civil war is given. General Gage was informed, that the provincials had amassed large quantities of arms and ammunition, in the towns of Worcester and Concord ; which last is eighteen miles distant from the city of Boston. Excited by the loyalists, who had persuaded him that he would find no resistance, considering the cowardice of the patriots, and perhaps not imagining that the sword would be drawn so soon, he resolved to send a few companies to Concord, in order to seize the military stores deposited there, and transport them to Boston, or destroy them. It was said also, that he had it in view, by this sud- den expedition, to get possession of the persons of John Hancock and of Samuel Adams, two of the most ardent patriot chiefs, and the principal directors of the provincial congress, then assembled in the town of Concord. But to avoid exciting irritation, and the popular tumults, which might have obstructed his designs, he resolved to act with caution, and in the shade of mystery. Accordingly, he ordered the grenadiers, and several companies of light infantry, to hold themselves in readiness to march out of the city, at the first signal ; adding, that it was in order to pass review, and execute dif- ferent maneuvers and military evolutions. The Bostonians enter- tained suspicions ; and sent to warn Adams and Hancock to be upon their guard. The committee of public safety gave directions that the arms and ammunition should be distributed about in different places. Meanwhile, general Gage, to proceed with more secrecy, commanded a certain number of officers, who had been ma.de ac- quainted with his designs, to go, as if on a party of pleasure, and dine at Cambridge, which is situated very near Boston, and upon the road to Concord. It was on the 18th of April, in the evening, these officers dispersed themselves here and there upon the road and pas- sages, to intercept the couriers that might have been dispatched to give notice of the movement of the troops. The governor gave or- ders that no person should be allowed to leave the city ; neverthe- less, doctor Warren, one of the most active 'patriots, had timely inti- mation of the scheme, and immediately dispatched confidential mes- sengers ; some of whom found the roads interdicted by the officers that guarded them ; but others made their way unperceived to Lex- ngton, a town upon the road leading to Concord. The intelligence was soon divulged ; the people flocked together, the bells, in aF parts, were rung to give the alarm ; the continual firing of cannon spread the agitation through all the neighboring country. In the THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK IV. midst of this tumultuous scene, at eleven in the evening, a strong detachment of grenadiers, and of light infantry, was embarked at Boston, and went to take land at a place called Phipp's Farm, whence they marched towards Concord. In this state of things, the irritation had become so intense, that a spark only was wanting, to produce an explosion ; as the event soon proved. The troops were under the command of lieutenant-colonel Smith, and major Pitcairn, who led the vanguard. The militia of Lexing- ton, as the intelligence of the movement of this detachment was uncertain, had separated in the course of the night. Finally, at five in the morning of the 19th, advice was received of the near approach of the royal troops. The provincials that happened to be near, assembled to the number of about seventy, certainly too few to have had the intention to engage in combat. The English appeared, and major Pitcairn cried in a loud voice, ' Disperse, reb- els, lay down arms, and disperse.' The provincials did not obey, upon which he sprung from the ranks, discharged a pistol, and, brandishing his sword, ordered his soldiers to fire. The provincials retreated ; the English continuing their fire, the former faced about to return it. Meanwhile, Hancock and Adams retired from danger ; and it is related, that while on the march, the latter, enraptured with joy, ex- claimed, ' Oh ! what an ever glorious morning is this ! ' considering this first effusion of blood as the prelude of events which must secure the happiness of his country. The soldiers advanced to- wards Concord. The inhabitants assembled, and appeared disposed to act upon the defensive, but seeing the numbers of the enemy, they fell back, and posted themselves on the bridge, which is found north of the town, intending to wait for re-inforcements from the neighboring places ; but the light infantry assailed them with fury, routed them, and occupied the bridge, while the others entered Concord, and proceeded to the execution of their orders. They spiked two pieces of twenty-four pound cannon, destroyed their carriages, and a number of wheels for the use of the artillery ; threw into the river, and into wells, five hundred pounds of bullets, and wasted a quantity of flour deposited there by the provincials. These were the arms and provisions which gave the first occasion to a long and cruel war! But the expedition was not yet terminated ; the minute-men ar- rived, and the forces of the provincials were increased by continual accessions from every quarter. The light infantry who scoured the country above Concord, were obliged to retreat, and on entering the BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAR 183 town a hot skirmish ensued. A great number were killed on both sides. The light infantry having joined the main body of the de- tachment, the English retreated precipitately towards Lexington ; already the whole country had risen in arms, and the militia, from all parts, flew to the succor of their own. Before the British de- tachment had arrived at Lexington, its rear guard and flanks suf- fered great annoyance from the provincials, who, posted behind the trees, walls, and frequent hedges, kept up a brisk fire, which the enemy could not return. The soldiers of the king found themselves in a most perilous situation. General Gage, apprehensive of the event, had dispatched, in haste, under the command of Lord Percy, a re-inforcement of sixteen com- panies, with some marines, and two field pieces. This corps arrived very opportunely at Lexington, at the moment when the royal troops entered the town from the other side, pursued with fury by the pro- vincial militia. It appears highly probable, that, without this re-inforcement, they would have been all cut to pieces, or made prisoners ; their strength was exhausted, as well as their ammunition. After making a con- siderable halt at Lexington, they renewed their march towards Bos- ton, the number of the provincials increasing every moment, although the rear guard of the English was less molested, on account of the two field pieces, which repressed the impetuosity of the Americans. But the flanks of the column remained exposed to a very destruc- tive fire, which assailed them from all the points adapted to serve as coverts. The royalists were also annoyed by the heat, which was excessive, and by a violent wind, which blew a thick dust in their eyes. The enemy's marksmen, adding to their natural celerity a perfect knowledge of the country, came up unexpectedly through cross roads, and galled the English severely, taking aim especially at the officers, who, perceiving it, kept much on their guard. Fi- nally, after a march of incredible fatigue, and a considerable loss of men, the English, overwhelmed with lassitude, arrived at sunset in Charlestown. Independently of the combat they had sustained, the ground they had measured that day was above five and thirty miles. The day following they crossed over to Boston. Such was the affair of Lexington, the first action which opened the civil war. The English soldiers, and especially their officers, were filled with indignation at the fortune of the day ; they could not endure, that an undisciplined multitude, that a flock of Yankees, as they contemptuously named the Americans, should not only have maintained their ground against them, but even forced them to show 184 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOR IV their backs, and take refuge behind the walls of a city. The pro vincials. on the contrary, felt their courage immeasurably increased, since they had obtained a proof that these famous troops were not invincible, and had made so fortunate an essay of the goodness of their arms. Both parties were at great pains to prove that their adversaries had been the aggressors. The English insisted, that the Americans had fired first from the houses of Lexington, and that this provoca- tion had forced the British troops to fire also, and to march thence to Concord. The Americans denied the fact, and affirmed very positively, that major Pitcairn had commanded his detachment to fire, when, on their part, they continued to observe a perfect calm ; and many judicial certificates and solemn depositions were made to this effect. Certain it is, that lieutenant-colonel Smith was much displeased that his troops had fired ; and it seems probable, that general Gage had given orders not to fire, except in case of a real attack on the part of the provincials. If it be true, therefore, as there is much reason to believe, that the first firing came from the soldiers of the king, this ought to be imputed rather to the impru- dence of major Pitcairn than to any other order or cause. The two parties also reciprocally accused each other, as it usually happens in civil wars, of many and horrible cruelties. The Ameri- cans pretended that the English had burnt and plundered several houses, destroying what they were unable to carry away, and that they had even massacred several individuals without defense. The English, on the contrary, affirmed, that several of their comrades, made prisoners by the rebels, had been tortured and put to death with savage barbarity. They even related, a thing horrible to re- peat, that one of the wounded English, being left behind, and en- deavoring, with great efforts, to rejoin his corps, was assailed by a young American, who ferociously split open his skull with an axe. and forced out the brains, for his sport. We dare not affirm the truth of this abominable fact ; although we find it related, as not doubtful, by authors worthy of credit ; but we can at least attest the falsehood of a report which had at the time much currency. It was rumored, that the inhabitants of New England, imitating, in their fanatical rage, the barbarity of the savages, their neighbors, had severed the scalp, torn out the eyes, and cut off the ears of many English soldiers, both wounded and dead. It is pleasing to think, and authorities are not wanting to affirm, that these imputations are excessively exaggerated, both on the one part and on the other ; and if any excesses were committed in the heat of battle, it is cer- BOOK IV. THE AMEBICAA' WAR. 185 tain that after the action was over, hnmanity recovered its rights. It is known with perfect assurance, that the wounded, who fell into the hands of the provincial militia, were treated with all the rares and attentions in use among the most civilized nations. The Americans even gave notice to general Gage, that he was at liberty to send surgeons to dress and attend the wounded that were found in their hands. This first feat of arms had two results ; the first was to demon- strate how false and ridiculous were the vaunts of those Gascons, who. within parliament as well as without, had spoken in such un- worthy terms of American courage ; from this moment the English nation, and especially its soldiers, persuaded themselves that the struggle -would be far more severe and more sanguinary, than had been at first believed. The second effect of this combat was, to increase astonishingly the confidence of the colonists, and their resolution to defend their rights. It should be added, also, that the reports of the cruelties committed by the British troops, which, whether true or false, the leaders never failed to propagate and exaggerate, in every place, repeating them with words of ex- treme vehemence, and painting them in the most vivid colors, had produced an incredible fermentation, and a frantic rage in the minds of the inhabitants. To give, if it were possible, still greater ac- tivity to these transports of hatred and fury, the obsequies of the slain were celebrated with every mark of honor, their eulogies were pronounced, they were styled the martyrs of liberty ; their families were the object of universal veneration. They were continually cited as the models to be imitated in the arduous contest which America was forced into, by the injustice and the pride of English supremacy. The provincial congress of Massachusetts was then in session at "Watertown, ten miles distant from Boston. Upon the news of the battle of Lexington, it addressed a long letter to the English peo- ple, containing the most circumstantial details of this event ; the congress endeavored to prove that the royal troops had been the first to engage battle, by firing upon the peaceable militia ; and by com- mitting at Concord, as well as at Lexington, many excesses, abso- lutely unwortby of the British name. They entreated the English nation to interfere, and avert the ulterior calamities which were about to fall upon the colonies and Great Britain ; they declared and protested their loyalty ; at the same time they affirmed it was their firm and irrevocable resolution not to submit to any species of tyi- anny ; they appealed to Heaven for the justice of a cause for which 186 THE AMERICAN WAfc. BOOK IV. they were prepared to sacrifice their fortunes, and, if necessary, existence itself. But, not content with words, and desirous of giving a regular direction to the war, and to the movements of the people, who as- sembled every where in tumultuary crowds, they -assigned a fixed pay to the officers and soldiers ; they made regulations for organ- izing and disciplining the militia. In order to be able to meet the expenses, which were rendered necessary by circumstances, the congress issued a certain quantity of bills of credit, which were to be received as money, in all payments ; and for the guaranty of which, they pledged the faith of the province. They declared that general Gage, having sent armed soldiers to destroy what existed in the public magazines in the town of Concord, a violence which had occasioned the illegal and barbarous death of a great number of the inhabitants of the province, was no longer entitled to receive any obedience, but ought, on the contrary, to be regarded as an enemy to the country. The congress also resolved, that a levy should be made in the province, of thirteen thousand six hundred men, and chose for their general, colonel Ward, an officer of much reputation. This militia was designed to form the contingent of Massachusetts ; the provinces of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, were invited to furnish theirs, in order to complete an army of thirty thausand men, to be commanded by general John Thomas, an offi- cer of great experience. Connecticut dispatched immediately a considerable corps, under the command of colonel Putnam, an old officer, who, in the two late wars, had often given proof of courage and intelligence. The other provinces were not slow in causing their standards to move, and, in a short time, an army of thirty thousand men was found assembled under the walls of Boston. So great and so universal was the ardor produced among the inhab- itants by the battle of Lexington, that the American generals were obliged to send back to their homes many thousand volunteers. Putnam took his station at Cambridge, and Thomas at Roxbury, upon the right wing of the army, to cut off entirely the communi- cation of the garrison, by the isthmus, with the adjacent country. Thus, a few days after the affair of Lexington, the capital of the province of Massachusetts was closely besieged ; thus, a multitude assembled- in haste, of men declared rebels, and mean spirited cow- ards, held in strict confinement, not daring to sally forth even to procure food, many thousands of veteran troops, commanded by an able general, and combating under the royal standard. Such was BOOK IV. THE AMERICAN WAB 187 the situation of troops which had been sent from Europe with the firm expectation that they would only have to show themselves, in order to drive before them all the inhabitants of a country, infinitely more vast and more difficult to traverse than England, itself. But, in all times, regular troops have regarded with disdain the militia of an insurgent people ; and often has this militia baffled all the efforts of regular armies. OP BOOK FOUBTH. NOTE TO BOOK IV. NOTE I. PAGE 138. NAMES OF MEMBERS COMPOSING THE CONGRESS OF 1774. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Jo H.I SULLIVAN, NATHANIEL FULSOM. MASSACHUSETTS. JAMES BOWDOIN, THOMAS GUSHING, SAMUEL ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBERT T. PAINE. RHODE ISLAND. STEPHEN HOPKINS, SAMUEL WARD. CONNECTICUT. ELIPHALET DYER, ROGER SHERMAN, SILAS DEANE. NEW YORK. JAMES DUANE, HENRY WISNER, JOHN JAY, PHILIP LIVINGSTON, ISAAC Low, JOHN ALSOP, WILLIAM FLOYD. NEW JERSEY. JAMES KINSEY, WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, JOHN DE HART, STEPHEN CRANE, RICHARD SMITH. PENNSYLVANIA. JOSEPH GALLOWAY, CHARLES HUMPHREYS, SAMUEL RHOADS, GEORGE Ross, JOHN MORTON, THOMAS MIFFLIN, EDWARD DIDDLE, JOHN DICKINSON. DELAWARE. CJESAR RODNEY, THOMAS M'KEAN, GEORGE READ. MARYLAND. ROBERT GOLDSBOROCGH, THOMAS JOHNSON, WILLIAM PACA, SAMUEL CHASE, MATTHEW TILGHMAN. VIRGINIA. PEYTON RANDOLPH, RICHARD HENRY LEE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, PATRICK HENRY, RICHARD BLAND, BENJAMIN HARRISON, EDMUND PENDLETON. NORTH CAROLINA. WILLIAM HOOPER, JOSEPH HUGHES, RICHARD CASWELL. SOUTH CAROLINA. HENRY MIDDLETON, JOHN RUTLEDGE, THOMAS LYNCH, CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN, EDWARD RUTLEDGE. BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 189 BOOK FIFTH. 1775. BOSTON is situated near the middle of the province of Massachusetts, upon a tract of land, which, connecting with the con- tinent by an extremely narrow tongue, called the neck, afterwards distends sufficiently to comprehend a city of very ample dimensions. The figure of this peninsula is irregular, and forms, alternately, bays and promontories. In one of these bays, facing towards the east, is found the port, which is admirably adapted to receive ships of any burthen, as well of war as of commerce. Towards the north, the land branches into two parts, resembling horns ; one of which, point- ing to the northeast, is called Hudson's Point ; and the other, bearing to the northwest, Barton's Point. In front of these two points, another peninsula is perceived, which, from the name of a consider- able town there situated, opposite Boston, is called Charlestown, and is joined to the main land by an exceedingly narrow neck, which also bears the name of Charlestown. An arm of the sea, about half a mile in breadth, enters between the points of Hudson, of Barton, and of Charlestown ; and, then expanding, embraces all the western part of the peninsula of Boston. A number of streams empty them- selves into this cove ; the principal of which, are Muddy, Charles, and Mystic, or Medford, rivers. Not far from the isthmus of Boston, the continent stretches into the sea, and forms a long promontory, which extends, on the right, towards the east ; from which results another peninsula, though joined to the main land by a much wider neck than either that of Boston or of Charlestown ; these are known by the appellations of Dorchester Neck, and Point. The peninsulas of Charlestown, and of Dorchester, are so near to that of Boston, thai batteries placed upon either can reach the city with their shot. This can be done with the greater facility, as in both there are many hills, or eminences, peculiarly favorable for the position of artillery. There is one, above the village of Charlestown, called Breed's Hill, which commands the city of Boston ; and another, behind it, towards Charlestown Neck, and consequently further from Boston, which bears the name of Bunker's Hill. In like manner upon the penin- sula of Dorchester are heights, which have the same name ; and another, called Nook's Hill, which crowns the spur of land towards Boston. The inlet of the sea, through which the port is approached, is sprinkled with little islands ; the most considerable of which are Noddle's, Thompson's, Governor's, Long Island, and Castle Island. West of Boston, upon the river Charles, is situated the extensive 190 THE AMERICAN WAJL BOOK V. village of Cambridge ; and to the south, at the entrance of the Neck, that of Roxbury. The American army had rested its left wing upon the river of Medford, and thus intercepted the communication of Charlestown Neck ; the center occupied Cambridge ; and the right wing, posted at Roxbury, repressed the garrison on the part of the isthmus, which, being fortified, might have facilitated their sallies and excursions into the country. In this situation, respectively, the two armies were found ; but the number and quality of the combatants, their opinions, their military science, their arms, ammunition and provisions, created a great difference in their condition. The Americans were much superior in number ; but this number was subject to continual variations ; for that severe discipline, without which neither order nor stability can exist in armies, not being as yet introduced among them, the soldiers joined or quitted their colors, as best suited their inclinations ; and fresh bands of volunteers were daily arriving, to take the place of those who had left the camp. They had every kind of food in great abundance, and especially vegetables, so necessary to the health of troops. But their arms were far from being sufficient. They had, in all, but sixteen field pieces, six of which, at the very utmost, were in a condition for service. Their brass pieces, which were few, were of the smallest caliber. They had, however, some heavy iron can- non, with three or four mortars and howitzers, and some scanty provision of balls and bombs. But of powder they were almost totally destitute ; for, upon visiting the magazines, only eighty-two halfbarrelsofitwerefound. A certain quantity, it is true, might have been procured in the neighboring provinces ; but this feeble resource would soon be exhausted. Muskets were in abundance ; but they were all of different caliber, each having brought his own. They were admirably skilled in the use of this weapon, and therefore well adapted for the service of light troops and skirmishing parties ; but in regular battle, they would have made but an indifferent figure. They had no uniforms, and no magazines stocked with provisions : they lived from day to day, without taking thought for the morrow ; but, in these first moments, the zeal of the neighboring country people suffered them to want for nothing. They had no coined money, or very little ; but they had bills of credit, which, at this epoch, were current at equal value with gold. The officers wanled due instruction, excepting those few who had served in the preceding wars. They were not even known by their soldiers ; for, the or ganization of the several corps not being yet completed, the changes in them were continual. Orders were ill executed ; every one BOOK V THE AMERICAN WAR. 191 wished to command, and do according to his own fancy; few deigned to obey. Upon the whole, with the exception of some few regiments, which had been trained in certain provinces by experi- enced chiefs, the residue had more the appearance of a tumultuary assemblage, than of a regular army. But all these defects were com- pensated by the determined spirit of their minds ; by the zeal of party ; the profound persuasion, in all, of the justice of their cause v the exhortations of their chiefs, and of the ministers of religion, who neglected no means of daily exciting this people, already of themselves inclined to the enthusiasm of religious ideas, to signalize their firmness and valor in an enterprise pleasing in the sight of Heaven and all the good of the human rfc.ce. With these feeble preparations, but with this extraordinary ardor, the Americans commenced a war, which every thing announced must prove long, arduous and sanguinary. It was, however, easy to foresee, that, whatever reverses they might have to encounter in the outset, an unshaken constancy must render them eventually Iri- umphant ; for, by preserving all thek courage, and acquiring disci- pline, and the science of war, their soldiers could not fail to beet me equal, in all respects, to any that could be opposed to them. As to the British troops, they were abundantly provided with all things necessary to enter the field ; their arsenals were glutted with artillery of various caliber, excellent muskets, powder, and arms of every denomination. Their soldiers were all perfectly exercised, accustomed to fatigues and dangers ; they had long been taught the difficult art, so essential in war to obey. Their minds were full of the recollection of the achievements, by which they had distinguished themselves at various times, in the service of their country, while combating against the most warlike nations of the world. A partic- ular motive added still greatly to the martial resolution of this army the reflection that they were to combat under the royal standard, which is usually a powerful incentive to military honor. The English, moreover, considered the enemies they were about to encounter, in the light of rebels ; a name that inflamed them with an animosity more intense than simple courage. They panted to avenge them- selves for the affront of Lexington ; they could by no means admit that these Americans were able to resist them ; they persisted in viewing them as cowards, who were indebted for their success at Lexington, exclusively to their numbers, and the advantage of ground. They were persuaded that, in the first serious action, in the first regular battle, the colonists would not dare to wait their approach. But, until the arrival of the re-inforcements expected from England, prudence exacted a circumspect conduct towards the Americans, 192 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. whose forces were more than threefold in number. Meanwhile, so strict was the siege, no provisions being permitted to enter the city from the neighboring towns, that fresh meat and all kinds of vege- tables began to become excessively scarce ; and, although the sea was open to the English, and they had a great number of light ves- sels at their disposal, they could procure no supplies from the coasts of New England ; the inhabitants having driven their cattle into the interior of the country. As to the other provinces, they could ob- tain nothing from them by their consent ; and they could not employ force, because they were not yet declared rebels. The scarcity became therefore extreme at Boston. The garrison, as well as the inhabitants, were reduced to salt provisions. The Eng- lish, therefore, were impatient for the arrival of re-inforcements from England, in order to make some vigorous effort to extricate them- selves from this difficult situation. The besieging army, aware that th inhabitants of Boston had nc other resource but from the magazines <)f the king, exercised the greater vigilance to intercept J0T sup^ues from the adjacent country ; hoping that the exhaustion ofthese stores would at length induce the governor to consent that the inhabitants, or at least the women and children, as superfluous moutte, migjjfleave the city. This the pro- vincials had several times requested, very earnestly ; but the governor, notwithstanding the embarrassment he experienced in providing sustenance for the troops, appeared^ little disposed to listen to the proposition. He considered the inhabitants as so many hostages for the safety of the city and garrison ; being apprehensive the Ameri- cans might attempt to carry the place by assault ; of which however, there was not the least danger, although they had purposely circulated such a rumor. Their generals were too considerate not to perceive how fatal an impression of discouragement must have been made on the public mind, by the miscarriage of so important a stroke, at the very commencement of the war ; and the probabilities in favor of this assault were not great, as the fortifications of the IVeck were extremely formidable ; and, on the other hand, there could have been little hope of success, so long as the English had command of the sea, and the movements of a numerous fleet. But, finally, general Gage, urged by necessity, and wishing also to withdraw arms from the hands of the citizens, on whose account he was not without apprehensions, after a long conference with the council of the city, acceded to an arrangement, by which it was stipulated, that all citi- zens, on giving up their arms, and depositing them in Faneuil Hall, or some other public place, should be at liberty to retire wherever they might think proper, with all their effects ; it was, however, x BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 193 understood, that their arms should, in due time, be restored them. It was also agreed, that thirty carts should be permitted to enter Boston, to take away the movables of the emigrants ; and that the admiralty should furnish the transports requisite for the same pur- pose. This compact was at first faithfully observed by the two parties ; the inhabitants deposited their arms, and the general de- livered them passports. But soon after, either unwilling to deprive himseli entirely of hostages, or apprehensive, as it had been rumored, that the insurgents meditated the design of setting fire to the city, so soon as their partisans should have evacuated it, he pretended that individuals who had gone out to look after the affairs of persons attached to the royal cause, had been ill treated ; and began to re- fuse passes. This refusal excited violent complaints, both among the Bostonians and the provincials stationed without. The govern- or, however, persisted in his resolution. If he afterwards permitted some Tew citizens to depart, it was only upon condition that they should leave their furniture and effects ; which subjected them to no little detriment and inconvenience. Many of them, who were ac- customed to live in a style of great elegance, found themselves re- duced, by this extraordinary rigor, to an absolute destitution of things of the first necessity. It was also said, and with too much appear- ance of probability, that, from a certain cruelty, which no motive can excuse, in granting passports, he studied to divide families, separating wives from husbands, fathers from children, brothers from each other ; some obtained permission to depart others were forced to remain. The poor and sick might all retreat, without opposition ; but their departure was accompanied with a circumstance, which, if it was not the effect of a barbarous intention, ought at least to have been prevented with the most sedulous care ; among the sick, those were suffered to pass who were attacked with the smallpox, a very mortal disease in America, where it excites the same horror as the plague itself in Europe and in Asia. The contagion spread rapidly, and made frightful ravages among the provincials While these things were passing within and about Boston, the other provinces were making their preparations for war with extreme activity. The city of New York itself, in which the English had more friends than in any other on the continent, and which hitkerto had manifested so much reserve, at the first news of the battle of Lexington, was seized with a violent emotion, and resolved to make common cause with the other colonies. The inhabitants adopted the resolutions of the general congress, with the determination to persist in them until the entire re-establishment of constitutional VOL. i. 13 194 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. laws. They drew up an energetic address to the common council of the city of London, which had shown itself favorable to the cause of the colonies ; they declared, that all the calamities in the train of civil war, could not constrain the Americans to bend to the wil) of Great Britain ; and that such was the universal sentiment, from Nova Scotia to Georgia ; they conjured the city of London to exert -all it? endeavors to restore peace between the two parts of the em- pire ; but as to themselves, they protested their determination never to endure ministerial tyranny. The inhabitants were all indefatigable in training themselves to the use of arms ; the patriots to resist England ; and the partisans of the government, forming no inconsiderable number, either be- cause they thought it prudent to go with the current, or to prevent disorders, or to be prepared, with arms in their hands, to declare themselves upon the first occasion. But as the city of New York is entirely exposed towards the sea, and as the inhabitants could have no hope of defending it against the attack of an English fleet, they resolved to risk nothing by delay, and to seize the arms and ammu- nition deposited in the royal magazines. The women and children were removed from the seat of danger; which done, they prepared to defend themselves ; and, in case they should have lost all hope of resisting the forces of the enemy, it was resolved, horrible as it seems, though but too common in civil wars, to fire the city. In South Carolina, it was hoped, universally, that perseverance in the resolutions taken against British commerce, would suffice to dis- pose the government to embrace milder counsels. But the intelli- gence of the rigorous acts of parliament was received there the very day on which was fought the battle of Lexington, the tidings of which arrived a few days after. The inhabitants were struck with surprise, and even with terror ; well knowing to what dangers they exposed themselves, in undertaking to wage war with Great Britain ; as her formidable squadrons could reach them at all the points of a coast two hundred miles in length, and as they found themselves almost totally destitute of arms or munitions of war ; without means to equip their soldiers, without sfcips, without money, without officers of experience, or skilled in tactics. They were even not without serious apprehensions relative to the negro slaves, formidably numerous in this province. They were accessible to seduction, by gifts and prom- ises ; and might be instigated to massacre their masters, at the mo- ment of their most unsuspecting security. The province itself had not been comprehended in the parliamentary proscription ; and could not, therefore, without manifest treason, spontaneously take part in rebellion and open war. At length, however, the resolutions in- BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAB. 195 spired by com age prevailed ; and such measures were taken as were deemed best suited to the occasion. On the night subsequent to the advice of the hostilities at Lexington, the inhabitants rushed to the arsenal, and seized all the arms and ammunition it contained, and distributed them among the soldiers in the pay of the province. A provincial congress was convoked ; a league was contracted by the delegates, purporting, that the Carolinians considered themselves united, by all the ties of honor and religion, for the defense of their country against all enemies whatsoever ; that they were ready to march, whenever and wherever the congress, whether general or provincial, should judge necessary ; that they would sacrifice their fortunes and their lives to maintain the public liberty and safety ; that they would hold for enemies all those who should refuse to sub- scribe the league ; which was to be in force, until a reconciliation was effected between Great Britain and America, conformably to the principles of the constitution. It was afterwards determined to raise two regiments of infantry, and one of cavalry, called rangers. Such was the general ardor, that more officers presented themselves than were wanted ; the greater part from among the wealthiest and most respectable families of the country. At the same time, an emission was made of bills of credit, which, at this epoch, were re- ceived by all the citizens, with the greatest promptitude. In New Jersey, at the news of the affair at Lexington, the people took possession of the provincial treasure ; and a part of it was destined to pay the troops which were levied at the same time hi the province. At Baltimore, in Maryland, the inhabitants laid a strong hand upon all the military stores that were framd in the public magazines ; and, among other arms, fifteen hundred muskets thus fell into their power. A decree was published, interdicting all transportation of commod- ities to the islands where fisheries were carried on, as also to the British army and fleet stationed at Boston. The inhabitants of Philadelphia took the same resolution, and appeared, in all respects, equally disposed to defend the common cause. The Quakers themselves, notwithstanding their pacific in- stitutions, could not forbear to participare in the ardor with which their fellow-citizens flew to meet a new order of things. When Virginia, this important colony, and particularly opposed to the pretensions of England, received the intelligence of the first hos- tilities, it was found in a state of extreme commotion, excited by a cause, which, though trivial in itself, in the present conjuncture be- came of serious importance. The provincial congress, convened in the month of March, had recommended a levy of volunteers in each 196 THE AMERICAN WAll. BOOK V. county, for the better defense of the country. The governor, lord Dunmore, at the name of volunteers, became highly indignant ; and conceived suspicions of some pernicious design. Apprehending the inhabitants intended to take possession of a public magazine, in the city of Williamsburg, he caused all the powder it contained to be removed, by night, and conveyed on board an armed vessel, at anchor in the river James. The following morning, the citizens, on being apprised of the fact, were violently exasperated ; they flew to arms, assembled in great numbers, and demonstrated a full determi- nation to obtain restitution of the powder, either by fair means 01 force. A serious affair was apprehended ; but the municipal coun cil interposed, and, repressing the tumult, dispatched a written request to the governor, entreating him to comply with the public desire. They complained, with energy, of the injury received ; and represented the dangers to which they should be exposed, in case of insurrection on the part of the blacks, whose dispositions, from va- rious recent reports, they had too much reason to distrust. The governor answered, that the powder had been removed, because he had heard of an insurrection in a neighboring county ; that he had removed it in the night time to prevent any alarm ; that he was much surprised to hear the people were under arms ; and that he should not think it prudent to put powder into their hands in such a situation. He assured them, however, that, in case of a revolt of the negroes, it should be returned immediately. Tranquillity was re-established ; but in the evening, an alarm was given, that the soldiers of the ship of war were approaching the city in arms ; the people again also took up theirs, and passed the whole night in expectation of an attack. The governor, not knowing, or unwilling to yield to the temper of the times, manifested an extreme irritation at these popular move- ments. He suffered certain menaces to fall from his lips, which it would have been far more prudent to suppress. He intimated, that the royal standard would be erected ; the blacks emancipated, and armed against their masters ; a thing no less imprudent than bar- barous, and contrary toj|every species of civilization ; finally, he threatened the destruction of the city, and to vindicate, in every mode, his own honor, and that of the crown. These threats ex- cited a general fermentation throughout the colony, and even pro- duced an absolute abhorrence towards the government. Thus, incidents of slight importance, assisted by the harsh and haughty humors of the agents of England and America, contributed to ac- celerate the course of things towards that crisis, to which- they tended already, but too strongly, of themselves. UOOKV. THE AMERICAN WAR. 197 Meanwhile ; in the popular meetings that assembled in all tho counties of the province, the seizure of the powder, and the menaces of the governor, were condemned with asperity. But, in the coun ty of Hanover, and the country adjacent, the inhabitants were not content with words. They took arms ; and, under the command of Henry, one of the delegates to the general congress, marched against the city of Williamsburg, with the design, as they declared openly, not only of obtaining restitution of the powder, but also of securing the public treasury against the attempts of the governor. An hundred and fifty of the most enterprising were already in the suburbs of the city, when a parley was opened, which concluded in an accommodation, and tranquillity was restored ; but it was evident that the public mind was too much inflamed to admit of its long con- tinuance. The people of the country, however, returned peaceably to their habitations. The governor fortified his palace to the utmost of his power ; he placed a garrison of marines within, and surrounded it with artil- lery. He issued a proclamation, by which Henry and his followers were declared rebels. Finally, with an imprudence of conduct un- worthy of a magistrate, who ought never, in the exercise of his func- tions, to suffer himself to be transported with anger, in acrimonious terms, he attributed the present commotions to the disaffection of the people, and their desire to excite a general revolt. These im- putations served only to imbitter hatred, and cut off all hope of a better futurity. In the midst of these divisions between the people of Virginia and the governor, an incident happened, which still added to their violence. In like manner as doctor Franklin had procured the letters of Hutchinson, some other person had found means to convey from the office of state, the official correspondence of lord Dunmore ; which was transmitted to the Virginian chiefs. Immediately upon its publication, a cry of indignation arose against the governor, for having written things false, and injurious to the province. Thus all reciprocal confidence was destroyed ; the slightest casualty became a serious event, and mutual enmity more and more imbittered the in- evitable effects of this misunderstanding. During these disputes, which, apart from the irritation they sup- ported against the government, could have no considerable influ- ence, of themselves, upon public affairs, the inhabitants of Con- necticut attempted an important enterprise. The road which leads from the English colonies to Canada, is traced almost entirely along the river and lakes, which are foirn b- 198 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V . these two countries, and in the direction of south to north. Those who undertake this excursion, begin by ascending the river Hudson, up to fort Edward, whence, keeping to the right, they arrive at Skeenesborough, a fort situated near the sources of Wood creek : or, bearing to the left, they come to fort George, erected at the south- ern extremity of the lake of that name. Both the former and the latter afterwards embark, the first upon Wood creek, the second upon lake George, and are landed at Ticonderoga ; at which point, the two lakes unite to form lake Champlain, so called from the name of a French governor, who drowned himself there. By the lake, and thence by the river Sorel, which flows out of it, they descend into the great river St. Lawrence, which passes to Quebec. Ticon- deroga is then situated near the confluence of these waters, between lake George and lake Champlain. It is therefore a place of the highest importance, as standing upon the frontier, and at the very entrance of Canada ; whoever occupies it can intercept all commu- nication between this province and the colonies. Accordingly, the French had fortified it with such diligence, that the English, in the preceding war, were unable to carry it without extraordinary efforts, and great effusion of blood on both sides. The chiefs of this expedition, colonels Eaton and Allen, consid- ered how essential it was to seize this key of Canada, before the English should have thrown into the place a sufficient garrison for its defense ; for, in the profound peace which prevailed at that time, without apprehension of war either abroad or at home, the govern- ors of Canada had made no preparations at Ticonderoga ; and it was left to the charge of a feeble detachment. It was evident, that if the British government resolved to prosecute war against its colo- nies, it would send troops into Canada with a view of attacking the Americans in the rear, by the way of Ticonderoga. It was known, besides, that this fortress, and that of Crown Point, situated a little below it, upon the same lake, Champlain, were furnished with a very numerous artillery, of which the Americans stood in the great- est need. Finally, it was thought of no little importance, in tjiese first movements, to strike some capital blow, in order to stimulate the ardor of the insurgent people. Accordingly, this enterprise, having been maturely considered - in the plan, and directed with great prudence in the execution, had the result which might have been expected. It was deemed an essential point, to attack the enemy by sur- prise ; they resolved, therefore, to proceed with profound secrecy ; for if the commanders of Ticonderoga and of Crown Point had any suspicion of the project, they could draw re-inforcements from BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAK. 199 the neighboring fortress of St. John. The general congress itself, then in session at Philadelphia, had no intimation of their design ; its authors being apprehensive, lest, in so great a number of mem- bers, there might be found some individual deficient in discretion. To defray the expenses of the enterprise, the assembly of Con- necticut appropriated the sum of eighteen hundred dollars. Pow- iler, bullets, and all the utensils requisite for a siege, were secretly provided. The troops were promptly assembled at Castleton, a place situated upon the banks of Wood creek, and the great road to Ticonderoga. The greater part were inhabitants of the Green Mountains, and thence, in their own style, they were called Green Mountain Boys ; a race of men accustomed to fatigue and danger. Among the superior officers, besides Allen and Eaton, were colonels Brown and Warner, and captain Dickinson. They were joined at Castleton by colonel Arnold, who came from the army of Boston. Possessed by nature of an extraordinary force of genius, a restless character, and an intrepidity bordering upon prodigy, this officer had of himself conceived the same plan ; so manifest was the utility of the enterprise, and so bold the spirit of these American chiefs. Arnold had conferred, to this end, with the committee of safety of Massachusetts, who had appointed him colonel, with authority to levy soldiers, in order to attempt the capture of Ticonderoga ; in pursu- ance whereof, he arrived at Castleton ; and his surprise was extreme, at finding himself anticipated. But, as he was not a man to be baf- fled by trifles, and as nothing could delight him more than the occa- sion for combat, he concerted with the other leaders, and consented, however hard he must have thought the sacrifice, to put himself un- der the command of colonel Allen. They posted sentinels upon all the roads, to prevent the least ru- mor of their approach from reaching the menaced point ; and they arrived, in the night, upon the bank of lake Champlain, opposite Ticonderoga. The chief hope of success depending on dispatch, Allen and Arnold rapidly surmounted the difficulties of crossing; and. landed upon the other bank, in the environs of the fortress. They continued their march, and at day break, entering by the cov- ered way, arrived upon the esplanade ; here they raised the shouts of victory, and made a deafening uproar. The soldiers of the gar- rison roused from sleep at this tumult, and soon commenced firing. A hot scuffle ensued, with gun-breeches and bayonets. The com- mander of the fort at Jength appeared ; colonel Eaton having in- formed him that he was -prisoner of America, he was much confused, and repeated, several times, ' What does this meant' The English threw down arms, and all was surrendered to the victors. 200 THE AMERICA* WAR. BOOK V. They found, at Ticonderoga, about one hundred and twenty pieces of twenty-four pound brass cannon, several howitzers and mortars, balls, bombs, and ammunition of every denomination. The detachment that was left upon the other bank, having rejoined the first, a party was sent against Crown Point, where the garrison consisted of only a few soldiers. This expedition succeeded with- 6ut difficulty ; more than a hundred pieces of artillery were found tn the fort. But the plan of the Americans would not have been completely accomplished, except they secured to themselves the exclusive con- trol of the lake ; which they could not hope to obtain, however without seizing a corvette of war, which the English kept at anchor near fort St. John. Thry resolved, therefore, to arm a vessel of the species they call schooners, the command of which was to be given to Arnold ; while Allen should bring on his men upon the flat boats employed in the navigation of these lakes. The wind blowing fresh from the south, the vessel of Arnold left the boats far in the rear. He came unexpectedly alongside of the corvette, the captain of which was far from suspecting the danger that menaced him, and took possession of it without resistance ; and, as if Heaven was pleased to distinguish with evident tokens of its favor these first achievements of the Americans, the wind suddenly changed from south to north, so that, in a few hours' time, colonel Arnold re- turned, sound and safe, with his prize, to Ticonderoga. Things passed no less propitiously for the Americans at Skeenes- borouffh. The fortress fell into their hands, with its garrison ; and thus placed at their disposal a great quantity of light artillery. Colonel Allen put sufficient garrisons in the conquered fortresses, and deputed Arnold to command them in chief. As to himself, he returned directly to Connecticut. Such was the fortunate issue of the expedition of the Americans upon the northern frontiers. It was no doubt of high importance ; but it would have had a much greater influence upon the course of the whole war, if these fortresses, which are the shield and bulwark of the colonies, had been defended, in times following, with the same prudence and valor with which they had been acquired But about Boston, the course of events was far less rapid. The Americans exerted their utmost industry, to intercept from the Eng- lish all supplies of provisions ; and they, all their endeavors to pro- cure them. This gave occasion to frequent skirmishes between the detachments of the two armies. One of the most severe took place about Noddle's and Hog Island, both situated in the harbor of Bos- ton northeast of tht> Hty ; the first opposite Winnesimick, and the BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR, 201 second in front of Chelsea, and very near it. These two islands, abounding in forage and cattle, were a great resource for the Eng- lish, who went there often in quest of provisions. This the provin- cials resolved to put a stop to, by removing the cattle, and destroy- ing all the provender they could find. They carried their purpose into effect ; not, however, without a vigorous opposition on the part of the royalists. The provincials landed a second time upon Nod die's Island, and took off a great number of battle, o.^ various de- nominations. They effected the same purpose, a few days after, in Pettick's and Deer Island. In all these actions, they demonstrated the most intrepid courage, and acquired greater confidence in them- selves. The garrison of Boston, already suffering greatly from the scarcity of food, experienced, from these operations, a prejudice dif ficult to describe. These feats were tne prelude to an action of far greater moment which followed a few days after. The succors expected from England, had arrived at Boston ; which, with the garrison, formed an army of from ten to twelve thousand men ; all excellent troops. Three distinguished generals, Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, were at the head of these re-inforcements. Great events were looked for on both sides. The English were inflamed with desire to wash out the stain of Lexington ; they could not endure the idea that the Americans had seen them fly ; it galled them to think, that the sol- diers of the British king, renowned for their brilliant exploits, were now closely imprisoned within the walls of a city. They were de- sirous, at any price, of proving that their superiority over the herds of American militia, was not a vain chimera. Above all, they ar- dently aspired to terminate, by some decisive stroke, this ignominious war ; and thus satisfy, at once, their own glory, the expectations of their country, the orders, the desires, and the promises of the ministers. But victory was exacted of them still more imperiously by the scarcity of food, which every day became more alarming; for, if they must sacrifice their lives, they chose rather to perish by the sword than by famine. The Americans, on their part, were not less eager for the hour of combat to arrive; their preceding successes had stimulated their courage, and promised them new triumphs. In this state of things, the English generals deliberated maturely upon the most expedient mode of extricating themselves from this difficult position, and placing themselves more at large in the country. Two ways were suggested of issuing from the city ; one, to sally out from the Neck, and attack the American intrenchments at Roxbu- ry ; and, having forced them, to scour the country on the part of the 202 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. county of Suffolk ; the other was, to pass the feny of Charlestown, traverse the peninsula of this name, issue by the isthmus, and dis- lodge the enemy, who occupied the heights between Willis creek and Mystic river ; and then dilate in the direction of Worcester. General Gage had for some time been decided to attempt the first of these alternatives. He calculated, that in case of a repulse, the fortifications of Boston Neck would secure his retreat. The Americans, having been apprised of it, on the very day appointed for the attack, stood much upon their guard. Whether from this motive, or some other more probable, the English general altered his resolution, and neither marched out on that day nor the following The provincials took advantage of the delay, and strengthened their intrenchments with parapets and palisades. They also concentrated their artillery, and re-inforced this part of the army with all the militia of the adjacent country. All these dispositions were made with so much intelligence, that the English could no longer attempt an attack upon this quarter, without exposing themselves to manifest peril. Accordingly, they abandoned all thoughts of it, and directed their views towards the peninsula and Neck of Charlestown. The A.meiican generals had immediate notice of it ; and resolved to exert their most strenuous endeavors to defeat this new project of the enemy. Nothing was better suited to such a purpose, than to fortify diligently the heights of Bunker's Hill, which commanded the en- trance and the issue of the peninsula of Charlestown. Orders were therefore given to colonel William Prescott, to occupy them with a detachment of a thousand men, and to intrench himself there by the rules of art. But here an error was committed, which placed the garrison of Boston in very imminent danger, and reduced the two parties to the necessity of coming to action immediately. Whether he was deceived by the resemblance of name, or from some other motive unknown, colonel Prescott, instead of repairing to the heights of Bunker's Hill, to fortify himself there, advanced further on in the peninsula, and immediately commenced his intrenchments upon the heights of Breed's Hill, another eminence, which overlooks Charles- town, and is situated towards the extremity of the peninsula, nearer to Boston. The works were pushed with so much ardor, that the following morning, by day-break, the Americans had already con- structed a square redoubt, capable of affording them some shelter from the enemy's fire. The labor had been conducted with such silence, that the English had no suspicion of what was passing. It was about four in the morning, when the captain of a ship of war first perceived it, and began to play his artillery. The report of the cannon attracted a multitude of spectators to the shoie. BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. The English generals doubted the testimony of their senses. Meanwhile, the thing appeared too important not to endeavor to dislodge the provincials, or at least to prevent them from completing the fortifications commenced ; for, as the height of Breed's Hill ab- solutely commands Boston, the city was no longer tenable, if the Americans erected a battery upon this eminence. The English therefore opened a general fire of the artillery of the city, of the fleet, and of the floating batteries stationed around the peninsula of Boston. It hailed a tempest of bombs and balls upon the works of the Americans ; they were especially incommoded by the fire of a battery planted upon an eminence named Copp's Hill, which, situ- ated within the city, forms a species of tower, in front of Breed's Hill. But all this was without effect. The Americans continued to work the whole day, with unshaken constancy ; and, towards night, they had already much advanced a trench, which descended from the redoubt to the foot of the hill, and almost to the bank of Mystic river. The fury of the enemy's artillery, it is true, had pre- vented them from carrying it to perfection. In this conjuncture, there remained no other hope for the English generals, but in attempting an assault, to drive the Americans, by dint of force, from this formidable position. This resolution was taken without hesitation ; and it was followed, the 17th of June, by the action of Breed's Hill, known also by the name of Bunker's Hill j much renowned for the intrepidity, not to say the temerity, of the two parties ; for the number of the dead and wounded ; and for the effect it produced upon the opinions of men, in regard to the valor of the Americans, and the probable issue of the whole war. The right wing of the Americans was flanked by the houses of Charlestown, which they occupied ; and the part of this wing which connected with the main body, was defended by the redoubt erected upon the heights of Breed's Hill. The center, and the left wing, formed themselves behind the trench, which, following the declivity of the hill, extended towards, but without reaching, Mystic river. The American officers having reflected that the most feeble part of their defensive was precisely this extremity of the left wing, for the trench not extending to the river, and the land in this place being smooth and easy, there was danger of being turned, and attacked in the rear, they determined, therefore, to obstruct this passage by two parallel palisades, and to fill up with herbage the interval between the one and the other. The troops of Massachusetts occupied Charlestown, the redoubt, and a part of the trench ; those of Con- necticut, commanded by captain Nolten, and those of New Hamp- shire, under colonel Stark, the rest of the trench. A few moments 904 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK T before the action commenced, doctor Warren, who had been ap- pointed general, a personage of great authority, and a zealous patriot, arrived with some re-inforcements. General Pomeroy made his appearance at the same time. The first joined the troops of his own province, of Massachusetts ; the second took command of those from Connect xuit. General Putnam directed in chief; and held himself ready to repair to any point, where his presence should be most wanted. The Americans hcd no cavalry; that which was expected from the southern provinces was not yet arrived. The artillery, without being very numerous, was nevertheless competent. They wanted not for muskets ; but the greater part were without bayonets. Their sharp shooters, for want of rifles, were obliged to use common firelocks : but as marksmen they had no equals. Such were the means of the Americans ; but their hope was great ; and they were all impatient for the signal of combat. Between mid-day and oi.e o'clock, the heat being intense, all was in motion in the British camp. A multitude of sloops and boats, filled with soldiers, left the shore of Boston, and stood for Charles- town ; they landed at Moreton's Point, without meeting resistance ; as the ships of war and armed vessels effectually protected the debarkation with the fire of their artillery, which forced the enemy to keep within his intrenchments. This corps consisted of ten com- panies of grenadiers, as many of light infantry, and a proportionate artillery ; the whole under the command of major-general Howe, and brigadier-general Pigot. The troops, on landing, began to display, the light infantry upon the right, the grenadiers upon the left : but, having observed the strength of the position, and the good countenance of the Americans, general Howe made a halt, and sent to call a re-inforcement. The English formed themselves in two columns. Their plan was, that the left wing, under general Pigot, should attack the rebels in Charlestown ; while the center assaulted the redoubt ; and the right wing, consisting of light infantry, should force the passage near the river Mystic, and thus assail the Americans in flank and rear ; which would have given the English a complete victory. It appears, also, that general Gage had formed the design of setting fire to Charles- town, when evacuated by the enemy, in order that the corps destined to assail the redoubt, thus protected by the flame and smoke, might be less exposed to the fire of the provincials. The dispositions having all been completed, the English put them- selves in motion. The provincials that were stationed to defend Uharlestown, fearing lest the assailants should penetrate between this town and the redoubt j and thus to find themselves cut off from BOOK V THE AMERICAN WAR. 5205 the rest of the army, retreated. The English immediately entered the town, and fired the buildings ; as they were of wood in a mo- ment the combustion became general. They continued a slow march against the redoubt and trench : halting, from time to time, for the artillery to come up, and act with some effect, previous to the assault. The flames and smoke of Charlestown were of no use to them, as the wind turned them in a contrary direction. Their gradual advance, and the extreme clear- ness of the air, permitted the Americans to level their muskets. They, however, suffered the enemy to approach, before they com- menced their fire ; and waited for the assault, in profound tranquil- lity. It would be difficult to paint the scene of terror presented by these circumstances. A large town, all enveloped in flames, which, excited by a violent wind, rose to an immense height, and spread every moment more and more ; an innumerable multitude, rushing from all parts, to witness so unusual a spectacle, and see the issue of the sanguinary conflict that was about to commence. The Bosto* nians, and soldiers of the garrison not in actual service, were mounted upon the spires, upon the roofs, and upon the heights. The hills,, and circumjacent fields, from which the dread arena could be viewed in safety, were covered with swarms of spectators, of every rank, and age, and sex ; each agitated by fear or hope, according to the party , he espoused. The English having advanced within reach of musketry, the Americans showered upon them a volley of bullets. This terrible fire was so well supported, and so well directed, that the ranks of the assailants were soon thinned and broken ; they retired in disor- der to the place of their landing ; some threw themselves precipi- tately into the boats. The field of battle was covered with the slain. The officers were seen running hither and thither, with promises, with exhortations, and with menaces, attempting to rally the soldiers, and inspirit them for a second attack. Finally, after the most pain- ful efforts, they resumed their ranks, and marched up to the enemy. The Americans reserved their fire, as before, until their approach, and received them with the same deluge of balls. The English, overwhelmed and routed, again fled to the shore. In this perilous moment, general Howe remained for some time alone upon the field of battle ; all the officers who surrounded him were killed or wounded. It is related, that at this critical conjuncture, upon which depended the issue of the day, general Clinton, who, from Copp's Hill, examined all the movements, on seeing the destruction of his troops, immediately resolved to fly to their succor. This experienc d commander, by an able movement, re-established 206 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. order ; and seconded by the officers, who felt all the importance of success, to English honor and the course of events, he led the troops to a third attack. It was directed against the redoubt, at three several points. The artillery of the ships not only prevented all re-inforcements from coming to the Americans, by the isthmus of Charlestown, but even uncovered, and swept the interior of the trench, which was battered in front at the same time. The ammu- nition of the Americans was nearly exhausted, and they could have no hopes of a recruit. Their fire must, of necessity, languish. Meanwhile, the English had advanced to the foot of the redoubt- The provincials, destitute of bayonets, defended themselves valiantly with the but-end of their muskets. But the redoubt being already full of enemies, the American general gave the signal of retreat, and drew off his men. While the left wing and center of the English army were thus engaged, the light infantry had impetuously attacked the palisades, which the provincials had erected in haste upon the bank of the river Mystic. On the one side, and on the other, the combat was obstinate ; and if the assault was furious, the resistance was not feeble. In spite-of all the efforts of the royal troops, the provincials still maintained the battle in this part ; and had no thoughts of retir- ing, until they saw the redoubt and upper part of the trench were in the power of the enemy. Their retreat was executed with an or- der not to have been expected from new levied soldiers. This strenu ous resistance of the left wing of the American army, was, in effect, the salvation of the rest ; for if it had given ground but a few in- stants sooner, the enemy's light infantry would have taken the main body and right wing in the rear, and their situation would have been hopeless. But the Americans had not yet reached the term of their toils and dangers. The only way that remained of retreat, was by the isthmus of Charlestown, and the English had placed there a ship of war and two floating batteries, the balls of which raked every part of it. The Americans, however, issued from the peninsula, without any considerable loss. It was during the retreat, that doc- tor Warren received his death. Finding the corps he commanded hotly pursued by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone be- fore the ranks, endeavoring to rally his troops, and to encourage them by his own example. He reminded them of the mottos inscribed on their ensigns ; on one side of which were these words, * An appeal to Heaven ;' and on the other, ' Q? transtulit, sushnet ;' meaning, that the same Providence which brought their ancestors through so many perils, to a place of refuge, would also deign to support their descendants. 1JOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR 207 An English officer perceived doctor Warren, and knew him ; he borrowed the musket of one of his soldiers, and hit him with a ball, either in the head or in the breast. He fell dead upon the spot. The Americans were apprehensive lest the English, availing them- selves of victory, should sally out of the peninsula, and attack their head-quarters at Cambridge. But they contented themselves with taking possession of Bunker's Hill, where they intrenched them- selves, in order to guard the entrance of the Neck against any new enterprise on the part of the enemy. The provincials, having the same suspicion, fortified Prospect Hill, which is situated at the mouth of the isthmus, on the side of the main land. But neither the one nor the other were disposed to hazard any new movement ; the first, discouraged by the loss of so many men, and the second, by that of the field of battle and the peninsula. The provincials had to regret five pieces of cannon, with a great number of utensils employed in fortifications, and no little camp equipage. General Howe was greatly blamed by some, for having chosen to attack the Americans, by directing his battery in front against the fortifications upon Breed's Hill, and the trench that descended towards the sea, on the part of Mystic river. It was thought, that if he had landed a respectable detachment upon the isthmus of Charles- town, an operation which the assistance of the ships of war and float- ing batteries would have rendered perfectly easy to him, it would have compelled the Americans to evacuate the peninsula, without the necessity of coming to a sanguinary engagement. They would thus, in effect, have been deprived of all communication with their camp situated without the peninsula; and, on the part of the sea, they could have Hoped for no retreat, as it was commanded by the English. In this mode, the desired object would, therefore, have been obtained without the sacrifice of men. Such, it is said, was the plan of general Clinton ; but it was rejected, so great was the confidence reposed in the bravery and discipline of the English soldiers, and in the cowardice of the Americans. The first of these opinions was aot, in truth, without foundation ; but the second was absolutely chimerical, and evinced more of intellectual darkness in the English, than of prudence, and just notions upon the state of things. By this fatal error, the bravery of the Americans was con- firmed, the English army debilitated, the spirit of the soldiers abated, and, perhaps, the final event of the whole contest decided. The possession of the peninsula of Charlestown was much less useful than prejudicial to the royalists. Their army was not suffi- ciently numerous to guard, conveniently, all the posts of the city and of the peninsula. The fatigues of the soldiers multiplied in an ex- 208 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V cessive manner ; added to the heat of the season, which was extreme, they generated numerous and severe maladies, which paralyzed the movements of the army, and enfeebled it from day to day. The greater part of the wounds became mortal, from the influence of the climate, and defect of proper food. Thus, besides? the honor of having conquered the field of battle, the victors gathered no real fruit from this action ; and, if its effects be considered, upon the opinion of other nations, and even of their own, as also upon the force of the army, it was even of serious detriment. In the Ameri- can camp, on the contrary, provisions of every sort were in abun- dance, and the troops being accustomed to the climate, the greater part of the wounded were eventually cured ; their minds were animated with the new ardor of vengeance, and the blood they had lost exacted a plenary expiation. These dispositions were fortified, not a little, by the firing of Charlestown, which, from a flourishing town, of signal commercial importance, was thus reduced to a heap of ashes and of ruins. The Americans could never turn their eyes in this direction, without a thrill of indignation, and without exe- crating the European soldiers. But the loss they felt the most sensibly, was that of general Warren. He was one of those men who are more attached to liberty than to existence, but not more ardently the friend of freedom, than foe to avarice and ambition. He was endowed with a solid judgment, a happy genius, and a bril- liant eloquence. In all private affairs, his opinion was reputed authority, and in all public councils, a decision. Friends and ene- mies, equally knowing his fidelity and rectitude in all things, reposed in him a confidence without limits. Opposed to the wicked, without hatred, propitious to the good, without adulation, affable, courteous and humane towards each, he was beloved, with reverence, by all, and respected by envy itself. Though in his person somewhat spare, his figure was peculiarly agreeable. He mourned, at this epoch, the recent loss of a wife, by whom he was tenderly beloved, and whom he cherished with reciprocal affection. In dying so gloriously for his country, on this memorable day, he left several orphans, still in childhood ; but a grateful country assumed the care of their educa- tion. Thus was lost to the state, and to his family, in so important a crisis, and in the vigor of his days, a man equally qualified to ex- cel in council or in the field. As for ourselves, faithful to the pur- pose of history, which dispenses praise to the good and blame to the perverse, we have not been willing that this virtuous and valiant American should be deprived, among posterity, of that honorable remembrance so rightfully due to his eminent qualities. The expedition of the English against the peninsula of Charles- BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 209 town, inspired the Americans with a suspicion that they might per haps also attack Roxbury, in order to open a communication with the country. In consequence of this apprehension, they strength- ened their fortifications with incessant application, adding new bas- tions to their lines, and furnishing them copiously with artillery, of which they had obtained a fresh supply. The garrison of Boston, which abounded in munitions of war, kept up a continual fire of its artillery, and particularly of its mortars, to impede the works of the Americans. The latter had a certain number of dead and wound- ed, and several houses were burnt in Roxbury. The works were nevertheless continued with incredible constancy, and the fortifij- cations were carried to the degree of perfection desired, and ad- equate to serve for a sufficient defense against the assaults of the enemy. The Bostonians having seen their countrymen driven not only from Breed's Hill, but also from the entire peninsula, and dreading the horrors of a siege, which every thing presaged must be long and rigorous, experienced anew a strong desire to abandon the city and seek refuge in the interior of the province. Accordingly, the se- lectmen of the city waited on general Gage, entreating him to de- liver the requisite passports; and protesting that, according to the accord previously made., all the citizens had deposited their arms in the Town Hall. But the general, desirous of a pretext for his refusal, issued a proclamation, two days subsequent to the affair of Breed's Hill, declaring, that, by various certain ways, it had come to his knowledge, that great quantities of arms were concealed in the interior of houses, and that the inhabitants meditated hostile designs. This, at least, was what the loyalists reported, who, terrified at the valor and animosity the patriots had manifested in this battle, were apprehensive of some fatal accident, and were unwilling to release their hostages. But the truth is, that the greater part had delivered up their arms, though some had concealed the best and the most pre- cious. However, the English general, who kept his word with no- body, would have others to observe the most scrupulous faith. He Defused, therefore, for a long time, all permission to depart. But, finally, the scarcity increasing more and more, and all hope of be- ing able to raise the siege becoming illusory, he found himself con- strained to grant passes, in order to disburthen himself of useless mouths. He strenuously still persisted in refusing to permit the in- habitants who retired, to remove their furniture and effects. Thus, when compelled by necessity to consent to that which he had no power to prevent, he annexed to it a rigorous condition, the rroro inexcusable, as it was altogether without utility, and even could ^OL. 1. 14 210 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK V. have none but prejudicial results. In this manner, men who re- nounce all moderation of mind, and abandon themselves to the vio- lence of their irritated passions, often take resolutions, which, far from approaching them to the end proposed, powerfully tend to ren- der its attainment hopeless. The dearth of provisions to which the garrison of Boston found themselves reduced, caused them to endeavor to procure supplies, by falling suddenly upon the different islands of the environs. Hence frequent encounters ensued between the English and the Americans, in which the latter acquired greater courage, and greater experience; while the former became but the more surprised, and the more irri- tated, at these demonstrations of prowess. The provincials, per- fectly conversant with the places, and knowing how to avail them- selves of occasions, generally had all the advantage, in these collis- ions. Sometimes they bore off the stock which remained ; some- times they burnt the forage, or the houses which might serve as a covert for the enemy. In vain did the English appear every where with their numerous marine ; the provincials slid themselves sometimes into one island, and sometimes into another, and cut off the royal- ists, thus taken by surprise. In like manner upon the coast fre- quent skirmishes took place ; the one party coming for booty, and the other flying to repulse them. This predatory warfare could 4ave no effect to incline the balance more to one side than to the other ; it served only to envenom the minds of men, and convert 'them from partisans, as they were, into viperous and irreconcilable ' enemies. While these events were passing within Boston and its environs, i the new congress had convened at Philadelphia, in the month of May. 'If the first had commenced a difficult work, this had it to continue; ; and the difficulties were even increased. At the epoch of the for- mer, war was apprehended ; now it had commenced ; and it was requisite to push it with vigor. Then, as it usually happens in all new enterprises, minds were full of ardor, and tended, by a certain natural proclivity, towards the object ; at present, though greatly inflamed by the same sentiments, it was to be feared they might cool, in consequence of those vicissitudes so common in popular move- ments, always more easy to excite than to maintain. A great number of loyalists, believing that things would not come to the last extremi- ties, and that either the petitions sent to England would dispose the government to condescend to the desires of the Americans, or that, in time, the latter would become tranquil, had hitherto kept them- selves quiet ; but it was to be feared, that at present, seeing all hope of reconciliation vanished, and war, no longer probable, but already BOOK T. THE AMERICAN WAR. 211 waged against that king towards whom they wished to remain faith- ful, they would break out, and join themselves to the royal forces, against the authors of the revolution. It was even to be doubted, lest many of the partisans of liberty, who had placed great hope in the petitions, should falter at the aspect of impending losses and inevitable dangers. All announced that the contest would prove long and sanguinary. It was little to be expected, that a popula- tion, until then pacific, and engaged in the arts of agriculture, and of commerce, could all at once learn that of war. and devote them- selves to it with constancy, and without reserve. It was much more natural to imagine, that, upon the abating of this first fervor, the softer image of their former life recurring to their minds, they would abandon their colors, to go and implore the clemency of the conquer- or. It was, therefore, an enterprise of no little difficulty for the congress to form regulations and take measures, capable of main- taining the zeal of the people, and to impart 10 its laws the influence which at first had been exercised by public opinion. What obsta- cles had they not to surmount, in order to reduce a multitude, col- lected in haste and in tumult, to that state of rigorous discipline, without which it was not permitted to hope for success ! Nor was it an easy task to prevent, in the conduct of the war, the revival of those jealousies which had heretofore existed between the different colonies ; and which might serve as a motive, or a pretext, for some of them to consent to an accommodation, and thus desert the com- mon cause. The money requisite to defray the expenses of the war, was almost totally wanting; and there was no prospect of being able to remedy, for the future, the defect of this principal sinew. It was, on the contrary, more rationally to be expected, that the penury of the finances would progressively increase, in conse- quence of the interruption, or rather total cessation, of commerce, produced by the acts of the British parliament. The want of arms and munitions of war, was no less afflicting ; not that there was ab- solutely no provision of military stores, but it was very far from be- ing adequate to the exigency. And further, it may be considered as a thing very doubtful, whether even the American chiefs sincerely expected to be able, of themselves, to resist the forces of England, and to attain the object of so arduous an enterprise. Nay, it is al- lowable to believe they placed great dependence upon foreign suc- eors ; and these were only to be looked for on the part of the princes of Europe ; who, if they beheld with satisfaction the effects of the American disturbances, must at least have detested their causes, and the principles for which the colonies combated. It was no less evi- dent, that these sovereigns would not declare themselves in favor qf 212 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. the Americans, and would not lend them assistance, until the latter should have signalized their arms by some brilliant achievement, of decisive importance for the eventual success of the war. The Amer- icans themselves were perfectly aware, that it would be vain to at- tempt, at first, to draw the European states into their quarrel ; that the first brunt of the war must be borne by themselves alone ; and that, if they proved unfortunate, all hope of foreign aid must be aban- doned. The prosperity of the enterprise was therefore precisely so much the less probable, as it was the more necessary ; since the means did not exist for providing, in so short a time, the necessary prep- arations of war. So many obstacles demonstrated the little foun- dation there was for expecting the support of foreign nations. This consideration was calculated to damp the ardor of the American chiefs, and to introduce a certain vacillation into all their measures. Finally, there was an object of primary interest, which demanded the attention of congress ; that of ascertaining what line of conduct the Indian nations were likely to observe in the present contest. Their neutrality, or their adhesion to this party or to that, was of essential importance to the issue of the whole enterprise. The Americans had reason to fear the influence of the English over these nations ; as they are only to be swayed by gifts, and the hope of plunder ; and the English, in the control of these means, had greatly the advantage of their adversaries. The Indians, with much greater assurance, could promise themselves pillage in combating for Eng- land ; since her arms, at this epoch, appeared secure of victory, and since the American territory was to be the theatre of the war. Can- ada, also, presented to the English a way of communication with the Indian tribes, who mostly inhabit the banks of the lakes situated behind the colonies, and in front of this English province. It was. besides, of the last importance to those who conducted the affairs of America, to avoid exposing themselves to the least reproach on the part of the people of Great Britain, and even of such of their fel- low-citizens as, being either adverse, wavering, or torpid, could not have witnessed the breaking out of hostilities, without a severe shock. Now, though it was little difficult to undertake the justifica- tion of the affairs of Lexington and of Breed's Hill, in which the colonists had combated in their own defense against an enemy who assailed them, could the same motives have been alledged in favor of the expeditions upon the frontiers of Canada, directed against the fortresses of Ticonderoga, and of Crown Point, in which the Amer- icans had been the aggressors ? Not that these hostilities would stand in need of excuse, with men conversant in affairs of state ; for, the war once kindled, it was natural that the Americans should BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR 213 endeavor to do the enemy all the harm in their power, and to pre- serve himself from his assaults. But the mass of people could not see things in the same light ; and still it was essentially the interest of the patriot leaders, to demonstrate, even to evidence, the justice of the cause they defended. All their force consisted in opinion ; and arms themselves depended on this; so dissimilar was their situation to that of governments confirmed by the lapse of ages, in which, by virtue of established laws, whether the war be just or not, the regular troops hurry to battle, the people pay the cost ; arms, ammunition, provisions, all, in a word, are forthcoming, at the first signal ! But the greatest obstacle which the congress had to sur- mount, was the jealousy of the provincial assemblies. As all the provinces had joined the league, and taken part in the war, it was requisite that each should concur in the general counsels, which di- rected the administration ; and that all the movements of the body politic should tend towards the same object. Such had been the origin of the American congress. But this body could not take the government of all parts of the confederacy, without assuming a por- tion of the authority which belonged to the provincial assemblies ; as, for example, that of levying troops, of disciplining the army, of appointing the generals who were to command it in the name of America, and finally, that of imposing taxes, and of creating a pa- per currency. It was to be feared, if too much authority was pre- served to the provincial assemblies, they might administer the affairs of the Union with private views, which would have become a source of the most serious inconveniences. On the other hand, it was sus- pected that these assemblies were extremely unwilling to invest the congress with the necessary authority, by divesting themselves of a part of their own ; and, therefore, that either they would oppose its deliberations, or not exercise in their execution that exactness and promptitude so desirable to secure the success of military op- erations. From this outline of the circumstances under which the congress assembled, it is seen how difficult was their situation. Others, per- haps, endowed with less force of character, though with equal pru- dence, would have been daunted by its aspect. But these minds, in- spired by the novelty and ardor of their opinions^ither did not per- ceive, or despised, their own dangers and the chances of the public fortune. It is certain, that few enterprises were ever commenced with greater intrepidity ; for few have presented greater uncertainty and peril. But the die was cast ; and the necessity itself in which they were, or believed themselves placed, did not permit them to recede. To prevent accidents, not willing to wait for the times to 214 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. become their law, they resolved to have recourse, the first moment, to the most prompt and the most efficacious means. The first thoughts of congress were necessarily turned towards the army that blockaded Boston, to see that there should be want- ing neither arms, nor ammunition, nor re-inforcements, nor able and valiant generals. As for those who were then employed, it was to be remarked, that having received their authority from the colonial assemblies, they could not pretend to command the army in the name of the whole Union. If they had all consented to serve :m- der general Putnam, it was on account of his seniority ; and the power he enjoyed was rather a sort of temporary dictature, confer- red by the free will of the army, than an office delegated by the gen- eral government. The new state of things required a new military system, and the confederate troops ought, necessarily, to have a chief appointed by the government, which represented the entire confederation. The election of a generalissimo was an act of su- preme importance ; on this alone might depend the good or ill suc- cess of the whole series ?f operations. Among the military men that were then found in America, and had shown themselves not only well disposed, but even ardent for the cause of liberty, those who enjoyed the greatest esteem were Gates and Lee ; the first for his experience ; the secorad, because, to much experience, he joined a very active genius. But the one, and the other, were born in England ; and whatever were their opinions, and the .warmth with which they had espoused the cause of America ; whatever even was the confidence the congress had placed in them, they would have deemed it a temerity to commit themselves to the good faith of two Englishmen, in a circumstance upon which depended the safety of all. In case of misfortune, it would have been impossible to per- suade the multitude they had not been guilty of treason, or, at least, of negligence, in the accomplishment of their duties ; suspicions which would have acted in the most fatal manner upon an army whose entire basis reposed on opinion. Besides, Lee was a man of impetuous character, and, perhaps, rather hated tyranny than loved liberty. These searching and distrustful spirits were apprehen- sive that such a man, after having released them from the tyr- anny of England, might attempt, himself, to usurp their liberty. And further, the supreme direction of the war, once committed to the hands of an individual, English born, the latter would be restricted to the alternative of abandoning the colonies, by a horrible treason, to the absolute power of England, or of conducting them to a state of perfect independence. And the American chiefs, though they detested the first of these conditions, were not willing to deprive BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 215 themselves of the shelter afforded by a discretion, with regard to the second. lit was the same consideration which determined the congress against appointing one of the generals of the provinces of New England, such as Putnam or Ward, who then commanded the army of the siege, and who had recently demonstrated such signal valor and ability, in all the actions which had taken place in the vicinity of Boston. Both had declared themselves too openly in favor of independence ; the congress desired, indeed, to procure it, but withal, in a propitious time. Nor should it escape mention, that the colonists of Massachusetts were reproached with a too partial oatriotism ; showing themselves rather the men of their province .ian Americans. The provinces of the middle and of the south be- trayed suspicions ; they would have seen with evil eye, the cause of America confided to the hands of an individual who might allow himself to be influenced by certain local prepossessions, at a time in which all desires and all interests ought to be common. There oc- curred also another reflection, no less just ; that the office of gene- ralissimo ought only to be conferred upon a personage, who, in the value of his estate, should offer a sufficient guaranty of his fidelity, as well in conforming himself to the instructions of congress, as in abstaining from all violation of private property. It was too well known that military chiefs, when they are not softened and restrained by the principles of a liberal education, make no scruples to glut their greedy passions, and lay their hands very freely, not only upon the effects of the enemy, but even upon those of their allies and of their own fellow citizens ; a disorder which has always been the scourge, and often the ruin of armies. Accordingly, after having maturely weighed these various consid- erations, the congress proceeded, on the 15th of Jun, to the election of a generalissimo, by the way of ballot ; the votes, upon scrutiny, were found all in favor of George Washington, one of the repre- sentatives of Virginia. The delegates of Massachusetts would have wished to vote for one of theirs ; but seeing their votes would be lost, they adhered to the others, and rendered the choice unanimous. Washington was present ; he rose, and said, that he returned his most cordial thanks to the congress, for the honor they had conferred upon him ; but that he much doubted his abilities were not equal to so extensive and important a trust ; that, however, he would not shrink from the task imposed for the service of the country, since, contrary to his expectation, and without regard for the inferiority of his merit, it had placed in him so great confidence ; he prayed only, that in case any unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to his reputation, it might be remembered, that he had declared on that 216 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. day, with the utmost sincerity, he did not think himself equal to the command he was honored with. He assured the congress, that as no pecuniary consideration had induced him to abandon his domestic ease and happiness, to enter this arduous career, he did not wish any profit from it ; that pay he would not accept of any sort. Colonel Washington, for such was his rank before his election, had acquired the reputation of a brave and prudent commander, in the late wars against the Indians, and against the French ; but at the peace of 1763, he had retired to private life, and no longer exercised the military profession. It is not, therefore, extraordinary, that many should have thought him unable to sustain the burthen of so fierce a war. But, however, the greater part of the nation having full confi- dence in his talents and his courage, the Americans had no hesitation in raising him to this high dignity. He was not only born in Amer- ica, but he there had also received his education, and there had made a continual residence. He was modest, reserved, and naturally an enemy to all ambition ; a quality most of all esteemed by this dis- trustful and jealous people. He enjoyed a considerable fortune, and the general esteem due to his worth and virtue. He was especially considered for his prudence, and a character of singular energy and firmness. It was generally thought, that he did not aim at indepen- dence, but merely desired an honorable arrangement with England. This opinion of his well corresponded with the intentions of the principal representatives, who had no objection to advancing towards independence, but were not yet prepared to discover themselves. They expected to be able so to manage affairs that one day this great measure would become a necessity, and that Washington him- self, when he should have got warm in the career, would easily allow himself to be induced, by the honor of rank, the force of things, or the voice of glory, to proceed with a firm step, even though, instead of the revocation of the oppressive laws, the object of his efforts should become total independence. Thus in the person of this general, who was then in his forty-fourth year, and already far from the illusions of youth, were found united all the qualifications wished for by those who had the direction of affairs. Wherefore, it is not surprising that his election gave displeasure to none, and was even extremely agreeable to the greater number. Having given a chief to the Union, the congress, to demonstrate how much they promised themselves from his fidelity and virtues, resolved unanimously, that they would adhere to, maintain, and assist him, with their lives and fortunes, to preserve and uphold American liberty. Then, wishing to place at the head of the army, other experienced officers, who might second Washington, they appointed BOOK V THE AMERICAN WAR. 217 Artemas Ward, first major-general; Charles Lee. second major- general ; and Philip Schuyler, third major-general ; Horatio Gates was named adjutant-general. A few days after, they created the eight brigadier-generals following: Seth Pomeroy, William Heath, and John Thomas, of Massachusetts ; Richard Montgomery, of New York ; David Wooster and John Spencer, of Connecticut ; John Sullivan, of New Hampshire ; and Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island. If any thing demonstrated the excellent discernment of congress, it was, doubtless, the choice of the first generals ; all con- ducted themselves, in the course of the war, as intrepid soldiers, and faithful guardians of American liberty. Immediately on being invested with the supreme command, Wash- ington repaired to the camp, at Boston ; he was accompanied by general Lee. He was received, wherever he passed, with the great- est honors ; the most distinguished inhabitants formed themselves in company to serve him as an escort. The congresses of New York, and of Massachusetts, went to compliment him, and testify the joy his election had given them. He answered them with suavity and modesty ; they might be assured that all his thoughts, all his efforts, as well as those of his companions, would be directed towards the re-establishment of an honorable intelligence between the colonies and the parent state ; that as to the exercise of the fatal hostilities, in assuming the character of warriors, they had not laid aside that of citizens ; and nothing could afford them a gratification so sincere, as for the moment to arrive, when, the rights of America secured, they should be at liberty to return to a private condition, in the midst of a free, peaceful, and happy country. The general, having made the review of the army, found, exclu- sively of an almost useless multitude, only fourteen thousand five hundred men in a condition for service ; and these had to defend a line of more than twelve miles. The new generals arrived at the camp most opportunely ; for the discipline of the army, having fallen, as it were, into desuetude, it was urgently necessary to introduce a reform. The officers had no emulation ; the soldiers scarcely ob- served the regulations, and neglected all care of cleanliness. And, being mostly drawn from New England, they manifested a refractory spirit, impatient of all subordinancy. The generals of congress, but not without the most painful efforts, succeeded in repairing these disorders. General Gates, who was profoundly versed in all the details of military organization, contrib- uted more than any other to this salutary work. The soldiers became gradually accustomed to obedience ; the regulations were observed ; each began to know his duty ; and, at length, instead of 218 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. a mass of irregular militia, the camp presented the spectacle of a properly disciplined army. It was divided into three corps ; the right, under the command of Ward, occupied Roxbury ; the left, conducted by Lee, defended Prospect Hill ; and the center, which comprehended a select corps, destined for reserve, was stationed at Cambridge, where Washington himself had established his head- quarters. The circumvallation was fortified by so great a number of redoubts, and supplied with so formidable an artillery, that it had become impossible for the besieged to assault Cambridge, and spread themselves in the open country. It was believed, also, that they had lost a great many men, as well upon the field of battle, as in conse- quence of wounds and disease. But the American army was near wanting a most essential article; the inventory of powder deposited at Roxbury, Cambridge, and other places of the vicinity, represented a public stock of only ninety bar- rels. It was known also, that there existed but thirty-six in the magazines of Massachusetts. Though to this quantity had been added all that New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut could furnish, the whole would have fallen short of ten thousand pounds ; which allowed but nine charges a man. In this scarcity and danger, the army remained more than fifteen days ; and, if the English had attacked during the time, they might easily have forced the lines, and raised the siege. At length, by the exertions of the committee of New Jersey, a few tons of powder arrived at the camp, which supplied, for the moment, the necessities of the army, and averted the evils that were feared. There remained, also, an important part to be organized in the American army ; it had, as yet, no special corps of riflemen, which, however, were extremely essential for sudden and desultory opera- tions ; for maintaining discipline in the camp ; and for protecting the arrival of recruits, of ammunition, and of provisions. It was neces- sary, withal, to consider, that if the war, as it was probable, after the arrival of re-inforcements from England, should be established in the open country, light troops became absolutely indispensable, in such a country as America, broken incessantly by ravines and waters, and obstructed by forests, hedges, mountains, and almost impracticable defiles. Accordingly, the congress resolved that there should be raised in Pennsylvania and Virginia, a sufficient number of riflemen ; who, the moment the companies should be formed, were to com- mence their march towards the camp of Boston, where they were destined for the service of light infantry. At the news of the battle of Breed's Hill, the congress decreed that two companies more should be levied in Pennsylvania, and that they should all be united BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 219 in a single battalion, to be commanded by such officers as the pro- vincial assembly or congress might appoint. These companies of riflemen arrived at the camp about the commencement of August ; they formed a corps of not far from fourteen hundred men, light clothed, and armed, for the most part, with rifles of great projectile power. While the American army that besieged Boston was thus daily re-inforced, and furnished with all articles of immediate necessity, the congress employed themselves with extreme activity in taking such measures as they thought best calculated to keep on foot the troops already assembled ; and even to augment and equip them more completely in case of need. Accordingly, it was recommended by a resolution of congress, that all the colonies should put themselves in a state of defense, and provide themselves with the greatest pos- sible number of men, of arms, and of munitions ; and, especially, that they should make diligent search for saltpeter and sulphur; and collect all they could find of these articles, without delay. An exact scrutiny was therefore commenced, in the cellars and in the stables, in pursuit of materials so essential to modern war. In every part, manufactures of gunpowder, and founderies of cannon, were seen rising ; every place resounded with the preparations of war. The provincial assemblies and conventions seconded admirably the oper- ations of the congress ; and the people obeyed, with incredible promptitude, the orders of these various authorities. The congress having perceived that zeal for the liberty of Amer- ica at length prevailed over local partialities, and over the jealousy of power, in the provincial assemblies, took greater courage, and re- solved to introduce a general system, which might serve to regulate all the levies that were about making in each province. They were not ignorant of the extreme utility of uniformity, in whatever relates to war, as the means of directing all minds towards the same object, and of preventing dissensions. They passed, therefore, a resolution, by which it was recommended and their recommendations at this opoch were received and executed as laws that all men fit to bear arms, in each colony, from sixteen years to fifty, should form them- selves into regular companies ; that they should furnish themselves with arms, and should exercise in wielding them ; that the compa- nies should organize themselves into battalions, upon the footing of habitual defense ; and, finally, that a fourth part of the militia, in every colony, should be selected to serve as minute men, always ready to march wherever their presence might be necessary. Those who, from their religious opinions, could not bear arms, were invited to come to the succor of their country, at least with ah 1 the otner 220 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. means in their power. The military pay was regulated after the rate of twenty dollars a month to captains, thirteen to lieutenants and ensigns, eight to sergeants and corporals, six to mere soldiers. The congress also recommended, that each province should appoint a committee of safety, to superintend and direct all those things that might concern the public security during the recess of the assem- blies or conventions ; also, that they should make such provision as they might judge expedient, by armed vessels or otherwise, foi the protection of their coasts and navigation against all insults from the enemy's ships. The intentions of congress were fulfilled, in all parts of the Union, with the utmost cheerfulness ; but no where with more ardor than in Pennsylvania, and particularly in the city of Philadelphia. The militia of this city were divided into three battalions of fifteen hun- dred men each, with an artillery company of one hundred and fifty, and six pieces of cannon. It comprehended, besides, a troop of light horse, and a few companies of light infantry, riflemen, and pioneers. This corps assembled often ; and, exhibiting the sem- blance of battle, maneuvered in the presence of congress, and of the inhabitants, who thronged to the spectacle from all parts. The dexterity and precision of the movements excited a general surprise and joy. There were, at least, eight thousand men, of these excel- lent troops, and in their ranks were seen a great number of persons distinguished for their education and condition. The same thing was done in the country towns of Pennsylvania. It appeared that the number of all the men who had taken arms therein, and exercised themselves in handling them, amounted to upwards of sixty thousand. So active, this year, was the zeal of the colonists for their cause, that even a great number of Quakers, however their religious opin- ions forbid them to take arms, and to shed human blood, and not- withstanding their discipline is all of patience and of submission, allowing themselves to be transported by the general ardor, also joined the companies of the Philadelphians. They said, that although their religion prohibited them from bearing arms in favor of a cause the object of which should be either ambition, cupidity, or revenge, they might, nevertheless, undertake the defense of national rights and liberty. Thus there exist no opinions, however rigorous, but what 1 find evasions no minds, however pacific, but kindle in great political convulsions. A spectacle, no less extraordinary, attracted the eyes of all the inhabitants of Philadelphia ; whether it was reality, or merely an artifice, with a view of exciting others. The German emigrants who inhabited the city, were almost all very aged, and had seen BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 221 service in Europe At the name of liberty, they also were fired ; and, what was little to have been expected from their years and decrepitude, formed themselves into a body, which was called the Old Men's Company ; resuming the profession of arms, which they had already relinquished so long, they resolved to bear a part in the common defense. The oldest of all was elected captain, and his age wanted not much of a century of years. Instead of a cockade in their hats, they wore a black crape, to denote their" concern at those unfortunate causes that compelled them, in the decline of life, to take up arms, in order to defend the liberty of a country which had afforded them a retreat from the oppression which had forced them to abandon their own. Even the women became desirous to signalize their zeal in de- fense of country. In the county of Bristol,* they resolved to raise a regiment, at their own cost ; to equip it entirely, and even to arm such as were unable to afford that expense of themselves. With their own hands they embroidered the colors with mottos appropriate to the circumstances. The gentlewoman who presented them to the regiment, made an eloquent discourse upon public affairs^. She earnestly exhorted the soldiers to be faithful, and never to desert the banners of the American ladies. All these things, though of little importance in themselves, served, however, admirably to inflame the minds, and render them invincibly resolute. The public papers contributed incessantly to the same end, by a multitude of hararigues, of examples, and of news. The battles of Lexington and of Breed's Hill were the subjects upon which the American writers chiefly delighted to exercise their talents. Every circumstance, all the minutest details of these en- gagements, were accurately described ; and those who had lost life in them, were commemorated with exalted praises. But doctor War- ren, especially, was the object of the most touching regrets, of the most unaffected homage. They called him the Hampden of their age ; they proposed him as a model of imitation, to all who, like him, were ready to devote themselves for the public. The eulogium published in the papers of Philadelphia, was particularly pathetic, and calculated to act powerfully upon the minds of the multitude. 1 What spectacle more noble,' said the encomium, 'than this, of a hero who has given his life for the safety of country ! Approach, cruel ministers, and contemplate the fruits of your sanguinary edicts. What reparation can you offer to his children for the loss of such a father, to .the king for that of so good a subject, to the country for that of so devoted a citizen ? Send hither your satellites ; come, * Pennsylvania 222 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. feast your vindictive rage ; the most implacable enemy to tyrants is no more. We conjure you, respect these his honored remains Have compassion on the fate of a mother overwhelmed with despair and with age. Of him, nothing is left that you can still fear. His eloquence is mute; his arms are fallen from his hand; then lay down yours ; what more have you to perpetrate, barbarians that you are ? But, while the name of American liberty shall live, that of Warren will fire our breasts, and animate our arms, against the pest of standing armies. ' Approach, senators of America ! Come, and deliberate here, upon the interests of the united colonies. Listen to the voice >f this illustrious citizen ; he entreats, he exhorts, he implores you not to disturb his present felicity with the doubt that he perhaps has sacri- ficed his life for a people of slaves. * Come hither, ye soldiers, ye champions of American liberty, and contemplate a spectacle which should inflame your generous hearts with even a new motive to glory. Remember, his shade still hovers unexpiated among us. Ten thousand ministerial soldiers would not suffice to compensate his death. Let ancient ties be no restraint , foes of liberty are no longer the brethren of freemen. Give edge to your arms, and lay them not down till tyranny be expelled from the British empire ; or America, at least, become the real seat of liberty and happiness. ' Approach ye also, American fathers and American mothers ; come hither, and contemplate the first fruits of tyranny ; behold your friend, the defender of your liberty, the honor, the hope of your country ; see this illustrious hero, pierced with wounds, and bathed in his own blood. But let not your grief, let not your tears be steril. Go, hasten to your homes, and there teach your children to detest the deeds of tyranny ; lay before them the horrid scene you have beheld ; let their hair stand on end ; let their eyes sparkle with fire ; let resentment kindle every feature ; let their lips vent threats and indignation ; then then put arms into their hands, send them to battle, and let your last injunction be, to return victorious, or to die, like Warren, in the arms of liberty and of glory ! ' And ye generations of the future, you will often look back to this memorable epoch. You will transfer the names of traitors and of rebels from the faithful people of America, to those who have merited them. Your eyes will penetrate all the iniquity of this scheme of despotism, recently plotted by the British government. You will see good kings misled by perfidious ministers, and virtuous ministers by perfidious kings. You will perceive that if at first the sovereigns of Great Britain shed tears in commanding their subjects to accept BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 223 atrocious laws, they soon gave themselves up to joy in the midst of murder, expecting to see a whole continent drenched in the blood of freemen. O, save the human race from the last outrages, and render a noble justice to the American colonies. Recall to life the ancient Roman and British eloquence ; and be not niggardly of merited praises towards those who have bequeathed you liberty. It costs us floods of gold and of blood ; it costs us, alas ! the life of Warren.' The congress, wishing to uphold this disposition of minds, and to render it, if possible, still more ardent and pertinacious, had recourse to the power of religious opinions over the human affections. At their instigation, the synods of Philadelphia and of New York pub- lished a pastoral letter, which was read, to crowded congregations, in all the churches. They affirmed, that unwilling to be the instru- ments of discord and of war between men and brethren, they had hitherto observed a scrupulous silence ; but things were now come to such a height, that they were resolved to manifest their senti- ments ; that they exhorted the people, therefore, to go forth as champions in their country's cause ; and to be persuaded, that in so doing, they would march in the ways of the Master of the kings of the earth, and find, in battle, either victory or inevitable death. The letter concluded with certain moral considerations and precepts, well adapted to stimulate the zeal of these religious minds, and to satisfy them that the cause of America was the cause of God. It was recommended to the soldiers to approve themselves humane and merciful ; and to all classes of citizens, to humble themselves, to fast, to pray, and to implore the divine assistance, in this day of trouble and of peril. The congress recommended that the 20th of July should be kept as a day of fasting, in all the colonies ; which was religiously observed, but more solemnly at Philadelphia than elsewhere. The congress attended the divine services in a body ; and discourses adapted to the occasion were pronounced in the church. On the same day, as the congress were about to enter the temple, the most agreeable dispatches were received from Georgia. They announced that this province had joined the confederation, and ap- pointed five delegates for its representation in congress. This news was accepted by all as a happy augury ; and the joy which its im- portance excited, was heightened in consideration of the moment at which the government and people were apprised of it. The loyal- ists had long prevailed in this colony ; and thus it had hitherto con- tinued in a state of immobility, and apparent neutrality. But the extremity to which affairs were come, the battles of Lexington and 224 THE AMEBICAN WV.H. I5OOK. V. of Breed's Hill, the cruelties, real or supposed, coimriitteil by the royal troops, the probabilities oi the success of trie war in tavor of the Americans, the union and concord of the other colonies, and the efficacious movements of the friends of liberty, among whom Dr. Zubly distinguished himself especially, were at length the cause that a provincial convention adhered to all the resolutions of the general congress, and took severa 1 very energetic measures against England ; either as a compensation for their former coldness, or that the patri- ots, heretofore repressed, were thus animated with greater fury. They declared, that the exception made of Georgia, in the acts of parliajujM against America, ought rather to be considered as an injury than a favor, since this exemption was only an artifice to sep- arate them from their brethren. They resolved, also, that they would admit no merchandise which should have been shipped in England, after the 1st of July; and that, dating from the 10th of September, none should be exported from Georgia for England ; and, besides, that all commerce should cease with the English islands of the West Indies, and with those parts of the American continent which had not accepted the resolutions of congress. These decis- ions were of great importance ; Georgia being, though not one of the most considerable provinces, extremely fertile in grain, and prin- cipally in rice. It was determined also to abstain from all superfluity, and to banish luxury ; to give encouragement to the farmers who should rear the most numerous flocks. Nor was it forgotten to address a petition to the king, very eloquent, and full of the accus- tomed protestations of loyalty ; which were lavished, perhaps, the more prodigally, as they were intended no pledges of the reality. The general congress cast an anxious eye upon the province of New York, as well because the loyalists abounded there, as because it is naturally much exposed to the attacks of an enemy strong in naval forces. To obviate these dangers, it was ordained, that five thousand infantry should be stationed in the environs of New York ; and, in order to secure the soldiers the succors they might need, in case of wounds and sickness, that a hospital should be established, with accommodations for the invalids of an army of twenty thou- sand men. It was placed under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Church, principal physician of the army. Considering, also, of how great importance was the prompt transmission of letters, and desirous that the service of the post should be confided to zealous and faithful men, the congress ap- pointed Dr. Benjamin Franklin director-general of this establish- ment. He had filled the same office in England, for the letters of \merica ; and had lost it, for having shown too much attachment to BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 225 the privileges ol the colonies. Regular mails were established upon the route from Falmouth, in New England, to the city of Savannah, in Georgia. But, as the congress could not forget that the principal sinew of war is money, they soon turned their attention to this object, no less important than men and arms themselves, especially in a defensive war, as from the very nature of things, this, which had broken out in America, was to be. In offensive wars, where the enemy is as- sailed in his own country, by ravaging his territory, men and arms can obtain money with victory ; whereas, in a war of defense, it is money that must procure men and arms. In the present circum- stances, however, it could not be obtained, but with the greatest dif- ficulties ; since the only resources were loans or taxes. Both pre- sented not only many obstacles, but almost an absolute impossibility. For several years, the misunderstanding which had arisen with Eng- land had greatly diminished the quantity of specie that circulated in the colonies. The provinces of New England had always been rather sparingly supplied with it ; and the prohibitory acts of par- liament, of the last ten years, had excessively attenuated this slender mass. In the southern provinces, though, from the fertility of their lands, the most opulent, this scarcity of coin was still increased, not only by the above mentioned causes, but also by a numerous im- portation of negroes, which had taken place within the last few years. To draw money from these provinces, by way of loans or taxes, would have been an imprudent and dangerous operation, or rather a thing impracticable, at least in the quantity exacted by the wants of the stale. It should be added, as to loans, that whether the rich should furnish the money or not, they could always, however, lend their credit ; and the employment of the second means offered more advantages than the first ; for, if the wealthy could aid the state with their funds and their credit at the same time, men of moderate or narrow fortune had not the same faculty ; thus partial loans of money could not have been effected ; while, on the contrary, a par* tial loan of credit might be used, which, though made collectively, in the name of all, would in fact be supported partially, in general opinion, by the powerful means of the rich. In respect to taxes, this way offered only inconveniences ; the people of the colonies being little accustomed to assessments, this sudden stroke at their property, in the outset, would infallibly have produced the most per- nicious effects. The people inflamed for a common cause more willingly make the sacrifice of their existence than of their proper- ty ; because to the first of these sacrifices is annexed a glory which is foreign to the other, and that honor is more frequently found VOL. i. 15 226 THE AMERICAN WAR BOO among the brave than among the rich. Hence the congress found themselves placed, with respect to this business, in a situation of singular difficulty. This will easily be conceived, when it is con- sidered that they could indeed recommend, b\it not command ; and that the obedience of the people was more voluntary than constrain- ed. It was much to be feared they would refuse it, if it were at- tempted to subject them to contributions. It was also greatly to be apprehended, that the provincial assem- blies, extremely jealous of the right of establishing public burthens, would consent with repugnance, if not absolutely refuse, that the congress should assume the power of taxation. How, besides, could the latter hope to assess the tax in a just proportion, with respect to each colony, when their means, founded, in great part, upon com- merce, and consequently subject to all the variations resulting from the disturbances, could not be appreciated upon any certain prin- ciple ? It would have been necessary to undertake this operation, without basis, and without rule ; and even the semblance of partial- ity, however imaginary, would have sufficed to excite general clamors, and the most prejudicial dissensions. Such were the shoals the congress had to encounter, in their ef- forts to obtain the money necessary to the wants of the state and of war. They resolved, therefore, to avoid them, in resorting to loans >of credit, by an emission of bills which should have for guaranty ^the faith of the united colonies. It was hoped that the abundance of provisions, the ardor and unanimity of the people, and particu- larly of the rich, for the most part favorable to the new order of 'things, would support the public credit, and prevent a depreciation -of the bills. It seems, however, that what had happened in the northern provinces, where the paper money had fallen very serious- ' ly , should have served as an example and a warning. Besides, pru- dent men plainly foresaw that the facility of the thing, and the al- ways increasing multiplicity of wants, would lead to the emission of so great a quantity of this paper, that even its superabundance must deprive it of much of its value. Indeed, could this have been doubted, considering the congress would not have an exclusive authority to emit bills of credit, and that the provincial assemblies might as freely exercise the same right ? The cause of the evil was too evident for the most prejudicial conseqoences not to have been anticipated. It was also to r5e considered, that the chances of war, always uncertain, might prove favorable to the English, and open them a passage into the interior of the provinces ; the inevitable re- sult of which would be, the total ruin of credit, and the annihilation of the bills. It is known by experience, thit in similar cases, the BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 227 distrust of the people admits of no remedy. Such were the mo- tives of hesitation and of fear, which perplexed the minds of the thoughtful, relative to the emission of bills of credit. But there was no room for option ; and the congress found themselves reduced to an extremity so imperious, that any resource became desirable. Ac- cordingly, they had no scruple in adopting the present, which, if not good, was at least necessary. They decreed, in the month of June, that the sum of two millions of Spanish dollars should be issued, in bills of credit ; and that the faith of the united colonies should be the guaranty of their redemption. Some time after, they made another emission of bills, to the value of one million of dollars, in bills of thirty dollars each. They were received, in this first ardor, with universal promptitude. Having provided men, arms, and money, the congress took into consideration the means of gaining the Indian nations, respecting whose dispositions they were not without a certain anxiety. It was known that general Gage had dispatched from Boston one of his emissaries, named John Stuart, to the nation of the Cherokees, who inhabit the countries bordering upon South Carolina; and that gene- ral Carleton, governor of Canada, had sent colonel Johnson to the Indians of St. Francis, and others belonging to the Six Tribes, that were nearer to this province. Their object was, to induce these nations with promises, with money, and with presents, to take arms against the colonies ; an expedient which could barely have been tolerated, if every other hope had been lost, and England had been reduced to the necessity either of employing the Indians, or of re- ceiving conditions from the Americans. But how is it possible not to condemn it, not to view it with abhorrence, when other soldiers, and other arms, offered themselves from all parts in abundance, to prosecute the war successfully against the colonies ? Posterity can- not fail to execrate the counsels of those who, without the least ne- cessity, were capable of preferring the barbarous Indians to the dis- ciplined troops of England. This act of detestable ferocity, more- over, turned at length to the confusion of its own authors ; but the mind of man is blind, his character often cruel, and civil fury im- placable. The congress, consequently, thought of opposing, by the most efficacious means, these English attempts. In order to pro- ceed with more method, they made an ideal division of the Indian tribes into as many districts as there were tribes, and stationed with each an agent, who, knowing the language, customs, and country of these savages, should observe their motions, satisfy their reasonable desire? . and provide for their wants ; in a word, these emissaries were to neglect no means of conciliating the benevolence of the In- 228 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. dians, in order that they might give no aid to the royal arms, and observe a strict neutrality. It has been attempted to insinuate, on the contrary, that the congress had instructed its agents to use all then* endeavors to engage the Indians on the American side. But this accusation appears to want probability ; for it was evident that the war was to be carried on upon the American territory, and it was well known that the Indians plunder and massacre friends as well as enemies. Besides, it is not to be supposed that the Ameri- cans could have had the design to sully with a stain of barbarity, in the very outset, a cause which they wished might be reputed by the universe both just and holy. We will not, however, omit to relate, that in Philadelphia it was believed, and was announced as a happy event, that the Mohawk Indians, having sent the belt to those of Stockbridge, which, with these nFtions, was the token of alliance, were ready to march with the colonists against the English. It was in like manner published in Massachusetts, that the Senecas, another Indian nation, were prepared to take arms in favor of America. In addition to this, an Indian chief, named Swashan, accompanied by four other chiefs of the tribe of St. Francis, was conducted, in the month of August, to the camp at Cambridge, by a certain Reuben Colburn. They came to offer themselves as ready to undertake the defense of American liberty ; they were well received, and pay was assigned them. Swashan boasted that he would, if required, produce a good band of his people. He added, that the Indians of Canada, and the French themselves, were disposed in favor of the Americans, and were ready to join them. These reports were circulated, and gene- rally believed. But, whatever were the wishes of the people, the congress desired merely to maintain the savages in neutrality. This moderation did not prevent the English from availing themselves of these first demonstrations ; affirming, that they had employed the Indians in their army, because the Americans had first endeav- ored to gain them for auxiliaries. The congress having arranged the business of the Indians, which had caused them great perplexity, and imboldened by the affairs of Lexington and Breed's Hill, they resolved to manifest the dignity of their cause, and justify their appeal to arms, in the sight of all the nations of the world ; in doing which, they employed the style of independent nations. They published a declaration, wherein they recited, in a strain of singular energy, the toils, the hardships, the peril:* , which had been the portion of the first colonists, when they went to seek refuge in these foreign and distant regions ; their cares to promote the increase and prosperity of their establishments ; their BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 229 compacts made with the crown ; the advantages and wealth which England had derived from them. After having mentioned the long fidelity and uniform promptitude of the Americans, in coming to the succor of tne mother country, they proceeded to speak of the new measures taken by the ministers upon the conclusion of the last war ; and made an exact enumeration of the laws which had been the subject of complaints, so often, and always so fruitlessly, repeated. They glanced at the iniquitous conditions of accommodation pro- posed in parliament by lord North, insidiously calculated to divide them, to establish an auction of taxations, where colony should bid against colony, all uninformed what ransom would redeem their lives. They described the hostile occupation of the city of Boston, by the troops under the command of general Gage ; the hostilities of Lexing- ton, commenced by the royal soldiers, and the cruelties committed in this expedition ; the violation of faith on the part of this general, in the refusal of permissions to pass out, and by permissions more cruel f than refusal, in having, with barbarous inhumanity, separated wives * from their husbands, children from their parents, the aged and sick from their relations and friends, who wished to attend and comfort them ; the proprietors from their furniture and most valuable effects. They related the butchery of Breed's Hill, the burning of Charles- town, the seizure of their vessels, the ravage of provisions, and the menaced ruin and destruction of all things. The attempts of the governor of Canada to excite the ferocious savages of that province against the colonists, were not omitted ; and they accused the min- isters of a determination to inflict upon an innocent and unhappy country, the complicated calamities of fire, sword, and famine. ' We are reduced,' they exclaimed, ' to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we re ceived from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevi- tably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our resources are great ; and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the divine favor to- wards us, that his providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operations, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified 230 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties ; being, with one mind, resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves. Lest this decla- ration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted be- tween us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored. Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them. We have not raised armies, with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain, and establishing independent states. We fight not for glory or for con- quest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even sus- picion of offense. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. ' In our native land, in defense of the freedom that is our birth- right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it, for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest indus- try of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down, when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before. ' With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the universe, we most devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war.' This manifesto, which was generally received with great eulogium, was subscribed by John Hancock, who had been elected president of congress in place of Rutledge, and countersigned by the secretary, Charles Thomson. The congress, in this occurrence also, omitted not to employ the means of religion. The declaration was sent into every part of the continent, and read from the pulpits by the ministers of religion, with suitable exhortations. In the camp of Boston it was read with particular solemnity. Major-general Putnam assembled his division upon the heights of Prospect Hill, to hear it. It was followed by a prayer analogous to the occasion ; the general having given the signal, all the troops cried three times, Amen; and, at the same instant, the if BOOR V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 231 artillery of the fort fired a general salute ; the colors, recently sent to general Putnam, were seen waving, with the usual motto, ' An appeal to Heaven;' and this other, 'Qm* transtulit sustinet.' The same ceremony was observed in the other divisions. The joy and enthusiasm were universal. At Cambridge, the manifesto was read m the presence of the most distinguished citizens of Massachusetts, and of an immense multitude that were assembled upon this occasion There resulted from it, in all minds, no little increase of constancy, fortified by religious zeal. All this was done in imitation of what had been practiced by the patriots in the time of Charles I. It seemed as if this same war was renewed, in which the Protestant religion served as a motive or a pretext to the /defenders of liberty, or to the promoters of anarchy ; and the Catholic religion, as a title, or a veil, to the partisans of limited monarchy, or to the supporters of despotism so powerful is the voice of religion over human hearts ! And such has always been the propensity of those who govern nations, to profit by it ! Hence religion itself sustains an incalculable injury ; hence that coldness towards it, which, to the regret of prudent men, has been observed at certain periods. The generality of people have discovered that politic men make use of religion as an instrument to arrive at their worldly ends. Man, being naturally a foe to restraint, and inordinate in his desires, instead of restricting himself within the limits of good, is too often precipitated into its contrary. Thus re- ligion, which should always be holy and spotless, too often has fa- vored culpable enterprises, to the great scandal of the people, and manifest diminution of its own authority, and of good habits. Be this as it may, it is quite certain, that if the semblance of religion, with which the Americans endeavored to color their enterprise, produced greater unanimity and ardor among themselves, it engendered also more obstinacy and rigor on the part of the English government, in the conduct of the war. In their contemplation, state policy was coupled with the remembrance of the obstacles which the ancient British monarchs were forced to contend with ; which, mingled with a certain terror, excited them to greater bitterness and fury. The congress having thus attempted to justify their conduct be- fore the tribunal of the world, they employed their thoughts in pro- testing to the English people, that the intention of the Americans was to maintain those ancient relations which had been, and still were their glory, their happiness, and the first of their desires. They admonished them, in a grave and pathetic style, to remember the ancient friendships, the glorious and common achievements of their ancestors, and the affection towards the heirs of their virtues, which had hitherto preserved their mutual connection c But when/ they THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK V. added, ' that friendship is violated by the grossest injuries ; when the pride of ancestry becomes our reproach, and we are no other- ,vise allied than as tyrants and slaves ; when reduced to the melan- choly alternative of renouncing your favor or our freedom : our choice cannot be doubtful.' After some lines upon their merits to- wards the mother country, and expatiating upon the pernicious laws, they concluded, by saying, that victory would prove equally fatal to England and to America ; that soldiers who had sheathed their swords in the bowels of the Americans, would have as little re- luctance to draw them against Britons ; that they entreated Heaven to avert from their friends, brethren and countrymen, for by these names they would still address them, before the remembrance of former kindness was obliterated, the destruction and ruin that threat- ened them. They also drew up an address to the king, which commenced with a recital of the services rendered by the colonists, of their fidel- ity towards the crown, and of the calamities that now oppressed them. They supplicated his majesty, that he would deign to inter- pose his authority, to procure them relief from their present con- dition ; that he would be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of the colonists to the throne, might be improv- ed into a happy and permanent reconciliation. They implored also, that arms, in the mean time, might cease ; and that such statutes as more immediately distressed them, might be repealed; affirming, that, having done them this justice, the king would receive such proofs of the good disposition of the colonists, as would soon restore them to his royal favor ; while, on their part, they should neglect nothing to testify their devotion to their sovereign, and affection towards the parent state. The congress had motives for wishing to render the Irish nation favorable to their cause ; a great number of useful citizens annually emigrated from Ireland to America : and thus, among the soldiers, and even among the American generals, were found some Irish. They were apprehensive that the people of Ireland might receive impressions unfavorable to the colonists, ii consequence of the as- sociations against commerce, which were seriously prejudicial to that country. They were not ignorant, besides, that the Irish were, for many reasons, dissatisfied with the English government, and that, notwithstanding the concessions which had recently been made them, no little animosity still rankled in their minds. The congress purposed to avail themselves of this misunderstanding, and to irri- tate the wounds already festering in the breast of the Irish. It would be difficult to prove this conduct strictly consistent with loy- BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. alty. But the war was now commenced, and the Americans were disposed to use all means to carry it on with advantage ; and none are more sanctioned by usage, than those of feigning to desire peace, and of exciting and exasperating the minds of the enemy's subjects, against lawful authority. To this intent, the congress addressed a very eloquent letter to the Irish people. 'They were desirous/ they affirmed, ' as injured and innocent, of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and humane ; however incredible it might appear, that, in so enlightened a period, the leaders of a nation, which in every age had sacrificed hecatombs of her bravest patriots on the altar of liberty, should attempt to establish an arbitrary sway over the lives, liberties, and property of their fellow subjects in America ; it was, nevertheless, a most deplorable and indisputable truth.' The battles of Lexington and Breed's Hill, the burning of Charlestown, and the imprisonments of Boston, were mentioned in suitable terms. ' Who can blame us,' they added, ' for endeavoring to restrain the progress of so much desolation ? for repelling the attacks of such a barbarous band ? We have no doubt, with the divine assistance, of rising superior to the usurpations of evil and abandoned ministers. We already anticipate the golden period, when liberty, with all the gentle arts of peace and humanity, shall establish her mild dominion in this western world, and erect eternal monuments to the memory of those virtuous patriots and martyrs, who shall have fought, and bled, and suffered, in her cause. 1 Accept our most grateful acknowledgments for the friendly dis- position you have always shown towards us. We know that you are not without your grievances. We sympathize with you in your distress, and are pleased to fmd, that the design of subjugating us, has persuaded administration to dispense to Ireland some vagrant rays of ministerial sunshine. Even the tender mercies of govern- ment have long been cruel towards you. In the rich pastures of Ireland, many hungry parricides have fed and grown strong, to la bor in its destruction. We hope the patient abiding of the meek may not always be forgotten ; and God grant that the iniquitous schemes of extirpating liberty from the British empire may be soon defeated. We have taken up arms to defend it; and with it, our property, our honor, our existence ; all, in a word, that is dearest to man upon earth. For the success of our efforts, we confide in the good offices of our fellow subjects beyond the Atlantic, aware, as they must be, that they have no other favor to expect from the same common enemy, than that of being last devoured.' With the same view, the congress wrote a* letter to the city of London, to return thanks for the part it had taken in favor of Amer- 234 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. ica ; a conduct, they said, which well became the first city in the world, that, in all ages, had approved itself the defender of liberty and just government, against lawless tyranny and oppression. In the midst of these cares, the congress had not forgotten how important it was to the success of their enterprises, to conciliate the friendship of the Canadians, in order that they might either make common cause with the Americans, or, at least, stand neutral. They knew that the first letter had not been without effect, and they re- solved to confirm it with a second. The situation of affairs was favorable to their hopes ; the act of Quebec had, in this province, produced effects altogether contrary to those its authors had antici- pated. The greater part of the inhabitants had received it with evi- dent marks of displeasure, and, by all except the nobles, it was con- sidered tyrannical, and tending to oppression. And although it could not be expected that the Canadians, long accustomed, under the French, to a more rigid rein, should be as much inclined to resist- ance as the English colonists, habituated to live under the laws of a milder government, yet there was ground to hope, that from aver- sion to the English domination, they might be induced to take part in the quarrel, and unite their arms to those of their neighbors. It was known, however, that a part of the Canadians, and especially those of Montreal, and other places nearer to the colonies, had manifested great displeasure at the occupation by the colonists of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and the lakes which lead frvXi the colo- nies to Canada. The congress wished to dissipate entirely these suspicions and jealousies ; but, what was more worthy of their con- sideration, is, that they had positive intelligence of the exertions which the English governor was continually making, to dispose the Canadians to take arms, and march under the British banners. The agents of the king spared neither gold nor promises, to attain their object. General Carleton, who was then governor, though of a char- acter naturally severe, derived great facility in this point from the extensive influence he enjoyed with the inhabitants, and the reputa- tion he had deservedly acquired, of a good chieftain, a humane man, and an upright citizen. It was known, that he was arrived in the pro^ ince with very ample powers. He could appoint or dismiss, at \\ ill, all the members of the council ; compel as many Canadian subjects as he should see fit, to march against whatever enemy he might deem it expedient to combat ; construct forts and dismantle them ; in a word, take all the measures he might think necessary for the security of the province. He was, besides, not a man to hesi- tate how to exercise the authority which had been confided to him. He had already made use of it, in proclaiming that the Canadians BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAB. 235 who should present themselves, should be received as volunteers, into the king's pay, and formed into a regiment. The Americans had learned, besides, that the government had resolved to expedite, for Canada, fifteen thousand muskets, in order to arm the Roman Catholics of that country. All announced, that it was intended to assemble a strong force, with a view of attacking the colonies in the rear, and of co-operating with general Gage. Lord North himself, in his discourse to parliament, had intimated that such was the design of the government. The moment was critical; and, without a prompt remedy, it was to be feared the Canadians would take their resolution to act against the colonies. The congress, therefore, de- cided to address them a letter, entitling it, ' To the oppressed Inhab- itants of Canada.'' It was strong in thoughts, expressed in a style as elegant as it was spirited. They reminded the Canadians, that, by their late address, they had already apprised them of the designs in agitation to extirpate the rights and liberties of all Ameri- ca ; they had now to condole with them most sincerely, that these schemes were about to be carried into execution ; or rather, that, by ihe new form of government given to the province of Canada, were already introduced ; that thus its inhabitants, their wives, and theii children, were made slaves ; that thus they had nothing they could any longer call their own ; that all the fruits of their labor and in- dustry might be taken from them, whenever an avaricious governor and a rapacious council might incline to demand them ; that they were liable to be transported into foreign countries, to fight battles in which they had no interest ; that the enjoyment of their very re- ligion depended on a legislature in which they had no share ; that their priests were exposed to expulsion, banishment, and ruin, when- ever their wealth and possessions should furnish sufficient tempta tions ; that they could not be sure that a virtuous prince would always fill the throne ; and, should a wicked or a careless king con- cur with a wicked ministry, in extracting the treasure and strength of their country, it was impossible to conceive to what variety, and to what extremes of wretchedness they might, under the present establishment, be reduced ; that the Americans knew full well that every exertion was made, that every artifice was employed, to arm their brethren of Canada against them ; but should they, by com- plying in this instance, assent to their new establishment, and a war break out with France, let them recollect their wealth and their sous might be sent to perish in expeditions against the French islands in the West Indies ; that as to the colonists, they were determined to live free or not at aU ; that they were the friends, and not the ene- mies, of the Canadians ; that the taking of the fortresses and armed 236 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. vessels on the lake, was dictated by necessity ; but that they might place full trust in the assurance that the colonies would pursue no measures whatever, but such as friendship, and a regard for the mutual interests of the two people, might suggest; and, finally, that they still hoped the Canadians would unite with the colonists in defense of their common liberty. This address had the effect its authors desired, at least in that it produced the neutrality of the Canadians. In answer to the in- stances of the governor, they said, that without regret they found themselves under the English government, and that they should al- ways deport themselves peaceably and loyally; but that being en- tirely strangers to the controversy arisen between the government and the colonies, it was not for them to undertake to be the judges of it ; that consequently it would in no shape become them to take any part in the quarrel ; that if the government thought proper to arm the militia of the province, in order to defend it in case of attack, they should give it their cordial assent ; but that to march beyond the frontiers, and attack the neighboring people, they could not con- sent. These favorable dispositions of the Canadians were a guar- anty to the congress of their security on the part of the north. General Carleton, finding the Canadians so decided in their oppo- sition, lud recourse to the authority of religion. He therefore so- licited Brand, the bishop of Quebec, to publish a mandament, to be read from the pulpit, by the curates, in time of divine service. He desired the prelate should exhort the people to take arms, and second the soldiers of the king, in their enterprises against the colonies But the bishop, by a memorable example of piety and religious moderation, refused to lend his ministry in this work; saying, that such conduct would be too unworthy the character of the pastor, and too contrary to the canons of the Roman church. However, as in all professions there are individuals who prefer their interest to their duty, and the useful to the honest, a few ecclesiastics employed themselves with great zeal in this affair ; but all their efforts were vain ; the Canadians persisted in their principles of neutrality. The nobility, so well treated in the act of Quebec, felt obligated in grati- tude to promote in this occurrence the views of the government, and very strenuously exerted themselves with that intention, but without any better success. The exhortations of congress did not contribute alone to confirm the inhabitants in these sentiments ; they flattered themselves, also, that their pacific conduct in so urgent a cri- sis, and when their junction with the colonies might have been so prejudicial to the interests of England, would determine the gov- ernment to exercise greater mildness towards them, and grant them BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 231 favors which otherwise they could have had no expectation of obtaining. General Carleton, perceiving that he could make no calculation upon being able to form Canadian regiments, and knowing, withal, that there existed in the province certain loyalists, who would have no repugnance to taking arms, and other individuals whom interest might easily induce to enlist as volunteers, resolved to employ a new expedient. He caused the drums to beat up, in Quebec, in order to excite the people to enroll themselves in a corps to which he gave the name of the Royal Highland Emigrants. He offered the most favorable conditions. The term of service was limited to the con- tinuance of the disturbances ; each soldier was to receive two hun- dred acres of land, in any province of North America he might s choose ; the king paid himself the customary duties upon the acqui- sition of lands ; for twenty years, the new proprietors were to be ex- empted from all contribution for the benefit of the crown ; every married soldier obtained other fifty acre-s, in consideration of his wife, and fifty more for account of '^ach of his children, with the same privileges and exemptions, besides the bounty of a guinea at the time of enlistment. In this manner, Carleton succeeded in glean- ing up some few soldiers ; but he was reduced to attach much more importance to the movements of the Indians. The governor, and the agents of the king with these savage nations, had pushed their negotiations with so much zeal, that they had at length accomplished a part of their wishes ; having persuaded some of them to take arms in favor of the English party, notwithstanding they had so many times sworn to observe an absolute neutrality ; but savage nations are not more scrupulous in keeping faith than the civilized ; and gold, the love of rapine, and thirst of blood, are with them omnipotent. Towards the last of July, arrived, however, in Montreal, colonel Guy Johnson, intendant-general of the king for Indian affairs, ac- companied by a great number of chiefs and warriors of the Six Tribes. A solemn assembly was formed, where they appeared as the chiefs and warriors of the confederate Indians ; their troop was considerable. They swore, according to their custom, and in the presence of general Carleton, to support the cause ot the king. Such was the first origin of the Indian war. These were the bar- barians, who, having joined the troops of general Burgoyne, exer- cised, two years after, such ravages, and perpetrated such cruelties, as we shall be constrained to relate, in the sequel of this history. Meanwhile, the congress could not overlook in silence the act of conciliation of lord North, without manifesting too great an inflexi- bility, and avowing that the Americans would listen to no accommo- 238 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOO* V. dation. They, nevertheless, were not disposed to take a precipitate resolution on this point, and reflected upon it for the space of full two months. By this delay, they intended to show either a great matu- rity of judgment, or perhaps their indifference towards the act. But what appears more certain, is that the war being commenced, they desired to wait the event of the first actions. The answer could not, in effect, be the same, if victory had crowned their efforts, as in case fortune had favored the English arms. When the concil- iatory act arrived in America, the 30th of May, it is true the affair of Lexington had taken place, and the Americans had acquired in it a reputation for incontestable courage ; but it was no more, in fact, than a warm brush between militia collected in haste, and a detach- ment of regular troops ; not a set battle, from which any prognostic could be drawn relative to the final issue of the war. The congress saw perfectly well, that it would always be time to enter into a nego- tiation of arrangement ; and, in case of any disastrous event, they wished to reserve a way open to accept the conditions which Eng- land herself had offered. Mctory > "ould become of no utility to the Americans, if they had commenced by submitting to the terms pro- posed ; and ill fortune would have made the conditions of accord no worse. No risk, therefore, was incurred by temporizing ; and there might result from it great advantages. But the battle of Breed's Hill entirely changed the state of things. The ardor with which the Americans pressed the siege of Boston, their activity in procur- ing themselves arms and ammunition, the constancy and even alac- rity they discovered in supporting the hardships of war, Euid evils produced by the late acts of parliament, rendered their situation much less desperate. If the event might still appear dubious to in- different men, minds strongly excited must have conceived more hope than fear. Accordingly, the members of congress, encouraged by the favorable asoect of affairs, delayed their answer under pretext of dignity. But at length they proceeded to the examination of the conditions of accord, with a full determination to reject them. This resolution, however, was not without inconvenience ; for, at the very moment they refused all arrangement, they wished to retain the ap- l>earannd to oppose against the convention itself, the provincial as- sembly. He hoped by this management to divide the patriots, and overturn their projects. Accordingly, of his own authority, he is- sued commissions to the officers of the militia, and convoked the as- sembly according to ancient forms. But in both these measures he failed of success ; the militia continued firm in the cause of the people, and the assembly refused all his propositions so rigidly, that he was necessitated to dissolve it. He appeared disposed to remain peaceable for some time ; but it was known that he maintained a secret intelligence with the loyalists, who were very numerous, and principally upon the frontiers, towards the mountains and lakes. To unmask him, the patriots resorted to the agency of a certair Adam Macdonald, captain in a provincial regiment, a man entirely devoted to their interests. He presented himself to the governor under the name of Dick Williams, and in the character of an emis- sary of the loyalists, commissioned to protest their fidelity, and re- ceive his orders. The governor, delighted at this overture, answered with unrestrict- ed confidence. Macdonald came to make full report before the general council ; the agitation was vehement. The council deputed to the governor some of its members, and with them Macdonald him- self, to request that he would show them the dispatches he had re- ceived from England. Campbell firmly refused. A motion \vas> BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 253 made to arrest him, b?jt it was not adopted. The governor became intimidated, and retired on board a corvette at anchor in the port. He took with him the seal of the province. The council sent a mes- sage, entreating him to return ; he would not. Thus ceased the royal government in South Carolina ; all public authority was trans- ferred from the ancient administrations to the provincial convention, the committee of safety, and other popular establishments, to whose novver the people fixed no other limits, except that they should pro- tect the republic from all detriment. But in the meantime, governor Campbell was not inactive. He knew the royalists were numerous in certain parts of the province, and he hoped that by exciting them, and erecting a standard, round which they could rally, he should be able to profit essentially by their succors. In the interior of the country, there existed a set of men called regulators, They had arrogated, in 1770, the right of executing the laws against malefactors ; and they exercised their functions so openly, that of their own authority they inflicted corpo- ral punishments upon such as incurred their animadversion. Lord Montague was sent to repress so odious an enormity, and his severity effectually re-established the authority of the laws among this un- ruly generation. But the regulators had not forgotten the chastise- ments their unlawful combination had drawn upon them, nor would they ever consent to adhere to the congress and other popular ad- ministrations, which they deemed equally as irregular and illegal. In the same places were found many Dutch and Irish, who held their lands from the bounty and liberality of the king. Either out of gratitude, or the fear of losing their estates, if they should join the patriots, they stood firm in their loyalty, and were strenuously opposed to the new government. Their number was increased by certain other Irish, who had retired from the disturbances in the northern provinces, into this. Governor Campbell had it in mind, to employ these individuals for the accomplishment of his designs. He circulated among them that the American colonies were altogether too feeble to resist the power of Great Britain ; that the whole question turned upon a trivial duty on tea, which they were not accustomed to use ; that the inhabitants ^f the coast opposed this impost, in order to have tea at a low price, without regarding that their obstinacy deprived the in- habitants of the upper country of a multitude of articles the most necessary to life ; that the single expense of maintaining the provin- cial regiments, greatly exceeded the amount of all the taxes imposed by the parliament. The ill humor of these foreigners was still in- creased by the violences of the patriots, who insisted, whether willing 254 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V. or not, that they should accede to the confederation. And thus a great number that would'have remained neutral, were constrained to throw themselves into the opposite party. In no part of the prov- ince were the loyalists so numerous, as in the space comprehended between the Broad and Saluda rivers. They refused to execute the resolutions of congress, to subscribe the league, and to make levies of soldiers. The patriots, desiring to proceed peaceably, sent into those places two men of the greatest authority, William Henry Dray- ton and William Tennent. All their efforts and arguments, to dissi- pate the suspicions which had arisen among these people, produced little effect, if any. The rivalship between the two parties became every day more rancorous. At length, they flew to arms ; and they were soon encamped, the one in front of the other. The wiser citi- zens interposed, to prevent the effusion of blood ; and, after some days of negotiation, a compact was concluded, by which the loyal- ists pledged themselves to remain neuter. But these hopes of tran- quillity were soon destroyed, by a certain Robert Cunningham, a tur- bulent spirit, and one of the most influential leaders of the loyalists ; he industriously scattered the elements of discord. From all parts they rushed to arms anew. The congress, wishing to smother these first sparks, ordered major Williamson, commanding the militia, to march against the seditious ; but the latter were superior in number. The moment was critical ; the Carolinian congress, having in front a British fleet and army, and a party of disaffected citizens in the rear, could have no hope of victory. Nevertheless, to disconcert the plan of their adversaries, they marched towards the suspected place? detachments of militia and of troops, under the command of colo- nels Richardson and Thompson ; who were joined by colonels Rutherford and Polk, at the head of the militia of North Carolina. The loyalists, scattered, without a rallying point, and without 'eaders of reputation, transacting every thing with fear and hesitation, were forced to receive the terms of their conquerors. This first expedition kept them quiet for a long time ; they made no further movement until the English arms acquired the superior- ity in Georgia and South Carolina. The inhabitants of the latter province being totally decided for war, all their attention was given to making the preparations that might enable them to carry it on with success. They resolved, in the first place, to provide themselves with powder, of which they were almost entirely destitute. They knew that an English vessel, laden with a great quantity of it, was then at anchor upon the bank, called the bar of St. Augustine, upon the coast of East Florida. Some fearless patriots, accustomed to the sea, made for the ship with BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 255 extreme celerity, boarded her, and became possessed of fifteen thou- sand pounds of powder ; which, with equal good fortune, they trans- ported safe into Charleston. This acquisition was of singular utility in their great need. They supplied, from it, the militia of Massa- chusetts, as well as the army which soon after undertook the expe- dition of Canada. But there was still in the power of the king, fort Johnson, erected upon James' Island, which is situated in front of Charleston ; this fortress, therefore, commanded the city. Colonel Motte having land- ed upon the island in the night with a strong detachment of new levies, occupied the fort without obstacle ; the garrison, as too feeble to resist, had retired on board the ships of war. The chiefs of the people prohibited all persons whatsoever from supplying water or provision to the ships of the king, otherwise than from day to day. The English blockaded the port, and made a great number of prizes, to the infinite prejudice of the city. This induced colonel Moultrie to occupy Point Huddrel, with a detach- ment of provincial troops. He planted there a batteTy of heavy cannon, which constrained the English to retire from this position and gain the open sea. Thus the city was liberated, for the pres- ent, from the blockade of the British squadron. But to prevent its renewal, it was resolved to erect fortifications upon Point Huddrel, which defends the entrance to Charleston, by the channel of Hog Island ; and to strengthen the work of fort Johnson, which secures the port on the side of James' Island. A new fort was also con- structed in this island, west of fort Johnson ; then another upon Sullivan's Island, which received the name of Moultrie. The provincial militia exercised, and the regiments upon pay increased their numbers e'very day. In all parts of the province preparations were made to repulse the attacks of the enemy. However sincere was the zeal of the inhabitants to defend theii country, it was stimulated, also, by the resolutions of the general congress. They had resolved, that if Charleston was attacked by the English, three regiments of infantry should be maintained in the province at the expense of the Union ; that if the convention or committee of safety should judge it necessary to seize or'destroy any vessel whatsoever, it might do so, and rely upon the approbation of congress. They recommended also the erection of forts and batteries, in such places as should be thought most suitable. Some agitation also began to manifest itself about this time in North Carolina, a province in which the loyalists were perhaps more numerous than in any other, with the exception, however, of New York. The governor, Martin, was an active man, who studied con- {J.JO THE AMERICAN UAH. BOOK V. tinually to devise new expedients to increase the party of the king The patriots were especially solicitous with respect to the inhabitants of the upper countries of the colony, all Scotch and Highland emi- grants, with whom it was ascertained that the governor held con- tinual correspondence. The congress had not neglected to take all proper measures to disconcert these projects. They had exhorted the partisans of liberty to form themselves into corps of militia, which, in case the provincial convention should see fit to order levies, should be considered as making part of the general army, and received into the pay of the Union. The desires of the congress were accomplished, if not with unani- mous consent, at least with all requisite promptitude. A provincial convention was formed, which assumed the authority of the ordinary assembly of representatives. The committees of safety, and other popular institutions, were created as usual. The governor took umbrage at these measures, although he was not intimidated by them ; and, in order to be able to sustain a first attack, and to give tijne, in case of emergency, for the loyalists of the upper parts to come to his assistance, he fortified, and furnished with artillery, his residence at Newbern. The people rose and seized six pieces of these cannon ; the governor then fled precipitately for refuge to fort Johnson, upon Cape Fear river. The provincials, fearing he might fortify himself, and rally his forces at this point, in order to keep an open communication for the troops which should be sent against the colony, resolved to dislodge him. It also appears that they were apprehensive, lest the governor should proclaim the liberty of the negroes, in order to employ them for the re-establishment of the royal authority. Time was precious. They assembled their forces at Wilmington, an important city of the province, and gave the com- mand of the expedition to colonel Ashe, who had passed from the service of the king, into that of the people. They marched imme- diately to fort Johnson ; but the governor, not choosing to await so formidable an attack, had retired on board a ship of war. The fol- lowing night, colonel Ashe entered the fort and reduced it to ashes. He afterwards ravaged the country, that it might furnish nothing to his adversary. The governor was declared an enemy to America, and accused of a design to raise the blacks against their masters. This imputation was not without foundation. He answered with a writing of excessive length, which he caused to be circulated in the province. But the provincial congress pronounced this proclama- tion an infamous libel, and caused it to be publicly burnt by the hand of the executioner. They drew up, about the same time, a long address to the people BOOK V. THE AMERICAN WAR. 257 of Great Britain, full of the usual protestations. All these events singularly agitated the people ; but a new incident soon carried their fury to extremity. In the garden and cellars of the governor, it was discovered that he had secreted arms, powder, balls, and other mu- nitions. The provincial congress decreed a levy of one thousand regular troops, and another of three thousand minute-men. They created bills of credit for their support. The general congress, wishing to give more stability to their authority, and knowing of what importance it was to propitiate the regulators and mountaineers that inhabited the upper countries, sent them two ministers of the gospel, to expound the nature of the present controversy between Great Britain and the colonies. The chiefs of the people neglected no means proper to forward their cause. Arms and money were pro- vided, soldiers were exercised, the militia were organized, the torpid or lukewarm were stimulated and encouraged. The popular leaders in this province, surrounded by enemies, manifested an activity always increasing with the obstacles they had to surmount. In Pennsylvania, affairs were transacted with greater moderation ; either because the character of the inhabitants was more pacific, or that the governor was endowed with greater prudence. However, the provincial assembly, which continued to sit in Philadelphia, and all the inhabitants generally, appeared not to want activity, in their preparations for defense ; the militia were exercised with great dili- gence and success. It was perceived that the breadth and depth of the Delaware, which bathes the walls of Philadelphia, exposed the city to imminent danger. The English ships might come thus far up the river, and cause infinite mischief not only to the city and prov- ince, but even to the entire confederation. It was therefore resolv- ed to obstruct the passage, by sinking in the channel a construction of heavy timber, called a chevaux-de-frise. It consisted in two immense beams, laid across the bed of the river, parallel-wise, and at a suitable distance apart ; they were locked with traverse timbers ; and upon their upper surface rose, with a certain inclination towards the current of water, two other heavy beams, armed on the top with tusks of iron, to pierce the vessels that should attempt to ascend. All these frames, ponderous of themselves, and charged besides with enormous stones, could not be easily broken, subverted, or dis- placed. Ingeniously contrived, as well as skilfully executed, they were of no little utility, in the course of the war. The Pennsylva- nians were also very diligent in providing themselves with arms and ammunition. The provincial assembly had appointed a committee of superintendence, to see that the arms were made with a desirable promptitude, and the requisite perfection. The gunsmiths, and 258 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK T. other armorers, were continually watched and stimulated. The assembly also decided, that several battalions should be levied and completely equipped. A great quantity of powder was manufactured in the environs of Philadelphia ; a single mill supplied five hundrecl pounds a week. Every thing, in brief, tended towards war. The governor was unable to resist an inclination so universal ; he had no royal troops at his disposal. The province, and particularly the city of New York, found themselves in a painful situation. They were exposed, on all parts, to the insults of the British fleet ; the city had even still a garrison, though feeble, of royal troops. New re-inforcements were expected from England ; and it was known that all the corps that arrived in America, landed at New York, as their destined place of arms The delegates of the province were therefore instructed to move the congress to prescribe the course to be pursued, in case of the arrival of the troops that were already embarked from Ireland for America. The congress answered, they should stand upon the defensive, allow the English to land, and permit them to occupy th<; barra&s, provided they snould behave themselves peaceably; not. however, to suffer that they should erect fortifications, to interrupt the communication between the city and country ; if they should employ force, to resist them with force ; to transport the munitions of war into the interior of the province ; to designate places of refuge for the women and children'; finally, the congress exhorted all the inhabitants to arm, and hold themselv

to infer the fu- BOOK V. rJHb,AMERICAN WAR. ture, what motives are there for believing, that if death had not taken him from his country in all the vigor of his age, he would have left it the model of military heroism and of civil virtues ! He was be- loved by the good, feared by the wicked, and honored even by ene- mies. Nature had done all for him ; his person, from its perfection, answered to the purity of his mind. He left a wife, the object ot all his tenderness, with several children, still infants ; a spectacle for their country, at once of pity and of admiration ! The state, from gratitude towards their father, distinguished them with every mark of kindness and protection.* Thus died this man whose name, ever pionounced with enthusiasm by his own, has never ceased to be respected by the warmest of the opposite party ; marvelous eulogium, and almost without example ! General Carleton still added to his reputation for prudence and intrepidity, in having maintained, under circumstances of such diffi- culty, both order and union, among soldiers assembled in haste, and altogether strangers to discipline. If, with means so feeble, he was able to repulse the formidable attacks of an enemy rendered more terrible by despair, he acquired an honor not inferior by the gene- rosity with which he used victory. Arnold, who, after the death of Montgomery, had taken the com,- mand of the troops, not thinking himself in safety under the walls of the city, extended his camp, with the intention of converting the siege into a blockade. He retired to a distance of three miles from the town ; and intrenched himself, as well as the season, the want of all necessary articles, and the shortness of time, would admit of. Though still suffering much from his wound, he was vigilant to scour the country, and to intercept the provisions that were conducted to the city. The governor, on his part, satisfied with seeing the return of tranquillity for the present, and trusting in the hope of succors already announced, would not, by a second trial of fortune, expose himself to hazard the glory he had acquired, the fate of the province, and perhaps that of all the war. He therefore remained peaceably within the walls of the city, waiting for the favorable season, and re-inforcements from England. Thus terminated, in America, the year 1775, to give place to the subsequent, teeming with actions no less glorious, and events no less memorable. * The author was misinformed with respect to this fact; the widow of genera) Montgomery never had any children. END OF BOOK FIFTH. 294 THE AMERCAN^LR. BOOK VI. BOOK SIXTH. 1776. THE general attention in England was now turned upon the great spectacle presented by the Americans, and their resistance rekindled the animosity of the different parties. It had been hoped, and the ministers themselves had confidently affirmed, that the late laws, and especially the troops recently dispatched to the colonies, would promptly suppress sedition and reduce the factious to obedi- ence. It was not doubted that the partisans of the royal cause, en- couraged by the presence of soldiers, and desirous to avoid the ven- geance of the laws, would display great energy, and separate them- selves from the insurgents, to join the troops of the king, and re-es- tablish the authority of government. It was also firmly believed that the southern provinces, on seeing the storm ready to burst upon their heads, would never espouse the quarrel of the provinces of the north ; and it appeared infallibly certain that the dissensions which alienated the one from the other, would bring about the submission of all. But these hopes having proved entirely deceitful, a general discontent succeeded them, and on all parts the conduct of ministers was censured with asperity. It was deemed intolerable that the soldiers of the king, instead of victoriously keeping the field, should shamefully languish behind the walls of a city without daring to show themselves. The popular movements, which at first were only partial, now extended over the whole continent. The governors, in the room of re-establishing the royal authority, were forced to fly from thir posts and take refuge on board of ships. The Americans, heretofore represented as trembling, and ready to humble themselves, were daily acquiring new audacity, and a more formidable energy in resistance. The members of parliament who had combated the influence of ministers, repeated, with loud cries, ' that such were the necessary fruits of their incapacity, of their in- fatuated obstinacy.' ' Since they have not been willing, it was said, to grant the colonists the peace they implored, they ought, at least, to have made war upon them with sufficient forces ; they have done too much to irritate, too little to subdue. Instead of surprising their adversaries before they could have furnished themselves with means of defense, they have given them a long warning, as if they wished to see them duly prepared ; they have chosen to stake the entire fortune of the colonies, and brought into play only a part of theii forces ; they have dishonored the British nation not only with the Americans, but among all the nations of the world ; they have sullied BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 295 ^ t it with the name of cruel, without having veiled the stigma with the lustre of victory. But we rejoice indeed, and greatly rejoice, to see thus defeated, to their utter shame, all the projects of the ministers against America. They will perceive, at length, that it is not so easy to establish tyranny in the British empire, as they had presumed in their blind rage to conceive. With a satisfaction not less sincere, do we behold that opposition, so worthy to be admired by all good men, and by all the friends of liberty, which has resulted in the wreck of these Scotch machinations, of this policy of the Stuarts, first attempted in America, but intended eventually for England. We are cheered by the happy augury ; and we no longer despair of the public safety, whatever may be the pernicious plots of profligate ministers.' 1 We have believed, answered the ministers, that the ways of meek- ness, in this commencement of troubles, were most agreeable to the spirit of our laws, and of our national character ; that clemency and forbearance ought to form the basis of the conduct of the British government towards its subjects. The ministers have been accused so many times, and upon grounds so frivolous, of wishing to intro- duce a system of despotism, that in the present occasion they have been very circumspect to keep themselves aloof from all suspicion of a similar desire. What would their adversaries have said, if at the beginning of disturbances they had hurried to arms ; if they had sent formidable armies to America, and consigned it to fire and blood? Then would they have raised the voice against tyranny ; we have not done it, and their clamors are the same. What have we left then but to despise them ? For is it not demonstrated, that not the love of liberty, but ambition, not the desire of justice, but that of baffling the ministers, have been the motives of their conduct ? Before pro- ceeding to the last extremities, our duty was to allow time for re- flection and repentance ; for only incurable evils are to be treated with fire and sword. ' We have borne for a long time, it is true, the effervescence of the Americans ; but we should hope that this long suffering would persuade them of the maternal sentiments of our common country, that has endured outrages with magnanimity, which it might have punished at a single blow. The colonists themselves have no doubt of this ; they must know the immense superiority of the forces of England. The measures of the government would have opened their eyes already, if they were not continually deceived, excited, and misled by chiefs in delirium, here as well as there, by the cries of an imprudent opposition. But it will soon be seen in earnest, by the vigorous resolutions of government, and the energetic employment THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. it is about to make of all its forces, that it will no more be wanting !x> itself than forgetful of what is due to the honor of the crown and tne interests of the country. ' The Americans have no more indulgence to expect on our part. They are no longer to be looked upon as British subjects, but as Implacable enemies. With as much confidence as justice, we can henceforth overwhelm them with the formidable arm of Great Brit- ain.' Such were the answers of the ministers to the imputations of their adversaries. These excuses might have been valid, if the ministry had not assailed the Americans with laws far more irritating than open force. For armies, though victorious, may be resisted with glory ; but the patience, that must tolerate oppression, is with- out this illusion. Far from abating with time, these intestine dissensions appeared every day to acquire new activity. The more necessary a consent of opinions became to avert the perils that menaced the country, the more they were divided and marshaled in opposition by the spirit of party. This internal fermentation was of an augury the more fatal, inasmuch as it brought to mind those ancient and sanguinary quarrels which raged in the time of Queen Anne with so much peril to England, between the republicans and the royalists, under the names of whigs and tories. The friends and the enemies to the cause of America manifested the same animosity, and the ame ob- stinacy ; and there was much appearance that not only America, but England itself, was on the point of breaking out into open dis- cord and civil war. ' The tories,' it was said on one side, ' are themselves the authors of the frequent addresses to the king and parliament, urging that the continent of America should be put to all that fire and sword can inflict ; these are the false reporters, these the incendiaries of discord. Bigoted as they are, and infatuated in the maxims of the house of Stuart, neither the example of the evils they have brought upon England, nor the total ruin of this family, which they caused, can illuminate their obstinate minds, and induce them to renounce the cruel principles of tyranny. The bitter fate of the father is not sufficient to divert an obstinate son from pursuing the dangerous path which led him to destruction ; such are all the tories. They sacri- fice their rank, their fortune, their existence, to their prejudices and thirst of domination. When the inauspicious reign of the Stuarts had visited our island with foreign servitude and civil war, then the tories, trampling upon national honor and public felicity, abandoned themselves to joy. Their maxims coincide with those of the abso- lute princes of Europe, and they would not blush to place their BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 29"7 country in such hands if, in so doing, their ambition might receive a new support. AH the countries of Europe are subject to sovereigns whose power is without limits. England alone, by the special favor of Providence, enjoys a moderate and free government ; but the tories would fain subvert it to establish the uniformity of despotism throughout all European countries. Their hearts are contaminated with all the vices of proud, perfidious, and profligate courts ; with their infected breath they propagate them, like a pestilence, over the whole nation. They esteem no man but for his baseness ; they honor none but the proud and the arrogant. Their superiors they flatter, their inferiors they oppress ; the prosperous they envy, the unfortunate they rarely succor, and never but from vain glory. The public felicity becomes in their hands the instrument of slavery, and our submission they deem far more essential than our prosperity. The sovereign good they place in absolute dominion ; and the best possible state of society they believe to consist in mute servitude. Revolutions they applaud when they conduct a people to tyranny: they deplore their mischiefs with a hypocritical pity, they exaggerate them with the gloss of words, when liberty is to be their fruit. The argument of public tranquillity is always upon their lips ; but when were they ever heard to speak of the abuses of arbitrary power, of consuming taxes, of the vexations of the powerful, of injuries with- out reparations, and of outrages without redress ? If they are now opposed to the cause of the Americans, it is because it clashes with their plan of attack against the happy free government of our coun- try, and their schemes for introducing into the very heart of the kingdom the laws of Charles and of James. Thev flatter themselves O - that after having strangled the germs of liberty in America, and van- quished those generous spirits, victorious troops will also know how to bend our necks to the same cruel yoke. Such are the thoughts, such the desires that agitate them without intermission, and not the wish to see the return of peace upon that unfortunate continent where they have themselves kindled the flames of war. Let us then prevent such fatal designs, let us preserve in its integrity the inher- itance which our ancestors, thanks to their valor, to their generosity, and to the magnanimous enterprises of the great William III., have handed down to us. Thus shall we serve our country, and perhaps even the house of Brunswick, which cannot without danger show itself ungrateful towards the friends of liberty, nor depart with safety from those maxims which have raised it to the British throne.' The tories answered these declamations with no little warmth. 1 It ill becomes the whigs,' they said, ' to tax us with cruelty and arrogance, since no one is ignorant what their conduct was, when, 298 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOB VI. in the time of the commonwealth, and even under the monarchy, they had the supreme power in their hands ; then did exile, con- fiscations and scaffolds spread desolation and ruin over our unhappy country ; then prisons and chains were the instruments of popular clemency ! If a generous prince had not arrested their career of anarchy and blood, if he had not substituted, by the aid of all good citizens, a system of liberty, so dear to the tories, England would have seen her last hour, and fallen a prey to foreign enemies. But what is, in fact, our desire ? That in every affair which interests the nation, that in every controversy which divides it, there should be a supreme authority to regulate and to determine them irrevocably ; and this authority we believe to reside in the king united with the parliament. But the republicans will not submit to the laws of this legitimate authority, but are in chase of nobody knows what popular authority, which they pretend to consist in the universality of the citizens, as if a tumultuary, ignorant, and partial multitude, should or could judge of objects wherein the eyes even of the most enlight- ened and prudent discover the greatest difficulties.' ' A way must, however, be found to terminate national dissensions ; are they to be referred to the decision of a populace ever more apt to be misled by daring and profligate demagogues, than to be guided by men of prudence and of virtue ; of a rabble that hunger itself puts in the power of the first intriguer? For this purpose kings and the parliament have been instituted ; it is for this end that, in the ordi- nary direction of affairs, as well as in unforeseen and difficult cases, they provide, and watch that the country should experience no detriment.' ' In the present dispute with America, have the ministers acted singly and of their own motion ? The king and the parliament have decreed, have approved all their measures ; this consideration ought to have great weight with every man who is a friend to public author- ity, and to the principles of the constitution. But the whigs are gasping for the moment to arrive when England, as well as America, shall be a prey to an unbridled multitude, in order to be able to enrich themselves by plunder, to gratify their insatiable ambition, and to operate the total subversion of this free government. These pretended patriots are the sons and representatives of the republi- cans who desolated the kingdom in the last century. They din the name of liberty continually in our ears, because they desire them- selves to exercise tyranny. Under the pretext of the public safety they violate and trample under foot every form, every civil institu- tion ; they arrogate to themselves all the plenitude of arbitrary power. If they manifest an utter contempt for the laws which are BOOK VI THE AMERICAN WAR. 299 the protectors of peisons, of property, and of honor, their cruelty is not less conspicuous ; for an opinion, whether real or supposed, or maliciously imputed, for a suspicion, for a chimera, they fly into a rage, they rush to persecutions ; they plunge into misery the fathers of families, the fathers of the country, the best, the most useful, the most respectable citizens. They fawn upon the people so long as they are the weaker; but once become the stronger, they crush them, they decimate them, they starve them, and adding derision to barbarity, they never cease to protest they do it all to render them happy. These friends of liberty are perpetually declaiming against the vices of courts, as if pillage, both public and private, the scan- dalous profusion of ill gotten wealth, the turpitude of debauch, the violation of the marriage bed, the infamous price extorted from faithful wives to redeem their husbands' blood, the public triumph of courtesans, the baseness of cringing to the vilest of men, as if all the horrors which have signalized the reign of these republicans were good and laudable customs ! But whatever be the plots, the wishes, and the hopes of this turbulent race of men, of these parti- sans of lawless licentiousness, which they attempt in vain to invest with the name of liberty, let them rest assured it is firmly resolved to resist them, to preserve the public tranquillity, to secure to the laws that obedience which is their due, and to carry into execution against the rebellious Americans, those acts which have solemnly emanated from the royal authority, and from that of the parliament. The force of circumstances, the royalty of the people, and the recol- lection of the past tyranny of pretended patriots, will cause all their vociferations, all their maneuvers, all their incendiary attempts, to i avail them nothing. As for the rest, the tories, and not their adver- saries, are the real friends of liberty ; for liberty consists not in calling the populace at every moment to intervene in the direction of state affairs, but in faithfully obeying those fundamental statutes, which are the result of the general will of the nation, and which balance and temper the royal authority by the authority of the people.' With such animosity, with such reciprocal bitterness, the two political parties assailed each other. It appeared inevitable that this must soon lead to some violent convulsion, and all prudent men were seized with anxious apprehensions. And here, perhaps, is the place to remark how remote are human minds from all moderation, from all sense of decency, when once under the control of party zeal. Assuredly, if at the different epochs of the domination of the royalists and of the republicans, the one party and the other aban- doned themselves to culpable excesses, it is not that there were not 300 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. among them men of rectitude, who, if they judged ill, yet meant well ; with such, every form of government would be good, pro- vided it was not purely despotic. But the ambitious, a race unfor- tunately so prolific, are the most fatal scourge in every well consti- tuted state ; always in opposition with the laws of their country, they shake off their restraint the first moment they can, and thus pave the way to revolutions and the reign of arbitrary power. The legislator,, who is desirous to found a government upon a solid basis, should pay less attention to forms, whether monarchical or republican, than to the establishment of laws calculated to repress the ambitious. It is not for us to pronounce whether such laws have ever yet existed, or whether they could aceomplish the end proposed ; but we may confidently affirm, that men of moderation are not to be blamed for desiring either a royalty or a republic ; the ambitious alone are to be feared and detested, for they are those who cause monarchies to degenerate into tyrannical despotism, and republics into anarchy, more tyrannical still. Such was the general agitation in England, when it was increased by the declaration of lord Dartmouth, one of the secretaries of state, to Penn and Lee, who had brought the petition of congress address- ed to the king, that no answer would be given to it. The partisans of the Americans expressed their indignation without reserve ; they censured with new asperity the impolitic obstinacy of the ministers. The latter had defenders who answered ; ' It is time to act ; the nation has conceived great hopes ; all Eu- rope is in suspense to see what will be the fruit of our tardy reso- lutions, and the result of our preparations. It is necessary to strike home, and push with vigor this war which Gr^at Britain, with a patience unexampled, has wished to avoid ; but to which insolent and contumacious subjects have defied and provoked her by too many outrages.' This language of the ministerial party acted powerfully upon a nation naturally brave as well as proud ; and the public mind be- came gradually disposed to war, although there still appeared fre- quent petitions in favor of peace. About this time, disastrous news was received of the Newfoundland fisheries. The congress having prohibited all transportation of provisions to these banks, the fisher- men, to avoid famishing, were compelled to abandon them precipi- tately, and repair to other shores. But another misfortune more formidable awaited them ; the sea swelling all at once, with unusual fury, rose more than thirty feet above its ordinary level. The irrup- tion was so sudden, that all means of safety were of no avail ; more than seven hundred fishing barks were overwhelmed, and perished DOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 301 with their crews. Several large ships also foundered with all on board. The devastation was no less terrible upon land ; the prog- ress of the wide inundation was marked with universal destruc- tion. This fatal event made a serious impression in England ; it was looked upon as a presage of ill. It seemed as if fortune was every where irritated against the British empire. Superstition chilled their spirits. They were induced to form discouraging comparisons. On the part of the colonists, a propitious sky, abundance of pro- visions, health of troops, success of arms, multitudes crowding to their standards. On the part of the English, on the contrary, an army besieged, mortal diseases, wounds incurable, toil and pain, famine, every species of suffering ; an angry sky, a furious sea, hor- rible shipwrecks, martial ardor extinct, every thing in rapid declen- sion. The antagonists of government either from ambition or the love of liberty, the merchants from personal interest or zeal for the public good, seized this moment of general discouragement. Peti- tions against the war arrived from all parts ; the cities of London and Bristol were the first to send them. They expatiated upon the blood that was about to be shed, the treasure to be expended, the new enemies to be encountered ; it was represented that the obstinacy of the colonists would render even victory too costly ; that the victor and the vanquished would be involved in one common ruin. They exhorted, they prayed, they conjured the government to renounce hostile resolutions which promised no good, and threatened so many disasters. But the ministers were not to be shaken by remonstrances. The animosity of their adversaries was, however, increased by an inci- dent which drew the attention of all ; the Earl of Effingham, an officer distinguished for his services, and possessed of an ample for- tune, had, upon all occasions, defended with great warmth the cause of the colonists. Not willing to betray his conscience, he offered tne king his resignation ; his conduct was greatly applauded ; the cities of London, of Dublin and others, commended and thanked him in public lettprs. Many other officers followed his example ; resignations became frequent. Those who from taste give their at- tention to political matters, will, no doubt, observe, upon this occasion, with what facility in England an opinion at variance with that of the government may be openly professed ; since its opponents, instead of exposing themselves to its vengeance, often become the objects of public favor. And upon consideration of the enterprises execut- ed in various times by the British nation, and the energy with which it has sustained long wars against the most formidable powers, THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK VI. it is impossible not to perceive how much they deceive themselves who think that a free government enfeebles nations, and that their force can only be completely developed by despotism. The declamations of the party in opposition, and the numerous resignations of officers, had caused the affair of enlistments to labor extremely. It was in vain that the officers appointed for this ser- vice caused the drums to beat, and the royal standard to be erected in the most populous cities ; in vain did they promise bounties and exorbitant pay ; scarcely a few individuals came to offer their ser- vice ; Catholics and Protestants, all manifested an equal repugnance. Not but that among the inhabitants of the northern parts of Great Britain, the regiments found wherewith to recruit themselves ; but this resource was altogether inadequate to the exigency. The min- isters therefore found themselves in the greatest embarrassment ; to extricate themselves from which, they determined to have recourse to foreign aid. With gold, which they had in abundance, they hoped to procure themselves men, of whom they had so much need. Ac- cordingly, to this end they made overtures to the court of St. Peters- burgh, in order to obtain twenty thousand Russians, that were to have been transported to America the following spring. They made great dependence upon these soldiers, who, in the preceding war against the Turks, had acquired a brilliant reputation for bravery and discipline. But their hopes were not realized ; this government would not consent that its soldiers should enter into foreign service, and for a small sum of gold, shed their blood in a quarrel wherein Russia had no sort of interest. The ministers then turned their views in the direction of the United Provinces. The States-Gene- ral had in their pay some Scotch battalions ; and these the English government demanded in order to employ them'in the American war. It was hoped that their ancient alliance, and other common interests, would easily determine the States-General to comply with this demand. But it appeared of such extreme importance to the States, that not presuming to take the decision of it upon themselves, they chose to consult the provincial assemblies. Those of Zeland and of Utrecht gave their consent, Holland and the others refused. John Derk, of Chapelle, spoke with great force against the proposi- tion in the assembly of Overyssel. He said it was too far beneath the dignity of the republic to intermeddle in the quarrels of a foreign nation ; that the forces of Holland were too weak, and her com- merce too flourishing, for her to interfere so imprudently in the dis- putes of others ; that if she succored England against America, oth- er very powerful states, alluding to France, would succor America against England, and that thus the United Provinces would find BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 303 themselves drawn into a dangerous war. He reminded of the tyr- anny exercised by the English upon the seas, the forced visit of the Dutch vessels, and the conh'scation of their cargoes, under pretext of contraband. He omitted not to paint the cruel character of this war, in which the ferocious Indians were already taken into the Eng- lish pa}'. The opinion of the orator prevailed, and there was every motive that it should. The Dutch considered the American cause very similar to that of their ancestors, and it appeared to them in- tolerable to concur in chastising those who followed their own ex- ample. The English party and the French party manifested in this occurrence an astonishing conformity of opinion ; the first, because they feared that violent means would force the Americans at length to throw themselves into the arms of France ; the second, because they wished to see humbled the pride and the power of the British nation. It is certain, that at this epoch, the prosperity and opulence of England excited the envy of the universe, and that her haughty behavior filled all hearts with a secret enmity. But the ministers having dispatched numerous agents into Germa- ny, obtained more success with the princes of the Houses of Hesse, of Brunswick, and other petty sovereigns of this country. They ac- ceded to a convention which filled the cabinet of Saint James jvith alacrity and with hope ; the ministers were overjoyed that German promptitude should, in so pressing a need, have counterbalanced English reluctance. A double advantage was found in the employment of German troops. They had never darkened their minds with abstruse ques- tions of liberty and public law ; and the difference of language was a security against the efforts which the Americans might have made to mislead and seduce them to join their party. This apprehension caused the ministry great anxiety with respect to the English sol- diers, who spoke the same dialect as the Americans, and went to combat men who defended, or appeared to defend, a cause more fa- vorable to the subjects than to the government. When the news got abroad in England of the treaty of subsidy with the German princes, it would be difficult to describe the fury of the opponents of the ministry. Many even among their own par- tisans were heard to condemn their conduct with asperity. They said, it was a scandalous thing that the mercenary soldiers of foreign princes should come to interfere in domestic dissensions ; that dar- ing and artful ministers might one day take advantage of this fatal example to subvert the established constitution, and to put down all liberty in England itself; that when these soldiers should have ter- minated their enterprise in distant regions, different pretexts might 304 THE AMERICAN W4.R. BOOK VI. be found for conducting them into places less remote, and perhaps even into the heart of the kingdom ; that this was a state offense, an act of high treason, the having attempted to open the entrance of the British territory to foreign troops without consent of parlia- ment. It is certain that no resolution of the ministers had ever produced so much disgust, and so alarming a fermentation among the people, as the present. It rendered more violent the fury of some, alien- ated others, and appeared to all illegal in principle, perilous in its ob- ject, and injurious to the Brit sh name; inasmuch as it seemed an admission that the English were not in a situation to adjust of them- selves this great quarrel. The disapprobation was general, the cause of the war and the obstinacy of ministers began to be openly con- demned. In the midst of this effervescence the parliament was convoked. But before entering into a description of the debates which took place in this session, it appears to us necessary to relate what were, at this time, the designs of the ministry relative to the American war. Perceiving how odious they were become to the nation for never having consented to hear of any proposition of accord, and for having wanted either the capacity or the will to carry on the war with adequate preparations, they resolved at length to manifest ex- traordinary vigor, and to employ against the Americans a force so formidable as to leave them no hope of resistance. They could not but perceive how greatly the reputation of the British arms had already suffered ; and they saw how important it was to apply a prompt remedy in order to prevent the worst conse- quences, and especially a war with the European powers. Although they often affected to congratulate themselves upon the good dispo- sitions of these powers, they were nevertheless persuaded that this neutrality could not continue, if the war drew into length, and always to the prejudice of England. It was easy to believe that France had eyes open upon what passed, and that she waited but for the occasion to show herself. The English ministers, at this epoch, however stinted the measure of their magnanimity and sagacity, were still not so simple as to be deluded by friendly protestations, which are lavished with the more profusion the more they are void of sincerity. It was known that in all the ports of France the most strenuous exertions were emp'oyed in equipping ships of war and accumulating naval munitions, and that the government was animated with an ardent desire to repair recent losses, and to restore all the force and the splendor of the French marine ; that the entire nation applauded the views of the court, and BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 305 demonstrated the utmost promptitude to second them. Besides, it was no longer a mystery that munitions of war were daily expedited from the French ports for America, if not by the orders of the gov- ernment itself, at least with its tacit concurrence. It was observed, not without extreme jealousy, that the French had lately dispatched a numerous fleet to the West Indies, and that their land troops so increased in that quarter, that they already had the appearance of an army prepared to take the field. It had been seen with disquietude that French officers were in conference, for the space of many days, with general Washington, at the camp of Boston, and that they were afterwards admitted to an audience by the congress. The past ad- monished the English ministry of the future. In no time had war broken out in America that the French and British nations had not taken part in it, the one against the other. It was, therefore, natural to think, that such also would be the event this time ; it was even the more probable now that interests were at stake of far greater moment that had ever before been agitated between the two powers. France manifested in her conduct an admirable address. She would not throw ofF the mask in these beginnings, either because she feared that by engaging prematurely in the defense of the Americans, the English government might be induced to offer them such terms of accommodation as, in reconciling the two parties, would turn their united forces against her ; or especially because she was not yet entirely prepared for maritime war. She wished to temporize until her armaments were completed, and until the continuation of recip- rocal outrages should have rendered all arrangement impossible. It was also important for her to wait till the Americans, more enlight- ened with respect to their situation, and encouraged by the success of their arms, should have decided at length to proclaim their inde- pendence. All reconciliaticm then became impracticable ; as well on account of the greater exasperation of minds, and the aggrava- tion of offenses, as from the absolute contrariety of the scope towards which the two parties tended. There would no longer be any question of an accord under certain conditions ; the separation must then be total. Such was the thought of the French government relative to the time in which it ought to discover itself. But in order that the Americans might not lose all hope, it was determined to grant them clandestinely all the succors, and to make them all the promises proper to inspire them with con fidence in a more efficacious co-operation at a suitable time. Nor could it be doubted, that when France should have resoived to support the Americans without disguise, Spain also would imme- diately espouse the same cause, as well in consequence of the family VOL. i. 20 306 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VJ. compact, as from the identity of interests, and perhaps even from an earnest desire to efface the recent stain of the unfortunate expedi- tion against Algiers. All these dangers were continually present in the minds of the British ministry ; they resolved, therefore, to prevent them by meas- ures as prompt as energetic. Independently of the arms and munitions which the arsenals and armories of England could furnish in abundance, the government ordained that eighty ships of war should be stationed upon the coasts of America, to favor the transportation of troops and of munitions wherever the good of the service might require, to second all the operations of the army, to traverse those of the enemy, and to de- stroy his marine. Exclusively of the corps already found in America, it was deter- mined to send thither upwards of forty-two thousand men of regu- lar troops, between English and Germans ; that is, twenty-five thou- sand of the first, and a little more than seventeen thousand of the second. These German troops were composed of four thousand three hundred Brunswickers, twelve thousand three hundred and ninety-four Hessians of the Landgrave, and six hundred and sixty- eight of the hereditary prince of Hesse, count of Hanau.* In adding to this number all the recruits of Canada, the corps of American Royalists and Indians, a totality was hoped for of fifty-five thousand men, supposing the companies all complete. But every deduction made, it was deemed a certainty that in any event the army would exceed forty thousand effective combatants ; a force that was believed more than sufficient to subdue all America. The ministers also thought it expedient to accompany the prepara- tions of war with several particular provisions, which they considered as very proper to second the effect of tHem. Knowing, for example, how much the Americans were in want of money, and that they had no means to procure it but by the way of commerce, they resolved to interrupt it entirely, hoping that private interest would carry it against political obstinacy, and that the absolute failure of metallic currency would subject the bills of credit to a fatal depression. On the other hand, in order not to reduce the Americans to seek their safety in despair, they thought it best to authorize certain royal commissioners to grant individual amnesties. They persuaded themselves that many * England contracted for the German troops upon the conditions following. She gave a Brunswicker seven guineas levy money, and four and a half pence sterling daily ; a Hessian of the Landgrave seven guineas bounty, and five and a half pence sterling pay ; a Hessian of the hereditary prince, seven guineas bounty, and sixpence sterling a dey. BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR 307 of them, vanquisned by such clemency, would throw themselves into the arms of England, or, at least, that the more timid would lay down arms, and recompose themselves in their accustomed tran- quillity. The rest, according to their ideas, might then be easily overpowered. Such were the measures the ministers had matured, and which they intended to submit to the deliberations of parliament The king pronounced, on opening the session, a very remarkable discourse ; he spoke of the machinations employed in America to seduce the people, and infect them with opinions repugnant to the constitution, and to their subordination towards Great Britain. He said the insurgents now openly avowed their resistance and revolt, and had assumed to themselves all the powers of government; that in order to amuse they had made specious protestations of loyalty, but that in fact they were aiming at independence ; that he hoped, how- ever, the spirit of the British nation was too high, and her resources too numerous, tamely to give up that which had been acquired with so many cares, and with so many toils ; that it was now become the part of wisdom to put a speedy end to these disorders, by the display of all the forces of the kingdom ; but that, as clemency was always to be preferred to rigor, his intention was to grant particular pardons, and to withdraw, from the calamities of war, the persons and the places that should give evidence of their fidelity. The ministers moved for the usual address of thanks to the king, and that the measures proposed should be approved. But lord John Cavendish answered them with an extreme vehe- mence, that he could not sufficiently testify his surprise at their ob- stinacy in pursuing a plan which had already produced such deplor- able results. ' You see one half the empire lost, the other discontented and tottering ; a kingdom of late the most prosperous, now sinking un- der every misfortune ; a nation once renowned for its virtues, now contaminated with corruption ; and arrived in the train of every vice, losses, discomfiture and shame. The Americans are charged with planning independency ; certainly it is not the merit of England that they have not yet adopted such a resolution, for the ministers have neglected no possible violence to compel them to it. They are charged with dissimulation ; but they have constantly affirmed that the terms of reconciliation were those of returning to the state of things existing in 1763. It is desired to send against them nu- merous armies and formidable fleets ; but they are at home surround- ed by friends, and abounding in all things. The English are at an immense distance, stinted in the means of subsistence ; having for enemies, climate, winds, and men. And what wealth, what treasures, 308 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK VI. will not be necessary to subsist your troops in those distant coun- tries! Impenetrable forests, inaccessible mountains, will serve the Americans, in case of disaster, as so many retreats and fortresses, whence they will rush forth upon you 'anew. You will, therefore, be under a constant necessity to conquer or die ; or, what is worse than death, to fly ignominiously to your ships. The Americans will avail themselves of the knowledge of places, which they only have, to harass the British troops, to intercept the ways, to cut off supplies, to surprise outposts, to exhaust, to consume, to temporize and pro- long, at will, the duration of the war. I&nagine not that they will expose themselves to the hazard of battles ; they will vanquish us by dint of fatigue, placed, as we shall be, at a distance of three thou- sand miles from our country. It will be easy for them, impossible for us, to receive continual re-inforcements. They will know how to use the occasion of their temporary superiority to strike decisive blows ; the tardy succors that may arrive to us by the Atlantic will not prevent our reverses ; they will learn, in our school, the use of arms and the art of war ; they will eventually give their masters fatal proofs of their proficiency. 1 But let victory be supposed, can there be any doubt that it will be sanguinary, that its results will be lands laid waste, towns deso- lated by fire, subjects envenomed by implacable hatred, the prosper- i ity of commerce annihilated, and reciprocal distrusts always ready [ to re-kindle war. Long have standing armies been considered as . dangerous to liberty ; but the protracted and difficult war which you are about to engage in will enormously increase these armies. Is it to dissipate our fears on this point that ministers subsidize these bands of Germans, an excellent race assuredly, but admirably adapted to serve the purposes of the fautors of despotism ? I have supposed that we shall be victorious ; let us now suppose we should be beaten. Who wiH restore our treasures exhausted, our commerce annihilated, the spirit of our troops extinguished, our national glory, first source of public virtue, unworthily eclipsed ? Who will efface the stigma branded upon the British name ? In our reverses we shall not have the consolation of having acted with maturity of reflection, or that of having been taken unawares. The quarrel of America will soon become the quarrel of Europe ; and if our country perish not there- in, it must be attributed rather to its happy star than to the wisdom of those who govern it. Such is the importance, such are the con- sequences of the subject, that I cannot but deem it an incomprehen- sible fact to see the passions allowed full scope on every side, in- stead of that calm which ought to preside in the consideration of our melancholy situation, and in the investigation of the most prompt, BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 309 the most efficacious, and the most expedient remedies. Let us, therefore, unite in praying, in conjuring his majesty to suspend the effects of his anger, and to prevent the running with such precipita- tion to shed English blood by English hands. Rather let it be stud- ied to calm and conciliate minds, -to search out the causes of our dis- cords, to discover the means which may enable us to rejoin the lacerated parts of the British empire. Let us labor to restore to the government its majesty, to the laws the obedience which is their due, to the parliament its legitimate authority, and to the British people the tranquillity and happiness of which they are so eminently worthy.' The temper of the assembly was favorable; the vehement dis- course of lord Cavendish had made a profound impression upon the minds of all. But the partisans of the ministry answered him with equal warmth. 1 We find it not easy to comprehend, they said, how these elo- quent orators, who make such parade of their patriotism, can lavish so many pathetic flourishes to justify those who are found in rebel- lion against the authority of Great Britain ; we are ignorant what strange pleasure they can take in embarrassing the government in its operations in the midst of so difficult a crisis. It is equally hard for us to conceive what motives they can have for wishing to demon- strate that the Americans will of necessity prove victorious. That such should be the language of congress, and of the proclamations of Washington, nothing is less surprising ; but that it is found in the mouth of an Englishman, of one of the fathers of the country, that we should see him glory in such assertions, and study to prop- agate them, is what cannot excite too much astonishment and in- dignation. ' It is affirmed the Americans are not aiming at independence ; this we readily admit, if it is intended to maintain that they are not contending to have, but already possess and exercise this absolute independence. Have they not concentrated in their hands all the authority of government, in coining money, in creating bills of cred- it, in imposing taxes, in making levies, in declaring war, in commit- ting hostilities, in granting letters of mark and reprisal? But the kind confiding personages, seated in front of us, answer that the colonists protest their devotion, and reject all idea of independency. New doctrine, indeed, that, we are to give more credit to words than to facts ! But while these credulous beings harangue within these walls, the Americans model and carry into effect a new form of govern- ment, no doubt to preserve the ancient constitution and to unite themselves more intimately with Great Britain ! 310 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. 1 They have proposed, we are told, conditions of accommodation ; in what do they consist ? In consenting to acknowledge the same sovereign. Assuredly they will acknowledge him, provided they may be excused from obeying his orders, and permitted to act their own will entire. And is it desired that England should stoop to such an arrangement, which, if it be not outrageous, is at least ridiculous ? The parliament has opened a way of conciliation, whereby, if the right of taxation was not entirely renounced, it was certainly so re- stricted that the Americans were allowed to tax themselves. But we have to do with men who are alike insensible to benefits and to clemency. With what words, with what a tone have they received our propositions ! The universe knows it, and our secret enemies themselves have been astonished at it. If England must resolve to submit to such degradation, if she must give up honor, so essential to monarchies, if, instead of taking arms against an enemy who de- fies us, who despises the government and the agents of Great Brit- ain, we must bow with humility to his demands, continually more imperious, then let us blindly pursue the course which is marked out for us by our adversaries. That to reduce the colonies to obe- dience is an enterprise which may offer some difficulties, no one undertakes to deny. But the greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. ' Those who would sow discouragement among us, little know the ability of the English generals, and the valor of our soldiers. The powerful house of Bourbon, combined against us in the last war, was unable to make us bend ; and the king of Prussia has found, in our assistance, the means of resisting the league of the North. England is queen of the seas ; she has conquered those same countries which her ungrateful subjects now inhabit ; and will she not be able to subdue also them ? ' It is not impossible, we admit, that some European powers will take part in this war ; especially considering our prosperity, the envy of foreigners, and the arts of these Americans, always busied in ex- citing the whole world against us. But are we to be influenced in our counsels by the desires or by the injustice of others ? Let us do what we ought, to prevent what we fear. With arms we may com- mand respect, while a timid policy would expose us to contempt. ' War pursues the weak, but retires from the strong. What chi- meras, too, these scrupulous spirits have been dreaming of about those innocent Germans, it is not easy to say. The example of mer- cenary troops is not new ; their employment has always been without danger. Foreign soldiers are not those who could establish servitude upon the soil of England, but minds disposed to slavery ; now, the BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR 311 clamors and exaggerations of demagogues more often lead to this, than the schemes of governments themselves. As to these long lam- entations over the vices of the present day, we, for our part, have no hesitation to say, that we have a better opinion of a people among whom the sincerest respect is shown for good habits, whose civiliza- tion has rendered them famous throughout the world, and who have achieved so many great actions, as well in peace, as in war. These imputations are but the phantoms of a morbid imagination, or the suggestions of the secret rage of those ambitious minds, who persuade themselves that no virtue can exist so long as they are not invested with supreme power. The destiny of Great Britain is now in the balance. After having seen her empire equally flourishing by land and by sea, and her fortune surpass that of all the other states of Christendom, the question is now, whether this prosperity shall con- tinue, whether these rich and powerful colonies, the work of our hands, the fruit of our industry, the object of all our cares, the price of so much treasure and so much blood, shall henceforth, by the unheard of ingratitude of their inhabitants themselves, by the artful machinations of their false friends, and of our secret enemies, be dis- membered from their ancient country, and torn forever from the affectionate embraces of their tender mother ? patiently to endure an event so calamitous, not to lavish our efforts, our fortunes, our life itself, to prevent its accomplishment, would be a turpitude which has no example in our history, and an opprobrium from which we ought to preserve the British name.' Thus spoke the ministerial orators ; the votes were taken, and the motion of lord Cavendish was rejected. Some other members of the opposition proposed, with as little success, different plans of con- ciliation with the colonies. The debates were very animated ; but the ministers, whose projects were already arranged, and all the preparations of war concluded, had no difficulty in obtaining the rejection of every contrary opinion. Not satisfied with finding themselves in a situation to attack the insurgents, they wished also to cut off their principal resources, that is, to deprive them of men, arms, and money. The Americans employed a part of their men on board of privateers ; they derived their arms and munitions, either secretly, or even openly, from for- eign countries ; and commerce furnished them with money. Ac- cordingly, the ministers proposed a bill, importing that every species of traffic with the thirteen united colonies should be prohibited ; that all American property, whether floating upon the sea or stationed in tne ports, should be declared legal prize in favor of the officers and crews of the vessels of the king ; that the men taken in the Amer 312 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. icon ships should be compelled to serve indiscriminately, as common sailors, on board those of England ; finally, that the crown should be authorized to send commissioners, empowered to grant pardons to such individuals as should appear to merit them, and to declare a colony, in whole or in part, in a state of obedience towards the king ; in which case they might exempt them from the rigor of the laws, and restore them to their original condition. This bill was a consequence of those already passed ; it was con- formable to the plan of the war which the ministers had adopted, and was generally to be approved. It contained, however, certain articles deserving of animadversion. To wish to make war against the Americans, upon sea as well as upon land, was altogether nat- ural ; it was no less judicious to constitute commissioners with authority to grant amnesties, as well to particular individuals as to provinces. But to confiscate, without distinction, private property and public property, to grant the booty to the captors, and force the men found on board the American ships, whatever might be their rank or condition, to serve as common sailors on board the English ships, are acts that cannot fail to be condemned by every sound judging mind. The opposition expressed their abhorrence of these features of the bill in very sharp language; but it passed, notwith- standing, by a triumphant majority. 1776. The parliament having terminated the affairs submitted to their deliberations, the king put an end to the present session, with the assurance that he was not apprehensive of any movement on the part of the European princes, who all manifested a desire to maintain concord and peace. The ministers had obtained from the parliament all they had demanded, and they had scarcely a doubt of the favorable issue of their enterprise. It seemed to them impos- sible that the collectitious soldiery of the congress could hold their arms with a firm grasp in the presence of European troops ; they imagined that the bare rumor of the arrival of the English army would suffice to open for it the entrance of the country it was about to conquer. ' Even supposing, they said, that the colonial troops should pre sume to keep the field, how can it be imagined, that ill-armed, un- disciplined, and so little used as they are to the dangers of war, and to the din of arms, they will be able to make any serious resist- ance against the veterans of Europe ? The first impression will be fatal to the Americans ; and the measures which have been taken to sow division among them, will then produce their full effect. Let only a small number submit to the terms of the amnesty, and the multitude will hasten to follow their example ; such is the ordinary BOOK n. THE AMERICAN WAR. 313 course of revolutions. In order to accelerate these happy results, it will be essential that the royal commissioners, individuals as influen- tial by their personal authority, as by the splendor of their rank, and the renown of their military achievements, should be always present to second the operations of the army, by seizing the favorable instant for the exercise of their ministry.' Such were the reasonings and the hopes of the partisans of the government. And such, it must be admitted, was the way of think- ing of the greater part of the nation. With some it was the effect of pride, or of confidence in the ministry ; with others, of the spirit of party, or of personal interest, man easily believing what he es- teems useful to himself. There wanted not those, however, whom the love of country inspired with serious apprehensions for the future, or whom the fury of faction urged to announce the most disastrous presages. They judged of the obstinacy of the Americans by their own, and suffered no occasion to escape them of citing the miracles, as they expressed it, wrought in various times, and among manifold people, by the love of liberty. They greatly extolled the constancy, the intrepidity, the prowess of the Americans. Their invectives, their sarcasms, their taunts, were endless against the satellites of tyranny ; thus designating the English soldiers, and particularly the German troops. They represented a total loss in defeat, and new dangers in victory ; they deplored the blood shed for so iniquitous a cause. Every day there appeared new publications in favor or against the colonists. Some reproached others with having sold their pen ; these retorted upon those that they prostituted theirs in defense of licentiousness. A work of doctor Price, on civil liberty, was particularly distinguished ; it was read every where with equal avidity. He received, on this subject, a letter of compliment from the city of London, accompanied with the present of a gold box. The two brothers Howe, the one admiral of the fleet, and the other general-in-chief of the e,rrhy in America, were named by the king his commissioners for the re-establishment cf peace in the colo- nies, and for granting pardons to those who should appear worthy of the royal mercy. Sir Peter Parker and lord Cornwallis were al- ready, some time since, embarked for America, with several corps of troops. Admiral Hotham, and generals Burgoyne and Phillipps followed them with other English and German divisions. While these things were passing in England, the provincials, who besieged Boston, began to entertain hopes not only of becoming masters of the city, but even of making the whole garrison prisoners, and of destroying the British squadron anchored in the port and bay. They expected impatiently that the cold would become so rigorous 314 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK. VI. as to freeze the waters of the harbor, and the rivers that flow into it. The frost usually set in about the last of December, and they calcu- lated that at this season the ice would be strong enough to enable them to march dry-shod across the arm of the sea, which separates the peninsula from the continent, where they were encamped. The English, in such case, would not have been able to resist the much superior forces of the American army. But contrary to the ordinary course, the winter was extremely moderate ; the provincials vainly awaited the coming of ice. In this hope they had kept themselves tranquil in their quarters ; the delay was advantageous to the gar- rison. But the month of March arrived to re-animate operations ; the Americans panted to put an end, by a vigorous effort, to this long and tiresome siege. Their ardor prompted it, necessity requir- ed it. The hostile speefch of the king, at the meeting of parliament, was arrived in America, and copies of it were circulated in the camp. It was announced there, also, that the first petition of con- gress had been rejected. The whole army manifested the utmost indignation at this intelligence ; the royal speech was burnt in pub- lic by the infuriate soldiers. They changed, at this time, the red ground of their banners, and striped them with thirteen lists, as an emblem of the number, and of the union of the thirteen colonies. The congress, at the news of the rigorous proceedings of the government, and particularly of the act relating to commerce, and the engagement of the German troops, saw plainly that no other resources were left them but in the way of arms. Without loss of time, wishing to take advantage of the universal irritation of the people, they urgently recommended to Washington to renounce all delay, to brave all dangers, and at whatever cost, to terminate the siege of Boston, and effectuate the expulsion of the enemy from the shelter of its walls. They foresaw that this army would soon be necessary to oppose the British forces at other points, and to protect other parts of the American territory. It was presumed that the English would direct their principal attack against the weakest places, and serious apprehensions were felt particularly for the city of New York. It was, therefore, extremely important to dislodge the ene- my from the position of Boston, since otherwise he might, after- wards, operate against the rear of the American army. Pressed by positive orders, and stimulated at once by the force of circumstances and the desire of glory, Washington reflected upon the most effica- cious means to secure the success of his enterprise. He was not without hopes of being able to carry the city by assault. The part of the Cove of Boston, contiguous to Cambridge and Roxbury, was frozen, which greatly facilitated the passage ; and for BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 315 crossing the water that remained up to the walls of Boston, a great number of boats had been provided. In addition to this, two floating batteries were stationed at the mouth of the river of Cambridge. It was known that the garrison suffered severely for the want of pro- visions, and that it was greatly enfeebled by fatigues and maladies. The commander-in-chief had, besides, the greatest confidence in the valor and constancy of his soldiers. He accordingly assembled all the generals, and proposed to them his plan of attack. Ward and Gates, both officers of great distinction, opposed it ; alledging, that without incurring so great a risk, the enemy might be forced to evacuate Boston by occupying the heights of Dorchester, which com- mand the entire city. Washington did not conceal his dissatisfaction at this opposition ; but he was constrained to acquiesce in the opinion of the majority. It was resolved, therefore, to take the position of the heights. At the suggestion of generals Ward, Thomas, and Spencer, a great quantity of fascines and gabions had been prepared for this expedition. The fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point had furnished heavy cannon, and a sufficient number of howit- zers and mortars. It appears that general Howe, who was naturally very circumspect, thought himself too feeble to prevent the execu- tion of this design, which was to be, however, decisive of the total issue of the siege. The Americans, in order to occupy the attention of the enemy in another part, erected strong batteries upon the shore at Cobb's Hill, at Lechmere's Point, at Phipp's Farm, and at Lambsdam, near Rox- bury. They opened a terrible fire in the night of the second of March ; the bombs, at every instant, fell into the city. The garrison was incessantly employed in extinguishing the flames of the houses in combustion, and in all the different services that are necessary in such circumstances. During this time the Americans prepared themselves with ardor, or rather with joy, to take possession of the heights. Companies of militia arrived from all parts to re-inforce the army. The night of the fourth of March was selected for the expedition ; the chiefs hoped that the recollection of the events of the fifth of March, 1770, when the first blood had been shed in Boston by the English, would inflame with new ardor, and a thirst of vengeance, those spirits already so resolute in their cause. Accordingly, in the evening of the fourth, all the arrangements being made, the Americans proceeded in profound silence towards the peninsula of Dorchester. The obscurity of the night was propi- tious, and the wind favorable, since it could not bear to the enemy the little noise which it was impossible to avoid. The frost had 316 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. rendered the roads easy. The batteries of Phipp's Farm, and those of Roxbury, incessantly fulminated with a stupendous roar Eight hundred men composed the vanguard ; it was follovs ed by carriages filled with utensils of intrenchment, and twelve hundred pioneers led by general Thomas. In the rear guard were three hundred carts of fascines, of gabions, and bundles of hay, destined to cover the flank of the troops in the passage of the isthmus of Dor- chester, which, being very low, was exposed to be raked on both sides by the artillery of the English vessels. All succeeded perfectly ; the Americans arrived upon the heights, not only without being molested, but even without being perceived by the enemy. They set themselves to work with an activity so prodigious, that by ten o'clock at night they had already constructed two forts, in condition to shelter them from small arms and grape-shot ; one upon the height nearest to the city, and the other upon that which looks towards Castle Island. The day appeared ; but it prevented not the provincials from continuing their works, without any movement being made on the part of the garrison. At length, when the hazo of the morning was entirely dissipated, the English discovered, with; extreme surprise, the new fortifications of the Americans. The English admiral, having examined them,. declared, that if the enemy was not dislodged from this position, his vessels could no longer remain in the harbor without the most imminent hazard of total destruction. The city itself was exposed to be demolished to its foundations, at the pleasure of the provincials. The communi- cation, also, between the troops that guarded the isthmus of Boston, and those within the town, became extremely difficult and dangerous. The artillery of the Americans battered the strand, whence the English would have to embark in case of retreat. There was no other choice, therefore, left them, but either to drive the colonists from this station by dint of force, or to evacuate the city altogether. General Howe decided for the attack, and made his dispositions accordingly. Washington, on his part, having perceived the design, prepared himself to repel it. The intrenchments were perfected with diligence; the militia were assembled from the neighboring towns, and signals were concerted to be given upon all the eminences which form a sort of cincture about all the shore of Boston, from Roxbury to Mystic river, in order to transmit intelligence and orders with rapidity from one point to the other. Washington exhorted his soldiers to bear in mind the fifth of March. Nor did he restrict himself to defensive measures, he thought also of the means of falling, himself, upon the enemy, if BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 317 during or after the battle, any favorable occasion should present itself. If the besieged, as he hoped, should experience a total defeat in the assault of Dorchester, his intention was to embark from Cam- bridge four thousand chosen men, who, rapidly crossing the arm of the sea, should take advantage of the tumult and confusion to attempt the assault of the town. General Sullivan commanded the first di- vision ; general Greene the second. An attack was expected like that of Charlestown, and a battle like that of Breed's Hill. General Howe ordered ladders to be prepared to scale the works of the Americans. He directed lord Percy to embark at the head of a considerable corps, and to land upon the flats near the point, opposite Castle Island. The Americans, excited by the remembrance of the anniversary, and of the battle of Breed's Hill, and by the continual exhortations of their chiefs, expected them, not only without fear, but with alacrity ; but the tide ebbed, and the wind blew with such violence, that the passage over became impossible. General Howe was compelled to defer the attack to early the following morning. A tempest arose during the night, and when the day dawned, the sea was still excessively agitated. A violent rain came to increase the obstacles ; the English general kept himself quiet. But the Amer- icans made profit of this delay ; they erected a third redoubt, and completed ihe other works. Colonel Mifflin had prepared a great number of hogsheads full of stones and sand, in order to roll them upon the enemy when he should march up to the assault, to break his ranks, and throw him into confusion, that might smooth the way to his defeat. Having diligently surveyed all these dispositions, the English per- suaded themselves that the contemplated enterprise offered difficul- ties almost insurmountable. They reflected that a repulse, or even a victory so sanguinary as that of Breed's Hill, would expose to a jeopardy too serious the English interests in America. Even in case of success, it was to be considered that the garrison was not suffi- ciently numerous to be able, without hazard, to keep possession of the peninsula of Dorchester, having already to guard not only the city, but the peninsula of Charlestown. The battle was rather necessary, and victory desirable, to save the reputation of the royal arms, than to decide the total event of things upon these shores. The advantages, therefore, could not compensate the dangers. Besides, the port of Boston was far from being perfectly accommodated to the future operations of the army that was expected from England ; and general Howe himself had, some length of time before, received instructions from lord Dartmouth, one of the Secretaries of State, to evacuate the city, and to establish himself at New York. 318 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK TI. The want of a sufficient number of vessels had hitherto prevented him from executing this order. Upon all these considerations, the English generals determined to abandon Boston to the power of the provincials. This retreat, however, presented great difficulties. An hundred and fifty transports, great and small, appeared scarcely adequate to the accommodation of ten thousand men, the number to which the crews and the garrison amounted, without comprehending such of the inhabitants, as, having shown themselves favorable to the royal cause, could not with safety remain. Thfe passage was long and difficult ; for with these emaciated and enfeebled troops it could not be attempted to operate any descent upon the coasts. It was even believed to be scarcely possible to effect a landing at New York, although the city was absolutely without defense on the part of the sea. The surest course appeared to be to gain the port of Halifax ; but besides the want of provisions, which was excessive, the season was very unfavorable for this voyage, at all times dangerous. The winds that prevailed then blew violently from the northeast, and might drive the fleet off to the West Indies, and the vessels were by no means stocked with provisions for such a voyage. Be- sides, the territory of Halifax was a sterile country, from which no resource could be expected, and no provision could have been pre- viously made there, since the evacuation of Boston and retreat to Halifax were events not anticipated. Nor could the soldiers per- ceive without discouragement that the necessity of things impelled them towards the north, apprised as they were that the future opera- tions of the English army were to take place in the provinces of the center, and even in those of the south. But their generals had no longer the liberty of choice. The Americans however being able by the fire of their artillery to interpose the greatest obstacles to the embarkation of the British troops, general Howe deliberated upon the means of obviating this inconvenience. Having assembled the selectmen of Boston, he declared to them, that the city being no longer of any use to the king, he was resolved to abandon it, provid- ed that "Washington would not oppose his departure. He pointed to the combustible materials he had caused to be prepared to set fire, in an instant, to the city, if the provincials should molest him in any shape. He invited them to reflect upon all the dangers which might result, for them and their habitations, from a battle fought within the walls ; and he assured them that his personal intention was to withdraw peaceably, if the Americans were disposed, on their part, to act in the same manner. He exhorted them therefore to BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 319 repair to the presence of Washington, and to inform him of what they had now heard. The selectmen waited upon the American general, and made him an affecting representation of the situation of the city. It appears, from what followed, that he consented to the conditions demanded ; but the articles of the truce were not written. It has been pretend- ed that one of them was that the besieged should leave their muni- tions of war ; this, however, cannot be affirmed with assurance. The munitions were, indeed, left ; but it is not known whether it was by convention, or from necessity. The Americans remained quiet spectators of the retreat of the English. But the city present- ed a melancholy spectacle ; notwithstanding the orders of general Howe, all was havoc and confusion. Fifteen hundred loyalists, with their families, and their most valuable effects, hastened, with infi- nite dejection of mind, to abandon a residence which had been so dear to them, and where they had so long enjoyed felicity. The fathers carrying burthens, the mothers their children, ran weeping towards the ships ; the last salutations, the farewell embraces of those who departed, and of those who remained, the sick, the wounded, the aged, the infants, would have moved with compassion the wit- nesses of their distress, if the care of their own safety had not ab- sorbed the attention of all. The carts and beasts of burthen were become the occasion of sharp disputes between the inhabitants who had retained them, and the sol- diers who wished to employ them. The disorder was also increased by the animosity that prevailed between the soldiers of the garrison and those of the fleet ; they reproached each other mutually, as the authors of their common misfortune. With one accord, however, they complained of the coldness and ingratitude of their country, which seemed to have abandoned, or rather to have forgotten them upon these distant shores, a prey to so much misery, and to so ma- ny dangers. For since the month of October, general Howe had not received, from England, any order or intelligence whatever, which testified that the government still existed, and had not lost sight of the army of Boston. Meanwhile, a desperate band of soldiers and sailors took advan- tage of the confusion to force doors, and pillage the houses and shops. They destroyed what they could not carry away. The en- tire city was devoted to devastation, and it was feared every moment the flames would break out to consummate its destruction. The fifteenth of March, general Howe issued a proclamation, for- bidding every inhabitant to go out of his house before eleven o'clock in the morning, in order not to disturb the embarkation of the troops, 30 THE AMEIUCAN WAR. BOOK VI. which was to have taken place on this day. But an east wind pre- vented their departure ; and to pass the time they returned to pil- laging. In the meanwhile, the Americans had constructed a re- doubt upon the point of Nook's Hill, in the peninsula of Dorches- ter, ami having furnished it with artillery, they entirely commanded the isthmus of Boston, and all the southern part of the town. It was even to be feared that they would occupy Noddle's Island, and establish batteries, which, sweeping the surface of the water acro&s the harbor, would have entirely interdicted the passage to the ships, and reduced the garrison to the necessity of yielding at discretion. All delay became dangerous ; consequently the British troops and the loyalists began to embark the seventeenth of March, at four in the morning ; at ten, all were on board. The vessels were overladen with men and baggage ; provisions were scanty, confusion was every where. The rear guard was scarcely out of the city when Wash- ington entered it on the other side, with colors displayed, drums beating, and all the forms of victory and triumph. He was receiv- ed by the inhabitants with every demonstration of gratitude and re- spect due to a deliverer. Their joy broke forth with the more vi- vacity, as their sufferings had been long and cruel. For more than sixteen months they had endured hunger, thirst, cold, and the out- rages of an insolent soldiery, who deemed them rebels. The most necessary articles of food were risen to exorbitant prices. Horse flesh was not refused by those who could procure it.* For want of fuel, the pews and benches of churches were taken for this purpose ; the counters and partitions of warehouses were applied to the same use ; and even houses, not inhabited, were demolished for the sake of the wood. The English left a great quantity of artillery and munitions. Two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, of dif- ferent caliber, were found in Boston, in Castle Island, and in the in- trenchments of Bunker's Hill, and the Neck. The English had at- tempted, but with little success, in their haste, to destroy or to spike these last pieces : others had been thrown into the sea, but they were recovered. There were found, besides, four mortars, a considerable quantity of coal, of wheat, and of other grains, and one hundred tnd fifty horses. Thus, after a siege as long as tiresome, the capital of the province of Massachusetts fell again into the power of the Americans. The * Provisions were become so scarce at Boston, that a pound of fresh fish cost twelve pence sterling, a goose eight shillings and four pence, a turkey twelve shillings and six pence, a duck four shillings and two pence, hams two shillings and a penny per pound. Vegetables were altogether wanting. A sheep cost thirty-five shillings ster- ling, apples thirty-three shillings and four pence per barrel. Fire wend forty-one shil- lings and eight pence the cord; and finally, it was not to be procured at any price BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 321 joy of this happy event was felt, with enthusiasm, by all the confed- eration. It acquired an especial importance by the impulse it could not fail to impart to the public spirit, and even by the influence it was likely fo have upon future operations. We have here a new occasion to remark, with surprise, the blindness and presumption of the British ministry who, instead of taking all the necessary meas- ures to secure success, from the commencement of the war, seem- ed, of preference, to adopt all those that were calculated to injure its cause. Whether from having listened to English pride, or from having trusted to unfaithful reports, or, finally, from having neglected the examples of history, the ministers had persuaded themselves that the provincials would shrink at the aspect of regular troops, and that their ardor would be converted immediately into a general terror. They omitted to reflect that the very nature of things had ex- cited, and already, for a length of time, had nourished the American revolution. The colonists were become rich and powerful, and their original enthusiasm was far from being chilled. Misled by its prepossessions, the government knew not how to employ its forces ; it refused to send succors when it was yet. time, and hastened to lavish them when it was now too late. The Americans, come into possession of Boston, immediately con- fiscated the property, movable and immovable, of the emigrants who had accompanied general Howe to Halifax. The sale was made at auction, and the produce applied to the exigencies of the public. The loyalists who had remained, were prosecuted and de- clared enemies and traitors to the country ; their possessions were in like manner confiscated and sold. The first care of the Bostonians was directed to the necessity of fortifying their city, to preserve it, in future, from the calamities they had recently experienced. The works were commenced without delay, and urged with extreme dili- gence ; all the citizens, in turn, contributed their labor. A French engineer, some Americans, and four Prussians, had the direction of the whole. It was noi, however, expected to render Boston a place of strength, capable of sustaining a regular siege ; it sufficed to place it in a situation to resist a sudden attack. Certain movements of the provincials, and especially the care they had taken to occupy some of the little islands situated in the bay of Boston, authorized the belief, that it was their intention to attack Fort William, erected upon Castle Island. General Howe, perceiv- ing that the possession of this fort would enable them to defend the approaches of the city against the English ships, thought it expedi- ent to dismantle and burn it previous to his departure. He was VOL. i. 21 322 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK Tl. unable, however, to carry away its artillery, which he contented him- self with spiking very precipitate!} Contrary winds, succeeded by a dead calm, prevented the Eng- lish fleet, during more than a week, from getting out to sea. But at length it succeeded ; and contrary to all expectation, considering the season, its passage to the port of Halifax was fortunate and rapid. Admiral Shuldam had left in the waters of Boston, a squadron, under the command of commodore Bankes, to protect the navigation of the vessels of the king, which, in ignorance of the evacuation of the city, might continue their voyage towards it. This precaution had not all the effect that was desired ; the bay being extensive, the cruisers lay in concealment behind the numerous little islands with which it is interspersed, and sprung suddenly upon the ships that presented themselves without mistrust. Among others, captain Manly took a prize laden with an immense cargo of provisions. Washington, ignorant what were the plans of general Howe, and what direction the British fleet had taken, was not without disquie- tude for the city of New York. He wrote, in consequence, to brigadier- general lord Sterling, who commanded there, advising him to stand prepared, and that he had sent him a re-inforcement of five battalions and several companies of riflemen. But the royal troops were very far from being in a condition to undertake any thing against that city ; they esteemed themselves very fortunate in arriving sound and safe at Halifax. Before proceeding to further operations, general Howe chose to refresh his troops, and wait for the re-inforcements that were expected from England. The affairs of congress assumed an aspect no less prosperous in North Carolina than in Massachusetts ; in which, however, very se- rious commotions had begun to manifest themselves. Governor Martin, although he had taken refuge on board the ves- sels of the king, did not, however, remain idle; and he busied himself incessantly in devising new machinations to retrieve the royal cause in his province. He flattered himself with the greater hopes of suc- cess, as he knew that admiral Peter Parker and lord Cornwallis were departed from the ports of England for an expedition against the Carolinas. He was also informed that general Clinton, with some companies, was on his way to join him at Cape Fear, situated upon the river of the same name, and not far from Wilmington. At the head of these united forces, increased by the Scotch Highlanders and the regulators, both formidable to the disaffected from their experi- ence in the use of arms, and their ardent zeal for England, he had no doubt, whatever, but that he could create a revolt in the province, BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 323 and reduce it anew under the authority of the king. After having concerted with all his partisans, he erected the royal standard, sum- moning all the inhabitants to rally round it in defense of country and lawful authority against rebels. To render more efficacious the suc- cors of the highlandefs and of the regulators, as well as of all the other loyalists, he named colonel Macdonald, an officer warmly de- voted to the royal cause, captain-general of all the levies, that he might organize them into regular corps. This plan succeeded according to his hopes. The concourse at Cross Creek swelled every day ; the patriots were threatened with an attack in this part unless a prompt remedy was applied. The provincial assembly opened their eyes upon the danger, and dis- patched, with all speed, against this head of loyalists, all the militia that were in preparation ; and, at the same time, directed that others should be assembled from all parts of the province. The two parties that divided Carolina thus found themselves, marshaled the one against the other, animated with an equal fury. The patriots were commanded by general Moore ; he went to take post, with a few pieces of cannon, in front of the loyalists, at a place called Rock-Fish Bridge, where, having broken the bridge, he intrenched himself. Macdonald summoned him to come and put himself under the royal standard, or to expect to be treated as an enemy. Moore answered him that he had himself to take an oath of fidelity to congress, and to lay down arms, and that, in so doing, he should be received as a friend. During these negotiations, which Moore had the address to draw into length, his forces so increased that he soon acquired a decided superiority over his adversary. Macdonald, at length, perceived the danger of his situation ; and though he was already surrounded on every side by the provincials, he disengaged himself with equal ability and courage. Marching rapidly, and without interruption, interposing continually between himself and his pursuers, rivers, forests, and difficult defiles, he measured a space of eighty miles, in defiance of the vigilance of the enemy, eager to cut off his retreat, and arrived at Moore's Creek, sixteen miles from Wilmington. There he hoped to be joined by governor Martin and gener al Clin- ton, who were already arrived at Cape Fear. But the provincials, who had never ceased to follow him, not only prevented this junc- tion, but reduced him to the necessity of giving battle. He displayed in it an extreme bravery ; but captain Macleod, and many other of his officers, having been killed, his troops were seized with a panic, and fled, leaving their general in the midst of his enemies. Macdon- ald was made prisoner, with many other loyalists. Their enemies t 324 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. derived an immense advantage from this victory ; for if Macdonald had been victor, or if he could only have effected his junction with gpvernor Martin and general Clinton, they might then have waited at Cape Fear for the re-inforcements that were coming from Ireland ; and the affairs of the congress would have been very near desperate in the southern provinces. The Carolinians learned, besides, to know their own strength, and refuted the opinion which had generally pre- vailed of the weakness of North Carolina. They had combated, with success, the regulators and the Scotch, who had appeared to them at first so formidable ; and in the space of ten days they had assembled ten thousand men, full of courage and resolution. The precipitation of the loyalists was the cause of their ruin ; if they had temporized until the arrival of succors from Europe, and then only raised the standard of the king, they might, without doubt, have struck a decisive blow, and thus have caused the balance to incline in their favor in the southern provinces. We have left lord Dunmore cruising with his vessels upon the coast of Virginia ; he continued still for a long time upon this station. But all the places of landing being diligently guarded by the militia, far from being able to make any impression, he could not even pro- cure the sustenance necessary for the multitude accumulated on board his squadron. Consequently the excessive heats, the corrup- tion of the water and of the provisions, and the crowd of men in the ships, generated offensive and deleterious miasmata. A pestilen- tial malady carried off, in mass, the whites and the blacks ; but it was especially mortal among the latter. In this deplorable state the squadron of lord Dunmore wandered from island to island, from shore to shore. He found, upon all points, the inhabitants armed to repulse him, and he wanted forces to open himself a passage through them. To crown the measure of misfortune, the winds drove a part of the ships upon the coasts of Virginia, where the wretched fugitives, become the prisoners of their own fellow-citizens, did but exchange this pestiferous abode for dark and horrible dungeons. At length, to escape a certain death upon these shores, lord Dunmore resolved to burn the ships of least value. The miserable wrecks of soldiers and of Virginians, buffeted by tempests, devoured by famine, by thirst, and by diseases, went to seek refuge in the Floridas, the Bermudas, and the West Indies. Thus delivered of its enemy, the province recovered tranquillity. Such was the catastrophe that terminated the expedition of lord Dunmore against Virginia, and the result of his plan of revolt of negroes against their masters. Meanwhile, the congress had not remitted their preparations of maritime war ; they felt the necessity of protecting their own coasts BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 325 from the insult of the enemy's cruisers, as also the extreme utility of intercepting the store-ships of the English armies. There was no deficiency either of materials suitable for the construction of vessels, or of excellent mariners ; the interruption of commerce and of the fisheries having left a very great number of them without employment. Accordingly the work was pushed with such ardor in the navy yards of Maryland, of Philadelphia, and of Rhode Island, that upon the commencement of the year were seen floating in the waters of the Delaware five frigates, or corvettes, and thirteen gun sloops,* com- pletely equipped arid armed. The congress had ordained, besides, that thirteen frigates, of thirty-six guns each, should be constructed with all possible expedi- tion. Then, in order to form the seamen to the evolutions of mari- time war, and, at the same time, to procure themselves arms and munitions, and especially powder, they ordered Ezekiel Hopkins, captain-general of the fleet, to make sail for the Bahama Islands. He put to sea about the middle of February, and after a prosperous voyage arrived, in the beginning of March, at Abaco, one of these islands. Being informed that the English had amassed aconsiderable quan- tity of munitions in that of Providence, he made a sudden descent there, and seized them. The Americans found many pieces of cannon, with bombs, balls, and one hundred and fifty casks of powder, the capital object of the expedition. In their return they combated honorably a British frigate, and captured a brig. The squadron of congress, with its prizes, entered the port of New Lon- don. Frequent engagements also took place in the bay of Boston, between the ships of commodore Bankes, and those of Massachu- setts. One of the most remarkable was that in which captain Mug- ford captured a transport, laden with a great quantity of arms and military stores. The navy of congress not only distinguished itself upon the coasts, but also, what was scarcely to have been hoped, in the open sea. Its success perceptibly increased the confidence and hope of the Ameri- cans ; they accustomed themselves, by little and little, to act as a nation enjoying its entire independence. The desire to see it universally acknowledged was excited in some, and fortified with others, in proportion to the prosperous result * The frigates were the Alfred and the Columbus, of thirty-two guns ; the corvettes, the Andreas Doria of sixteen, the Sebastian Cabot of fourteen, and the Providence of twelve. ' The thirteen gun-boats bore the names following ; the Washington, the Dick- inson, the Chatham, the Camden, the Burke, the Effingham, the Bull-dog, the Frank- tin, the Congress, the Experiment, the Hancock, the Adams, and the Warren. 326 THE AMERICAN WAR* BOOK VI. of their efforts. They were not crowned with the same happy suc- cess in Canada. Arnold, who had continued, with his feeble corps, the siege of Quebec, found himself oppressed by a multitude of obstacles. The re-inforcements the congress had promised him, ar- rived but slowly and by parties, either because the severity of the season rendered the roads nearly impracticable, or because the ill success of the assault of Quebec had considerably damped the ardor with which the novelty and brilliant commencement of this expedi- tion had inspired the Americans. It appeared that congress itself, either distracted by too many cares, or wanting the necessary means, had neglected to take proper measures for conducting the Canadian war to the object desired. In vain had the greater part of the garrison of Montreal been marched to Quebec ; the soldiers under Arnold still scarcely amounted to a thousand effective men. The Canadians, who at first had welcomed the Americans with cordiality, and had supplied them with all that was in their power, finding themselves afterwards exposed to various excesses on the part of this undisciplined troop, had passed from benevolence to aversion. It must be admitted, they had too much reason for it. The Ameri- cans had not only omitted to conciliate the countenance of the Catholic priests, which irritated their self-love, but they had even overwhelmed them with contempt, which excited among them detes- tation and a thirst of vengeance. The insinuations of governor Carleton and of all his partisans succeeded, therefore, without diffi- culty, in persuading them to refuse the sacraments to all those who had declared for the Americans. This refusal produced an impres- sion so serious upon the minds of the Canadians, that the provincials, perceiving how prejudicial it might prove to their interests, dispatch- ed a Catholic priest from Maryland, in order to dispense to the Cana- dians all the spiritual succors of which they were deprived. But this remedy was employed too late. Affairs already assumed the most discouraging aspect. A French gentleman of intrepidity, named Beaujeu, had assem- bled a corps of nobles and other inhabitants with whom he had influ- ence, at the head of whom he had taken the field. The Americans had engaged him with advantage ; but they had no means to re- pair the injury their cause had suffered, as well from its known weakness, as from the outrages committed against the inhabitants of the country. To increase their distress, the season approached in which the re-inforcements, already known to be departed from Eng- land, were about to arrive. The river St. Lawrence, no longer ob- structed with ice, opened them a free passage up to the city of Que- BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 327 bee. It \\ould have been too hazardous to await them with forces so disproportionate. In this critical position, Arnold, who had recently been promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, prepared, with a courage as great as his resources were feeble, to reduce the besieged city. Its pos- session would have rendered the enmity of the Canadians in a great measure impotent, and the English troops would thus have lost their communication with the upper parts of the province. Arnold was not entirely without hope of success. Governor Carleton experienced a dearth, rendered more and more afflicting by the vigilance and success with which the provincials intercepted all his convoys of provisions ; nor did they cease, besides, to harass and fatigue tlie garrison by false attacks and multiplied stratagems, hoping, from its weakness, to find, sooner or later, some way to sur- prise the place. They had approached the walls to open the trench, and had erect- ed batteries upon the banks of the river, in order to cannonade the English vessels. They fired with red hot balls, and launched dif- ferent sorts of fireworks into the city ; but general Carleton watched attentively and disconcerted all their maneuvers. The obstacles that Arnold encountered, were carried to the utmost by the small- pox, a malady so formidable in these climates. The re-inforcemonts he expected, arrived greatly reduced by this scourge; the soldiers fled from terror, or were infected by the contagion ; the ranks thinned continually. It was at this epoch that general Thomas took the command. He wished, before raising the siege, to make a last effort, by setting fire to the ships of the governor, and seizing the occasion of the disorder to attempt the assault. The river being already free from ice before Quebec, on the night of the third of May, the Americans sent down a fire-ship ; their ladders were prepared for the assault. The English, having taken the alarm, began to fire ; the men who managed the fire-ship, finding themselves discovered, set her on fire. In this posture of affairs, having no longer any thing to expect, either from a regular siege or a scalade, seeing the troops diminish daily, as well in number as in courage, having no more provisions left than for three days, and fearing, at every moment, the arrival of the English re-inforcements, the American general resolved to abandon the expedition entirely, and to retire towards Montreal. The very morning of the day appointed for raising the siege, the Isis ship, of fifty-four guns, arrived in sight of Quebec, with the frigate Surprise, and another vessel of less force. With equal industry and peril, they had ventured to navigate the 3*28 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. river from its mouth, in the midst of enormous masses of floating ice. They had on board several companies of veteran soldiers, who were immediately put on shore. The ships, now, having the command of the river, intercepted all communication between the different parts of the American camp, and even captured a great number of vessels belonging to the pro- vincials. This unexpected event threw them into the greatest con- sternation. They precipitately abandoned their quarters, leaving behind them their baggage, their artillery, their munitions, and whatever might have retarded their march ; the English seized them mmediately. The sick, attacked, for the most part, with the small-pox, escaped as they could ; the Canadians were moved with compassion, and concealed them here and there. Meanwhile, the governor had sal- Bed out at the head of the garrison to pursue the Americans. He made no few of them prisoners ; but they gave themselves no pause until they had marched full forty-five miles up the St. Lawrence ; then, having halted a few hours, they retired to the mouth of the Sorel, where they were joined by four regiments. They lost, in this place, general Thomas, who died of the small- pox ; his valor and his integrity rendered him the object of univer- sal consideration. General Sullivan succeeded in command. Gene- ral Carleton, after such prosperous success, reflecting upon his ex- treme weakness, ceased to pursue the enemy, and returned to Que- bec, intending to wait for re-inforcements, and then take the field with forces sufficient to maintain himself there. But he first gave the most honorable proofs of that humanity which distinguished him. The Americans, whether wounded or sick, were concealed in the forests or in the habitations of the Canadians, where they had to suffer all evils united. The governor issued a proclamation, by which he ordained that men, appointed for this purpose, should go in search of these unfortunate rnen, to cure them at the public expense, and provide for all their wants. Finally, that they might not fear to discover themselves, he pledged his faith, that so soon as they should have recovered health, he would leave them at their full and entire liberty to return, without conditions, to their own habitations. A few days subsequent to the deliverance of Quebec, that is, about the last of the month of May, several regiments of English and Brunswickers arrived in Canada. These re-inforcements car- ried the British army in that province to upwards of thirteen thou- sand men, commanded by experienced generals, among whom Carle- ton was the first in reputation, as in rank. Under his orders were BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 329 Burgoyne, Phillipps, and Reidesel, a German general of considerable name. Wishing to profit by the rout of the Americans, they were all of opinion that the war should be carried into the upper parts of Cana- da, and even further, if fortune should prove propitious. The Eng- lish general accordingly assembled all his forces at Trois Rivieres, a town situated upon the left bank of the St. Lawrence, at a distance nearly equal from Montreal and from Quebec. The constancy of the Americans had been put to a severe test under the walls of this capital ; they had also to sustain a sanguina- ry conflict in the environs of Montreal, against a corps of English, of Canadians, and of savages. They occupied a small fort situated in a place called hs Cedres, a few miles above Montreal. The royalists appeared before it, and captains Beadle and Butter- field, more careful of their safety than of their honor, and the inter- ests of their country, immediately surrendered upon terms. Some companies had commenced their march from Montreal to bring them succor, but they fell in with a party of the enemy, who dispersed them, after an obstinate and bloody resistance. The Indians exer- cised the most shocking cruelties upon the prisoners. Arnold, who was then at Montreal, unable to endure that the American arms should receive a check from those of the Canadians and savages, immediately took the field in order to avenge this affront. But cap- tain Foster gave him to understand, that if he attacked him and re- fused to consent to an exchange of prisoners, all the Americans that were found in his power would be massacred immediately by the Indians. Arnold was constrained, though with extreme repugnance, to yield to necessity. Neither these adverse events, nor the aspect of a position so crit- ical, could shake the courage of the Americans. It was at this very moment that they attempted an operation full of danger, and of no little difficulty. The English troops and those of Brunswick were much dispersed, and very distant from each other. A strong corps was quartered at Trois Rivieres, under the command of general Frazer ; another, al the orders of general Nesbit, continued on board the transports ; and the most considerable corps, forming several divisions, under gene- rals Carleton, Burgoyne, Phillipps, and Reidesel, was ^distributed upon the banks, and upon the river itself, in its lower part, on the side of Quebec. Some other batteaux, full of soldiers, had already passed up the river above Trois Rivieres, towards the Sorel. The Americans conceived the project of surprising and cutting off the English division that occupied Trois Rivieres, before the others could 330 THE AMEKICAN WAR. BOOK VI. come to its assistance. General Sullivan accordingly directed gene- ral Thompson to embark, with two thousand men, upon fifty bat- teaux that were kept in preparation for the use of the army, and to descend the river. Thompson coasted along the right bank of the lake St. Pierre, formed by the vast breadth of the river in this place, and arrived without being perceived at Nicolete, a town situated upon the same bank of the St. Lawrence, a little above Trois Rivie- res. His design was to cross the river during the night, to land nine miles above Trois Rivieres, and to fall upon the enemy before day. But it had already appeared, before the Americans, retarded by many unexpected obstacles, could gain the left bank. They marched, however, with incredible rapidity towards the destined point; but treacherous guides misled them. On having discovered it, they resumed the right road, which was excessively difficult. Meanwhile, the sun was risen, and they were perceived by the troops that were on board the vessels. The alarm was soon given, and general Frazer was promptly apprised of the danger. The Americans, seeing themselves discovered, redoubled their celerity. They arrived at nine in the morning in sight of Trois Rivieres ; but they found the English drawn up in order of battle, and prepared to receive them. The action was engaged ; the Americans, after a feeble struggle, were thrown into disorder, and fled. This notwith- standing, they were rallied ; but the day was already lost without remedy. Nesbit, landing all at once with his division, took the Amer- icans in rear. From this moment their rout was complete. The soldiers, no longer keeping any order, sought their safety in the woods. Pressed in front by Frazer, who overwhelmed them with a fire of grape-shot, and intercepted by Nesbit, who prevented their return to the batteaux, they suffered horribly in the passage of a marsh. Hav- ing, at length, by incredible efforts, succeeded in crossing it, they plunged into thick forests, where the English ceased to pursue them. When they were able to rejoin their boats, they hastened to return to the mouth of the Sorel. They left many prisoners in the power of the English, among whom were general Thompson himself, and colonel Irwin, with many other officers of distinction ; they had few killed. The loss of the royal troops was still less. Such was the issue of the expedition of Trois Rivieres, conceived with ability, un- dertaken with intrepidity, but finally directed with imprudence. The success depending entirely on a surprise by night, it is cer- lain, that when the Americans perceived they could only attack in open day, and still more, that their enemy was on his guard, the part of wisdom would have been to halt, and to recover their first BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 331 position. Discouraged by this check, and by the consideration of their weakness, the provincials resolved to retreat. The English, on the contrary, animated by victory, determined to use it with all promptitude. Having combined all their divisions at Trois Rivieres, they proceeded, four days after the action, towards the Sorel, part by vhe way of the land, and part upon the river. They arrived at the confluence, a few hours after the Americans had destroyed their batteries, and carried away the artillery and munitions. The English generals then formed two columns; that of the right \vas to ascend the St. Lawrence and take possession of Montreal, pass the river to Longueville, traverse the country which is com- prehended between the St. Lawrence and the Sorel, and re-unite with the column of the left under fort St. John. The column of the left was to ascend the river up to this fort, which it was intended to re- duce by assault, or by siege, if it was necessary. It was presumable that the Americans would endeavor to make a stand there. The first column soon arrived at Montreal, and entered it without obsta- cle ; Arnold had evacuated it, as well as the whole island, the night preceding. Meanwhile, Burgoyne advanced by the Sorel with ex- treme caution ; the country being suspicious, he feared some am- buscade. The Americans retired with an equal circumspection They wished to avoid an affair of the rear guard, and to save their baggage, which, conveyed in batteaux, followed upon the river the progress of the army. Arnold at length gained Fort St. John, without having been attack- ed, and there effected his junction with Sullivan. But this general, knowing the disadvantage of his position, determined not to risk a siege ; he set fire to the magazine and barracks, dismantled the forti- fications, and withdrew under the cannon of Crown Point. Bur- goyne could not follow him, all the batteaux having been burnt. Although this retreat had not been absolutely exempt from confu- sion, it was not, however, with the exception of the check of Trois Rivieres and that of Cedres, attended with any considerable loss either of men, of arms, of munitions, or of baggage. In the midst of so many dangers, general Sullivan neglected no part of his duty ; the congress addressed him public thanks. The English found themselves compelled to suspend their pursuit. By falling back upon Crown Point, the Americans had interposed between themselves and the enemy, all the length of Lake Cham- plain, of which a large number of armed vessels rendered them masters. The English could not hope to proceed further south, by the way of the lake, unless they armed a fleet superior to that of the provincials. It was necessary, besides, that they should construct a 332 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. great number of batteaux, to serve for the transport of the troops and munitions of a numerous army. There had arrived from England, it is true, six large armed ves- sels destined for this use ; but the falls of the river Sorel, near Fort Chambly, renderedr,their entrance into the lake, if not impossible, certainly very difficult. The construction of flat boats presented, also, numerous difficulties, and required a considerable time. Upon these considerations the English renounced all further pursuit, and the Americans had leisure to prepare themselves to resist the future attacks of a powerful and warlike enemy. The Americans were thus arrested by an insurmountable obstacle in this expedition of Canada, from which they had promised them- selves so great advantages. But it should be considered, that either through inexperience, or from the difficulties which are wont to ac- company new and tumultuary governments, this enterprise was not commenced until the season was already too far advanced in these cold regions ; it was not carried on with sufficient forces ; and the excesses of military license deprived the colonies of the ancient friendship of the Canadians, which was not only necessary, but even indispensable to the success of their cause. It is certain, however, that if this enterprise had been conducted with a prudence and vigor equal to the boldness which had dictated its plan, or even if destiny had not cut off the days of Montgomery at a moment so critical, the Americans would have gained the object of all their efforts. But fortune does not always favor the brave, nor do the brave always know how to use fortune well. This expedition of Canada, moreover, led the government or Brit- ish generals into a signal error with respect to the conduct of all this war ; to this cause, especially, must be attributed the inutility of all their efforts against America. In effect, the invasion of Canada by the Americans, was perhaps the first motive which determined the English ministry to assemble so considerable forces in this province, and to divide their army into two distinct parts, one of which was to descend from Canada, by the lakes, into the interior of the colonies, and the other to attack them in front upon the coasts. It is not improbable, that if instead of these two armies, the Eng- lish had formed but one only, the war would have had a direction, and perhaps a conclusion, widely different. The congress decreed, in honor of a man beloved and revered by the Americans, that there should be procured from Paris a monu- ment, with an appropriate inscription, to transmit to posterity the memory of the virtues and heroic qualities of Richard Montgomery. BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 335 Thus, by the example of those of the dead, they encouraged the virtues of the living. The authors of revolutions, too often of pref- erence, employ bad citizens, either in consequence of their audacity in recommending themselves, or because, having no other principle but their personal interest, they are more pliant and more ductile in the hands of those who govern. It should be observed, on the contrary, to the glory of the Ameri- can congress, that they sought out and distinguished men of worth. We dare not affirm that the number of such, in the times of the revo- lution, was more considerable in America than in any other country. But it does appear, that if there prevailed among the Americans of this epoch, the vices produced by an immoderate love of gain, those were scarcely remarked which have their origin in luxury, depravity of manners, and the ambition of power. Religion had not yet lost its authority over their mind^, nor had it become fashionable with them to offer incense at the altars of vice, or openly to rail at virtue. It is remarkable that the English manifested no less enthusiasm than the Americans for the memory of Montgomery. Within the parliament itself, there were found orators whose elo- quence adjudged him all the praises with which the historians of an- tiquity have commemorated the most illustrious men of their times. Colonel Barre was particularly remarked for the noble pathos of the regrets he consecrated to the death of his gallant enemy. Burke and Fox endeavored to surpass this eulogium in their speeches ; Fox, especially, who, as yet very young, already discovered the man he was afterwards to be. Lord North reprehended them sharply, ex- claiming, that it was indecent to lavish so many praises upon a rebel. He admitted that Montgomery was brave, able, humane, and gene- rous ; but still he was only a brave, able, humane, and generous rebel ; he cited this verse of Addison in Cato, ' Curse on his virtues ; they've undone his country.' Fox answered him immedi- ately, with warmth, that ' the term " rebel," applied to that excel- lent person, was no certain mark of disgrace, and therefore he was the less earnest to clear him of the imputation ; for that all the great assertors of liberty, the saviors of their country, the benefactors of mankind, in all ages, had been called rebels ; that they even owed the constitution, which enabled them to sit in that house, to a re- bellion.' He added this passage from the prince of Latin poets Sunt hie etiam sua preemia laudi, Sunt lachryma? rerum, el mentem mortalia tangunt. But it is time to resume the thread of the history. The Ameri- cans found a compensation for the disasters of Canada, in the suc- cess they obtained under the walls of Charleston, in South Carolina. 331 THE AMKRICAN WAR. BOOK VI. The ministers had resolved to aim a vigorous blow at the southern provinces, because they had persuaded themselves, and not without reason, that the friends of England were more numerous there than in those of the north. They had no doubt that they would all show themselves so soon as the troops of the king should appear in force upon the coasts, or should have become possessed of some impor- tant post. They hoped, with the succor of the loyalists, to re-estab lish the ancient order of things in these provinces, and they calcu- lated that thence they might afterwards attack in flank those of the middle and north ; which, being pressed in the rear, on the part of Canada, by a strong army, and in front on the part of the sea, by forces no less formidable, would thus be deprived of all power of resistance. The ministers already saw America returned to its ancient submission. They determined to turn their arms at first against North Carolina, as the weakqst part, and to add to this conquest that of South Carolina and of Virginia, according to the success of operations. For this reason the fleet, having on board the troops destined for this expedition, had sailed from the ports of England and Ireland before the others. General Clinton, who, at the head of another considerable corps, was to come from New York to join the new re-inforcements, was already arrived at Cape Fear, not having been able to execute his design of attacking Virginia. But, on the one hand, the impatience of the loyalists of North Carolina had caused the miscarriage of the expedition, and tlieir own ruin ; on the other contrary winds and storms had so retarded beyond all expectation the passage of the fleet which, under the command of admiral Petei Parker, was bound for Cape Fear, that it could not reach that point until long after the calculated term, nor until the loyalists were already put down, and the inhabitants of the two Carolinas were not only apprised of the menaced attack, but had even already made all their preparations for resistance. It is certain that if the loyalists of North Carolina had delayed for some time longer to declare them- selves, or if the sea had been more propitious to the English, .the affairs of congress might have taken a disastrous direction in the south. The squadron of admiral Parker arrived at Cape Fear about the beginning of May, with many land troops, and with gene- rals Cornvvallis, Vatighan, and several others. Here they made vheir junction with general Clinton, who, from seniority, took the command in chief. The obstinate resistance of the Virginians, and the disasters of the partisans of England in North Carolina, precluded all hope of success in these two provinces ; there remained therefore no other BOOK VI. THE AMERfCAN WAR. 335 advisable procedure but that of turning against South Carolina; which expedition offered also this advantage, that the reduction of Charleston secured the conquest of the entire province. Its inhabitants, struck with consternation at the loss of their capi- tal, would never even think of attempting to defend an open country, exposed to the inroads of an active and disciplined enemy. Nor could the taking of Charleston be considered a difficult operation, this city being situated upon the very coast. The plan being decided, the English prepared themselves for the execution. But the Carolinians had neglected nothing to secure themselves the means of defending their province, and particularly their capital. The chiefs of the people, as we have alread* related, had taken particular care to fortify Sullivan's Island, situated on the part of the sea, at the distance of six miles from the point of land formed by the confluence of the two rivers, Ashley and Cooper, and upon which the city of Charleston is built. This island so commands the channel which leads to the port, that the vessels which would enter it must pass under the cannon of fort Moultrie. It had recently been armed with thirty-six pieces of heavy cannon, and twenty- six of inferior caliber. The fort itself was constructed of a species of wood of the country, which the inhabitants denominated Palmet- to, and is so spongy and soft, that the ball is deprived by it of its impetus, and lodges within it without causing splinters. The mili- tia of all the province were called in haste to the defense of the city. In the space of a few days the garrison amounted to six thou- sand men, if not perfectly disciplined, at least full of ardor. The regiment on pay, of South Carolina, was sent to guard fort Johnson, situated in James Island, three miles from Charleston, and which commanded the whole breadth of the channel. The second and third regiments occupied Sullivan's Island. Wil- liam Moultrie, who commanded the second regiment, was charged with the defense of the fort, which afterwards, from his gallant defense of it, was called by his name. The rest of the troops were distributed in the most important posts ; the roads which led to the sea were obstructed by abattis, the warehouses of the coast demol- ished, and intrenchments erected upon the shore. There was not an inhabitant who had not in hand either arms or the spade, or the pick-axe. The blacks, who had been called in from the country, admirably seconded the whites in all the labors of fortification. The chief command belonged to general Lee, who possessed the entire confidence of the troops and of the people ; none rivaled him in devotion to the common cause. The hatred he had long borne towards the English government, the love of 336 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. glory, and the desire of answering the universal expectation, contin- ually excited his natural ardor. Rutledge, a man of great influence in the province, also manifested the most active zeal in animating the inhabitants to defend themselves. His example and his exhor- tations obtained the most happy results. Every one was at his post, expecting the enemy with intrepid confidence. Meanwhile, the British fleet appeared, and cast anchor to the north of Sullivan's Island. The ships of war were the Bristol and Experiment, of fifty guns ; four frigates, the Active, the ower and of greatness. ' What then is the object of these chimeras hatched in the days of discord and war ? Shall the transports of fury have more power over us than the experience of ages? Shall we destroy, in a moment of anger, the work cemented and tested by time ? ' I know the name of liberty is dear to each one of us ; but have we not enjoyed liberty even under the English monarchy ? Shall we this day renounce that, to go and seek it in I know not what form of republic, which will soon change into a licentious anarchy and popular tyranny ? In the human body the head only sustains and governs all the members, directing them, with admirable harmo- ny, to the same object, which is self-preservation and happiness ; so the head of the body politic, that is, the king in concert with the par- liament, can alone maintain the union of the members of this empire, lately so flourishing, and prevent civil war by obviating all the evils produced by variety of opinion and diversity of interests. And so firm is my persuasion of this, that I fully believe the most cruel war which Great Britain could make upon us, would be that of not ma- king any ; and that the surest means of bringing us back to her obe- dience, would be that of employing none. For the dread of the English arms once removed, provinces would rise up against provinces, and cities against cities ; and we should be seen to turn against our- selves the arms we have taken up to combat the common enemy. ' Insurmountable necessity would then compel us to resort to the 352 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. tutelary authority which we should have rashly abjured, and if it consented to receive us again under its Egis, it would be no longer as free citizens, but as slaves. Still inexperienced, and in our in- I fancy, what proof have we given of our ability to walk without a guide ? none ; and if we judge of the future by the past, we must conclude that our concord will continue as long as the danger, and no longer ' Even when the powerful hand of England supported us, for the paltry motives of territorial limits and distant jurisdictions, have we not abandoned ourselves to discords, and sometimes even to violence ? And what must we not expect now that minds are heated, ambitions roused, and arms in the hands of all? 1 If, therefore, our union with England offers us so many advan- tages for the maintenance of internal peace, it is no. less necessary to procure us with foreign powers that condescension and respect which are so essential to the prosperity of our commerce, to the en- joyment of any consideration, and to the accomplishment of any en- terprise. Hitherto, in our intercourse with the different nations of the world, England has lent us the support of her name and of her arms ; we have presented ourselves in all the ports and in all the cities of the globe, not as Americans, a people scarcely heard of, but as English ; under the shadow of this respected name, every port was open to us, every way was smooth, every demand was heard with favor. From the moment when our separation shall take place, every thing will assume a contrary direction. The nations will ac- custom themselves to look upon us with disdain ; even the pirates of Africa and Europe will fall upon our vessels, will massacre our seamen, or lead them into a cruel and perpetual slavery. ' There is in the human species, often so inexplicable in their af- fections, a manifest propensity to oppress the feeble as well as to flat- ter the powerful. Fear always carries it against reason, pride against moderation, and cruelty against clemency. . ' Independence, I am aware, has attractions for af mankind ; but I maintain, that in the present quarrel the friends of independence are the promoters of slavery, and that those who desire to separate us, would but render us more dependent ; if independence means the right of commanding, and not the necessity of obeying, and if being dependent is to obey, and not to command. If in rendering ourselves independent of England, supposing, however, that we should be able to effect it, we might be so at the same time of all other nations, I should applaud the project ; but to change the con- dition of English subjects for that of slaves to the whole world, is a step that could only be counseled by insanity. If you would reduce LOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 353 yourselves to the necessity of obeying, in all things, the mandates of supercilious France, who is now kindling fire under our feet, declare yourselves independent. If to British liberty you prefer the libeily of Holland, of Venice, of Genoa, or of Ragusa, declare yourselves independent. But if we would not change the signification of words, let us preserve and carefully maintain this dependence, which has been down to this very hour the principle and source of our pros- perity, of our liberty, of our real independence. ' But here I am interrupted, and told that no one questions the advantages which America derived at first from her conjunction with England ; but that the new pretensions of the ministers have changed all, have subverted all. If I should deny that, for the last twelve years, the English government has given the most fatal direction to the affairs of the colonies, and that its measures towards us savor of tyranny, I should deny not only what is the manifest truth, but even fl'hat I have so often advanced and supported. But is there any doubt that it already feels a secret repentance ? These arms, these soldiers, it prepares against us, are not designed to establish tyranny upon our shores, but to vanquish our obstinacy, and compel us to subscribe to conditions of accommodation. In vain is it asserted that the ministry will employ all means to make themselves quite sure of us, in order to exercise upon us, with impunity, all the rigor of their power ; for to pretend to reduce us to an absolute impossi- bility of resistance in cases of oppression, would be, on their part, a chimerical project. The distance of the seat of government, the vast extent of intervening seas, the continual increase of our pop- ulation, our warlike spirit, our experience in arms, the lakes, the rivers, the forests, the defiles which abound in our territory, are our pledges that England will always prefer to found her power upon moderation and liberty, rather than upon rigor and oppression. An uninterrupted succession of victories and of triumphs could alone constrain England to acknowledge American independence ; which, whether we can expect, whoever knows the instability of fortune can easily judge. ' If we have combated successfully at Lexington and at Boston, Quebec and all Canada have witnessed bur reverses. Every one sees the necessity of opposing the extraordinary pretensions of the ministers ; but does every body see also that of fighting for inde- pendence ? ' It is to be feared, that by changing the object of the war, the present harmony will be interrupted, that the ardor of the people will be chilled by apprehensions for their new situation. By substituting a total dismemberment to the revocation of the laws we complain of, VOL. i. 23 354 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK V|. we should fully justify the ministers ; we should merit the infamous name of rebels, and all the British nation would arm, with an unan- imous impulse, against those who, from oppressed and complaining subjects, should have become all at once irreconcilable enemies. The English cherish the liberty we defend ; they respect the dignity of our cause ; but they will bfame, they will detest, our recourse to independence, and will unite with one consent to combat us. ' The propagators of the new doctrine are pleased to assure us, that out of jealousy towards England, foreign sovereigns will lavish their succors upon us ; as if these sovereigns could sincerely applaud rebellion ; as if they had not colonies, even here in America, in which it is important for them to maintain obedience and tranquillity. Let us suppose, however, that jealousy, ambition, or vengeance, should triumph over the fear of insurrections ; do you think these princes will not make you pay dear for the assistance with which they flatter you ? Who has not learnt, to his cost, the perfidy and the cupidity of Europeans? They will disguise their avarice under :pompous words ; under the most benevolent pretexts they will de- spoil us of our territories, they will invade our fisheries and obstruct our navigation, they will attempt our liberty and our privileges. We shall learn too late what it costs to trust in those European flatteries, and to place that confidence in inveterate enemies which has been withdrawn from long tried friends. 'There are many persons, who, to gain their ends, extol the advan- tages of a republic over monarchy. I will not here undertake to examine which of these two forms of government merits the pref- erence. I know, however, that the English nation, after having tried them both, has never found repose except in monarchy. I know, also, that in popular republics themselves, so necessary is monarchy to cement human society, it has been requisite to institute monarchical powers, more or less extensive, under the names of j4.rc.hons, of Consuls, of Doges, of Gonfaloniers, and finally of Kings. Nor should I here omit an observation, the truth of which appears to me incontestable ; the English constitution seems to be the fruit of the experience of all anterior time ; in which monarchy is so tempered, that the monarch finds himself checked in his efforts to seize absolute power ; and the authority of the people is so regu- lated, that anarchy is not to be feared. But for us it is to be appre- hended, that when the counterpoise of monarchy shall no longer exist, the democratic power may carry all before it, and involve the whole state in confusion and ruin. Then an amoitious citizen may arise, seize the reins of power, and annihilate liberty forever ; for BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAX. 355 such is the ordinary career of ill-balanced democracies, they fall into anarchy, and thence under despotism. ' Such are the opinions which might have been offered you with more eloquence, but assuredly not with more zeal or sincerity. May Heaven grant that such sinister forebodings be not one day accom- plished ! May it not permit that, in this solemn concourse of the friends of country, the impassioned language of presumptuous and ardent men should have more influence than the pacific exhorta- tions of good and sober citizens ; prudence and moderation found and preserve empires, temerity and presumption occasion their downfall.' The discourse of Dickinson was heard with attention ; but the current flowed irresistibly strong in a contrary direction, and fear acting upon many more powerfully than even their opinion, the majority pronounced in favor of independence. The deputies of Pennsylvania were accordingly authorized to return to congress, and to consent that the confederate colonies should declare themselves free and independent states. The formal opposition of Dickinson caused him to be excluded. The same things took place in Maryland ; this province, feeble by itself, and situated in the midst of the others, also empowered its deputies to resume their seats in congress, and to approve indepen- dence. Consequently, the fourth of July, 1776, upon the report of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Philip Livingston, the thirteen confederate colonies dissolved all their allegiance towards the British crown, and declared themselves free and independent, under the name of the thirteen United States of America. The manifesto which the congress caused to be pub- lished to justify their resolution in the sight of all mankind, was attributed particularly to Jefferson; it was drawn up with great energy of style and argument. The writers of the time bestowed the highest encomiums on this declaration, which laid the foundation of the independence of a rich and powerful nation. It commenced with these words : ' When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent regard to the opinions of mankind re- quires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. ' We hold these truths to be self-evident ; that all men are created 356 THE AMEIUCAN WAR. BOOK VI. equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unanena- Lle rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any form of government becomes destruc- tive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future felicity. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colo- nies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.' After an exact enumeration of the wrongs received, and of the oppression sustained, it was added, that ' a prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.' Then, having recounted the public ap- peals made at different times to the English people, their constant refusal to hear the voice of justice and of consanguinity, the mani- festo concluded with these words : 1 We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, ene- mies in war, in peace friends. ' We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Ameri- ca, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do nil other acts and tilings which independent states may of right uo. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.'* Such was this famous declaration of the independence of the United States of America, which, if it was necessary, as it appears to have been, was not, however, exempt from peril. For although the greater part of the Americans perceived that the course of things must have led them to this extremity, there were still many who openly manifested contrary sentiments. They were unfortu- nately more numerous in the provinces menaced by the English than in any other. The American armies were feeble, the treasury poor, foreign succors uncertain, and the ardor of the people might abate all at once. It was known that England was determined to exert all her forces for the reduction of the colonies, before they should have time to become confirmed in their rebellion ; or to form alliances with for- eign powers. If the American arms, as there was but too much reason to fear, should prove unfortunate in the ensuing campaign, it could not be disguised that the people would lay it to the charge of independence ; and that, according to the ordinary movement of the human mind, they would rapidly retrograde towards the opin- ions they had abjured. When despair once begins, the prostration of energy follows as its immediate consequence. But the war was inevitable, ail arrangement impossible, and the congress urged by necessity to take a decisive resolution. On every side they saw dangers, but they preferred to brave them for the attainment of a determinate object, rather than trust any longer to the uncertain hope of the repeal of the laws against which they were in arms. For it was even difficult to designate which of these laws were to be revoked. Some desired to have all those repealed which had been passed since the year 1763 ; others only proscribed a part of them ; and there were still others whom a total abrogation would not have satisfied, and who wished also for the abolition of some an- cient statutes. In the heat of debates, propositions had been ad- vanced to which it was impossible that Great Britain should ever consent. Nor can it be denied that the declaration of independence was conformable to the nature of things. Circumstances would not have endured much longer that a people like that of America, nu- merous, wealthy, warlike, and accustomed to liberty, should depend upon another, at a great distance, and little superior in power. The English ministry could not shut their eyes upon it ; and such was perhaps the secret reason of their obduracy in attempting to load * See Note I. 358 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. the Americans with heavier chains. It is also certain that foreign princes would not have consented to succor, or to receive into their alliance, a people who acknowledged themselves the subjects of another power; whereas it might be expected, that they would unite their efforts to those of a nation determined, at all hazards, to obtain the recognition of its liberty and independence. In the first case, even victory would not have given allies to the Ameri- cans ; in the second, they were assured of them only by showing themselves resolved to sustain their cause with arms in hand. However this may be, it is certain that the declaration was received by the people with transports of joy. Nor were any of those pub- lic demonstrations omitted which governments are accustomed to employ on similar occasions, to conciliate the favor of the people to their determinations. Independence was proclaimed, with great solemnity, at Philadelphia, the eighth of July. The artillery was fired, bonfires were kindled ; the people seemed actually delirious with exultation. On the eleventh, the manifesto of congress was published in New York, and was read to each brigade of the Ameri- can army, which, at that time, was assembled in the vicinity of the city ; it was received with universal acclamations. The same even- ing, the statue of king George III., which had been erected in 1770, was taken down and dragged through the streets, by the sons of liberty. It was decided, that the lead of which it was composed, should be converted into musket balls. These excesses, however blamable in themselves, were not without utility if considered po- litically ; they excited the people, and hurried them on to the object that was desired. At Baltimore, independence having been pro- claimed in the presence of cannoniers and militia, the people could not contain their enthusiasm. The air resounded with salutes of artillery, and the shouts that hailed the freedom and happiness of the United States of America. The effigy of the king became the sport of the populace, and was afterwards burnt in the public square. The rejoicings at Boston were the greatest of all. Independence was there proclaimed from the balcony of the State House, in the presence of all the authorities, civil and military, and of an immense concourse of people, as well from the city itself as from the country. The garrison was drawn up in order of battle in King street, which from that moment took the name of State street ; the troops formed in thirteen detachments, to denote the thirteen United States. At a given signal, a salute of thirteen cannon was fired upon Fort Hill, which was immediate!) answered by an equal number from the bat- teries of the Castle, of the Neck, of Nantasket, and of Point Alder- BOOK VI. THE AMERICAN WAR. 359 ton. The garrison, in their turn, fired thirteen salutes of musketry, each detachment firing in succession. The authorities and most con- siderable inhabitants then convened at a banquet prepared in the council chamber, when they drank toasts to the perpetuity and pros- perity of the United States, to the American congress, to general Washington, to the success of the arms of the confederacy, to the destruction of tyrants, to the propagation of civil and religious lib- erty, to the friends of the United States in all parts of the world. All the bells rung in token of felicitation ; the joy was universal, and its demonstrations were incessantly renewed. In the evening, all the ensigns of royalty, lions, scepters or crowns, whether sculptured or painted, were torn in pieces and burnt in State street. But in Virginia, it would be impossible to describe the exultation that was manifested. The Virginian convention decreed that tb.e name of the king should be suppressed in all the public prayers. They ordained that the great seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia should represent Virtue as the tutelary genius of the province, robed in drapery of an Amazon, resting one hand upon her lance, and holding with the other a sword, trampling upon tyranny, under the figure of a pros- trate man, having near him a crown fallen from his head, and bear- ing in one hand a broken chain, and in the other a scourge. At foot was charactered the word Virginia, and round the effigy of Virtue was inscribed Sic semper tyrannis. The reverse represented a group of figures ; in the middle stood Liberty with her wand and cap ; on one side was Ceres, with the horn of plenty in the right hand, and a sheaf of wheat in the left ; upon the other appeared Eternity, with the globe and the phoenix. At foot were found these words Deus nobis hac otia fecit. In the midst of these transports, nothing was forgotten that might tend to inspire the people with affection for the new order of things, and a violent hatred, not only towards tyranny, but also against monarchy ; the republicans using all their address to confound the one with the other as eternally inseparable by their essence. Thus, on the one hand, the American patriots, by their secret maneuvers, and then by a daring resolution ; and on the other, the British ministers, at first by oppressive laws, and afterwards by hesi- tating counsels and the employment of an inadequate force, gave origin to a crisis which eventually produced the entire dismember- ment of a splendid and powerful empire. So constant are men in the pursuit of liberty ; and so obstinate in ambition. But also so timid are they in their resolutions, and even more prompt to warn THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VI. their enemy of his danger by threats, than to overwhelm him by force. It is certain that the English ministers wanted either sagacity to foresee the evil, or energy to remedy it. The tumults of America broke out unobserved, and grew without obstacle, till at length, swollen like an overflowing river, they acquired such an impetuosity as to sweep before them the impotent dikes with which it was at- tempted too late to oppose them. END OP BOOK SIXTH NOTE TO BOOK VI. NOTE I. PAGE 357. THE MEMBERS WHO COMPOSED THE CONGRESS, AND WHO ALL SIGNED THE DECLARATION, ARE THE FOLLOWING: JOHN HANCOCK, President. NEW HAMPSHIRE. JOSIAH BARTLETT, WILLIAM WHIFFLE, MATTHEW THORNTON. MASSACHUSETTS. SAMUEL ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBERT TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE GERRT. RHODE ISLAND. STEPHEN HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERT. CONNECTICUT. ROGER SHERMAN, SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, WILLIAM WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT. NEW YORK. WILLIAM FLOYD, PHILIP LIVINGSTON, FRANCIS LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS. NEW JERSEY. RICHARD STOCKTON, JOHN WITHERSPOON, FRANCIS HOPKINSON, JOHN HART, ABRAHAM CLARK. PENNSYLVANIA ROBERT MORRIS, BENJAMIN RUSH, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON, GEORGE CLTMER, JAMES SMITH, GEORGE TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GEORGE Ross. DELAWARE. CAESAR RODNEY, GEORGE READ, THOMAS M'KEAN. MARYLAND. SAMUEL CHASE, WILLIAM PACA, THOMAS STONE, CHARLES CARROLL, (of Carroltca. VIRGINIA. GEORGE WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, THOMAS JEFFERSON, BENJAMIN HARRISON, THOMAS NELSON, Jun. FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER BRAXTON. NORTH CAROLINA. WILLIAM HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES, JOHN PENN. SOl'TH CAROLINA. EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOMAO K^YWARD, Jun. THOMAS LYNCH, Jun. ARTHUR MIDDLETOW. GEORGIA. BUTTON GWINNETT. LYMAN HALL, GEORGE WALTON. 362 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. BOOK SEVENTH. 1776. HAVING sketched the first two periods of this obstinate contest, in the first of which we have seen the British ministers pro- voking the Americans, by oppressive laws, to resistance and revolt ; and in the second, conducting the war which ensued with feeble counsels and insufficient means ; the order of history requires that we should now proceed to the recital of the events which signalized the third, wherein, at length, displaying all their force, they pro- posed to suppress the rebellion entirely, and to reduce the colonists to subjection. General Howe, having arrived from Halifax, landed the twenty- fifth of June at Sandy Hook, a point of land situated at the entrance of the Gulf, comprehended between the main land of New Jersey, the mouth of the Rariton, Staten Island, and the opening of the bay of New York, on the one side, and Long Island on the other. On the second of July, he took possession of Staten Island. The reso- lution of independence may, therefore, be praised for its boldness, or blamed for its temerity; which was taken, as is seen, at the very instant when England was preparing to attack, with formidable forces, the most vulnerable parts of America. The general would have preferred waiting at Halifax till the arrival of the re-inforce- ments expected from Europe, with the fleet of his brother, the ad- miral, in order to repair, in concert with him, to the waters of New York, and to terminate the war by a sudden and decisive blow. But the English fleet delayed to appear, and the quarters of Halifax were as inconvenient, as provisions were scarce there ; a part of the troops had been compelled to remain on board the ships. The season fox operations also advancing, general Howe determined to go and wait for his re-inforcements in the vicinity of New York ; the squadron of convoy was commanded by admiral Shuldam. He was joined in the passage by some regiments that, having been separated from the fleet by contrary winds, were steering alone for Halifax. Other corps fell into the power of the American cruisers. The inhabitants of Staten Island received the English general with great demonstrations of joy; the soldiers, being quartered about in the villages, found, in abundance, the refreshments of which they were in the greatest need. Here general Howe was visited by gov- ernor Tryon, who gave him precise information with respect to the state of the province, as also with regard to the forces and prepa- rations of the enemy. Many inhabitants of New Jersey came to BOOK VH. THE AMERICAN WAR 363 offer themselves to be enrolled for the royal service ; even those of Staten Island were forward to enlist under the English standard ; every thing announced that the army had only to show itself in the provinces to be assured of a prompt victory. Admiral Howe, after touching at Halifax, where he found dispatches from his brother, who urged him to come and join him at New York, made sail again immediately, and landed, without accident, at Staten Island, the twelfth of July. General Clinton arrived there about the same time, with the troops he re-conducted from the unfortunate expedition of Charleston. Commodore Hotham also appeared there with the re- inforcements under his escort ; so that in a short time the army amounted to about twenty-four thousand men, between English, Hessians, and Waldeckers. Several regiments of Hessian infantry were expected to arrive shortly, when the army would be carried to the number of thirty-five thousand combatants, of the best troops of Europe. America had never seen such a display of forces. It began now to appear that the ministers had at length adopted vigorous measures, hoping to terminate the war at a blow, and to repair the evils produced by their long hesitation and delays. General and admiral Howe, both officers of high distinction, were to combine their efforts against the province of New York ; which, feeble by itself, broken by a great number of islands and large rivers, and offering a great extent of coasts, was more exposed than any other to the attacks of an enemy that was master at sea. The English army was abundantly provided with arms and muni- tions, and the soldiers manifested an extreme ardor for the service of the king. The English, besides their particular hatred against the insurgents, were also stimulated by their national jealousy towards the Germans ; they considered the confidence placed by the gov- ernment in these strangers as indicating a want of it in them. They were eager to prove to the world that, without their assistance, they were capable of subduing America. The Germans, on their part, who justly thought themselves not inferior to the English, would by no means appear to yield to them, and this reciprocal emu- lation warranted the expectation of extreme efforts )n the one part and on the other. When the submission of the provin ;e of New York should have given the English a firm footing in Am2rica, small gar- risons, supported by a formidable maritime force, would be sufficient to defend it against the insults of the enemy, and the army might safely proceed to the conquest of the adjacent provinces. New York forming the center of the American colonies, the Eng- lish army would be able to turn at will, either upon the right, in or- der to carry the war into Connecticut and all New England, or upon 364 THE AMERICA WAR. BOOK VII. the left, to scour New Jersey and menace Philadelphia itself. It was besides very easy, by means of frigates and other smaller vessels, to maintain the communication between the two parts of the army upon the right and left banks of the Hudson, and even to pass it upon occasion, and promptly transport troops from one side to the other. Finally, this position of New York, as well by its nature as by reason of the numerous marine of the English, was for them a place of arms, whence they could infest the neighboring places, attack their enemies at their own time, combat them with success, and re- treat without danger. They resolved, accordingly, to make it the center of their opera- tions ; the loyalists were also very numerous there, and in no city of America was the party of the congress more feeble. There occurred, also, another consideration of the highest impor- tance. If general Carleton, after having passed, as was hoped, the lakes of Canada, could penetrate to the banks of the Hudson, and descend this river at the same time that general Howe should as- cend it, their conjunction would have the immediate effect of inter- rupting all communication between the provinces of New England, situated upon the left bank, and those of the middle and south, which are found upon the right ; and such had always been the favorite plan of the ministry. Finally, it was considered that Long Island, separated from the island of New York only by the East river, and being abundant in grains and in cattle, offered the means of subsistence for the most numerous army. Its inhabitants, besides, were believed to be well inclined towards the royal cause. While general Howe was seconded in his invasion of New York by the twelve or thirteen thousand men coming from Canada under governor Carleton, general Clinton was to operate in the provinces of the south, and to attack Charleston. The American troops being thus divided, and their generals surprised and pressed on so many sides at once, it was not doubted but that the British arms would soon obtain a complete triumph. But there happened in this oc- currence what is often seen in the execution of human designs, when their success depends upon the concurrence of a great number of parts ; one proceeds towards the object, another recedes from it, and all equally miss it. A prosperous event in this business appeared the less probable, since independently of the obstacles raised by men, it was necessary also to combat the winds and the seasons. Would it not have been calculating upon a scarcely possible contingency, to have expected the arrival of three distinct corps of the army at their places of des- BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN AVAR. tination at the hour prefixed, so as to operate in perfect concert? Was it even certain that all the. three would prove victorious ? This / however, was necessary to secure the execution of the plan of the campaign. It happened, therefore, on the one part, that admiral Howe, having been retarded by contrary wirrcls, did not land his re-inforcements till after the expedition of Charleston had totally miscarried, as we have related. And on the other, the army of Canada encountered so many obstacles to the passage of the lakes, tnat it was not able to make its way this year to the banks of the Hudson. Whence it resulted not only that Washington was not compelled to weaken the already feeble army which he had upon the coasts, in order to send succors into South Carolina, or towards Canada, but that the same soldiers who had so valiantly defended Charleston, went to re-in- fo rce those who grarded the passage of the lakes, or joined the principal army. But notwithstanding these failures, it was still con- fidently hoped that general Howe would be able alone to make a decisive campaign. This hope was not perhaps devoid of all foun- dation. It is plain, therefore, how many probabilities the British ministers and generals would have united in their favor, if, instead of having scattered their forces upon several points, they had con- centrated them in a single mass, leaving only sufficient garrisons in the places necessary to their operations. The Americans, on their part, had neglected no preparative in order to resist the storrn with which they were menaced. The con- gress had ordained the construction of rafts, of gun boats, of galleys, and of floating batteries, for the defense of the port of New York and the mouths of the Hudson. But it could not be hoped that sucn feeble preparations were competent to oppose, with any chance of success, the formidable marine of England. The congress had also decreed that thirteen thousand of the pro- vincial militia should go and join the army of Washington, who, being seasonably apprised of the danger of New York, had made a movement into that quarter ; they also directed the organization of a corps of ten thousand men, destined to serve as a reserve in the provinces of the center. All the weakest posts had been carefully intrenched, and furnished with artillery. A strong detachment occupied Long Island, to prevent the English from landing there, or to repulse them if they should effect a debarkation. But the army of the congress was very far from having all the necessary means to support the burthen of so terrible a war. It wanted arms, and it was wasted by diseases. The reiterated instances of the commander-in-chief had drawn into his camp the militia of the neighboring provinces, and some regular 366 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. regiments from Maryland, from Pennsylvania, and from New Eng- land, which had carried his army to the number of twenty-seven thousand men ; but a fourth part of these troops was composed of invalids, and scarcely was another fourth furnished with arms. The greatest part, without order, as without discipline, could inspire little confidence. These inconveniences, so seriously alarming for the success of the American cause, proceeded partly from the want of money, which prevented the congress from paying regular troops and providing for their equipment, and partly from an impolitic parsimony con- tracted during peace, which withheld them from incurring, with promptitude, the expenses rendered necessary by a state of war. Their rooted jealousy of standing armies contributed also to the same effect ; it had even inspired them with the idle hope of being able to organize every year an army sufficient to resist the forces of the enemy. Perhaps, finally, many of the colonists were reluctant to take arms, because they still flattered themselves that the commissioners of the king, being at the same time chiefs of the troops, and nego- tiators of peace, might succeed in effecting a general reconciliation. The American army, such as it was, occupied the positions most suitable to cover the menaced points. The corps which had been stationed on Long Island was commanded by major-general Greene, who, on account of sickness, was afterwards succeeded by general Sullivan. The main body of the army encamped on the island of New York, which, it appeared, was destined to receive the first blows of the English. Two feeble detachments guarded Governor's Island, and the point of Paulus' Hook, situated in front of New York, upon the right bank of the Hudson. The militia of the province, commanded by the American general, Clinton, were posted upon the banks of the Sound, where they occupied the two Chesters, East and West, and New Rochelle. For it was to be feared that the enemy, landing in force upon the north shore of the Sound, might penetrate to Kings- bridge, and thus entirely lock up all the American troops on the island of New York. All being prepared on the one side for attack, on the other for defense, and the two parties appearing equally decided to refer the destiny of America to the chance of battles, the English commis- sioners, before coming to this appeal, wished to make trial of the pacific powers with which they were invested. Already, in the month of June, lord Howe, being upon the coasts of Massachusetts in the Eagle ship of the line, had, in the name of the king, addressed BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 367 a letter to all the governors who had been expelled from their prov- inces, enjoining them to use all possible means to spread it among the inhabitants. He therein announced that the king had authorized two commis- sioners to grant general or particular pardons to all those who, dur- ing the troubles, had departed from the obedience due to the crown, but who now desired to return to their duty, and participate in the benefits of the royal clemency. He also declared that the commis- sioners were empowered to proclaim any province or city whatso- ever to be in the king's peace, which immediately sheltered them from the effect of the penal laws against rebellion. Finally, he prom- ised large recompense to such as, by their services, should contribute re-establish the royal authority. These writings, commonly brought by flags, circulated in the country ; and general Washington sent by express to congress a proclamation which had been addressed to the city of Amboy. That assembly took the noble resolution of causing it to be printed in all the public papers, in order that the good people of the United States such were the words of the reso- lution 'might be informed of the powers of the commissioners, and of the means by which Great Britain hoped to lull them into securi- ty and to disarm them ; and also that the most obstinate might be convinced that they could no longer expect the preservation of their privileges, but from their arms alone. In the rheantime, a letter was brought from lord Howe, directed simply to George Washington, Esq. The general refused to receive it, alledging, that whoever had written it had not expressed his pub- lic station, and that as a private individual he could not, and would not, hold any communication, whether written or verbal, with the commanders of the king. His conduct in this instance was much applauded by the congress ; and they decreed that in future none of their officers should receive letters or messages, on the part of the enemy, that were not addressed to them according to their respective rank. The English commissioners were unwilling that a mere point of ceremonial should interrupt negotiations from which they expected some advantage. They could not, on the other hand, consent to acknowledge in the generalissimo of congress a rank which had been conferred, as they believed, by an unlawful authority. They had recourse, therefore, to an expedient by which they hoped to obviate all difficulty ; they changed the address of their let- ter for the superscription following ; to George Washington, fyc. fyr. Adjutant-general Patterson was sent with this dispatch. Being in- troduced to Washington, he gave him in conversation the title of 368 THE AMERICAN AVAR. BOOK VII. Excellency. The general received him with great politeness, but at the same time with much dignity. The adjutant expressed great concern in the behalf of his principals, on account of the difficulties that had arisen about the superscription of the letter ; assured him of their high regard for his personal character, and that they had no intention to undervalue his rank. It was hoped, therefore, that the et ceteras, being in use between ambassadors when they were not perfectly agreed upon points of etiquette, would remove all obstruc- tions to their mutual intercourse. Washington answered, that a letter written to a person invested with a public character should specify it, otherwise it could not be distinguished from a private letter; that it was true the et ceteras implied every thing ; but it was no less true that they implied any thing ; and that, as to himself, he would never consent to receive any letter, relating to public affairs, that should be directed to him, without a designation of his rank and office. Patterson requested that this question might be waved ; and turned the conversation up- on prisoners of war. He expatiated in magnificent terms upon the goodness and clemency of the king, who had chosen for negotiators lord and general Howe. He affirmed that their desire to terminate the differences which had arisen between the two people was as ear- nest as their powers were ample ; and that he hoped the general would consider this visit as the first step towards it. Washington replied, that he was not authorized to negotiate ; but that it did not appear that the powers of the commissioners consisted in any more than in granting pardons ; that America, not having committed any offense, asked for no forgiveness, and was only defending her un- questionable rights. Patterson exclaimed that this subject would open too vast a field of discussion ; and repeating his regrets that a strict observation of formalities should interrupt the course of so important an affair, he took leave of the general, and withdrew. This conference thus remained without result, and all thoughts were again concentrated in war. The congress were perfectly aware, on the one hand, of the shame they must incur by departing from the resolution so recently taken of asserting independence, and they feared on the other that the propositions of England might contain some secret poison. They caused an exact relation to be printed of the interview between the commander-in-chief and the English adjutant- general. The British generals, seeing that the obstinacy of the Americans left them no longer any hope of an accommodation, directed their entire attention to the prosecution of the war, and resolved to strike the first blows without longer delay. Wishing, in the first place, to PLAN of NEW YORK ISLAND and part of LONG ISLAND Shewing the position of the American & British Fort ^^ ARMIES before at and after the Engagement on the HEIGHTS August 27th 1776. American British BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 3G9 secure a post which might serve in case of need as a place of re- treat, and to furnish the means of subsistence for so powerful an army, they decided to attack Long Island, in which they depended for success upon the superiority of military talents which they be- lieved themselves to have, and which they really had, over the Americans. Accordingly, having made all their dispositions, the twenty-second of August, the fleet approached the west coast of the island near the strait, called the Narrows, which separates it from Staten Island ; all the troops found an easy and secure landing place between the villages of Gravesend and New Utrecht, where they debarked without meeting any resistance on the part of the Americans. A great part of their army, under the command of general Putnam, encamped at Brookland or Brooklyn, on a part of the island itself which forms a sort of peninsula. He had strongly fortified the en- trance of it with moats and intrenchments ; his left wing rested upon the Wallabout bay, and his right was covered by a marsh con- tiguous to another bay, called Gowan's Cove. Behind him he had Governor's Island, and the arm of the sea which separates Long Island from the island of New York, and which gave him a direct communication with the city, where the other part of the army was stationed under Washington himself. The commander-in-chief, perceiving that battle was approaching, continually exhorted his men to keep their ranks, and summon all their courage ; he reminded them that in their valor rested the only hope that remained to American liberty ; that upon their resistance depended the preservation or the pillage of their property by barbarians ; that they were about to combat in defense of their parents, their wives, their children, from the outrages of a licentious soldiery ; that the eyes of America were fixed upon her champions, and expected from their success on this day either safety or total destruction. The English, having effected their landing, marched rapidly for- ward. The two armies were separated by a chain of hills, covered with woods, called the heights of Guan, and which, running from west to east, divide the island into two parts. They are only prac- ticable upon three points ; one of which is near the Narrows, the road leading to that of the center passes by a village named Flat- hush, and the third is approached, far to the right, by the route of another village called Flatland. Upon the summit of the hills is found a roau which follows the length of the range, and leads from Bedford to Jamaica, which is intersected by the two roads last dj scribed ; these ways are all interrupted by precipices, and by exces sively difficult and narrow defiles. VOL. i, 24 370 THE AMEKICAN WAR. BOOK VII. The American general, wishing to arrest the enemy upon these heights, had carefully furnished them with troops, so that if all had done their duty, the English would not have been able to force the passages without extreme difficulty and danger. The posts were so frequent upon the road from Bedford to Jamaica, that it was easy to transmit, from one of these points to the other, the most prompt in telligence of what passed upon the three routes. Colonel Miles, with his battalion, was to guard the road of Flat- land; and to scour it continually with his scouts, as well as that of Jamaica, in order to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy. Meanwhile, the British army pressed forward, its left wing being to the north, and its right to the south ; the village of Falmouth was found in its center. The Hessians, commanded by general Heister, formed the main body ; the English under major-general Grant, the left ; and other corps, conducted by general Clinton, and the two lords, Percy and Cornwallis. composed the right. In this wing the British generals had placed their principal hope of success ; they directed it upon Flatland. Their plan was, that while the corps of general Grant, and the Hessians of general Heister, should disquiet the enemy upon the first two defiles, the left wing, taking a circuit, should march through Flatland, and endeavor to seize the point of intersection of this road with that of Jamaica ; and then, rapidly de- scending into the plain which extends to the foot of the heights, upon the other side, should fall upon the Americans in flank and rear. The English hoped, that as this post was the most distant from the center of the army, the advanced guards would be found more feeble there, and perhaps more negligent; finally, they calculated that, in all events, the Americans would not be able to defend it against a force so superior. This right wing of the English was, in effect, the most numerous, and entirely composed of select troops. The evening of the twenty-sixth of August, general Clinton com- manding the vanguard, which consisted in light infantry ; lord Percy the center, where were found the grenadiers, the artillery, and the cavalry ; and Cornw r allis the rear guard, followed by the baggage, some regiments of infantry and of heavy artillery ; all this part of the English army put itself in motion with admirable order and silence, and leaving Flatland, traversed the country called New Lots. Colonel Miles, who this night performed his service with little exact- ness, did not perceive the approach of the enemy ; so that two hours before day the English were already arrived within half a mile of the road of Jamaica, upon the heights. Then general Clinton halted, and prepared himself for the attack. He had met one of the enemy's patrols, and made him prisoner BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 37 1 General Sullivan, who commanded all the troops in advance of the camp of Brooklyn, had no advice of what passed in this quarter. He neglected to send out fresh scouts ; perhaps he supposed the English would direct their principal efforts against his right wing, as being the nearest to them. General Clinton, learning from his prisoners that the road of Ja- maica was not guarded, hastened to avail himself of the circum- stance, and occupied it by a rapid movement. Without loss of time, he immediately bore to his left towards Bedford, and seized an important defile which the American generals had left unguard- ed. From this moment the success of the day was decided in favor of the English. Lord Percy came up with his corps ; and the entire column de- scended by the village of Bedford from the heights into the plain which lay between the hills and the camp of the Americans. During this time general Grant, in order to amuse the enemy and divert his attention from the events which took place upon the route of Flat- land, endeavored to disquiet him upon his right ; accordingly, as if he intended to force the defile which led to it, he had put himself in motion about midnight, and had attacked the militia of New York and of Pennsylvania, who guarded it. They at first gave ground ; but general Parsons being arrived, and having occupied an eminence, he renewed the combat, and maintained his position till brigadier- general lord Sterling came to his assistance with fifteen hundred men. The action became extremely animated, and fortune favored .leither the one side nor the other. The Hessians, on their part, had attacked the center at break of day ; and the Americans, com- manded by general Sullivan in person, valiantly sustained their efforts. At the same time the English ships, after having made several movements, opened a very brisk cannonade against a bat- tery established in the little island of Red Hook, upon the right flank of the Americans, who combated against general Grant. This also was a diversion, the object of which was to prevent them from attending to what passed in the center and on the left. The Americans defended themselves, however, with extreme gallantry, ignorant that so much valor was exerted in vain, since victory was already in the hands of the enemy. General Clinton, being descended into the plain, fell upon the left flank of the center, which was engaged with the Hessians. He had previously detached a strong corps, in order to intercept the Americans. As soon as the appearance qf the English light infantry apprised them of theii danger, they soiuroed the retreat, and retired in good order towards their camp, bringing off their artillery. But they soon 372 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. fell in with the parly of royal troops which hud occupied the ground on their rear, and v\ ho now charged them with fury ; they were compelled to throw themselves into the neighboring woods, where they met again with the Hessians, who repulssd them upon the English, and thus the Americans were driven several times by the one against the other with great loss. J They continued for some time in this desperate situation, till, at length, several regiments, animated by an heroic valor, opened their way through the midst of the enemy, and gained the camp of general Putnam ; others escaped through the woods. The inequality of the ground, the great number of positions which it offered, and. the disorder which prevailed throughout the line, were the cause that for several hours divers partial combats were maintained, in w-hich many of the Americans fell. Their left wing and center being discomfited, the English, desirous of a complete victory, made a rapid movement against the rear of the right wing, which, in ignorance of the misfortune which had befallen the other corps, was engaged with general Grant. Finally, having received the intelligence, they retired. But encountering the English, who cut off their retreat, a part of the soldiers took shelter in the woods ; others endeavored to make their way through the marshes of Gowan's Cove ; but here many were drowned in the waters, or perished in the mud ; a very small number only escaped the hot pursuit of the victors, and reached the camp in safety. The total loss of the Americans, in this battle, was estimated at more than three thousand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Among the IP<-*. were found general Sullivan, and brigadier-generals lord Ster- ling and Woodhull. Almost the entire regiment of Maryland, con- sisting of young men of the best families in that province, was cut in pieces. Six pieces of cannon fell into the power of the victors. The loss of the English was very inconsiderable ; in killed, wounded, and prisoners, it did not amount to four hundred men. The Americans, in this day, assuredly committed a great fault, since they were forced to combat with a part of their forces against all those of the enemy. They omitted to use the requisite diligence to inform themselves of, the quantity of troops disembarked ; they neglected to cause the roads of the heights to be properly scoured by their scouts, and especially those upon their left, which was the menaced part ; finally, they had not sufficiently guarded the difficult passes upon the road of Jamaica. There even arose some rumors which threw suspicions of treachery upon those who were charged with this guard ; but it is certain trj^lhey were culpable rather of negligence than of evil intentions. Colonel Miles enjoyed a reputa- BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 373 tion that placed him above suspicion. It appears, indeed, that general Sullivan, either from too much confidence or too much mildness, did not employ all the rigorous means which so important a circumstance exacted, to prevent the secret intelligence of the loyalists with the English ; these were, therefore, diligently informed of the weakest places, and of the negligence with which the service was performed. The English and the Hessians combated not only with courage, but even with an impetuous ardor, excited by their reciprocal emulation, and by the desire to efface the stains of former defeats. In the height of the engagement, general Washington had crossed over to Brooklyn from New York, and seeing some of his best troops slaughtered or taken, he uttered, it is said, an exclamation of anguish. He could, if he saw fit, draw out of their encampment all the troops, and send them to succor the corps that were engaged with the enemy ; he might also call over all the forces he had in New York, and order them to take part in the battle. But all these re-inforcements would by no means have sufficed to render his army equal to that of the English. Victory having already declared in their favor, the courage with which it inspired them, and the superiority of their discipline, cut off all hope of being able to restore the battle. If Washington had engaged all his troops in the action, it is probable that the entire army would have been destroyed on this fatal day, and America reduced to subjection. Great praise, therefore, is due him for not having allowed himself, in so grave an occurrence, to be transported into an inconsiderate resolution, and for having preserved himself and his army for a happier future. The English were so elated with victory, that, eager to profit by their advantages, they would fain have immediately assaulted the American camp. But their general manifested more prudence ; whether he believed the intrenchments of the enemy stronger than they really were, or whether he considered himself already sure of entering New York without encountering new perils, he repressed the ardor of his troops. Afterwards, having encamped in front of the enemy's lines in the night of the twenty-eighth, he broke ground wit lin six hundred paces of a bastion upon the left. His intention was to approach by means of trenches, and to wait till the fleet could co-operate with the land troops. The situation of the Americans in their camp became extremely critical. They had in front an enemy superior in number, and who could attack them at every moment with a new advantage. Their intrenchments were of little moment, and the English, pushing their works with ardor, had every probability of success in their favor. 374 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. For two days and two nights the rain had fallen by torrents ; the arms and ammunition suffered from it alike. The soldiers, over- whelmed with fatigue and discouraged by defeat, would have made but a feeble resistance. The English ships were in readiness to enter the East river. They had hitherto been prevented by a north- east wind, which for them was as contrary as it was propitious for the Americans. But it might change the next moment, and the English once masters of this river, retreat was intercepted to the soldiers of congress, and the whole army would have incurred the danger of being forced to surrender to the superior force of the enemy. The council of war being assembled, the American generals resolved to evacuate their position, and to withdraw into New York. All the dispositions having been made, the retreat across the East river was undertaken. Colonel Glover commanded the vessels and flat boats of transport, general Macdougall was charged with the embarkation, and colonel Mifflin was to cover the rear guard. The twenty-ninth, at eight in the evening, the troops began to move with the greatest silence. But they were not on board before eleven. A violent northeast wind and the ebb tide, which rendered the cur- rent very rapid, prevented the passage ; the time pressed, however. Fortunately, the wind suddenly veered to the northwest ; they im- mediately made sail and landed in New York. Providence ap- peared to have watched over the Americans ; about two o'clock in the morning, a thick fog, and at this season of the year extraordi- nary, covered all Long Island, whereas the air was perfectly clear on the side of New York. Notwithstanding the entreaties of his officers, Washington re- mained the last upon the shore ; he refused to embark till he saw his troops all on board. They amounted in all to nine thousand men. The artillery, baggage, camp equipage, munitions, every thing was safely transported to the other side. It was not till the next morning, the sun being already high, and after the mist was dissi- pated, that the English discovered, to their great surprise, that the Americans had abandoned their camp, and were already sheltered from all pursuit. They perceived only a part of the rear guard, out of reach in their boats, who had returned to carry away some mu- nitions which had been left on the island. Whoever will attend to all the details of this retreat, wih easily believe that no military operation was ever conducted Dy great captains with more ability and prudence, or under more favorable auspices. It &tUl remained to evacuate Governor's Island, situated at the BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAB. 375 mouth of the East river ; it was occupied by two regiments, with a numerous artillery and abundant munitions. The Americans had fortified it to interdict the entrance of this river to the English. But after the loss of Long Island, it could not be hoped to defend the passage, and the garrison was in danger of falling into the power of the enemy. The evacuation of Governor's Island was also effected without accident, notwithstanding the vicinity of the English ships. Thus all the American army, after the defeat of Long Island, found itself united on the island of New York. The check of Brooklyn had made upon the Amencans a profound impression of terror, and their position actually became very alarming. Until then, they had flattered themselves that Heaven would con- stantly favor their arms ; and it was, in truth, the first time that fortune had betrayed them so cruelly. But not having been accus- tomed to her rigors, from the excess of confidence which intoxicated them in prosperity, they fell all at once into that of dejection. They had persuaded themselves that personal valor completely supplied the want of discipline ; and they had gone so far as even to hold in derision the European system of tactics. But since they had found, by fatal experience, of how much utility it was in regulai battles, their eyes were opened, and they had lost all confidence in themselves. At first they had believed that courage, without disci- pline, could do all ; they now thought it could do nothing. At every moment they were apprehensive of some new surprise ; at every step of falling into an ambuscade. Thus, from discouragement, they became still more negligent of order. The militia, especially, ac- cording to the usage of multitudes armed in moments of emergency, became every day more disorderly and intractable. Not content with enjoying a liberty without bounds in the camp, they abandoned their colors by hundreds, and entire regiments deserted to return to their provinces. Their example became fatal to the regular troops themselves ; their subordination diminished, and desertion enfeebled them daily. Their engagement was but for one year, and even in some corps only for a few weeks ; the hope of soon returning to their families and friends so acted upon these soldiers, that they avoided dangers. Ardor and enthusiasm had at first overruled these domestic affections ; but they now triumphed over a zeal extinguish- ed by ill fortune. The fidelity of the generals was not suspected, but their talents were distrusted, and every thing appeared to threaten a total dissolu- tion. Confounded by the blows of fortune, and little used to sup- port them, the Americans thus gave themselves up for lost. Wash- ington contended earnestly, with exhortations, with persuasions, and 376 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. with promises, to arrest the progress of the disorganization. Wherein, if he did not succeed according to his desires, he obtained, however, more than his hopes. The greater part, yielding to his authority, and the benevolence they bore him, consented to remain. He had not neglected to address the congress an energetic picture of the deplorable situation of his army ; he represented to them how impor- tant it was to accept no more engagements, but for the total duration of the war : and he assured them that he must despair of American liberty, unless he was furnished with an army that should stand by him till the conclusion of the enterprise. The remonstrances and instances of the commander-in-chief, were seconded by all the mili- tary chiefs of distinction that were found at that time in America, and the congress at length yielded to their desires. They decreed that a regular army should be formed, in which the soldiers should be enlisted to serve during the present war; and that it should be composed of eighty-eight battalions, to be raised in all the provinces according to their respective abilities.* To induce the inhabitants to enlist, the congress decreed, besides, that a bounty of twenty dollars should be given to each man at the time of engagement, and portions of unoccupied lands were promised to the officers and sol- diers.f But from the difficulty of finding men who would enlist for the whole term of the war, this resolution was afterwards modified, so as to admit of engagements either for three years or during the U*ar ; specifying, however, that such as enlisted only for three years Bad no right to grants of land. This measure was of great utility. Here also is seen the power of good or ill fortune over nations. If those who allow themselves to be over elated by prosperity, are without courage in adversity, those who use the favors of fortune with moderation, are able to support its reverses with fortitude. General Howe, wishing to take advantage of the terror which victory inspires, and persuading himself that the Americans, dis- heartened by so many checks, would be more modest in their pre- tensions, dispatched general Sullivan to the congress with a message purporting, that though he could not consistently treat with that as- sembly in the character they had assumed, yet he would gladly con- fer with some of their members in their private capacity, and would * The eighty-eight battalions decreed by congress, were to be furnished in the follow- ing proportion : Three in New Hampshire, fifteen in Massachusetts, two in Rhode Island, eight in Connecticut, four in New York, four in New Jersey, twelve in Penn- sylvania, one in Delaware, eight in Maryland, fifteen in Virginia, nine in North Caro- lina, six in South Carolina, and one in Georgia. t The grant of lands was thus regulated : Five hundred acres to a colonel, fout hundred to a major, three hundred to a captain, two hundred to a lieutenant, one ban dred and fifty to an ensign, and one hundred to non-commissioned officers and soldiers BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 317 meet them at any place they would appoint. He informed them thai lie was empowered, with the admiral his brother, to terminate the contest feefveen Great Britain and America, upon conditions equally advantageous to both ; these conditions, he added, he had not been able to obtain till after two months' delay, which had prevented him from arriving before the declaration of independence. He express- ed an earnest desire lhat an arrangement might take place before the events of the war became so decisive as to render it no longer a matter of choice for one of the parties to treat. He assured them, that if they were inclined to enter into an agreement, much might be granted to them which they had not required. He concluded by saying, that should the conference produce the probability of an ac- commodation, the authority of congress would be acknowledged in order to render the treaty valid and complete in every respect. The commissioners hoped thus, by insidious wprds, to dispose the Amer- icans to resume the yoke of England without dread. It would be difficult to decide whether these propositions announc- ed, on the part of the English, more hope than despair of victory. Perhaps the commissioners, not being authorized to grant all the conditions they offered, merely threw them out to create parties, or to amuse the Americans and to divert them from their preparations of war. However this may be, the congress deliberated maturely upon this overture. Their refusal to listen to the proffered terms might alienate the minds of many ; and their consenting to enter into negotiation was a tacit admission that the declaration of inde- pendence was not irrevocable, or that ill fortune began to shake their constancy. The congress, to avoid either of these inconve- niences, though persuaded of the insincerity of the commissioners, decided for a middle course. They made answer, through general Sullivan, that the congress of the free and independent states of America, could not, consistently with the trust reposed in them, send their members to confer with any one whomsoever, otherwise than in their public capacity. But that as they desired that peace might be concluded upon equitable conditions, they would depute a commit- tee of their body to learn whether the commissioners were authoriz- ed to treat, and what proposals they had to offer. Washington was instructed, at the same time, to answer any overtures that might be made him, by saying that the United States having taken arms to defend their existence and their liberty, would willingly consent to peace, provided the terms of it were reasonable, and drawn up first in writing, in order to be laid before congress. Thus the Americans appeared to incline for independence, with- out insisting, however, upon this point as an indispensable condition 378 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VJj. of peace, in order to reserve a way open to reconciliation if the fate of arms should prove too adverse. The deputies, appointed by congress to hear the propositions of the commissioners, were Benja- min Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge, all three zealous partisans of independence. The interview took place the eleventh of September, on Staten Island, opposite Amboy. Admiral Howe spoke the first, saying, that though he could not treat with them as a committee of congress, yet as he was authorized to confer with any gentlemen of influence in the colonies, on the means of restoring peace, he felt a real gratification in the present occasion to discourse with them upon this important subject. The deputies replied, that since they were come to hear him, he was at liberty to look upon them in what light he pleased ; that they could not, however, consider themselves in any other character than that in which the congress had placed them. Howe then entered upon the subject of the meeting ; he demanded that the colonies shou J return to their allegiance and duty towards the British crown ; he assured them of the earnest desire of the king to make his gov- ernment easy and acceptable to them in every respect ; that those acts of parliament which were so obnoxious to them would undergo a revisal, and the instructions to governors would be reconsidered ; that if any just causes of complaint were found in the acts or in- structions, they might be removed. After having recounted the tyrannical acts of parliament, of which all their supplications had failed to procure the repeal, the deputies added, in reply, that a return to the domination of Great Britain was not now to be expected. ' There was no doubt, the} said, that the Americans were inclined to peace, and willing to enter into any treaty with Britain that might be advantageous to both countries. If there was the same good disposition on her part, it would be easier for the commissioners, though not empowered at present to treat with them as independent states, to obtain fresh powers from their government for that purpose, than it would be for the congress to procure them from the colonies to consent to submission.' Howe then put an end to the conference, by saying that he deeply regretted there was no longer any hope of an accommodation. The three deputies made their report to congress of the issue of this interview, observing that the powers of the English commission- ers were insufficient, and that it was impossible to place any depen- dence upon their offers or their promises. The congress approved their conduct. This attempt at negotiation, therefore, served only to demonstrate, on the one hand, that the congress, persevering in BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 379 their resolution and undaunted by reverses, were determined not to receive conditions from their enemies ; and on the other, how greatly the English government was still deceived with respect to the spirit which prevailed in America, and as to the means proper to be em- ployed for the re-establishment of the ancient order of things. But it seems in this revolution to have been the destiny of things, that the remedies should always arrive after the evils were become incurable ; and that the government, refusing, out of pride, at the fa- vorable moment, to acquiesce in useful concessions, should after- wards have to submit to the rejection of its useless propositions. The English generals, convinced by experience, that they must renounce all hope of accommodation, now turned their attention ex- clusively to military operations. The royal army found itself sepa- rated from that of the congress only by the East river, which, com- municating with Harlem Creek, flows between Long Island and Morrisania on the one part, and the island of New York on the other. The intention of the English was to land on some part of this last, where the least resistance could be opposed to them. Their ships cruised along the coasts, threatening sometimes one place and sometimes another, in order to keep the enemy at all points in uncertainty, and afterwards to attack upon one only with more ad- vantage. A part of the fleet, having doubled Long Island, appeared in the Sound, a gulf of great breadth which separates this island from the coast of Connecticut, and communicates with the East river, by means of a narrow channel, which a very dangerous navi- gation and frequent shipwrecks have caused to receive the name of Hell Gate. The English had taken possession of the island of Montesoro, situated in this strait, where they had erected a battery to answer that which the Americans had planted upon the opposite side of the river at Hovenshook. Two. frigates, passing between Governor's Island and the point of Red Hook, had ascended into the East river, without receiving any injury from the artillery of the enemy, and had anchored out of its reach near a little island. The main body of the English fleet was moored in the waters of Governor's Island, ready to attack the city of New York itself, or to enter either the East river, or the Hudson. Meanwhile, the ships were continually engaged with the batteries on shore, and frequent actions ensued for the possession of the little islands which are found in the first of these rivers. The English had need of them for the execution of their projects, and the Amer- icans saw the necessity of defending them. Bu*. whether the Eng- lish artillery was better served, or that the soldiers of this nation 380 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VIT. had acquired more confidence from their victory, and especially owing to the assistance of their ships, they succeeded in carrying, one after another, such of these islands, as their convenience re- quired, and thus secured for themselves the entrance of the East river. Washington had furnished the two shores of the island of New York with a numerous artillery, and had thrown up intrenchments in different places. He had four thousand five hundred men in the city ; six thousand five hundred at Harlem, a village situated in front of the opening of the sound ; and twelve thousand at Kingsbridge, at the extremity of the island. He had been particularly careful to fortify this passage, in order to secure a free communication with the continent, and to prevent the enemy from seizing it by surprise, and thus entirely locking up the American army within the island it- self. But the commander-in-chief felt extreme apprehensions for the city, and began to despair of preserving it in the power of the confederation. The enemy being considerably re-inforced in the northern parts of Long Island, and having the command of the sound, it was to be feared he might disembark on the center of the island of New York, near the rnouth of the sound, in which case the garrison of the city, and all the troops encamped in its environs, having their retreat intercepted, would have been compelled to sur- render ; or else that, traversing the sound and Morrisania, he would go and establish himself with the greater part of his army in the rear of Kingsbridge. In this last hypothesis the Americans, losing all communication with the continent, would be forced either to capitulate, or to fight a battle whose success appeared secure in advance to the English by the choice of ground and of time, and f he discouragement which still prevailed among the troops of the congress. The fortune of the Americans would then be past all hope, as well in consequence of the terror with which they would be seized, as from the loss of arms, of munitions, and of baggage. Washington had, therefore, signified to congress his apprehensions, praying them to inform him of their intentions relative to the city of New York, if he found himself constrained to evacuate it. The congress humane- ly replied, that it should be left entire and safe. Having afterwards assembled a council of war, he invited them to deliberate upon the necessity of an immediate evacuation of the city, and it evidently appeared that he was himself in favor of this measure. Some were of the same opinion, for the reasons above mentioned, in which they were confirmed by another consideration ; they calculated, that by retiring further into the country, the English would be deprived of BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 381 the important advantage they derived from the co-operation of their fleets. Other members of the council manifested a contrary senti- ment, because they considered that the defense of New York would cause the enemy to consume time, and that, in the meanwhile, the season for military operations would have elapsed. They also thought that the evacuation of New York would have too much the appearance of cowardice, and that it might have the most fatal influence upon the spirit of the soldiers and of the inhabitants ; the opinion of these prevailed. But at length the English, having re-inforced themselves greatly at the entrance of the sound, and in the islands of Montcsoio and of Buchanan, a second council of war decided that it was no only prudent but even necessary to abandon New York. Accord- ingly, no time was lost in removing, by way of the Hudson river, the sick, the baggage, and the munitions, which were landed far above . upon the shore of New Jersey. Some days after, the garrison march ed out of the city, leaving it entirely m the power of the enemy. While this evacuation was effected with great order on the part o f the troops, but with much terror on the part of the inhabitants, a report was suddenly spread that the enemy had landed on the island The soldiers hastened to make their junction with those stationed at Harlem. While some of the English ships had entered the Hudson river, in order to draw the attention of the American generals on that side, and to interrupt the transportation of baggage and munitions, the first division of the British army, commanded by general Clinton, had embarked at the head of the bay at Newtown, and proceeding by the sound, entered the East river through Hell Gate ; thence descending with the current, it had gone to disembark at Kipps Bay, three miles north of New York. This point was the weakest of all ; and the English troops, protected by the fire of the ships, effected a landing there almost without resistance. When Washington was apprised of the debarkation, he detached the brigades of generals Parsons and Fellows to re-inforce the corps that defended Kipps Bay. But they had already turned their backs; the others imitated them, and shamo fully fled, in defiance of the efforts of their officers to retain them. Washington arrived himself, and rallied them ; but at sight of the English troops these militia disbanded anew. If the English had immediately pressed forward, they would, without any doubt, have intercepted the retreat of the garrison of New York. But whether their generals could not credit so much pusillanimity on the part ol the Americans, and were unwilling to risk themselves between two fires ; or whether, as some writers assert, being elated with their suc- cess, they halted for the space of full two hours to divert themselves 382 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. in the house of a gentlewoman of the country, it is certain that they gave time to general Putnam, who commanded the garrison, to de- file and to rejoin the rest of the army. The Americans, however, left in the power of the enemy their heavy artillery, a great propor- tion of their baggage and munitions, and particularly their tents, of which they had the greatest need. They lost but few soldiers, and those in a skirmish near Bloomingdale. The British army having dispatched a strong detachment to take possession of the city of New York, which affords accommodation for a considerable garrison, went to encamp in the center of the island, its right wing being posted at Horen's Hook, upon the East river, and its left at Bloomingdale, upon the Hudson. It thus occupied the entire breadth of the island, from one shore to the other, which in this place is more than a mile. The Americans were strongly in- trenched in the northern part of the island, and especially at Kings- bridge ; they had, besides, a position upon the heights of Harlem, distant only a mile and a half from the English outposts. They occupied another difficult passage between Harlem and Kingsbridge, as well as the fort they had named Washington, upon the left bank of the Hudson. There resulted, from the respective situation of the armies, fre- quent rencounters, in which the Americans gradually resumed cour- age, and accustomed themselves anew to look the enemy in the face. VVashington ardently desired that his troops should often have these affairs with the English. Among others, there ensued a very hot action in the plain of Harlem, where some corps of English and Hessians, led on too far by their ardor, fell into an ambuscade which the Americans had laid for them, and were handled very roughly. Washington, in his official letters, highly commended the valor dis- played by his troops on this occasion. A few days after the important position of New York had come into the power of the royal troops, there broke out in it a conflagra- tion, which some attributed to the malice of certain individuals among the inhabitants themselves, to deprive the English of the resources offered them by this great city ; others merely to chance. It was published at the time, that the fire had been kindled in various places at once, by means of combustibles disposed with great dexterity ; but the Americans positively denied it. Such was the rapidity of the flames, the wind being violent and the weather very dry, that notwithstanding the speed and activity with which the garrison exert- ed themselves, a fourth part of the city was consumed. In the fury which transported them, they seized several of those whom they con- BOOK YD. THE AMERICAN WAR. 383 sidered as the authors of this disaster, and precipitated them into the midst of the fire. The English general, perceiving that the strength of the enemy's intrenchments was such as to render the attempt to dislodge him by an attack, both extremely hazardous and of doubtful success, took the resolution which, perhaps, he should have taken at first, that is, to go and encamp behind the position which the Americans occupied at Kingsbridge, and thus compel him to combat with disadvantage, to retire with loss, or to remain with peril. Accordingly, having left lord Percy with two English brigades, and one of Hessians in the encampment of Harlem, for the protection of New York, he embark- ed with the rest of the army in flat-bottomed boats ; and having safely entered the sound through Hell Gate, proceeded to disembark at Frogs Neck, in the vicinity of West Chester, upon the confines of New York and Connecticut. This movement of general Howe has been the object of some criticisms ; it was pretended that the Americans might have over- whelmed, by a sudden attack, the corps left at Harlem, and thus re- covered possession of New York. But, perhaps, he founded the success of his operation upon the discouragement of the colonial troops, and upon the presence of the fleet, which in any event could afford a shelter to the corps of Harlem, if they should find them- selves too hard pressed. General Howe had also strongly fortified Gowans Hill in order to cover the city. Then, with a view to pre- vent the enemy from receiving provisions from New Jersey by means of the Hudson river, he had ordered three frigates to pass up the river above forts Washington and Lee ; the first situated upon the left bank, and the second upon the right. This order was executed with extreme ability, notwithstanding the artillery of the two forts, and the obstructions with which the Americans had endeavored to impede the navigation. The English general remained several days at Frogs Neck, as well to repair the bridges which the enemy had broken, as to wait for a considerable re-inforcement which he had called from Staten Island. The road from Frogs Neck to Kingsbridge is excessively rough with continual masses of small stones, and the Americans had also ob- structed it in many places. Washington, who had assembled all his army at Kingsbridge, sent forward his light, infantry to scour the country, and to harass the enemy in his march. General Howe, having received his re-inforcements, put himself in motion with all his troops ; he crossed Pelham Manor, and went to encamp at New Rochelle, where he was joined by the second divis- ion of Hessians, and of the troops of Waldeck under general Knyp- 384 THE AMERICAN WAR BOOK VII. hausen, and by a regiment of cavalry lately arrived at New York from Ireland. As the principal project of the expedition was to in- tercept the communication of Washington with the eastern provinces, c'md then, if he declined to venture an engagement, to shut him up on the island of New York, consequently it was necessary to occu- py the two roads leading into Connecticut ; the one upon the coast of the sound, and the other more inland. The first was already in the power of the English ; but in attempting to occupy the second, it was requisite to traverse the difficult country of which we have already made mention, in order to secure the post of the highlands, known by the name of White Plains, upon the rear of Kingsbridge. General Howe determined to take this route ; he marched, how- ever, slowly and with extreme caution, after leaving at New Ro- chelle the German corps, lately arrived, to secure the lower road, and the communication with those places whence stores and neces- saries were to arrive. Washington examined, with attention, the danger of his position. He penetrated the designs of the enemy, and consequently decided to abandon, with the main body of his army, the encampment of Kingsbridge. Extending, therefore, his left wing, he took post with it in the White Plains, while the right occupied the heights of Val- entine's Hill, near Kingsbridge ; the center exactly filled the space comprehended between these t.w o points. Here he intrenched him self with the greatest care. His army thus formed a well secured line, parallel to the river Bnrix, which lay on its front, and separated it from the English, who marched up along the left bank of this stream. Washington had behind him the great river Hudson, into which the English frigates had not yet been able to penetrate so far as to intercept the supplies of provisions which he received from the up- per parts. With his left wing he occupied the upper road of Con- necticut, by which he was also abundantly supplied with provisions and munitions. He had left sufficient garrisons at Kingsbridge, at Harlem, and in fort Washington ; in this last place, however, against his own opinion. Meanwhile, he detached numerous parties, over the Brunx, in order to retard the motions of the enemy. Hence frequent skirmishes ensued, and though the royalists had generally the advantage in these rencounters, they still served to dissipate the terror of the Americans, who every day showed themselves more bold in defying the enemy. Upon the approach of the English to the White Plains, Washing- ton, all at once, called in his detachments, and abandoning the posi- tions he had occupied along the Brunx, assembled all his troops in a BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAB 385 strong camp upon the heights, near these plains, in front of the ene- my. His right flank was protected by the Brunx, which, by its windings, also covered the front of the right wing. The main body was nearly parallel to the river, and the left wing being placed at a right angle upon the center, and consequently parallel to the right / extended towards the north upon the hills, as much as was necessary to guard the defiles leading .o the upper mountainous regions, into which the army, if expedient, might retire. But the right wing, being posted in more level and less difficult ground, found itself more exposed ; wherefore general Macdougall was ordered to oc- cupy, with a strong detachment, a mountain about a mile distant from the camp ; he intrenched himself there as well as the time would admit of. Such was the position of the American army when the English arrived within seven or eight miles of White Plains, and prepared themselves to attack without loss of time. On the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, they advanced in two columns, the right commanded by general Clinton, and the left by general Heister. At noon, all the outposts being driven back by the English and Hessian light infantry, the British army appeared before the Ameri- can camp. Immediately there ensued a cannonade, but to very little effect. The English drew up in order of battle ; their right occupied the road which leads to Merrineck, about a mile distant from the center of the enemy ^ while the left, equally distant from his right, bordered the Brunx. The English general having observed the importance of the position taken by general Macdougall, and being persuaded that the right of the enemy, which was his only assailable point, could not be forced so long as it should be protected by a post of such strength, resolved to wrest it from the Americans. He ordered a Hessian regiment, commanded by colonel Ralle, to ford the Brunx, and by a circuitous movement to fall upon the flank, of general Macdougall, while general Leslie should attack him in front with a brigade of English and Hessians. Colonel Ralle having arrived at the point indicated, Leslie, who had also crossed the Brunx, furiously assaulted the intrenchments of Macdougall. The militia soon fled, but the regular troops made a valiant resistance. A regiment of Maryland, conducted by colonel Smallwood, and a regiment of New York, under colonel Ratzemsr, ventured even to come out of the lines, and to charge the enemy at the very foot of the mountain, but they were overpowered by number and forced to retire. Then the English and Hessians ascended the heights with singular intrepidity, and took possession of them after a vigorous struggle. The Americans, however, continued for some time to fire VOL. i. * 25 386 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. from behind the walls of inclosures, and thus retarded the progress of the assailants. But general Putnam, who had been sent to their succor, could not arrive in season. The loss of men in this action was great on the one part as well as on the other. Washington, calmly expecting that the enemy would come to attack him next, had already sent into his rear the sick and the baggage; but as it grew towards the close of day, the English general determined to defer the assault till the next morning. He caused his troops to encamp within cannon shot of the American lines. Washington took advantage of the night to strengthen them with additional works, and to occupy a stronger position in the rear with his left wing, which, by the loss of the mountain, had become more exposed. When the light appeared, general Howe reconnoi- tered the intrenchments of the enemy, and found them sufficiently formidable to determine him to wait the arrival of some battalions that had been left at New York, under the command of lord Percy, and of several companies from Merrineck. These re-inforcements being received on the evening of the thirtieth, he appointed the fol- lowing morning for the assault, but the excessive rain which fell during the night and also in the morning, compelled him to defer it. The American general, in the mean time, examined his position with his accustomed prudence ; he was decided not to risk a pitched bat- tle without the strongest hope of success. He perceived that the English had already erected four or five batteries, and that by turn- ing his right flank they might get possession of the heights situated upon his rear. He concluded, therefore, to break up his camp in the night of the first of November. He removed it into a country still more mountainous in the vicinity of North Castle ; having pre- -* viously set fire to the houses in White Plains, and the neighborhood, and to the forage that was found in the camp. He immediately detached a strong corps to occupy the bridge over the Croton river, which leads to the upper parts of the Hudson. On the following morning the English took possession of the American camp. General Howe, perceiving that his enemy declined an engage- ment, and that from the situation of the country, and his knowledge of every advantageous position, it would be impossible to compel him to fight but upon the most unequal and hazardous terms, took the determination to discontinue the pursuit, and to turn his atten- tion to the reduction of the forts and fastnesses still occupied by the Americans in the neighborhood of New York. His views were particularly directed upon fort Washington, which was its principal bulwark. But, though the ground where this fortress had been erected was very rough and difficult, its fortifications were not suffi- BOOK Vll. THE AMERICAN WAR. 3S7 ciently strong to resist heavy artillery. It was incapable, from its little extent, of containing more than a thousand defenders ; the out- works that surrounded it, especially to the south, towards New York, might lodge, it is true, a much stronger garrison. The commander-in-chief, as if he had foreseen the event, had written to general Greene, who commanded in this part, enjoining him to reflect maturely upon his position, and in case he should find that fort Washington was not in a situation to sustain an assault, to cause it to be forthwith evacuated ; and to transport the garrison to the right bank of the Hudson. But this general, either believing that the strength of the place and the valor of the troops would assure him a long defense, or from the apprehension that his retreat would increase the already too general discouragement of the Amer- icans, took the resolution to hold out to the last. He was herein the more easily determined, as he believed that the garrison would always be able to retreat into fort Lee, situated upon the other bank of the river. But Washington judged less favorably of the future ; he was persuaded that the English would not remain satis- fied with the reduction of the first fort ; but that, crossing the river, and making themselves masters of the second, which was not tenable, they would spread themselves in the province of New Jersey. He left therefore general Lee, with the militia of the eastern provinces, upon the left bank of the Hudson, and having secured the strong positions towards the Croton river, and especially that of Peeks Kill, near the Hudson itself, he crossed that river with the main body of his army, and went to rejoin general Greene in his camp under fort Lee. General Lee himself had orders to come with all speed and join him, in case the enemy, after having taken the forts, should show himself upon the right bank of the Hudson. He afterwards wrote to the governor of New Jersey, requesting him to remove the magazines of provisions into the most remote parts, and to call out all the militia. All these dispositions being made to his wish, Washington watched with an attentive eye the movements of the enemy. Meanwhile, general Howe had ordered general Knyphausen to march from New Rochelle, and to occupy Kingsbridge. This he executed without obstacles, the Americans, who guarded this posi- tion, having fallen back upon fort Washington. The corps of gen- eral Knyphausen consequently penetrated into the island of New York, and proceeded to invest the fort, on the part of the north. A short time after, the English general himself abandoned the While Plains, and descending along the banks of the Hudson, con- ducted the rest of the army to Kingsbridge. He pitched his camp 388 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. upon the heights of Fordham, his right wing being covered by the Hudson, and his left by the Brunx. The royalists then prepared to attack fort Washington ; its inte- rior and appertenances were defended by full three thousand men, under the command of colonel Magaw, a brave and experienced officer. He was summoned in vain to surrender. The besiegers proceeded to the assault in four divisions, the first from the north, commanded by general Knyphausen, and consisting of Hessians and the troops of Waldeck ; the second from the east, composed of English light infantry and two battalions of guards, conducted by general Matthews. This corps was to attack the intrenchments which extended from fort Washington almost to the East river ; the third, commanded by colonel Sterling, was destined to pass this riv- er lower down than the second, in order to assail the fort more to the south ; but this was only a feint. The fourth, which obeyed the orders of If ,rd Percy, a very strong corps, was directed to aim its as- sault against the western flank of the fortress. These different di- visions were provided with a numerous and excellent artillery. Thj Hessiaus, under general Knyphausen, were to pass through a very thick forest, where colonel Rawlings was already posted with his regi- ment of riflemen. An extremely warm affair was engaged, in which the Germans sustained a severe loss. The Americans, ambushed behind the trees and rocks, fired in security ; but at last, the Hes- sians, redoubling their efforts, gained a very steep ascent, whence they came down upon the enemy with an irresistible impetuosity ; the divisions -which followed them were thus enabled to land without molestation. Colonel Rawlings retreated under the cannon of the fort. Lord Percy, on his part, had carried an advanced work, which facilitated the debarkation of the party under colonel Sterling, who, the moment he had landed, forced his way up a difficult height, which was very resolutely defended ; he gained the summit, where he took a considerable number of prisoners, notwithstanding their gallant resistance. Colonel Cadwallader, who was charged with the defense of this part, retired also into the fort. Colonel Ralle, who led the right column of general Knyphausen's attack, surmounted all obstacles with admirable valor, and lodged his column within one hundred yards of the fort. Soon after gene- ral Knyphausen joined him with the left column ; having at length extricated himself from the difficulties encountered in the forest. The garrison having thus lost, though not without glory, all their advanced works, fouad themselves closely invested within the body of the fortress. The besiegers then summoned colonel Magaw to surrender. He had already consumed neariy all his ammunition. BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. The very multitude of defenders pressed into so narrow a space, was prejudicial to defense, and every tiling demonstrated that he could not sustain an assault. Accordingly he decided to capitulate. The garrison, amounting to two thousand six hundred men, inclu- sive of the country militia, surrendered prisoners of war. The Amer- icans had few killed ; the royalists lost about eight hundred, the greater part Germans. The reduction of fort Washington thus gave the royal army entire possession of the island of New York. Wishing to avail himself to the utmost of the defeat of the Amer- icans, and to prevent them from rallying at another point, general Howe confided to lord Cornwallis the command of a corps of about six thousand men, directing him to pass the Hudson at Dobb's Ferry, and forthwith to invest fort Lee, in order, if possible, to surprise the garrison, which consisted in two thousand men. They had scarcely time to save themselves by abandoning the place, the moment they heard of the surrender of fort Washington, of the passage of the enemy, and of his force. Their artillery and military stores, their baggage, and particularly their tents, a loss the most sensible, fell into the power of the victors. The vanquished retired to the other side of the Hackensack . The British could now penetrate into the very heart of JN ew Jersey. These successive checks, the loss of the two forts, Washington and Lee, and especially the excessive vigor of the attack, which had constrained the first to surrender, produced a deplorable change in the fortune of the Americans. They beheld all at once what the fatal battle of Brooklyn had not been able to operate; the dissolution of their army. The militia disbanded and precipitately retired to their habita- tions ; even the regular troops, as if struck with despair, also filed off, and deserted in parties. Every thing, at this period of the war, threatened America with an inevitable catastrophe. The army of Washington was so enfeebled that it scarcely amounted to three thousand men, who had lost all courage and all energy, and were exposed in an open country, without instru- ments to intrench themselves, without tents to shelter them from the inclemency of the season, and in the midst of a population little zealous, or rather hostile towards the republic. The general of congress had to face a victorious army, more than twenty thousand strong, composed entirely of disciplined and vet- eran troops. The excellent generals who commanded it, using the ardor inspired by victory, pursued their advantages with vivacity, and THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII flattered themselves that a few days would suffice to crush the wrecks of the republican army, and put an end to the war. To all the difficulties against which Washington had to contend, should be added, that the English cavalry, though without being very numer- ous, scoured all the flat country, whereas he had nothing to oppose to it except a few diminutive and feeble hackneys from Connecticut, commanded by major Shelden. So total a deficiency of cavalry, in the immense plains of this country, appeared to extinguish for the Americans their little chance of success. They were no better pro- vided with artillery than with horses. The greater part of theii feeble army consisted in militia, almost all from New Jersey. These were either of suspicious fidelity, or desirous of returning to their habitations, to rescue their property and families from the perils that menaced them. The few regular soldiers who still remained with their colors, completed their term of service with the expiration of the year ; it was therefore to be feared that this phantom of an army would vanish entirely in the space of a few days. In so profound a distress, the American general could not hope to receive prompt or sufficient re-inforcements. Consternation reigned in all the contiguous provinces ; so that each, trembling for himself, refused to succor others. There still remained a few regiments of regular troops upon the frontiers of Canada ; but they were neces- sary there to arrest the progress of the enemy ; and, besides, the term of engagement was about to dissolve them shortly. Upon the heel of so many disasters was the imminent danger of seditions on the part of the disaffected, who in various places loudly invoked the name of England. An insurrection appeared ready to explode in the county of Monmouth, in this very province of New Jersey, so that Washington found himself constrained to detach a part of his army, already a mere skeleton, to overawe the agitators. The pres- ence of a victorious royal army had dissipated the terror with which the patriots at first had inspired the loyalists. They began to aban- don themselves without reserve :o all the fury which animated them against their adversaries. The English commissioners determined to avail themselves of this disposition of the inhabitants to revolt against the authority of congress. Accordingly the two brothers Howe drew up a proclamation, which they circulated profvsely throughout the country. They commanded all those who had arma in hand to disperse and return to their habitations ; and all those who exercised civil magistracies to cease their functions and divest them- se.ves of their usurped authority But, at the same time, they offer- ed a full pardon to all such as v ;,hin the space of sixty days should present themselves before the c;v:l or military officers of the crown, BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR J91 declaring their intention to take the benefit of the amnesty, and promising a sincejre return to the obedience due to the laws and to the royal authority. This proclamation had the effect which the commissioners had promised themselves from it. A multitude of persons of every rank, availing themselves of the clemency of the victor, came daily to implore his forgiveness, and to protest their submission. It was remarked, however, that they belonged, for the greater part, to the class of the very poor, or of the very rich. The inhabitants of a middle condition manifested more constancy in their opinions. Several of the newly reconciled had occupied the first stations in the popular order of things ; they had been members either of the pro- vincial government, or of the council of general safety, or of the tribunals of justice. They excused themselves by saying that they had only acted, in what they had hitherto done, with a view to pro- mote the public welfare, and to prevent greater disorders ; they al- ledged, finally, that they had been drawn in by their parents and friends, whom they were unable to refuse. Those who had contem- plated them in all their arrogance, and who saw them then so meek, so submissive, and so humble in their words, could scarcely persuade themselves that they were indeed the same individuals. But men of this stamp dread much less to be considered inconstant and per- fidious, than rebels to the laws of the strongest ; they much prefer to escape danger with infamy, than to encounter it with honor. Nor was it only in New Jersey, and in the midst of the victorious royal troops, that these abrupt changes of party were observed ; the inhabitants of Pennsylvania flocked in like manner to humble themselves at the feet of the English commissioners, and to promise them fealty and obedience. Among others there came the Galloways, the family of the Aliens, and some others of the most wealthy and reputable. The example became pernicious, and the most prejudicial effects were to be apprehended from it. Every day ushered in some new calamity ; the cause of America seemed hastening to irretrievable ruin. The most discreet no longer dissembled that the term of the war was at hand ; and that the hour was come in which the colonies were about to resume the yoke. But Washington, in the midst of so much adversity, did not despair of the public safety. His con- stancy was an object of admiration. Far from betraying any symp- toms of hesitation or of fear, he showed himself to his dejected sol- diers with a serene countenance, and radiant, as it were, with a cer- tain hope of a better future. Adverse fortune had not been able to vanquish, nay, not even to shake this invincible spirit. Firmly re- solved to pursue their object through every fortune, the congress THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. manifested a similar constancy. It appeared as if the spirit of these great minds increased with adversity. America is assuredly indebted to the magnanimity of her chiefs for the victory and independence which have crowned her efforts. Thus pressed by time and circumstances, Washington took all the measures suggested by prudence in order to re-inforce his army, not with the hope of being able to arrest the enemy in his triumphant march, but at least that he might not appear to have entirely aban- doned the republic; and, finally, to keep his standard waving till Divine Providence, or the benignity of fortune, should offer him an occasion to retrieve the affairs of his country. He had some time before, as we have already related, directed general Lee to occupy, with a part of the army, the country watered by the Upper Hudson, in order to be at hand to succor the corps of Canada which opposed general Carleton upon the lakes. But on seeing New Jersey unguarded, and the danger which instantly men- aced the city of Philadelphia itself, he ordered him to come, by forced marches, to rejoin him. This order was the more easy to be executed, as it was soon known that general Carleton, after having occupied Crown Point and made himself master of Lake Champlain, as will be seen in the course of this history, had retired without having ventured to attack Ticonderoga. The commander-in-chief, therefore, instructed general Schuyler to send him, without delay, the troops of Pennsylvania and of New Jersey, that were upon the frontiers of Canada. General Mercer, who commanded a corps of light infantry at Berghen, likewise, received orders to rejoin the prin- cipal army with all speed. Little calculation, however, could be made upon these re-inforcements in the present state of things ; the march was long, the road difficult, the engagement of the soldiers almost expired, and the victorious enemy menaced upon all points at once. The American general neglected not to resort to the suc- cors of the militia. He had represented to the principal authorities of Pennsylvania the critical situation of Philadelphia, which could not be saved unless his army was promptly re-in forced ; he therefore earnestly pressed them to send him the militia of the province. Washington, finding his letters nearly without effect,dispatched gene- ral Mifflin, who enjoyed great popular favor in this province, to paint, with vivid coloring, the urgency of the danger, and the necessity of a general effort to avert it. He wrote also to the governor of New Jersey, apprising him that unless he assembled the militia and caus- ed them to join the army immediately, he must expect to see the enemy overrun the entire provinc" as a conqueror, pass the Dela- ware, and seize Philadelphia. BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 393 All his efforts were equally ineffectual in this part. The lower districts of the province, either wanting zeal or chilled with terror, made no movement ; and it was not without a sort of repugnance that the inhabitants of the upper countries took arms for the defense of country. Reduced to the uncertain hope of these feeble re-inforcements, the Americans saw their enemies redoubling activity to render their triumph more complete. The army of congress, after its retreat, had the Hackensack upon its front ; but this narrow stream could not be considered as a sufficient defense against the keen pursuit oi the English. Besides, as the Passaick flowed at no great distance in the rear of Washington, and the light troops of the enemy inun- dated the country, he ran the risk of being locked in between these two rivers. He therefore crossed the Passaick over the bridge of Aquakannunk. and took up his quarters at Newark, upon the right bank. The English immediately also passed the Hackensack, and overran the country up to the Passaick. Washington, seeing loHS Cornwallis approach witl. rapidity, abandoned the borders of this river, and retiring behind the Rariton, took post at New Brunswick. Here the troops of Maryland and of New Jersey declared their term of engagement was expired, and deserting the rest of the army, retired to their respective homes. Some corps of the Pennsylvania militia followed this example ; and the army, already so feeble, found itself upon the point of ceasing to exist. The English showed them- selves every where, and always equally animated. Washington, with the few regiments he had left, ventured to make some demonstrations as if he intended to resume the offensive ; but this maneuver was, in fact, designed to cover his retreat to Trenton, upon the left bank of the Delaware. Lord Sterling was left at Princeton, with twelve hundred men, to observe the motions of the enemy. Having little hope of being able to maintain even this po- sition long, he sent across the river the sick, the baggage, and the munitions, and caused all the boats to be withdrawn to the opposite bank, that the English might not use them to effect their passage. He determined, however, to remain upon the frontiers of New Jer- sey, in order to be always at hand to retard the progress of the ene- my. At length, having received a re-inforcement of two thousand men, composed of the armed citizens of Philadelphia, and of the ' German battalion already mentioned, he pressed forward with the intention of returning to Princeton. But upon the rumor, contin- ually increasing, that lord Cornwallis was on his march from New Brunswick with a formidable force, divided in several columns so as' to endanger his communications with the river, he retreated anew, 394 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. and the eighth of December, leaving the frontiers of New Jersey entirely in the power of the enemy, he withdrew upon the right bank of the Delaware, having first, however, cut the bridges, broken the roads, and removed all the ferry boats. Scarcely had the rear guard gained the right bank, when the English light troops began to appear upon the left ; but finding no means to cross the river, they could pursue no further. The river Delaware was now the last defense that remained to the American troops ; if the English could pass it, they infallibly became masters of Philadelphia. And the acquisition of a city of such importance, which was at once the capital of the confederation, the seat of government, as well as of the principal authorities, and the central repository of military stores and provisions, must have produced such an effect upon the minds of the people, as perhaps would have given the English a complete triumph, or at least would have authorized them to expect a prompt termination of the war in their favor. But lord Cornwallis, following the orders of general Howe, whr did not proceed in this operation with the requisite ardor, had re mained too long at New Brunswick ; he thus left Washington at liberty to interpose every obstacle to the passage of the river. It is imposs ,ble here not to blame the neglige ice of the Engli *h generals, who had not seasonably collected all the materials for laying bridges, and who even never thought of constructing rafts in order to gain the other bank. They might have done it in these first moments. Perhaps, no longer doubting of the certain success of their arms, they imagined they could pass the river whenever they pleased, and that Philadelphia would immediately open its gates to them a memorable example, which proves that in war, more than in any other circumstance of life, it should never be thought that all is done, while there still remains something to do ! It is perfectly certain that this unexpected delay of the English operated to their preju- dice through the whole course of the war, and that it was to this capital fault the Americans owed their safety. The English general established his head-quarters at Trenton, ex- tending his two wings, above and below, along the left bank of the Delaware. This river, after having run from northwest to southeast till it roaches Bordentown, there makes a sudden bend, and flows to the southwest towards Philadelphia ; if the English, therefore, had passed it above Trenton, at a place called CorielPs Ferry, or in its vicinity, they would have found themselves as near to this capital as the Americans themselves, who guarded the banks of the Delaware opposite Trenton. That they had formed this design is demon- BOOK vn. XHJC AMERICAN WAR. 395 strated by the attempt they made to seize certain boats at Coriell's Ferry, which, however, was defeated by the vigilance of lord Ster- ling. To oppose an obstacle to this passage, the commander-in- chief directed general Putnam, an engineer of great ability, to draw lines from the Schuylkill to the heights of Springatsburgh. Cut as the enemy had repaired the bridges below Trenton, and the corps he had at Bordentown were daily re-inforced, the Americans became apprehensive that he would attempt to pass the river at once above them at Coriell's Ferry and below them at Burlington ; which would have enabled him to close upon their rear, and thus to shut up their whole army in the point of land formed by the flexure of the Dela- ware. To obviate this danger, Washington stationed his galleys in places the most proper to observe the motions of the English, and to repulse them if they attempted the passage. The upper parts being the most menaced, he detached his best troops to guard them. Redoubts were erected from distance to distance, and furnished with artillery. Finally, the order was given, in case of misfortune, and if the enemy passed the river, that all the troops should fall back upon Germantown, a large village, but a few miles distant from Philadelphia. The English generals, seeing the enemy's preparations of defense, and perhaps hoping to be able to pass the Delaware in safety, when it should be frozen, which, as the season was now advanced, might be expected very shortly, instead of following the Americans in their retreat, and of allowing them no time to rally, distributed their troops in winter quarters. Four thousand men took their lodgings upon the very bank of the river, at Trenton, at Bordentown, at Black horse and at Burlington. Strong detachments occupied Princeton and New Brunswick, where were found their magazines of provis- ions and of munitions. The rest of the troops were cantoned about in the villages of New Jersey. While the English army was thus arrested upon the banks of the Delaware, either by the negligence or presumption of its chiefs, or by the firmness and prudence of Washington, this general omitted no exertions to re-inforce his army with militia, as well as with regular troops. Generals Mifflin and Armstrong, who both enjoyed a great in- fluence in Pennsylvania, went through the province, exhorting the people to take arms and fly to the defense of the capital, and of the country. Their exhortations and the approach of danger produced the desired effect. Many of the inhabitants repaired to the republi- can standard, though without manifesting all of them a very ardent zeal. That the regular troops might serve as a nucleus, for the THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. militia to rally about, Washington ordered general Gates to bring him promptly the best of the troops he commanded in Canada, after having posted the militia of New England to guard the most impor- tant passes. Gates arrived the twentieth of December at the army of Pennsylvania. General Lee had received the same order ; but he executed it with great slowness and a sort of repugnance ; whether his ambition led him to prefer the command of a separate army, or that he considered it as more advisable to maintain himself in the upper and mountainous parts of New Jersey, in order to be always ready to annoy the right flank of the British army. He was drawn from this languor by an event which threw him into a painful cap- tivity, and which filled all America with profound regret, where his zeal, his intelligence, and his military skill, were held in the highest consideration. Being at a place called Baskinbridge, distant about twenty miles from the quarters of the enemy, he thought himself so out of all danger that he neglected the usual precautions. He took up his quarters at a house considerably removed from the main body, where he remained with a slender guard. Colonel Harcourt, who scoured the country with his cavalry, was informed of this circumstance by a loyalist, and immediately galloped towards the place where Lee was so incautiously lodged. The colonel, appearing suddenly, secured the sentinels without noise, and darting into the house, arrested the general. He caused him immediately to mount a very swift horse, and with the same promptness and good fortune conducted him prisoner to New York. This news spread as mucli consternation among the Americans, as alacrity among the English ; who boasted that they had seized the Palladium of America. This capture of general Lee occasioned transports of joy even at the court of Saint James, as if some great victory had been obtained, or as if this inci- dent was more fortunate than the conquest of New Jersey itself, and the fair prospect opened of soon entering the city of Philadelphia. From this time there arose a violent controversy between the chiefs of the two parties, relative to the manner in which general Lee and the other prisoners of war should be treated. General Gage, when he was invested with the command, had always refused to consent to the exchange of prisoners. There resulted from it a deplorable system of cruelty on the one part as well as on the other. But when general Howe appeared at the head of the British army, either be- cause his character was more humane than that of his predecessor or that he had received particular instructions from his government, ttr, finally, that he was constrained to it by tlie great number of Eng- lish who were fallen into the power of the Americans, he had agreed BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 397 from time to time to make exchanges. But when he found himself in possession of general Lee, he refused to fulfill with respect to him the laws of war, and caused him to be closely confined, as if he had been a prisoner of state. He advanced as a reason for his conduct that Lee being invested with the rank of an officer in the English army, he was to be considered as a deserter and a traitor. He had formerly received, it is true, his half pay as a British officer ; but upon the breaking out of hostilities, he had resigned his rank in Eng-" land, to be at liberty to enter the service of America. But this res- ignation had not perhaps arrived seasonably ; or the hatred borne him by the government and British generals having more power over them than the usage of civilized nations, they affected to consider and treat him rather as a prisoner of state than as a prisoner of war. As Washington had no British officer in his power of equal rank with general Lee, he had proposed to general Howe to give six Hes- sian officers in exchange for him ; adding, that in case this offer should not be accepted, he demanded at least that Lee should be treated in a manner suitable to his rank, and this not only in con- formity with the laws of nations, but also in reciprocity for the good treatment which the English officers that were prisoners received on the part of the Americans. General Howe persisted in his refusal ; the congress then resorted to reprisals. They ordered that lieuten- ant-colonel Campbell and five Hessian officers should be imprisoned and treated as general Lee. This order was executed even with more rigor than it prescribed. The lieutenant-colonel, being then at Boston, was thrown into a dungeon destined for malefactors. Washington blamed this excess ; he knew that Lee was detained, but not ill treated. He also apprehended reprisals, since there were more Americans in the hands of the English, than English in the hands of the Americans. He wrote with great earnestness to con- gress upon this subject, but without effect ; lieutenant-colonel Camp- bell and the Hessians were not liberated until general Howe had consented to consider Lee as a prisoner of war. During these altercations the exchange of prisoners was entirely suspended. Those in the hands of the English at New York had to experience every sort of ill treatment. They were shut up in churches and in other places, exposed to all the inclemency of the air. They were not allowed sufficient nourishment ; their fare was scanted even of coarse bread, and certain aliments which excited disgust. The sick were confounded with the healthy, both equally a prey to the most shocking defect of cleanliness, and exposed to the outrages of the soldiers, and especially of the loyalists.* Nothing alleviated their sufferings A confined and impure air engendered 398 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. mortal diseases ; moi e than fifteen hundred of these unfortunate men perished in a few weeks. Tt was believed that so much cruelty was purposely exercised with a view of constraining the prisoners to enlist under the royal standard. It is certain at least, that the offi- cers of the king incessantly exhorted them to it. But they all re- fused ; preferring a certain death to the desertion of their country. '''The fate of the officers was not much less deplorable. Despoiled 'of every thing by the rapacity of the English soldiers, they were abandoned to all wants. Some of them, though wounded and with- out clothing, were carted through the streets of New York for the sport of the populace. In the midst of hisses and imprecations, they were denominated rebels and traitors. Several were even caned for having attempted to procure some relief for their soldiers, who were perishing with hunger and disease in their infected dungeons. Washington had addressed frequent and bitter complaints to general Howe of this barbarous conduct towards prisoners of war. The English general answered by denials, by excuses, and even by re- criminations. But that he was culpable, is proved by his having refused the offer of the American general, who proposed to send an agent to New York to provide for the wants of the prisoners. Hence the hatred between the two people acquired a new degree of violence. At length, those who had survived so many evils, were exchanged, and set at liberty. But such was their miserable con- dition that many died on the way before they could revisit their country and all the objects of their affection. There arose new difficulties upon this subject between the two generals ; the English- man insisting that his prisoners should be restored even in exchange for the dead, and the American refusing it. All this affair of pris- oners proves but too clearly that in civil wars, friends become worse than natural enemies, and the most civilized nations no better than barbarians. But the greater part of these inhuman excesses are incontestably attributable to the English. After general Lee had fallen into the hands of the enemy, general Sullivan, who succeeded him, manifested greater promptitude in obeying the orders of Washington. He crossed the Delaware at Phillipsburgh, and joined him about the last of December ; this re- inforcement carried the American army to not far from seven thou- sand men. But the greater part of these troops completed their engagements with the year, and they were upon the point of a total dissolution. While the English pursued the relics of the American army through tn*e plains of New Jersey, and the latter, happy in having been able to cross the Delaware, found itself almost without hope, BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 399 fortune did not show herself more propitious to the cause of the revolution upon the coasts of Rhode Island. Admiral sir Peter Parker, and general Clinton, with four brigades of English as well as Hessians, had undertaken an expedition against this province, on board a numerous squadron. The provincials, not expecting this attack, were totally unprepared for defense ; they consequently abandoned Rhode Island without resistance to the English, who oc- cupied it the . same day that Washington passed the Delaware. This loss was of great importance, as well from the situation of the province as because the American squadron, under commodore Hopkins, was compelled to withdraw as far up the Providence river as it was practicable, and to continue there blocked up and useless for a long time. The English also occupied the two neighboring islands of Conanicut and of Prudence. Two pieces of cannon fell into their power, but they made few prisoners. The conquest of Rhode Island was of great utility for their ulterior operations ; from this province they could harass Massachusetts ; and the re-inforce- ments that general Lincoln had assembled with the intention of con- ducting them to the army of Washington, were detained in that- province, to observe general Clinton, and prevent him from disturb- ing its tranquillity. Even Connecticut shared the alarm, and retained the re-inforcements it was upon the point of sending to the camp of the Delaware. The English, in like manner desirous to prevent the colonies of the south from transmitting succors to th6se of the middle, which they intended to attack, renewed, during the summer of the present year, their negotiations with the loyalists and with the savages of the upper parts, in order to induce them to act against Georgia, the two Caro- linas and Virginia. Notwithstanding the little success which had, in the preceding year, attended the enterprises of the Regulators and the Scotch emigrants, the English agents, and particularly one Stuart, a man of extreme activity and audacity, flattered themselves with the hope of obtaining a more efficacious co-operation on the part of the Indian tribes. They were as lavish of exhortations and promises as of gold and presents. They gave out that a strong corps of English would disembark in West Florida ; that traversing the territory of the Creeks, the Chickasaws, and the Cherokees, they would join with the warriors of these nations, and invade the two Carolinas and Virginia ; while, at the same time, a numerous fleet and powerful army should attack the coasts. Stuart addressed cir- culars to the loyalists, inviting them to come and put themselves un- der the royal standard, erected in the country of the Cherokees ; he urged them to bring with them their horses, their cattle, and provis- 400 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. ions of every sort, for which they should be paid a liberal price. The loyalists, who remembered too well their recent defeat, made no movement of importance. But the Indians, excited by the words und presents of the emissaries, no less than by the probabilities of success, and their thirst of pillage, assembled in considerable num- bers, and manifested great animosity against the colonies. The Six Nations themselves, who, till this epoch, had observed a strict neu- trality, began to waver, and had already committed hostilities upon their borders. The Creeks, still more audacious, took the field, and displayed their accustomed ferocity. But having found that deeds did not correspond with words, and that the promised succors did not appear, they desisted, and demanded a pardon, which was easily granted them. They manifested afterwards so much regard for their oaths, or so much distrust for the promises of the English, or, finally, such profound terror, that when the Cherokees not long after urged them fof succors, they answered that they had buried the hatchet so deep that it could not be found. But the Cherokees listened only to their fury ; they fell furiously upon the colonies, exercising fright- ful ravages, scalping and mutilating their prisoners. They massa- cred with the same barbarity those who were able to carry arms, and those who were not ; old men, women, and children, were butcher- ed without discrimination. Their security was increased by the ap- pearance of the fleet under sir Peter Parker, which had arrived in the waters of Charleston. But when this fleet, after the unsuccessful attack of fort Moultrie, had abandoned the shores of Carolina, the Cherokees found themselves in a very critical situation. Having no longer any thing to fear, upon their coasts, the inhab- itants of the two Carolinas and of Virginia, devoting all their cares to free themselves from this scourge, turned their forces against the savpges, who devastated their country. These barbarians were not only defeated in several rencounters, but the Americans pursued them even into their own territory, putting all .to fire and sword, burning their habitations, cutting their trees, destroying their corn, and slaying all those who had borne, or still bore arms. This expe- dition was almost the total ruin of the nation of Cherokees. .Those who survived it, submitted to all the conditions of the conqueror, or, wanting provisions, took refuge with this Stuart, the author of the war and of their disasters, in West Florida, where the British govern- ment was forced to support them. Thus terminated this year-trie- campaign against the savages ; it may be observed, that no chastise- ment was ever more severe, or more deserved, than that which \vag inflicted^ipon the nation of the Cherokees. The avaricious and cruel men who excited these barbarians to commit so many he; BOOK. VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 401 were the more inexcusable, inasmuch as they had received their birth and education under the more clement sky of Europe. But the order of events recalls us to Canada, where military op- erations, far from being suspended, were pursued with, extreme vim>r. We have related in the preceding book, that the Americans had been constrained by the superiority of the British arms, to evacuate all Lower Canada, and even Montreal and fort St. John. They had retired to Crown Point, whither the English were unablo to follow them, for want of the necessary vessels, not only to cross Lake Champlain, but also to combat those the Americans had armed for their defense. Such, however, was the importance to the de- signs of the English of obtaining an absolute control of the lakes, that general Carle ton set himself with all diligence to the equipment of a fleet. His plan was, according to the instructions of the ministry, to penetrate by way of the lakes to the Hudson river, and thus to effect a junction with the army of New York, at Albany. By the execution of this plan, the provinces of New England would have found themselves separated from the others by a powerful and victorious army, and the cause of America would have been ex- posed to the most imminent perils. Long deliberated in the coun. cils of the British ministers, it was their favorite scheme. And r in effect, the very nature of the places between Canada and New York, appeared to favor this enterprise. With the exception of tlie heights which are found between the upper extremity of Lake George and the left bank of the Hudson, and which only occupy a space of sixteen miles, the entire passage from one of these provinces to the other, can easily be made by water, first by ascending fxom the Saint Lawrence into the Sorel, and then traversing the Lakes Cham- plain and George, or Wood Creek, to the lands which separate it from the Hudson. This river afterwards leads directly to the city of New York. The English having an immense superiority at sea, Can- ada being entirely in their power, and as the principal seat of resist- ance was found in the provinces of New England, while the coasts of New York were peculiarly accessible to maritime attacks, it can- not be denied that this plan of campaign presented great advantages. But the difficulty of the enterprise of general Carleton was equal to its importance. It was requisite to construct, or at least to equip a fleet of thirty vessels of different dimensions, and to arm them with artillery ; the want of materials rendered either of these objects difficult to accomplish. The transportation afterwards in certain places by land, and drawing up the rapids of Saint Theresa and Saint John, of thirty large long boats, a gondola of thijlLy tons, a number of flat Bottomed boats of considerable burthen, 4|^th above VOL. i. 26 402 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. four hundred batteaux, was an operation which offered not only great obstacles, but even an appearance of impossibility. But the English seamen, from their skill and patience, were not intimidated by it. The soldiers seconded them, and the peasants, taken from their rustic labors, were compelled to share the toil. The generals urged |DI- ward this laborious undertaking on account of the lateness of the season ; as the winter already approached. It was necessary to pass two lakes of considerable extent ; they had no certain intelligence respecting the force of the enemj in the fortresses of Crown Point and Ticonderoga; finally, after having worsted him upon Lake Champlain, by means of large vessels, it was to be feared that the squadron would not be able to pass the strait which joins this lake to Lake George, into which, however, it was absolutely necessary that it should enter. Meanwhile, if it should be possible to surmount so many obstacles, there still would remain to be effected the pas- sage of the woods, the marshes, and the defiles which are found between the point of debarkation and the banks of the Hudson, in order to gain the city of Albany, where only they could meet with such accommodations as would enable them to winter commodious- ly. But far from appearing discouraged, the English seemed to be animated with new ardor, and the soldiers rivaled their officers in zeal. They felt all the importance of the enterprise, and persuaded themselves that if they could reach Albany before winter, their de- finitive success would be secured . The brilliant advantages obtained by the army of New Jersey, filled them with emulation ; they were eager to share them, and fearful of arriving too late upon the theatre of glory. They labored therefore with incredible activity ; but not- withstanding all their efforts, the preparations could not be complet- ed, nor the armament fully equipped, till the middle of the month of October. It was numerous, and superior in strength to any that had ever been seen upon these lakes, and would have made no contemptible figure even upon the European seas. The admiral's ship, called the Inflexible, carried eighteen twelve pounders, and was followed by two stout schooners, the one mounting fourteen, the other twelve six pounders ; a large flat bottomed radeau, with six twenty-four and six twelve pounders. Twenty vessels of less size carried each a brass piece of ordnance, from nine to twenty-four pounders, or howitzers. Several long boats were equipped in the same manner. Besides these, there was a great number of boats and tenders of various sizes, to serve as transports for the troops, baggage, warlike stores, provisions, and arms of every sort. The whole fleet was commanded by captain Fringle, a sea officer BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAK. 403 of great experience ; it was manned by a select body of seamen, animated with an extreme desire of victory. The land troops, en- camped in the environs, prepared, as soon as the navigation of the lake should be secured, to fall upon the enemy. Three thousand m8h occupied He aux Noix, and as many were stationed at Fort Saint John ; the remainder were distributed either in the vessels or in the neighboring garrisons. The Americans united all their forces to resist such f formidable preparations. Generals Schuyler and Gates were at their head, and Arnold showed himself every where, inspiring the soldiers with that ardent courage for which he was himself distinguished. As the event of the campaign upon this frontier depended totally upon naval operations, the Americans exerted themselves to the utmost of their power to arm and equip a fleet capable of opposing that of the enemy. But their success little corresponded with their efforts. Besides the want of materials for construction, they had not a sufficiency of other stores, and their seaports were so occupied in the building of privateers and ships for the service of congress, that few carpenters could be spared. Accordingly, notwithstanding the activity and perseverance of the American generals, their squadron amounted to no more than fifteen vessels of different sizes, two brigs, one corvette, one sloop, three galleys, and eight gondolas. Their largest vessel mounted only twelve six and four pounders. But that this armament might not want a chief whose intrepidity equaled the danger of the enterprise, the command of it was given to general Arnold. It was expected of him to maintain, upon this new element, the reputation he had acquired upon land. The American army, notwithstanding all the obstacles it had encountered, and the ravages of the small-pox, still amounted to eight or nine thousand men ; it was assembled under the cannon of Ticonderoga, after having left a sufficient garrison at Crown Point. All the dispositions being made on both sides, general Carleton, impatient to conquer, ordered all his naval forces to advance towards Crown Point, intending to attack the enemy there. He had already reached the middle of the lake without having been able to discover him, and was proceeding without any distrust, when all at once the English perceived the American squadron, which was drawn up with great skill, behind the Island of Valincour, and occupied the passage between the island and the western shore of the lake. This unex- pected interview caused a violent agitation on both sides. A fierce engagement immediately ensued. But the wind being unfavorable to the English, they could not display their whole line ; the Inflexi- ble, and their other vessels of the largest class, took no part in the 404 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. action. The brig Carleton, accompanied by several gun boats, as- sailed the enemy with singular courage and ability. The Americans supported the combat with equal bravery ; it lasted above four hours. The wind continuing to be contrary for the English, captain Pringle perceived that he could not hope to obtain advantages with a rArt of his forces against all those of the enemy, and accordingly gave the signal of retreat; ordering the fleet to be anchored in a line, in presence of the American squadron. The Americans had lost in the action their largest brig, which took fire and was consumed, as also a gondola which went to the bottom. They considered it as extremely dangerous to await ? second engagement in the anchorage they occupied, and consequent- ly determined to retire under the walls of Crown Point, hoping that the artillery of the fortress would counterbalance the superiori- ty of the enemy's force. Fortune seemed inclined to favor this de- sign of general Arnold ; and already his vessels, having lost sight of those of the English, sailed rapidly towards their new station ; when suddenly the wind became favorable to the enemy, who pursued and came up with them before their arrival at Crown Point. The battle was immediately renewed with greater fury than at first ; it continued upwards of two hours. Those vessels in the meanwhile which were most ahead, crowded sail, and passing Crown Point, ran for Ticonderoga. Only two galleys and five gondolas, remained with general Arnold. With these he made a desperate defense ; but his second in command, brigadier-general Waterburgh, being taken with his vessel, and the others making but a faint resistance, he determined, in order to prevent his people and shipping from fall- ing into the power of the enemy, to run these ashore and set them on fire. He executed his intention with great address. He remain- ed on board the vessel he commanded, and kept her colors flying> till she was on fire. Though he had been unsuccessful on this occa- sion, the disparity of strength duly considered, he lost no reputation, but rose, on the contrary, in the estimation of his countrymen. He had, in their opinion, acquitted himself with no less ability in this paval encounter, than he had done at land before. The Americans, having destroyed whatever could not be carried off, evacuated Crown Point and withdrew to Ticonderoga. General Carleton occupied the former immediately, and the rest of the army came soon after to join him there. Such was the issue of the expedition w r hich the Americans had undertaken in Canada, with a view of establishing the theatre of war upon the territory of their enemies, before they could attempt to in- vade their own. Completely masters of Lake Champlain, the Eng- BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR lish had no other obstacle to surmount besides the fortress of Ticon- deroga, in order to penetrate into Lake George. If Carleton, rap- idly availing himself of his advantage, had pushed forward against the enemy, thrown into confusion by defeat, perhaps he might have seized this important place without difficulty. But he was prevent- ed from doing it by a south wind, which prevailed for several days. The Americans made the best use of this time in preparing and in- creasing their means of defense. They mounted their cannon, con- structed new works, and repaired the old, surrounding them with moats and palisades. The garrison was re-inforced with extreme expedition ; and conformably to the orders of Washington, the ox- en and horses were removed into distant places, that the English might not seize them for provision or draught. Meanwhile, gene- ral Carleton had not neglected to detach scouting parties upon the two banks of the lake ; and, when the wind permitted, some light vessels were also sent towards Ticonderoga to reconnoiter the force of the enemy and the state of the fortress. All the reports agreed that the fortifications were formidable, and the garrison full of ardor He reflected, therefore, that the siege must be long, difficult, and san- guinary, and concluded, accordingly, that the possession of this for tress would not indemnify him for all it might cost. The severe sea- son approached ; the want of provisions, the difficulty of direct com- munication with Canada, and the little hope of success from an ex- pedition in the cold and desert regions which separate the river Hud- son from Lake George, rendered the wintering upon this lake ex- tremely perilous. In consequence of these considerations, the Eng- lish general deemed the reduction of Ticonderoga of little utility in his present circumstances, whereas the command of the lakes secured him a clear passage to return in the spring to the attack of this fortress, without exposing his troops to the hardships of a siege, un- dertaken in the midst of the rigors of winter. After having taken the advice of a council of war, he renounced the project of an at- tack, and early in November conducted his army back towards Montreal, leaving his advanced posts in lie aux Noix. But prior to his retreat, from the singular courtesy and humanity of his charac- ter, he sent to their homes the American officers who had fallen in- to his power, administering generously to all their wants. He exer- cised the same liberality towards the common soldiers. The greater part were almost naked ; he caused them to be completely clothed, and set them at liberty, after having taken their oath that they would not serve against the armies of the king. General Carleton was blamed for having taken winter quarters ; this resolution \vas considered as a mark of weakness, and as highly prejudicial to the 406 THi: AMERICAN WAK. BOOK VIT. success of ulterior operations ; since, if he had immediately made himself master of Ticonderoga, his troops, after having passed the winter in its vicinity, would have been able to enter the field early the following spring. It is probable, in effect, that the war would, in that case, have had a very different result from what it actually had. But the conquest of a place so strong by nature and by art as Ticonderoga, depended on the resistance which the Americans would have made ; and certainly their number, the valor they had display- ed in the naval actions, the extreme confidence they had in their chiefs, all announced that their defense would have been long and obstinate. Nor should the consideration be omitted of the difficul- ty of subsistence, and of the communications with Canada. Be this as it may, the retreat of the English general, and his inaction during the winter, had the most happy results for the Americans. The ar- my which had made the campaign under general Lee, was enabled to effect its junction with that of Washington, upon the banks of the Delaware ; and a part of the army of Canada itself could take the same direction, under the conduct of general Gates. It cannot be doubted, however, that the Americans at this time trod upon the brink of precipices ; a single reverse might have com- pleted their ruin. Two important provinces, New York and Rhode Island, as well as the greater part of New Jersey, were fallen into the power of the victorious army. And though the arms of Clin- ton, equally successful, had arrested their course under the walls of Ticonderoga, it was but too probable that on the return of spring he would make a new effort to carry this fortress, and to penetrate to the banks of the Hudson, in order to operate his junction with the army of New York. As to Washington, it was not to be expected that, while inferior himself to his adversary, he would be in a situa- tion to send back to the army of Canada the troops that were enabled by the cessation of hostilities upon the lakes, to come to join him upon the Delaware. Though he had received, as we have seen, some re-inforcements, he was still as far from being able to match the enemy either in the number, spirit, or discipline of his soldiers, as in the quantity and quality of hie munitions of every sort. He was also continually subject to that scourge of the American army, desertion, authorized by the expiration of engagements, which incessantly menaced it with an approaching, and almost total dissolution. It was no slight mo- tive of alarm for the most influential members of congress, to remark the promptitude with which the inhabitants of the conquered prov- inces, and especially of New York, hastened to change svdes and to take advantage of the proffered pardon. BOOK Vli. THE AMERICAN WAR. 4 07 Some individuals were even seen to enroll themselves under the royal standard ; it seemed that they were determined to add to Eng- lish ci\il war, the horrors of American civil war. It was to be fear- ed that their example would prove contagious for the, other provinces, and that disaffection would manifest itself on all parts. The intrigues of governor Tryon, to compass this object, were no longer a secret ; for this very purpose he had been appointed briga- dier-general, and his maneuvers had already succeeded in many places. On the contrary, the business of recruiting moved very heavily on the part of the Americans, whereas desertion enfeebled their armies from day to day. To so many evils was joined another more fatal still ; the bills of credit began to depreciate. The govern- ment, however, had no other source of revenue. It was not yet sufficiently confirmed to hazard the imposition of taxes, payable in specie ; and this measure would besides have produced only an in- crease of the evil, by augmenting the discredit of paper ; it was therefore much to be apprehended that money, this principal sinew of war, would ere long be totally wanting. The emission of new bills of credit would infallibly accelerate their daily depreciation ; and yet it was impossible, by reason of the ever increasing exigen- cies of the public service, to abstain from continual issues. Already there were not wanting those who refused not only to receive them at a discount, but even at any rate whatever. The present time was painful, and the future appeared still more alarming. It was feared by all, and asserted by many, that the tomb of independence was not far from its cradle ; some even openly blamed the congress for hav- ing declared independence, and thereby closed all avenue to an hon- orable accommodation ; before this declaration, they said, we could treat with honor, but since, not without shame, and even becoming the fable of the universe. Surrounded by obstacles so numerous and so fearful, the congress lost none of their firmness, and resolved to set fortune at defiance. Far from betraying any symptoms of despair, they manifested great- er confidence than ever, and appeared to admit no doubt respect- ing the eventual success of the great enterprise in which they were engaged. They knew that constancy triumphs over fate. Full of a noble ardor, they preferred the dangers of war to those of peace. The admirable fortitude with which they sustained the assaults of adverse fortune, when a common ruin seemed ready to ingulf them with the cause they supported, must eternally attach to their names the glory of having laid the foundations of a new state. The na- tions of the earth rendered the homage of their admiration to so much magnanimity. 408 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. When at first, the ship of America, impelled by propitious breezes, seemed about to enter the port in safety, the wisdom of the pilots was universally applauded ; but in the midst of a tremendous tern pest, their intrepidity and their constancy shone with a splendor still more dazzling. The people of Europe felt an increase of affection for the Americans, and of hatred against England, for attempting to reduce to slavery so generous a nation. So natural it is to the hu- man heart to take an interest, from the sentiment of its indepen- dence, in the efforts made by the weak against the powerful, or from commiseration, to sympathize with the brave in their struggles against the perversity of fate. Thus the Americans honored their reverses by virtues, at the epoch when the public fortune appeared upon the verge of ruin, and no cheering ray was seen to gleam in the perspective. We have already mentioned the measures taken by the congress, in order to re-inforce the army by new levies, to remedy the danger resulting from the shortness of engagements, and to call into the field the provincial militia. As if they had intended to defy the pres- ence and the menaces of a formidable enemy, they employed them- selves in drawing up various articles of confederation and perpetual union between the states, that each of them might know its particu- lar authority within, and its reciprocal duties towards the others ; as also to ascertain the extent of executive power with which it was requisite that congress should be invested. These articles were adopted in the sitting of the fourth of October, and immediate- ly sent to the respective assemblies of each state for approbation. The principal were the following : The thirteen states confederated under the name of the United States of America. ' They all and each obligated themselves to contribute for the common defense, and for the maintenance of their liberties. ' Each particular state preserved the exclusive right of regulating its internal government, and of framing laws in all matters not in- cluded in the articles of the confederation, and which could not any way be prejudicial to it. ' No particular state was either to send or receive ambassadors, enter into negotiations, contract engagements, form alliances, or make war, except in case of sudden attack, with any king, prince, or power whatsoever, without the consent of the United States. ' No individual holding any magistracy, office or commission what- soever from the United States, or from any one of them, was allow- ed to accept of any presents, nor any offices, or titles of any kind whatever, from any foreign king, prince, or potentate. BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 409 ' No assembly was to confer titles of nobility ' No state was to make alliances or treaties of what kind soever with another, without the consent of all. ' Each particular state had authority to maintain in peace as well as in war the number of armed ships and of land troops, judged necessary by the general assembly of all the states, and no more. ' There should be a public treasury for the service of the confede- ration, which was to be replenished by the particular contributions of each state ; the same to be proportioned according to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex or condition, with the exception, however, of Indians. ' A general congress was to be convoked every year on the first Monday of November, to be composed of deputies from all the states ; it was invested with all the powers that belong to the sovereigns of other nations.' These powers were exactly enu- merated. 'Every individual holding any office, and receiving either salary, wages, or emolument whatsoever, was thereby excluded from con- gress. * There was to be a council of state, composed of one deputy for each province, nominated annually by his colleagues of the same state, and in case these should not agree, by the general congress.' Each state was to have but one vote. ' During the session as well as the recess of the general congress, the council of state was to be charged with the management of the public affairs of the confederation, always restricting itself, however, within the limits prescribed by the laws, and particularly by the articles of the confederation itself.' The province of Canada was invited to enter into the Union. The congress afterwards desiring to revive the courage of those who had suffered themselves to be intimidated by reverses, and lo prevent their sentiments from changing with fortune, issued a proc- lamation, wherein they represented anew the justice of their cause, their long and fruitless supplications, the cruel proceedings of the ministers, the necessity of the declaration of independence, and the unanimous approbation with which it had been received. Then fol- lowed the enumeration of all the successes which had attended the American arms in the northern provinces ; the English driven from Boston, repulsed before Charleston, arrested in their progress at Ticonderoga. Finally, the American people were invited to consider the immense value of the prizes made at sea, the abundance of pro- visions, and the probability of soon seeing the army suitably clothed and equipped. All the citizens, and especially those of Pennsylva- 410 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. nia, of New Jersey, and of the neighboring states, were exhorted to show themselves united and firm in the defense of country. ' Con- sider,' said the proclamation, ' that the present state of our affairs is not to be attributed to any faults of the generals, or want of valor in the soldiers, but to the shortness of the term of enlistments. Re- flect, that foreign princes have already furnished us with a multitude of articles necessary to war, and be assured that we shall receive from them succors still more efficacious. Be not wanting to your- selves, nor suffer the rich and populous city of Philadelphia to fall into the power of the enemy ; let not the occasion escape of over- whelming his principal army, now it is far from the ships which form so great a part of its force. The loss of Philadelphia would not be followed by the ruin of our cause, but wherefore should the enemy enjoy this triumph ? Let us arrest his career, let us baffle his efforts ; let us prove to the friends of America, even the most distant, that we are all animated with one same spiri't, and with one only will, to defend against cruel enemies what man holds, and ought to hold, the most dear. Remember, that the success of our efforts will secure the eternal repose and safety of the United States, and attach to our names an immortal glory ; stand firm, therefore, and preserve yourselves for the day of victory ; be prepared for a hap- pier destiny.' Desirous that the authority of religion should encourage and con- firm the people in their fidelity, the congress recommended, that the assemblies of the different states should appoint a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, to obtain from the clemency of the Most High, prosperity for the arms and success for the just cause of America. But the danger increasing continually, and the enemy approach- ing the banks of the Delaware, the congress, upon the representa- tions of generals Putnam and Mifflin, took the resolution, on the twelfth of December, to withdraw from Philadelphia, and adjourned themselves to the twentieth of the same month at Baltimore, in Maryland. The departure of congress spread great consternation in the city, from fear as well of the English as of the loyalists, who were very numerous there, though a part of them had repaired to the commis- sioners to avail themselves of the amnesty. It was greatly appre- hended that they would seek to disturb the public tranquillity ; already by their cries and menaces, they had prevented the fortifi- cation of the city, which it had been intended to accomplish. The greater part of the Quakers belonged to this party. Washington had found it necessary to send to Philadelphia a numerous corps under BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 411 the command of lord Sterling, in order to support the friends of the revolution, and to repress its adversaries. The congress being assembled at Baltimore, in consideration of the imminent peril, which seemed to exact the dictatorial authority decreed, that having the most entire confidence in the wisdom, vigor, and uprightness of general Washington, they invested him with the most ample and complete powers to levy and organize in the most expeditious mode, from any or all of the United States, sixteen bat- talions of infantry, in addition to those already voted by congress, and to appoint the officers ; to raise, equip, and provide with officers, three thousand light horse, three regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers ; and to establish their pay ; to call into service the militia of the several states ; to form such magazines of provisions, and in such places as he should think proper ; to displace and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier-general, and to fill up all va- cancies in every other department in the American armies ; to take, wherever he might be, whatever he might want for the use of trie army, if the inhabitants would not sell it, allowing a reasonable price for the same ; to arrest and confine persons who refused to take the continental currency, or were otherwise disaffected to the American cause : returning to the states of which they were citizens, their names and the nature of their offenses, with the proofs to substan tiate them. It was resolved that these extraordinary powers should be vested in general Washington during the term of six mon-ths, unless sooner determined by congress. Thus the rulers of America, urged by extreme peril, and confiding in the virtue of the captain-general, reposed on him alone the entire weight of the war. In the midst of so many reverses, not a single American was heard to hint a suspicion of treason, or even of neg- ligence or incapacity in the chiefs of the army ; nothing especially diminished the respect and confidence of which the commander-in- chief was the object a remarkable example of moderation and popular reserve. Pride had not persuaded this people that they were invincible, and ambition had not rendered them suspicious. They attributed their defeats to the force of things, and not to the faults of their generals. This confidence in the good faith of their defend- ers entitled them to find, and they did find, those that were faithful. Too often, on the contrary, the people of other countries, prone to suspicions, lending a credulous ear to the suggestions of envy, irri- tated by reverses, or intoxicated by success, experience, to their cost tnat whoever has no confidence in others, finds none in return. As it was essential to provide pecuniary resources, the congress passed a law authorizing a loan of five millions of dollars, at the an- 412 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VJ1. nual interest of four per cent The faith of the United States was pledged for the reimbursement of the capital, at the end of three years, and of the interest annually. For this purpose they estab- lished a loan office in each of the United States, to be superintend- ed by a commissioner appointed by the said states respectively, who should receive a commission of one eighth per cent, on all moneys that should be brought into the office. A short time after, observ- ing that the loan made little progress, the interest was raised to six per cent. With the same intention, the congress also created a lottery, con- sisting of one hundred thousand tickets, each ticket divided into four billets at ten twenty, thirty or forty dollars each, and to be drawn in four classes. This lottery, after deduction of the prizes, was to raise the sum of fifteen hundred thousand dollars. The holders of the fortunate billets might receive, under certain conditions, a treasury bank note for the prize or prizes drawn, payable at the end of five years, and an annual interest on the same of four per cent. It was hoped thus to amass a considerable sum, as well by the gain of the lottery, as by the loan of the prizes. These operations had besides another object ; by obviating the necessity of emitting new bills of .credit, they tended to enhance the value of those in circulation. But the evil was already so great, that if these remedies were not alto- gether useless, at least they could afford but little palliation. It was therefore deemed necessary to resort to more efficacious means. As it was especially in Pennsylvania that the paper money was depreciated, the congress decreed, that the council of safety of this province, should take the most prompt and effectual measures for punishing those who should refuse the bills, and that the general should lend assistance to carry into effect the resolutions of the coun- cil. This committee resolved that whoever should refuse to receive the bills of credit in payment of any debt or contract, or as the price of any commodity or merchandise whatsoever, or who should demand a greater price in bills, than in coined money, should be considered, for the first time, as an enemy of society, and should lose either the amount of his debt, or of the article sold ; which should be consid- ered thenceforth as the property of the debtor or of the purchaser. He was punished besides with a fine more or less considerable, ac- cording to the value of the sums stipulated. But in case of relapse, independently of the penalties above mentioned, the delinquents were to be banished or confined in such mode and place as the council of safety should think proper. Several offenders against this law hav- ing been condemned to shut their shops and to cease their traffic, some, even having been banished ; the former were permitted to BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. return to their commerce, and the latter to their homes, in the hope that the remembrance of past punishment, and the apprehension of future, would determine them to abstain from these practices, so prejudicial to the public credit, and to the cause of independence. A short time after, the congress perceived that not only the author- ity of the council of safety in Pennsylvania, had proved insufficient to check the depreciation of the continental paper in that province, but that the evil began to manifest itself also in the others. They deemed it therefore expedient to labor directly themselves to prevent this scourge, and decreed that whoever in any purchase, sale cr bar- gain, of whatsoever nature, should presume to rate gold and silver coin at a higher value than the bills of credit issued by congress, should be declared an enemy to the liberty of the United States, and should lose the price stipulated of the transaction in which this difference of value should have been made. They further decreed, that the provincial assemblies should be requested to constitute the bills lawful money, that could not be refused in payment of debts, whether public or private ; and that the refusal should operate the extinction of the debt. The assemblies took the measures which appeared to them proper to fulfill the intentions of congress. The first effect of these different regulations was, that all vendible articles rose in proportion to the depreciation of paper ; which seemed to increase in the ratio of the efforts that were made to prevent it. An- other consequence was, that the debtors liberated themselves from the claims of their creditors with a money continually declining in value ; and though this year the discount was not considerable, since an hundred dollars in specie might be had for one hundred and four in paper, many private fortunes suffered from it ; and the example became pernicious. In order to arrest so serious an evil, the con- gress invited the provincial assemblies to become responsible for the redemption of the bills it had emitted, hoping that the guaranty of each state for its proportional part, added to that of congress, might restore the public confidence. It was also thought very proper that the assemblies of the several states should impose, without delay, such taxes as they might judge, from the condition of the people, could be best supported, and collected with the least difficulty. The con- gress promised, that the sums produced by these taxes should be passed to the credit of each state in liquidation of their proportion of the public debt. The assemblies conformed to the recommenda- tions of congress ; and this body also decreed another loan of two millions of dollars. But all these measures produced little or no effect, from the pressure of the times, the uncertainty of the future, and the abundance of bills already emitted from the facility and the 414 THE AMERICAN WAK. BOOK Til. need, which the congress had. as well as the particular states, to put more into circulation every day. But whatever might prove to be the success of the efforts of con- gress to raise troops, to maintain the public credit, and to wrest vic- tory from the hands of the enemy, they well knew that if the Eu- ropean powers came not promptly to the succor of America, she could cherish but a feeble hope of triumph. Fortunately it was known that these powers, and especially those whose naval forces rendered their assistance of the most importance, at the head of whom was France, were all disposed to favor America, either out of hatred towards England, or from the prospect of private advantages. In- de r endently of the general inclinations of the European nations, these political sentiments manifested themselves by no equivocal to- kens The American ships were received in the French and Span- ish ports, in Europe as well as in the West Indies, as belonging to a nation not only friendly, but moreover as belonging to a nation really and absolutely independent. The French and the Spaniards deriv- ed an immense advantage from it ; they began to reap the fruits of this commerce with America, whereof England had hither monopo- lized the exclusive benefit. Nor did they restrict themselves to receiving the Americans with cordiality in their ports; they also permitted their privateers publicly to sell therein the prizes they had taken from the English, whether in Europe or in the West Indies. The remonstrances which the British ministers had addressed upon this subject to the courts of Versailles and of Madrid, had not pro- duced any sensible effect. It was no longer a secret that there daily departed from the ports of France, ships laden with munitions of war for America. There was also a fact which the English could in no shape endure, and against which they raised a violent clamor ; not only, as we have related, were the American privateers received into the ports of the French West Indies, where they sold their prizes, and provided themselves with all necessary articles, but no small number of the French themselves fitted out privateers under the American flag, and, furnished with the commissions of con- gress, infested every sea, and depredated upon the English commerce, which procedure, as the French government did not interdict, it was necessary to conclude that it approved. There was remarked also in France a general inclination in all classes, and especially among the noblesse, to enter into the service of the United States ; already several of these last were arrived in America, and had treat- ed with the congress ; among others, the Chevalier de Fermoy, ap- pointed brigadier-general in the American armies, and M. de Portail, an orficer of distinguished talents and valor, who was placed at the BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 415 head of the engineers, a corps as yet very imperfectly organized in America. Never, in any other war, had the French, naturally so prepense to military enterprises, manifested an equal ardor to place themselves under the colors of a foreign power. If this enthusiasm may be attributed in part to the political opinions which then pre- vailed generally in Europe, nevertheless, it must chiefly be imputed to the known disposition of the government. It is even extremely probable that France would have declared war against Great Britain sooner than she did, if Louis XVI. had been of a less pacific char- acter. England saw with as much solicitude, as the Americans with hope, the preparations that were made with incredible activity in the ports of France and of Spain. If the British ministers demanded the reason of them, they were answered, that a discussion with Portugal rendered an approaching rupture with that kingdom a thing to be apprehended ; that the seas were covered with English fleets and American privateers, and that independently of so furious a maritime war, such armies were sent by England into the New World as there never had been example of; that consequently France and Spain owed it to themselves to increase tru r forces, for the protection of their commerce and the secunty of their colonies. It was observed, also, that it appeared sufficiently surprising that those, who, not content with putting in motion all their national troops, had also dispatched to America a large army of foreign mercenaries, should find it extraordinary that their neighbors should stand upon their guard against all the events with which they might be menaced. These explanations were by no means satisfactory to the English government, and in no degree diminished the hopes of the Americans, who saw clearly that the motives alledged were far from corresponding with the immensity of the preparations. It had never been questioned that the family compact, concluded in 1761, between his most Christian majesty and the catholic king, was chiefly designed to unite and confeder- ate all the branches of the house of Bourbon, in order to reduce the power of England ; and what more favorable occasion could present itself than the American war? Such evidently was the object of the extraordinary preparations of France and Spain ; and if, instead of those profound lawyers who then directed the councils of England, the energetic earl of Chatham or some other statesman of his stamp, had guided the helm of state it is impossible to doubt that England would at that very time have declared war against the house of Bourbon . Experience has proved^ this time, that fortune assists the bold, and that this world belongs to him that can seize it. As to Holland, if, being less warlike than 416 THE AMERICAN WAP. BOOK VII. France and Spain, she made no armaments that could give umbrage, at least her merchants, attracted by the lure of gain, supplied the Americans abundantly with munitions, with arms, and with whatever they had need of to sustain the war. All the other powers of Eu- rope appeared to be animated, more or less, with the same spirit. Portugal alone persisted in fidelity to England, and would never consent to supply the Americans with arms or munitions, or that their privateers should be received into any Portuguese port. Maturely reflecting upon this state of things, and urged by neces- sity, the congress resolved to make the most of the present occasion The entire league that was forming against England, had France for its foundation, or rather for its heart ; accordingly, so early as the beginning of the year 1776, the congress had sent Silas Deane to reside near the French government, in order to penetrate its inten- tions respecting America. He was instructed to neglect no efforts to dispose minds in her favor, and to obtain immediately all the suc- cors of arms and munitions that circumstances might admit of. He acquitted himself of his mission with extreme diligence, especially in what related to the material part. He succeeded in obtaining supplies from private companies as well as from indiviv lal contrac- tors, among whom should be mentioned Caron de Bcaumarchais, who manifested in this transaction an activity no less advantageous to himself, than to the Americans. These arms and warlike stores were openly shipped in American vessels, or privately put on board those of France. Silas Deane did more ; he found means to obtain them from the royal arsenals. They delivered him fifteen thousand muskets, which he hastened to expedite for America, where they were of essential utility. He treated with all those French ge'ntle- men who were desirous of serving under the standard of Washing- ton, but not always to the satisfaction of congress, who sometimes could not confirm tho conditions, or even the choice of persons, made by their envoy. * But independence being declared, and military operations having taken an alarming turn, the congress had thought it expedient to send men of greater authority, that a solemn embassy, worthy to rep- resent the republic, might bear to the king, Louis XVI., the homage of their singular attachment and respect. They wished, especially, that, by the agency of these new ministers, what was only a simple desire, might be rendered an efficacious will, and that the effect should finally follow the intention. Accordingly, in their sitting oi the twenty-sixth of September, they appointed commissioners to thu court of France, Franklin, Jefferson and Deane, all men of singular address and excellent judgment. But Jefferson having excused him- - ,. BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 417 self, he was replaced by Arthur Lee. Their instructions were, to continue to procure arms and munitions ; to obtain permission from the government to fit out in the French ports, at the expense of the United States, a number of ships of war, in order to harass the com- merce of England ; and, finally, to use all proper means to induce the court of France to conclude a treaty of alliance, of which the congress had communicated the plan to their commissioners. They were also directed to solicit a loan of ten millions of francs, or at least of six, and even of four, in case they should not be able to ob- tain more. But, above all things, they were to endeavor to procure the recognition of the independence of the United States. The con- gress, knowing that what caused the indecision of foreign princes on this point, was the fear that the Americans might abandon them all at once, after having engaged them to espouse their cause, and re- turn to their ancient submission, enjoined it upon their commission- ers to exert all their endeavors to persuade his most Christian majes- ty that the United States would never again come under the scepter of the king of England ; that the confidence he might deign to place in their efforts and constancy, should not in any time be de- ceived ; that there never should be granted to the English any ex- clusive traffic, or any commercial advantages and privileges greater than those that should be conceded to the subjects of France. The congress proposed, besides, that, in case of war between France and Great Britain, the United States and France should reciprocally ob- ligate themselves to communicate to each other the negotiations of peace that might take place, in order that each party might, if so dis- posed, participate therein. The commissioners were ordered to soli- cit a new supply of twenty or thirty thousand muskets, with a cer- tain quantity of artillery, and abundant munitions, all to be convey- ed to America in French vessels, but at the expense of the United States. Finally, that the hopes of advantages to be derived from an alliance with the Americans, might be seconded by the fear of the 'detriment that would result from their re-union with England, the congress strictly charged their envoys to give out that notwithstand- ing the good will of the United States, they would not be able, un- assisted, to hold out for any length of time against the greatly supe- rior power of Great Britain ; that therefore it was to be feared, if they were abandoned to themselves, that they would be forced to submit, and that the British government would gain by conquest what would ne vf r nave been yielded by consent. Then, as to Spain, in order to remove the apprehensions she might have conceived of a revolt in her colonies, the commissioners were authorized to assure her by the most energetic protestations, and to persuade her, that VOL. i. 27 418 THE AMERICA^ WAR BOOK VIT. the Spanish colonies should, in no event, ever receive any molesta- tion from the United States. Finally, it was prescribed them to use all vigilance, in order to discover whether the British cabinet had opened any new negotiations in Europe for subsidizing still other mercenary troops to be sent against America ; and in such case they were to endeavor to obtain the interference of France, to defeat so pernicious a design. Furnished with these instructions, the American envoys com- menced their voyage. Franklin arrived at Nantz the thirteenth of December, and a few days after, at Paris. For a long time there had not appeared in this city a man more venerable or more venerated, as well in consideration of his age, which already exceeded seventy years, as for the superiority of his genius, the vast extent of his knowledge, and the brilliant renown of his virtues. At no epoch, perhaps, have the French, naturally so fond of novelties, manifested an equal expectation. Their conversations, their writings, even their thoughts, appeared to have no other object but the cause of America. It found among them only admirers and zealous partisans. Accord- ingly, from the moment the American envoy was arrived in their capital, his person, his actions, his words, his opinions, became the object of public curiosity. Nor can it be denied that he assumed with sagacity a demeanor well suited to the situation of his country and to his own. He presented himself in every place as the citizen of an unfortunate country, reduced to extremities by the cruelty of England. Who could remark his hoary locks, and tottering walk, without reflecting that this aged man had traversed an -immense ocean to recommend the cause of his country to those who were able to embrace its defense ? ' Never before,' it was exclaimed, ' has so meritorious a work been proposed to French generosity ; France is the refuge of the unfortunate, the protectress of the oppressed. The war waged by England against her colonies is impious and bar- barous ; the blood she sheds, is innocent blood ; it is only by the tutelary assistance of our king that the Americans can hope to be extricated from their cruel embarrassments, and to enjoy at length a secure and tranquil existence.' Franklin soon made choice of a re- treat at Passy, situated near Paris ; he appeared to deplore in this re- tirement the misfortunes of America. A rumor got abroad, and perhaps it was purposely circulated, that the British government, taking umbrage at his presence, had demanded of the court of France that he should be sent away. Hence that compassion which is natu- rally felt for persecuted virtue, was excited among all classes. He became the object of a still more eager curiosity. Whether accom- panied by several of his countrymen, cruelly banished or proscribed ,,* BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN TVAR. 419 by the English government, he appeared in tne public walks, or whether he presented himself in places of public or private resort, or in the meetings of the literary academies, the multitude thronged to get sight of him. In all places the portraits of Franklin were ex- hibited ; they represented him with a venerable countenance, and dressed, as usual, in rather a singular costume, the more to attract attention. He lived at Passy in a certain style of simplicity, much resembling that of the ancient philosophers. His humorous sayings, and grave aphorisms, caused many to compare him to Socrates. The name of Franklin was upon the lips of every body ; and. the mode, which so often in France directs public attention upon vain frivoli- ties, had this time attached itself to an object worthy of all the con- sideration of the observer. But the politic sage, however he might have been gratified in hav- ing drawn upon himself and upon his country the attention and in- terest of a people so renowned for the gentleness of their manners, desired to obtain more real advantages. Employing as much dex- terity as mystery, he visited the ministers assiduously, and availed himself of the distinguished reception he found with them, to pro- mote the interests of his constituents. His efforts were crowned with the most rapid success ; and the moment appeared already at hand, when France would no longer dissemble the vigorous co-ope- ration she had determined to afford the Americans. But, in the, meantime, fortune had shown herself so unpropitious to the Americans in New York and New Jersey, that even the capi- tal of the confederation was in great danger of falling into the hands of the victor. The congress became apprehensive that when this disastrous intelligence should arrive in Europe, it might have a fatal influence upon the negotiations opened by their envoys with the gov- ernments of France and of Spain ; and that the interest they had hitherto manifested in favoi of America, might be totally extinguish- ed. The congress therefore determined to renew their protestations to the courts of Versailles and Madrid, and with more energy than before, to assure them that the Americans would persist in their en- terprise at all hazards ; and at the same time to suggest to these powers that the advantages they would derive from their co-operation should be more considerable than had been promised them at first. The envoys of congress were instructed to use all their endeavors that France should declare herself against England, by attacking the electorate of Hanover, or any other part of the British possessions, as well in Europe as in the East or West Indies. To arrive at this object, they were ordered to promise the most Christian king, that if his majesty consented to break with Great Britain, the United States 420 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. would join their forces with his to effect the conquest of the island of Newfoundland and of Cape Breton ; that the subjects of the British king, as well as those of every other power, should be forever ex- cluded from the cod fishery upon these banks, so that the French and the Americans only should have the right to carry it on ; that the king of France should possess in absolute property the half of the island of Newfoundland, provided he would furnish the United States with the naval forces necessary to subdue the province of Nova Scotia ; and that this province, as well as the remaining part of New- foundland, and the island of Cape Breton, should belong to the American republic. If these offers proved insufficient to decide France, they were to propose further, that the United States were ready to consent that all the English islands of the West Indies that should be conquered in the course of the war by the joint forces of France and America, should become the entire property of his most Christian majesty, and moreover, to effectuate these different con- quests, that the Americans would furnish provisions at their own expense, to the value of two millions of dollars, as also six frigates, completely rigged and equipped, ready for sea ; in a word, that they would deport themselves in all respects as good and faithful allies. Finally, they were authorized to stipulate that all the commerce which shou'.d in future be carried on between the United States and the French West Indies, should be exercised exclusively by the vessels belonging to the subjects of his most Christian majesty, or to the citizens of the United States. As to the king of Spain, the congress proposed to engage, in case he would declare war against Great Britain, to assist him in reducing the city and port of Pensa- cola ; they offered, oesides, to conclude with him a treaty of alliance and commerce, similar to that which had been proposed to the king of France. The Americans added, that in case it was true, as it was already reported, that the king of Portugal had driven from his ports with outrage, or confiscated their vessels, liie United States would immediately declare war against him, if such was the desire of the courts of France and of Spain. The congress extended their views still further ; they sent commissioners to the courts of Vienna, of Berlin, and of Tuscany, r all of which they had recognized a sincere interest for the cause of America. They desired that these sove- reigns should be persuaded of the determination of the United States to maintain their independence. Their agents were ordered, espe- cially, to exert themselves with assiduity, in order to induce the emperor of Germany and the king of Prussia to interfere in behalf of America to prevent new levies of German or Russian troops, to its prejudice. They had it also in charge to propose to the court of BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 421 Berlin a treaty of commerce and amity, provided it was perfectly agreeable to the kings of France and of Spain. Such were the resolutions adopted by the congress to confirm the state, threatened, in its infancy, with approaching ruin. But the assiduity with which they prosecuted their political negotiations, in no degree diminished the vigor of their military preparations. They not only manifested no disposition to abandon the design of independence, and come to an arrangement with England, but it is also seen that they made no proposition to the foreign powers that was either demonstrative of despair, or unworthy of a state enjoying the entire plenitude of its force and of its freedom. Certain members of congress, it is true, proposed resolutions that denoted less confidence and firmness ; one, for example, was disposed to authorize the commissioners at the court of France to transfer in favor of that power the absolute monopoly of commerce which had been enjoyed by England ; another suggest- ed that France should be offered the exclusive commerce of certain articles ; others, finally, proposed a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive. But the fortune of the republic prevailed, which had reserved it a higher destiny. All these propositions we*e rejected by the wiser and more numerous part of the members of congress. It was evident that if they had been adopted, they might have been considered as a tacit avowal of the desperate state of affairs, and must consequently have produced an effect directly contrary to that which their authors expected from them. Besides, France had quite other and far more cogent motives for breaking with England, and such as would suffice to induce her to take this resolution, provided the Americans only manifested a determination to combat to the last with unshaken constancy. The instructions sent by the congress to their commissioners, were intercepted by the English, who caused them to be published. This gave the congress no regret j they had no doubt that such an evidence of their unalterable resolution to maintain their indepen- dence, in the midst of so many reverses, would convince the Euro- pean princes who desired the dismemberment of the British empire, that it was time to declare themselves, unless they were willing to see the resistance of the Americans rendered fruitless by the inferi- ority of their forces, and the conquest of their country. But whatever was the constancy of congress, or the attraction of their proposals to foreign sovereigns, they could little expect that, in so deplorable a state of their affairs, they would consent to espouse the cause of the Americans ; it being but too natural, in policy, to abandon those who appear to be sinking. Words little avail, when they are unsupported by arms and the smiles of fortune. But she 422 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. had shown herself so hostile to America towards the conclusion of the present year, as to render it but too probable that two or three cold nights, by freezing the waters of the Delaware, would place in the power of the English, in spite of all the Americans could do to prevent it, the capital of the entire confederation. And even if the cold should not prove so rigorous as was usual at this season, the army of Washington, already so weak, would be dissolved with the expiration of the engagement of the soldiers, at the end of the year. Nor could it be expected, that in so much adversity new recruits would come forward to replace the disbanded troops. In this state of things, the best that could be expected was, that after the entire submission of the more open provinces, the miserable fragments of the American army would seek refuge in the strongest places, in the forests and inaccessible mountains, when a partisan war would commence, that could have no decisive effect upon the final issue of the war. But Washington was not discouraged; and before the coming of severe frost, or the departure of the greater part of his soldiers deprived him of all power, he resolved, by a bold and well directed movement, to make a new trial of the fortune of the re- public, by attacking a strong and victorious enemy, who was far from suspecting that he could have the thought of such an attempt an heroic resolution, for which posterity ought to bear him an eternal gratitude ! From this moment, the war suddenly assumed a new face, and victory began at length to incline in favor of the Amer- icans. Washington had observed that general Howe, either to procure more commodious quarters for his troops in this rigorous season, or to impede the Americans in recruiting, or finally because he believed the war at an end, and his enemy no longer in a condition to act, had too far extended the wings of his army, which occupied the entire province of New Jersey and the left bank of the Delaware, from Trenton down to Burlington. Colonel Ralle, a Hessian officer of great merit, was cantoned in the first of these places, with his brigade of infantry and a detachment of English dragoons, the whole constituting a corps of fourteen or fifteen hundred men. Borden- town, a few miles below, was occupied by colonel Donop, with another brigade of Hessians ; and still lower down, within twenty miles of Philadelphia, was stationed another corps of Hessians and English. Knowing the extreme weakness of their enemy, and holding him as it were degraded by his recent defeats, they kept a negligent guard. The rest of the army was lodged in places more distant, and principally at Princeton, at New Brunswick, and at Amboy. Washington having attentively considered the extent of BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 423 the enemy's quarters, conceived the hope of surprising the corps that were nearest to the river, and too remote from the others to be succored in season. In order to make his attack with more order and effect, he divided his army, which consisted almost entirely in the militia of Pennsylvania and Virginia, into three corps, the first and most considerable of which was to pass the Delaware at Mac- kenky's Ferry, about nine miles above Trenton. The commander in-chief, accompanied by generals Sullivan and Greene, had reserved to himself the conduct of this corps, to which a few pieces of artillery were attached. It was destined to attack Trenton. The second division, under the command of general Irwin, was directed to cross at Trenton Ferry, about a mile below the village of this name, and having reached the left bank, to seize, without loss of time, the bridge over the little river Assumpink, in order to intercept the retreat of the enemy when he should be dislodged from Trenton by the di- vision under Washington. Finally, the third corps, commanded by general Cadvvallader, was ordered to pass the river at Bristol, and proceed to take post at Burlington. The night of Christmas was appointed for the expedition. The dispositions being made accord- ing to the plan above mentioned, the Americans proceeded with admirable order and silence towards the Delaware. The chiefs exhorted their soldiers to be firm and valiant, to wash out the stains of Long Island, of New York, and of New Jersey ; they represented to them the necessity, the glory, and the brilliant fruits of victory ; they incessantly reminded them that this night was about to decide the fate of their country. An extreme ardor manifested itself throughout the ranks. The three columns arrived in the dusk of evening at the bank of the river. Washington had hoped that the passage of the troops, and transportation of the artillery, might have been effectuated before midnight, so as to have time to reach the destined points by break of day, and to surprise the enemy at Trenton. But the cofd was so intense, and the river so obstructed with floating ice, that it was impossible to cross and to land the artillery earlier than four in the morning. All the troops having at length gained the left bank, the first corps was parted into two divis- ions, one of which, turning to the right, marched towards Trenton, by die road which runs along the river ; the other, guided by Wash- ington in person, took the upper or Pennington road. The distance, by their route, being nearly equal, it was hoped that the two columns might arrive at the same time. It was enjoined them to engage in combat without any delay, and after having driven in the outposts, to fall immediately upon the main body of the enemy, at Trenton, without giving him time to recover from his surprise. They ex- 424 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. erted all their efforts to arrive before day ; but a thick fog, and a mist mingled with sleet, which rendered the road slippery, retarded their march. The two divisions, however, reached Trenton at eight o'clock. Notwithstanding so many obstacles, and the hour already so late, the Hessians of colonel Ralle had no suspicion of the ap- proach of the enemy. The Americans having, therefore, fallen unexpectedly upon the advanced guards, routed them immediately. Colonel Ralle sent his regiment to their succor, in order to sustain the first shock, and to give time for the rest of his forces to arrange themselves for defense. But the first line involved the second in disorder, and both fell back tumultuously upon Trenton. Colonel Ralle, having hastily dra'vn out his Hessians, advanced to encounter the enemy in the open field ; but he was mortally wounded in the first onset, and the Americans charging the Germans with great fury, the latter betook themselves to flight, leaving upon the field six pieces of light artillery. They attempted to escape by the road of Princeton, but Washington, perceiving it, dispatched several companies to pre-occupy the way, who received the fugitives in front. Thus surrounded on every side, the three German regiments of Ralle, of Anspach, and of Knyphausen, were constrained to lay down arms and surrender at discretion. Some few, and chiefly cavalry or light infantry, in all not exceeding five hundred men, succeeded in effecting their escape by the lower road which leads to Bordentown. Another detachment of Hessians, who were out this same morning upon a foraging excur- sion, at some distance from their camp, warned by the noise, and af- terwards by the flight of their countrymen, retired precipitately to Princeton. General Irwin had exerted his utmost endeavors to pass the river at the time prescribed, in order to take part in the action ; but the floating ice was so accumulated, in this part of the river, as to render the passage absolutely impracticable. This part of the Hessians, therefore, had the facility of retiring in safety to Borden- town. General Cad wallader was not more fortunate in the attempt he made to cross lower down, and to take post at Burlington, pursu- ant to the plan of attack. When a part of his infantry had reached the left bank, it was found impossible to advance with the artillery ; unable, therefore, to act with any effect, and finding himself in a perilous situation, he re-passed to the right bank of the Delaware. Thus the design of the commander-in-chief was accomplished only in part ; but the event demonstrated, that if the rigorous cold of this night had not prevented its entire execution, all the royal troops that were stationed in the vicinity of the river, would have been sur- rounded and taken The loss of the Hessians, in killed and wounded, BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 425 amounted only to thirty or forty, but the number of prisoners was at first upwards of nine hundred, and even exceeded a thousand, when all those were collected who had concealed themselves in the houses. After having obtained this success, Washington paused ; not willing to lose by impruden.ce the advantages he owed to the wisdom of his measures. His forces were not sufficient to cope with those which the English generals could have assembled in a few hours. A strong corps of light infantry was quartered at Princeton, a town only a few miles distant from Trenton : to this might easily have been joined the brigade of Donop, and other battalions that were cantoned in the neighboring places. The Americans consequently evacuated Trenton, and passed over to the right bank of the river, with their prisoners, and the trophies of their victory. Their generals resolved to make the most of it, in order to revive the courage and confidence of the dispirited people. They caused the captive Hessians to defile, with a sort of triumphal pomp, through the streets of Phila- delphia, followed by their arms and banners. And yet such was the terror inspired by the very name of these Germans, that even at the moment in which they traversed the city as vanquished and prison- ers, many of the inhabitants suspected it was only a stratagem of their own leaders to animate them ; so impossible it seemed to them that warriors from Germany should have been overcome by Ameri- can soldiers. The English appeared to them far less formidable, because they knew them. Man is naturally disposed to fear most those objects of which he has the least knowledge; the uncouth language, the novel manners, and even the dress of the German soldiers, inspired a certain dread. But when they were satisfied that the spectacle they beheld was not an illusion, words cannot describe their exultation at so unexpected a success ; having at first rated the Hessians far above the English, they now held them as much below. And, in effect, this affair of Trenton had so changed the face of things, that the public mind was rapidly elevated from despondency to an extreme confidence. The English themselves could not re- mark without astonishment this sudden metamorphosis in an enemy whom they considered as already vanquished and quelled. They were unable to conceive how troops of such high renown had been compelled to lay down arms before militia, hastily collected, ill pro- vided with arms, and totally devoid of discipline. Hence, as it happens in reverses, suspicions, reproaches, and accusations arose on all parts. It was vociferated that the English general had too far extended his quarters ; that colonel Ralle had committed an impru- dence, finding himself the weaker, in marching out of his quarters 4o charge the enemy ; that he had, besides, neglected his guard ; arid 426 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. that his soldiers, instead of being at their posts, were gone out in quest of plunder. However this might have been, the entire British army put itself in motion ; colonel Donop, trembling for himself and for his corps, retired with precipitation, by the way of Amboy, to unite with general Leslie at Princeton ; and general Grant, who with the main body of the army occupied New Brunswick, advanced upon Princeton to join the vanguard, stationed at that place. Lord Cornwallis himself, who was then at New York, on the point of embarking for England, at the news of this fatal event, returned with the utmost expedition into New Jersey. But the Americans felt their courage revive ; on all parts they ran to arms, and the forces of Washington were so increased that he conceived the design of more extensive operations, and thought himself in a situation to attempt an expedition upon the frontiers of New Jersey. Accord- ingly, he ordered general Cadwallader to pass the Delaware, and take a strong position upon the left bank ; but to advance with ex- treme caution, and to avoid unexpected rencounters. General Mifflin, with a considerable corps of Pennsylvania militia, had joined general Irvvin, and they both crossed the river. Washington himself followed them immediately, and concentrated all his troops at Tren- ton. Here the militia of New England, whose term of service was expired, were inclined to quit the army, and go to their homes ; but the instances of their generals, and a bounty of ten dollars, induced the greater part of them to remain. The EnglisTi, who had assem- bled in great strength in Princeton, resolved to lose no time, but to go and attack Washington in his quarters at Trenton, before he should receive new re-inforcements ; they also hoped that the expi- ration of engagements would greatly reduce the number of his sol- diers. 1777. The second of January, lord Cornwallis marched with the vanguard towards Trenton, where he arrived about four in the morn- ing. The rear guard was posted at Maidenhead, a village situated half way between Princeton and Trenton ; other regiments were on the march from New Brunswick, to re-inforce the principal army. Washington, finding the enemy in such force, and so near, retired behind the river of Trenton, also called the Assumpink, where he set about intrenching himself, having first secured the bridge. The English attempted the passage at various points, but every where without success ; all the fords being diligently guarded. A cannon- ade was engaged, which produced little effect, though it lasted until night ; the Americans stood firm in their intrenchments. Cornwallis waited for re-inforcements, intending to advance to the assault the day following ; but his adversary was not disposed to put so much BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. at stake. On the other hand, to re-pass the Delaware, then more than ever obstructed with floating ice, in the presence of a, formida- ble enemy, was too perilous an operation to be attempted without temerity. Washington therefore found himself anew in a very criti- cal position ; but it was then that he embraced a resolution remark- able for its intrepidity. Reflecting that he was advanced too far to be able to retreat without manifest danger, he determined to abandon all at once the banks of the Delaware, and to carry the war into the very heart of New Jersey. He considered that Cornvvallis, in all probability, would apprehend being cut off from the province of New York, and fearing, besides, for the magazines at New Brunswick, which were abundantly stocked for the service of the whole British army, would himself also retire from the river ; and thus the city of Philadelphia would be preserved, a great part of New Jersey recov- ered, and defensive war changed into offensive ; advantages which could not but animate the inhabitants with new courage. If the English general persisted in his design, he passed the river, indeed^ without obstacle, and became master of Philadelphia. But whatever were to be the effects of this disastrous event, it was better to aban don Philadelphia, and preserve the army entire, than to lose at the same time both the one and the other. This plan having been approved in a council of war, composed of all the generals of the army, dispositions were immediately commenced for carrying it promptly into effect. The baggage was sent down to Burlington ; and at one o'clock in the morning, the enemy app'earing perfectly tranquil, the Americans rekindled the fires of their camp, and leav- ing guards at the bridge and fords, with orders to continue the uual rounds and patrols, they defiled with equal promptitude and silence. Taking the road of Allentown, which is the longest, in order to avoid the Assumpink, and the encounter of the enemy at Maiden- head, they proceeded towards Princeton. Three English regiments had lodged there this same night ; two of them, at break of day, had renewed their march for Maidenhead. The Americans suddenly appeared and charged them with great impetuosity. But the Eng- lish defended themselves so vigorously, that the American militia faced about, and retired in disorder. General Mercer, in attempting to rally them, was mortally wounded. Washington, seeing the rout ot the vanguard, and perfectly aware that the loss of the day would involve the total ruin of his army, immediately advanced at the head of his select corps, composed of the conquerors of Trenton, and . restored the battle. The two English regiments, overwhelmed by the number and fury of the assailants, were separated, the one from th other and found themselves in the most perilous position. Colo- 428 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VJf. nel Mawhood, who commanded one of them, after having intrepidly sustained the attack for some moments, made a violent effort, and opening hi^ way with the bayonet through the ranks of the enemy, retired in safety to Maidenhead. The other, which formed the rear guard, finding itself, after a vigorous struggle, unable to follow the first, returned by the way of Hillsborough to New Brunswick. The third, which was found still at Princeton, retreated also, after a light conflict, with great precipitation, to Brunswick. About one hundred of the English were killed in this affair, and upwards of three hun- dred made prisoners. The loss of the Americans in slain, was near- ly equal ; but of this number was general Mercer, an able and ex- perienced officer of the province of Virginia. He was universally regretted, but especially by Washington, who bore him great esteem and affection. After the combat, the Americans occupied Princeton. At break of day, lord Cornwallis, having perceived that the Americans had deserted their camp of Trenton, and soon penetrating what was their design, abandoned in like manner his own, and marched with all expedition towards Brunswick, fearing, lest the baggage and munitions he had accumulated there, should fall into the hands of the enemy. He arrived at Princeton almost at the same time with the American rear guard. Washington found himself again in imminent danger. His soldiers fell with sleep, having taken no repose for the two preceding days ; hunger tormented them, and they were almost naked in this rigorous season. The enemy who pursued them, besides the advantage of number, had every thing in abundance. Thus situated, far from the hope of continuing to act offensively, it was much for him if he could retire without loss to a place of security ; wherefore, departing abruptly from Princeton, he moved with rapidity towards the upper and mountainous parts of New Jersey. To retard the enemy, he destroyed the bridges over the Millstone river, which runs between Princeton and Brunswick. Having afterwards passed the Rariton, a more considerable river, he proceeded to occupy Pluckemin, where his troops refreshed them- selves, after so many toils and sufferings. But soon rinding that his army was too feeble, and also that it was daily diminished by mala- dies and desertion, he resolved to encamp higher up, and in a place of more security. After necessity had constrained him to make trial of fortune by adventurous feats, he was disposed to become again the master of his movements, and take counsel of prudence alone. He retired, accordingly, to Morristown, in upper Jersey. Cornwal- lis, despairing of being able to continue the pursuit with success, directed his march to New Brunswick, where he found general BOOK VII. THE AMERICAN WAR. 429 Matthews, who, in the violence of his terror, had commenced the removal of the baggage and warlike stores. But Washington, hav- ing received the few fresh battalions of infantry, and his little army being recovered from their fatigues, soon entered the field anew, and scoured the whole country as far as the Rariton. He even crossed this river, and penetrating into the county of Essex, made himself master of Newark, of Elizabethtown, and, finally, of Wood- bridge ; so that he commanded the entire coast of New Jersey, in front of Staten Island. He so judiciously selected his positions, and fortified them so formidably, that the royalists shrunk from all attempt to dislodge him from any of them. Thus the British army, after having overrun victoriously the whole of New Jersey, quite to the Delaware, and caused even the city of Philadelphia to tremble for its safety, found itself now restricted to the two only posts of New Brunswick and Amboy, which, moreover, could have no communi- cation with New York, except by sea. Thus, by an army almost re- duced to extremity, Philadelphia was saved, Pennsylvania protected, New Jersey nearly recovered, and a victorious and powerful enemy laid under the necessity of quitting all thoughts of acting offensively, in order to defend himself. Achievements so astonishing acquired an immense glory for the captain-general of the United States. All nations shared in the sur- prise of the Americans; all equally admired and applauded the prudence, the constancy, and the noble intrepidity of general Wash- ington. An unanimous voice pronounced him the savior of his country ; all extolled him as equal to the most celebrated command- ers of antiquity ; all proclaimed him the Fabius of America. His name was in the mouth of all ; he was celebrated by the pens of the most distinguished writers. The most illustrious personages of Eu rope lavished upon him their praises and their congratulations. The American general, therefore, wanted neither a cause full of grandeur to defend, nor occasion for the acquisition of glory, nor genius to avail himself of it, nor the renown due to his triumphs, nor an entire generation of men perfectly well disposed to render him homage. Reposing new confidence in their general, and having seen that it was his arm which had retrieved the public fortune, the congress decreed that in all councils of war, Washington should not be bound by the plurality of voices, nor by the opinion of the general officers he might think proper to consult. They even preferred that in all circumstances he should take such resolutions as might appear to him the most likely to prove advantageous. The congress immedi- ately after returned to Philadelphia, w r ith a view of encouraging the people still more. There passed nothing of importance during the 430 THE AMERICAN WAR. BOOK VII. rest of the winter and the greater part oi the spring, with the excep- tion of some skirmishes, of which the usuul effect was to harass and fatigue the English army, and to inspire the Americans with greater confidence in themselves. The royal troops, as we have said, were locked up in the two villages of Brunswick and Amboy, whence they rarely ventured to make excursions ; they could not go out to plun- der, nor even to forage, without extreme peril. INot only the soldiers of Washington, but even the inhabitants of New Jersey, transported