ym--''^ -■=»56» Qass. Book_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT CENTENNIAL OFFERING REPUBLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICA. DEDICATED TO THE YOUNG MEN OF THE UNITED STATES, FIFTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, BY THE LATE HEZEKIAH NILES, Editor of the " Weekly Register." A. S. BARNES & CO., PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND NEW ORLEANS, I 8 76. In presenting for the consideration of the young men of the United States, during this hundredth anniversary of American Independence, the republication of the "Princi- ples and Acts of the Revolution in America," published by the late Hezekiah Niks, Editor of the '■''Weekly Register," and dedicated by him to their predecessors fifty-four years ago, it is with the hope that, by the perusal of the speeches, orations, and proceedings of the Revolutionary period in the United States, embraced in this volume, they may be encouraged, as expressed by its Editor, " to adhere to the simplicity of truth, as set forth by the principles and acts of their fathers, and emulate the noblest deeds when the liberties of their country are endangered by foreign enemies, or domestic encroach- ments, so that the blessings which those patriots won, may descend to posterity, and our Republic forever continue to be the pride of humanity, and an asylum for the oppressed of all nations." As the work has been out of print for more than a half century, and its contents being regarded as an invaluable addition to our countrj-'s history during " the time that tried men's souls," (the collection of speeches, orations, and proceedings, with but few exceptions, not being found in any other compilation), and having been frequently solicited to republish the work with reference to its circulation, in the belief that its perusal, during this Centennial Celebration of our Independence, would to some extent result in cementing the bonds uniting us as a Nation, and " excite a love of freedom, and lead the people to vigilance, as a condition on which it is granted," the volume is respectfully submitted to the public, with the hope that the expectations of its friends may in part, at least, be realized. Samuel V. Niles. Washington, 1876. Note. — The work has been thoroughly revised, with classification of contents under the respective Colonies, and in chronological order. ^^ 0^ \ ^^^ Copyright. SAMUEL V. NILES. 1876. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following letters have been received from prominent statesmen and jurists of the country, strongly urging the republication of this work, believing that its circulation during the Centennial Year of our Independence, would go far toward fostering a feeling of national unity and patriotism : n ^ From the late Hon. Henry Wilson, Vice PreHdent of the United States. Natick, Mass., September 30, 1875. Samuel V. Niles, Esq., Washington, D. C. Dear Sir : Your proposed publication, it seems to me, is very important and very opportune, as the nation more than ever needs to be carried back to the "principles" of the men who inaugurated the movement that resulted in the formation of our Government, and to a study of the "acts which made up that great Revolution." Surely our young men can hardly go to a higher or better source for both in- formation and inspiration than that you propose to invite them to ; and I wish you all success in your undertaking. Ftvm the HON. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States. Department of State, Washington, October i, 1875. For a longer period than falls to the lot of many men to be doing good to their race and generation, Hezekiah Niles was among the most valuable contributors of valuable information to the American people. I am very glad to learn that you propose to publish the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution." It is well from time to time to examine the foundations of the structure in which we live ; and there can be no better time than the present to lay again before the people the honest inward heartfelt thoughts and motives and aims of the men who aided in laying the foundation stones of the Government under which so many live, thoughtless and heedless of the great principles essential to support the structure reared with such wisdom and such care. No greater public service can be rendered than to inoculate the generation living at the first Centen- nial Anniversary of our national existence with some of the forgotten, discarded " old-.''a5hioned " notions and principles of simple, honest, disinterested patriotism which moved and governed the men who brought the nation into existence. From the HON. Wm. Pinkney Whyte, U. S. Senator from Maryland. Baltimore, Sept. 15, 1S75. I am quite sure the publication afresh of the Principles and Acts of the American Revolution will produce a most beneficial effect on the rising generation at this period of time. Something should be done to arouse the youth of the land to the priceless heritage of liberty, and nothing could ba better calculated for that purpo.se than the republication of the speeches, orations, and proceedings of the heroes of the Revolution. From tfu Hon. Henry C. Carey, Political Economist, Philadelphia, Pa. Philadelphia, September C), 1875. I am very glad to see that you propose republishing your grandfather's admirable collection of the Principles and Acts of the American Revolution, and for these reasons; first, that our young men may be enabled to study, and to profit by the study of the sayings and doings of their predecessors ; and second, that they may have matter to call to mind my old friend, the editor, one of the very best and most useful of all the men I have ever known. No man who ever knew him can do otherwise than bold his memory in veneration. 4 RECOMMENDATIONS. From the Hon. Henry A. Wise, late Representative in Congress and Governor of Virginia, Richmond, Va. Richmond, Va., September r), 1875. I have received and read the title-page of the Principles and Acts of the American Revolution, com- piled, &c. I always had the highest respect for " Niles' Register," as a full and generally accurate source of information. Hezekiah Niles, Esq., in spite of strong political prejudices, could as well be relied on for statement of facts as any other publisher I ever sought information from. He was warm in his Ameri- can affections, and sought to inspire a true republican patriotism, and fortified the national feelings and faith by las Register .ind all his works. I therefore confide much in any compilation of his or from his Register. Benjamin Elliot, Esq., in his letter in 1816 to him said : " The present (1816) is a most pro- pitious period for the compilation — the feelings and sentiments of '76 were never so prevalent as at pres- ent." This he offered as a reason for the compilation. And now at this present, I urge the very opposite reason for the republication ; that never were the feelings and sentiments of '76 less prevalent than now. What with the immense mass of immigrant population, naturally ignorant of our institutions and history ; what with the feelings embittered by the late civil war ; and what with what is called "Young America" and its tendency and influence — there has been an awful chasm cleft between '76 and this present time, and, not like the slip in mining, the veins of formation don't continue in the same direction. We are departing from republicanism, forgetful and ignorant of the safeguards of liberty, regulated by organic and statute law, and we are rapidly tending to the concentration of all power in the hands of one man, or an oligarchy in Congress. Even at a sacrifice of some pecuniary loss, I beg you to republish and cir- culate this work. It will not be read by a large majority in this generation, but it will be a magaiine for a few republican patriots, and if fitted for the schools and colleges will go far and do much to revive the sentiments and feelings of '76 in the next generation. We need a revival of " political religion." Patriotism is a religion, sacred and holy — the amor patria, founded on the amor loci, which broods like a dove over cradles, hearths, altars, and graves of home. It has its country, it has its fathers, it has its faith, it has its hope and love, and then it has its permanence and perpetuity. Revive us, O Lord ; revive us, I pray. From the Hon. Tho.mas A. Hendricks, Governor of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana, September 10, 1875. I am gratified to learn that you intend to republish the " Principles and Acts of the American Revo- lution," being a compilation of speeches, orations, and interesting articles of the revolutionary period, prepared and originally published by your grandfather, Hezekiah Niles. I suppose he was more gener- ally known to American readers as the editor and publisher of " Niles' Register," a periodical at one time universally, and, now, generally known, and highly appreciated for its varied and reliable informa- tion. In this enterprise, you will make a valuable and very interesting contribution to the literature of 1876. I cannot doubt that it will be received by the young men whose patriotism will be stimulated by the Centennial Celebration of our Independence, in the spirit and beautiful sentiment in which it was dedi cated to the young men of the United States in 1822. From the Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, Attorney General of the United States. Department of Justice, Washington, September 15, 1875. I have read your preface to the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution." I believe it would be a great advantage, not only to the young men, but to all men of the country, to have the work repub- lished for the Centennial Anniversary. From the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, Baltimore, Md., late Attorney General and Senator of the United States. Baltimore, Md., September (j, 1875. Your note of yesterday is received. I am glad to hear that you contemplate republishing the " Prin- ciples and Acts of the Revolution " compiled by your grandfather, the late Hezekiah Niles. The work, when it first appeared, was justly esteemed a valuable contribution to the political history of our country. Its revival now cannot fail to be most advantageous. The men whose thoughts are there embodied were patriots of the purest type, and the principles they inculcated must find a ready response from the hearts of all their descendants who are true and enlightened lovers of liberty. This work, together with the Declaration of Independence, cannot be but highly cherished by the immense multitude who will be assembled on the fourth of July, 1S76, to celebrate the one hundredtti anniversary of our existence as a free and independent nation. RliCOMMENDATIONS. ji From General atid Ex-Representative Benjamin F. Butler. Boston, September 25, 1875. If every body had the same views of the publication of " Niles' Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," of which you send me the preface, that I have, there would be no doubt of the propriety and necessity for the public good of its publication. I hope you will go on with your enterprise, and bid you God speed in your work. From the HON. John Letcher, late Representative and Ex-Governor of Virginia. Lexington, Va., Sept. 16, 1875. It gives me great pleasure cordially to commend your publication to public favor. The time for its appearance is most judiciously selected. The only complete copy I have ever seen was owned by the venerable Andrew Alexander, now de- ceased, and was purchased by myself at the sale of his property. The facts embodied in it were of the most valuable and interesting character, and I am gratified that you propose to reproduce them in a shape for permanent preservation. From Justice W. Strong, U. S. Supreme Court. Washington, Sept. 17, 1875. I learn with much pleasure that you contemplate a republication in 1876 of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," compiled and published in 1822 by your grandfather, Hezekiah Niles. The work was invaluable when it was first published, and its republication will be doubly valuable in our Centennial year. What every true patriot must ardently desire is a new birth of the spirit which prevailed in the days of the Revolution. What that spirit was, and what were the feelings that con- trolled the action of the revolutionary fathers, we can best gather from the few remains that are left of their speeches and acts. Your grandfather was a most industrious and accurate compiler, and the work which he published in 1822, long since out of print, more than any single book with which I am acquainted, may be expected to reveal the revolutionary spirit, and awaken in the hearts of young men the love of constitutional freedom and an attachment to those principles which are essential to its preservation. I hope nothing will deter you from carrying out your design. From Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, Judge Supreme Court United States. Stowe, Vt., Sept. 23, 1S75. The republication of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution," I should think, would be emi- nently calculated to foster a feeling of national unity and patriotism. From Justice Nathan Clifford, United States Supreme Court. Portland, Maine, Sept. 18, 1S75. I am of the opinion that the republication of the "Principles and Acts of the American Revolution" would present a useful compilation to the present generation, both young and old, as tending to revive the recollection of the Principles and Acts of the American Revolution, which ought to be cherished and revered. From the Hon. M. C. Kerr. Speaker of the House of Representatives from Indiana. Denver, Colorado, Sept. 17, 1875. It gives me great pleasure to learn that you are about to republish that very interesting, instructive, and useful work of your patriotic and distinguished grandfather, Hezekiah Niles, entitled " Principles and Acts of the Revolution." It is not creditable to the country that it has been suffered to go out of print. You have chosen a most opportune period for its reproduction — our Centennial year. It will add profitable store to the beneficent and patriotic literature of that year. From Justice N. H. Swayne, U. S. Supreme Court. Washington, Sept. 27, 1875. I am familiar with the work entitled "Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America," edited and published by Hezekiah Niles. It is a book of high character and great historic interest and value. It is out of print, and in my judgment ought to be republished. There can be no more suitable time for doing this than now. The volume will be an apt centennial offering to the nation. From Justice David Davis, U. S. Supreme Court. Bloomington, Illinois, Sept. 27. 1875. From an inspection of the title-page of the "Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," com- piled by your grandfather (which you were kind enough to send me), I should judge that their republi- cation at this time would be of advantage to the young men of the country. 6 RECOMMENDATIONS. From Hon. Geo. W. Jones, laU U. S. Senator, Iowa. Dubuque, Iowa, Oct. lo, 1875. I am very clearly of the opinion that a republication of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," as compiled by your distinguished and learned grandfather, the late Hezekiah Niles, Esq., would not only be of advantage to the young, but to old, and every person in our country who has left one spark of " amor patri£e " in his heart. Republish it by all means, and set me down for at least one copy for myself and one for each of my three sons. From James F. Harrison, M. D., Chairman of the Faculty. University of Virginia, Chairman's Office, October 8, 1875. I have read the preface to the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," and I entertain the opinion that the republication of the work, and its reading during the Centennial Celebration, would be highly advantageous to the rising generation of young men of our country. In fact, I do not know of a work whose perusal during the time of the Centennial Anniversary would so largely contribute to the advantage and benefit of our young men generally as the one in question. From Hon. W. W. Corcoran. Washington, September 20, 1875. The proposed republication of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," compiled by your grandfather, in my judgment, will prove of great advantage to the young men of the country. I entertain the belief that the present, and, indeed,' the next generation, would be materially benefited by a more extensive circulation of these valuable documents. From the Hon. Columbus Delano, late Secretary of the Interior. Department of the Interior, Washington, September 18, 1875. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 13th instant, enclosing the title page of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution," a work dedicated by your grandfather, Hezekiah Niles, in 1822, to the young men of the United States, which you propose to republish during the Centennial Anniversary of our Independence. In response to your request for my opinion, touching the benefit that the young men of our country would derive from its perusal, I will remark that a more familiar knowledge of the history of the Ameri- can Revolution to be derived from said publication, cannot fail to be of great advantage to the class of readers for whom it is especially intended. From the Hon. John M. Brodhead, late Second Comptroller, U. S. Treasury. Treasury Department, Second Comptroller's Office, Sept. 18, 1875. I have your note of the iSth instant, enclosing the title page of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," compiled by your honored grandfather. In my opinion, there is no work connected with American history the republication of which would be more interesting and advantageous to the young men of our country than this production of Hezekiah Niles, one of the most eminent and accurate journalists of the age. He was '* primus inter pares : " his judgment in selections, and the careful way in which he sifted facts, with his regard for the exact truth made his publications an authority that did not mislead, as I have had occasion to prove by frequent reftrence. I hope the compilation may be republished in time for the Centennial. From the Ho.s'. Samuel S. Cox, Representative in Congress from A'ew York. New York City, September 17, 1875. My father, who was an editor in the early days, used Niles' Register as a mechanic — the very tools of his trade. As a public man, anxious for truths and facts, I have been familiar with its pages. Your proposition to reproduce the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution" is eminently wise. I commend it from my limited standpoint, and wish your enterprise success. From the Rev. W. Pinkney, Bishop Episcopal Church, Maryland. Washington, D. C, September 16, 1875. The publication you propose would be peculiarly appropriate at this time, and I fully appreciate its value to the young men of the country, who need to be carried back to the elder years of the Republic — its truly golden era. I shall hail the republication with pleasure. From Hon. Ward Hunt, Judge Supreme Court, U. S. Utica, N. Y., September 25, 1875. I am of the opinion that the republication of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution " will be wise and timely. I possess the " Weekly Register," by Mr Niles, and should be much pleased to obtain a copy of the work you propose to republish to place beside it. RECOMMENDATIONS. '^ From General Fitzhugh Lee, late of tht Confederate Army. Richland, Stafford Co., Va., September 2^, 1875. I sincerely hope you may carry out your purpose, and republish your grandfather's " Principles and Acts of the Revolution." Mr. Benjamin Elliott, of Charleston, S. C, in writing to him in November, 1816, used these words in urging its first publication : " The present is a most propitious period, the feelings and solemnities of '76 were never so prevalent as at present. The moment and opportunity may pass and not immediately return. Let us, then, avail ourselves of the circumstance to make some deep impression. What better impression can we make than by rendering the opinions and conduct of our fathers familiar ? " Is it possible to do more than to recall the present applicability of Mr. Elliott's words to the grandfather to the grandson ? From General E. D. Townsend, Adjutant General United States Army. Washington, September 20, 1875. I take pleasure in saying I think it highly desirable on many accounts that the work should be repub- lished. The people of this country are beginning to realize that we have some antiquity as a nation. Great pains are taken to collect and to exhibit any relics of the past, and a growing interest is centering around such relics. Whatever contributes to such a taste, certainly will not diminish the love of country which just now we are all so anxious to develop. I really think your proposed contribution to this stock of relics will prove of inestimable value. It is a pity such a work should be suffered to lie hidden from view. From Commodore Samuel Barron, late Confederate States Navy. LoRETTA, Essex Co., Va., Oct 11, 1875. Your design to republish the Principles and Acts of the Revolution I think most highly of, and believe that you could not present a more acceptable offering to the present and rismg generation of the country. From the HoN. Charlks Francis Adams. QUINCY, Mass., September 23, 1875. I know of no single volume (the "Principles and Acts of the Revolution," edited by your grand father more than fifty years ago) which contains a more curious and interesting collection of early papers not readily to be found in these days without much search anywhere else. For the young people of the present generation, having their curiosity raised by the recurrence of the Centennial next year, I should think it a very excellent fund of instruction. From Hon. George W. Williams, late Attorney General of the United States. Washington, September 28, 1875. Your proposed republication of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution " will be a valuable con tribution to the literature of the times. Our approaching Centennial Anniversary is intended, among other things, to revive for our guidance and instruction the examples and events of the early days of the Republic. Your proposed work, in this point of view, wUl be interesting and useful. From the Hon. Joseph Segar. late Member of Congress from Virginia. Washington, November 23, 1875. 1 have not a doubt that the whole American people will hail with lively satisfaction the republica- tion of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution," gathered half a century ago by your distinguished grandfather, and all must agree that the Centennial Anniversary of our Independence is the most befit- ting occasion for the reissue of these liberty-inspiring productions of our patriot fathers. It was an immortal sentiment of one of the great statesmen of our revolutionary era, George Mason, of Virginia, whose statesmanship illumines many a page of the volume proposed to be republished, thai " no free government, or the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people but by frequent recur- rence to fundamental principles." If this be so, how unexpressibly valuable will be the reproduction of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution " you propose to reprint. Where else can we find so bright expositions of the fundamental principles of free government. That great people, the English, recur all the time to " Runnymede," and take counsel of the old barons that there laid down liberty's law, and announced to the people of England the fundamental principles of civil liberty ; and it is this " ever and anon " worship at that holy altar that makes that people practically as free as any on the earth, and that renders it impossible for any man or set of men to encroach a hair's breadth upon the liberties of England. If we would continue imbued with the genuine spirit of freedom, and remain steadfast in our rever- ence of constitutional liberty, we must go back often to the revolutionary sources ; in the language of your patriotic ancestor, we must "catch a spark from the altar of '76, and enter into the spirit of past times." 8 RECOMMENDATIONS. From the Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, late Attorney General, United States. Windsor, Vt., Sept. 22, 1875. It seems to me that it would be a timely contribution to the Centennial memories of the next year, and would have a beneficial and extensive influence upon the opinions and sentiments of the young men of the country, for whom it was especially prepared, and to whom the original publication was dedicated. From Hon. Matt. H. Carpenter, late U. S. Senator from Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 18, 1875. I have received the title page of the " Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," compiled by your grandfather, Hezekiah Niles, editor of the " Weekly Register," which you propose to republish as a contribution to the Centennial Celebration of that glorious event. I cannot refrain from expressing my satisfaction at your determination to publish this work. As far as reason excels physical force, so far the "principles" of the Revolution ought to be exalted above its mere material events. The young men of the country cannot fail to derive benefit from perusing this work, and they must be dull indeed if they do not draw therefrom a new inspiration in favor of liberty •and government founded upon free principles. From the HON. George M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy. Navy Department, Washington, Sept. 20, 1875. 1 have received your letter enclosing the prospectus of your proposed work. I need not say that I heartily approve of the idea, and am sure it will be a most valuable contribution to the literature of our Centennial time, most instructive to the young, and of interest to the more mature. It is only by fre- quent comparison of the opinions of the past with the sentiment of the present that we are able to real- ize the full extent to which progress has come, and reminiscences of this character, at once comprehen- sive and unimpeachable, mark most accurately the real path of our history and teach its lessons most truly. From Chief Justice Waite, Supreme Court of the United States. Washington, D. C, Oct. 19, 1875. The coming Centennial ought to furnish, as it undoubtedly will, many students of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution," and the republication now of your grandfather's book with that title would certainly be most timely. No one could have better opportunities for compiling revolutionary papers, speeches, etc., than the editor of " Niles' Register," and few, if any, have been better fitted for such a work. From Gen. S. V. Benet, Chief of Ordnance. Washington, September 30, 1875. The republication of the "Principles and Acts of the American Revolution," compiled by the distin guished editor of the "Weekly Register," during the Centennial anniversary of our Independence, will, I am sure, be received with great satisfaction by the whole country. I am profoundly impressed with the value of the work as a means of educating our youth in the principles that actuated the Revolu- tionary Fathers, and impressing upon them the necessity of so acting as to perpetuate the blessings we enjoy to the latest posterity. From Hon. D. W. Voorhees, late Member vf Congress from Indiatm. Terrk Haute, Ind., December 10, 1875. I can imagine nothing more appropriate, and few things as useful at this time, as the publication you contemplate. I place myself at your service in any way that I can aid you in the undertaking. From Hon. A. G. Thurman, United States Senator, Ohio. Washington, December iS, 1S75. In my opinion, the republication of Niles' " Principles and Acts of the Revolution " would be a very yaluable contribution to the public and private libraries in the United States ; and I am glad to learn that you contemplate such republication. From General Geo. Washington Custis Lee, President of " Washington and Lee University," Lexingto)i, Va. President's Office, Lexington, Va., March 27, 1876. I venture the opinion that the republication of the " Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America," published in 1822 by the late Hezekiah Niles, editor of the " Weekly Register," and dedicated to the young men of the United States, will prove a valuable and acceptable addition to the literary productions of 1876. PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE OB, AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT AJ{D PRESERVE SOME OF THE WITH SKETCHES AND REMAEKS ON MEN AND THINGS, AJfD OTHER FUGITIVE OR NEGLECTED PIECES, BELONGING TO THE REVOLUTION AEY PERIOD IN THE UNITED STATES; WHICH, HAPPILY, TEBMINATED IN THB ESTABLISHMENT OP THEIR LIBERTIES: WITH A VIEW TO REPRESENT THE FEELINGS THAT PREVAILED IN THE " TIMES THAT TRIED MEN'S SOULS," TO EXCITE A LOVE OP FREEDOM, AND LEAD THE PEOPLE TO VIGILANCE, AS THE CONDITION ON WHICH IT IS GRANTED. DEDICATED TO THE BY H. NILES. -" Collecta revtrescunt." BALTIMORE: PBOTED AND PUBLISHED FOB THE EDITOR, BY WILLIAM OODEN NILES. 1822. TO OF THE UI^ITED STATES, THIS VOLUME OF mi¥@ifiWf i@if^s¥ wAwmm% mwrnm^WMBo &c., IS, RESPECTFULLY, DEDICATED; IN THE HOPE That they may be encouraged to adhere to the simplicity of Truth, AS SET FORTH BY THE PEIKCIPLES AND ACTS OF THEIK FATHEKS, AND EMULATE THE NOBLEST DEEDS WHEN THE LIBERTIES OF THEIR COTJKTRY ARE EKD ANGERED, BY FOEEIGN ENEMIES OR DOMESTIC ENCROACHMENTS, so THAT THE BLESSINGS WHICH THESE PATRIOTS WON MAT DESCEND TO POSTERITY. And our Republic forever continue to be the pride of Humanity, and an Asylum for the BY THEIR SINCERE FRIEND, H. mLES. Baltimore, AprU, 1823. PREFATORY- It is with unaffected diffidence, that the editor now presents his long-expected volume to the people of the United States, from an apprehension that its contents will not accord with the hopes entertained by those who felt interested in the publication. Self-love, or self-respect, seems to demand that some account of the origin and progress of this work should be submitted, that the real merits or demerits of the case may be understood. On the z-i^d of November, i8i6, a letter was published in the Weekly REGISTER (of which the editor of this work is also the editor and proprietor), from an anonymous correspondent.* from which the following is an extract : *' Among the patriots whose efforts have tended to give stability to our institutions, no one is more entitled to the best wishes of his fellow-citizens, and no one has rendered himself more honorably known, than yourself. The steady zeal with which you have prosecuted your valuable worlt, has made it as a light to the people, by which they see their true interests, and discover the certain means of preserving and improving their unparalleled freedom and its attendant blessings. I am satisfied that you take pleasure in an American offering you his thoughts on any subject of a public nature, however little merit may be in his suggestions. I am, therefore, led to propose to your consideration an undertaking which no one is so well qualified to accomplish as yourself— it is to collect and print handsomely a volume of speeches and orations of our revolution : you can make the supplement to one of your volumes such a book. The present is a most propitious period : the feelings and sentiments of '76 were never so prevalent as at present. The moment and opportunity may pass and not immediately return ; the events of the late war have im- parted a glow of national feeling for every thing republican. Let us then avail ourselves of the circumstance to make some deep impression. IVhat better impression can we make than by rendering the opinions and conduct 0/ our fathers familiar ^ An opportunity for such a work exists now — which, we know, is but transient, as but six Ameri- cans who witnessed the great debate remain. Now, can a doubt arise that Mr. Jefferson, or Mr. Adams, or Mr. Thompson, would not take delight in furnishing materials? — the speeches themselves, and a view of the proceedings and different characters of the speakers. We have one selection of American speeches— made by a British emissary— if such men are to select our political lessons, I need not \.€^ you what must be the opinions of the rising generation, nor of their certain degradation." Then followed a promise to communicate sundry articles, and some hints of the writer to obtain others. This letter was spread before the readers of the Register to gather public sentiment on the subject, and form some opinion, through communications solicited, of the supply of materials that could be obtained, with very little prospect, at that time, of accomplishing the wishes of my correspondent, though there was not any want of zeal to satisfy them. I apprehended that the supply of matter would be short — for I had, myself, been an eager collector of such things for many years, and seemingly had some right to judge of the quantity that remained for edification and improvement, in a recurrence to first principles. But it soon appeared that many were desirous that the collection should be attempted, and certain distinguished persons held out flattering prospects of success, urging me forward by the presentation of motives which they were pleased to think had an irresistible influence on my conduct ; but I still hesitated, because of the deficiency of materials, until January, 1819, when it was announced that the volume would be put to press in an address that contained the annexed remarks : '* It is much to be regretted that very few of the soul-stirring orations and speeches of the revolutionary period remain to claim the admiration of a blessed posterity. Still, some good things are left to us,— and, by a liberal enlargement of the plan originally proposed, we feel pretty confident of presenting an acceptable gift to the American people, by rescuing from oblivion a great variety of fleeting, scattered articles, belonging to the history of our country anterior to the sublime epoch of the revolution, during its continuance, and immediately after its glorious termination, whilst its feelings were fresh upon the heart and understanding of our heroes and sages. As heretofore observed, our collection of materials is somewhat extensive, our resources promise some rich additional supplies, — and no effort shall be left untried to increase our store : so that, on the whole, though the collection will doubtless be defective, and, perhaps, not equal the expectations of some, we are consoled with a belief that it will not be unworthy of the patronage of an enlightened public — zealous to catch a " spark from the altar of '76/' ^^^ prepared to enter into the spirit of past times. • Since ascertained to be Benjamin Elliot. Esq., of Charleston, S. C, whose name I take the liberty to mentioa a£ the projector of the undertaking, and the merit of it belongs to him. 12 PREFATORY. *' The volume will be slowly printed as the matter presents itself, and be concluded as soon as the nature of things will admit of— but shall not be hurried. Order in its arrangement can hardly be hoped for j but it will not, oa that account, suffer much depreciation of value.'* Still, it was not until September in the same year that a regular prospectus was offered, for I yet feared the want of matter, as well as the severe labor that I was sensible would become necessary to obtain it, if to be obtained at all. This prospectus contained these paragraphs : *' Believing, as we do, that the simplicity o/ the truths as held forth by those who devised and executed the sever- ance of this country from the power of a despot, has been widely departed from, no effort on our part shall be wanting to encourage a spirit to seek after and hold on to the principles tvhich appear essential tc the preservation o/ the rights and liberties o/ the people o/ the United States ; under an assurance that vigilance is the condition en which Jreedom is granted to us. But we enter upon the undertaking before us with considerable diffidence — fearful of the want of a just discrimination, and also of time for research and reflection to do justice to the weighty concern. li ieemed^ however^ to be iinposed on us as a duty, and we wilt execute the task as ivell as we can. " The materials, though the stock is pretty large, are not yet sufficient for the extensive work contemplated. The editor of the Register has, for several years, been a collector of scraps and rare things— several gentlemen have lib- erally contributed articles which they would not have parted with except on an occasion like this ; and others have promised us liberty tc overhaul their neglected stores of old papers : but much useful matter must be in the hands of those with whom we have not yet communicated on the subject ; and ever>' patriot is invited to give his aid to this collection, designed to record the feelings of" the times that tried men's souls." Letters may be sent to the editor at his cost tor postage, and originals will be carefully returned, if requested. When copies from manuscripts are pre- sented, it might be well to permit us to state the source from whence they were derived, if necessary." The terms were also set forth — it was promised that the volume should contain between four and five hundred pages, and cost, in sheets, the sum of three dollars. A view to pecuniary profit was disavowed— it had nothing to do with the origin or progress of the work, and if a reasonable allowance for money and time expended is afforded by its sale, it will be as much as ever has been expected. I had no sooner fairly committed myself than I regretted it — the patriots of the revolution did not make speeches to be unattended to by their brethren in congress and fill up the columns of newspapers.* They only spoke when they had something to say, and preferred acting to talking — ver)' unlike the legislators of the present time. I plainly saw that great difficulties would oppose themselves to the fulfillment of my promise — I feared that more was expected of me than any man could do — for the facts that were manifest to my mind could not be appre- ciated by all : my pride (an honest one, I trust) was alarmed, but, in obedience to a fixed rule that I have adopted for my own conduct, I resolved to meet the difficulty presented and conquer it by perseverance — if I could. To give some idea of the quantity of books and papers that have been looked into to effect this compilation, I think that I do not exaggerate when I say that they were sufficient to load a cart, and hours on hours have been spent in the service with- out the least profit. Perhaps, I was unlucky or unwise — that my attention was not directed to the proper sources ; it may be so — but of this I am satisfied, that very few of the " soul-stirring " speeches of the revolutionary period remain to warm the hearts of a grateful posterity : they were pronounced to be heard, not published. With this brief narrative, I submit the work to the liberality of my countrymen, American republicans — in the firm belief that, if I iiave not accomplished all that was hoped for by some, it will appear that others are agreeably disappointed ; and I am satisfied that good will result from the publication of this collection : it will rescue from oblivion many things that were has- tening to it, and lay the foundation, perhaps, of a more extensive and much more perfect work, which I shall always keep in my view. In explanation it is necessary further to observe, that the leading object of this volume was to show the feelings that prevailed in the revolution, not to gfive a history of ezients ; hence, all matters of the latter class have been rejected, except as immediately necessary to show the effects of feeling. The volume, also, might have been more acceptable if a greater degree of order had been observed as to dates, etc., but it was almost impossible to approach regularity, in this respect, as well from the nature of things as from the occasional attentior , only, that I was able to give to the work — but any inconvenience on this account is obviated by the copious index, or table of contents prefixed. Two articles have been, unfortunately, inserted twice — but, as they are of an excellent quality, I shall not be sorry for it, if the error causes them to be twice read. Many notices of proceedings, etc., are given only to indicate the general conduct of the people on such occasions as they have reference to. * The earl of Dartmouth asked an American in London (whose name we cannot call to mind at present), of how many members the congress consisted ? The reply was " fifty-two." *' >Vhy that is the number of cards in a pack," said his lordship — " how many knaves are there ? ^' " Not one," returned the republican — " please to recollect that knaves are court cards." CONTENTS. NEW HAMPSHIRE. PAGE Patriotic Proceedings of the Convention of Deputies appointed by the several towns in the Province, held at Essex, Jan. 25, 1775, and address to the people.. 13, 14 MASSACHUSETTS. Reminiscences relating to the massacre of citizens of Boston by British troops, March 5, 1770.15 to 17, 112, 113 Boston Orations delivered at the request of the inhabi- tants of the Town of Boston to commemorate the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, when a number of citizens were killed by a party of British troops quartered among them in time of peace 17 / CONNECTICUT. Domestic manufactures recommended, Feb. 22, 1768.. 141 Letter from Gov. Jonathan Trumbull to Gen. Gage, April 28, 1775 141, 142 Reduction in value of staple articles. New London, Aug., 1776 14* Correspondence between William Tryou and Gov. Trumbull, 1778 142* ^43 Massacre of troops at Fort Griswold, or Groton, by the British. Sept. 6. 1781 143 The traitor Benedict Arnold's connection with the massacre 144 Election Sermon delivered by President Stiles, before the Legislature, May, 17S3 i45 Oration delivered by Joel Barlow to the Society of Cincinnati, July 4, 1787 i45. 150 Interesting gathering of Revolutionary Pensioners at Hartford. Aug. 7, 1820 150, 151 Proceedings relating to same :'.^5'' ^5^ Capt. Nathan Hale executed as a spy, by the British. 153 Tribute to his memory by the late President Dwight.. 153 Revolutionary soldiers, interesting reminiscences of.. 154 Capt. Ezra Lee, interesting sketch of his attempt to destroy the British fleet, then in North River, New York, by a submarine battery 1541 <55 NEW YORK. Journal of the Stamp Act Congress, held in the City ofNew York, 1765 155/0168 Address of the Sons of Liberty to the public, Dec, 1773 169, 170 Meeting of the inhabitants of the City of New York, July 6, 1774 170. »7» u CONTENTS. PAGE Letter from tne Committee of New York City to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of London, June 23, 1775 17^1 173 Pastoral Letter ot the Synod of New York and Phila- delphia, June 29, 1775 173 Address ot Provincial Congress to Gen. Washington, July 3i 1775 173 Reply of Gen. Washington 173, 174 Address of the Mechanics of New York City to the Colonial Congress, June, 1776 174, 176 Resignation of Militia Officers, Aug., 1776 177 Proclamation of Gen. M'ashington, recommending ilie retirement of the women, children, and infirm persons, from the City of New York, on account of the expected bombarclment of the city by the British, Aug. 17, 1776 177 Action of the Convention upon Gen. Washington's recommendation 177 Letter from Gen. Robinson, of New York, to Gov. Livingston, of New Jersey, 1777 177, 178 Gov. Livingston's reply, 1777 177, 178 Proclamation of Gen. Burgoyne, July 2, 1777 178. 179 Reply to Burgoyne's Proclamation, July 10, 1777. .179, 180 Charge of Chiel Justice Jay, to the Grand Jury of the Supreme Court, Sept. 9, 1777 180, 182 Address of the Legislature to their constituents, March 13, 1781 182 /i> 186 Address of the Citizens of New York City who have returned from exile, to Gen. Washington and Gov. George Clinton, after the evacuation of the city by the British, Nov. 25, 1783 187, 188 Gen. Washington's reply thereto, Nov. 25, 1783 187 Address to Gov. Clinton, and his reply thereto 18S Interesting sketch of Dr. Tustin, of Long Island.. 188, 190 Churches of New York during the Revolution 190 Middle Dutch Church 190 NEW JERSEY. Appropriation of money in the Public Treasury by the people, May 23, 177^ 191 Vote of censure on Gov. Wm. Franklin, by the Pro- vincial Congress, June 14, 1776 191 Address to the Inhabitants by the Provincial Con- gress, June 15, 1775 191 Speech of Gov. William Livingston to the Legislature, Feb. 25, 1777 igi, 19s Instructions from the Legislature to the delegates in Congress, Dec. ^, 1777 195, 197 Proposals presented Dec. 8, 1777, for an exchange of Gen. Burgoyne. after his surrender at Saratoga. 197, 198 Correspondence between Col. Charles Mawhood, British forces, and Col. Elijah Hand, American militia, March. 177S 198, 199 Remarks on the liberty of conscience, by Gov. Living- ston, 1778 200, 20I PENNSYLVANIA. Proceedings of the citizens of Philadelphia in oppo- sition to the importation of tea, Jan. :;, 1774 201, 203 Proceedings of the City and County of Philadelphia on the Boston Port Bill, June iS, 1774 203, 204 Address of the County Committee to the Assembly, July 23, 177.1 204, 208 Action taken by the Citizens of Philadelphia to estab- lish domestic manufactures, March, 1775 308, 211 Enthusiasm of the people in support of the Revolution, June, t775 211 Interesting letter relating to same, July 10, 1775. ..211, 212 Patriotic Sentiments of an American woman (Philadel- phian) in advocacy of the Revolution 212, 313 Sermon delivered in Christ's Church by the Rev. Wm. Smith, D. D., on the present situation of American Affairs, June 2 j. 1775 213, 319 Act of the Assembly relative to persons scrupulous of bearing arms. Jan. 29, 1775 3ig, 220 Memento to Americans, March 17, 1776 220 Spirited speech of an honest and sensible farmer to his neighbors, May, 1776 220, 222 Declaration of the Deputies of the State, met in Provin- cial Conference, June 24, 1776 223 Patriotic address of the Deputies to the people, June „ 36, 1776 223, 224 Proceedmgs relative to the monopoly of salt, Aug. 24, 1776 224 Treason ; Ordinance defining the same, Sept. 5, 1776 224, 225 Remonstrance of certain citizens arrested, and confined in the Free Masons Lodge, Phila, Sept. 4, 1777. .225, 227 Interesting correspondence of lirig. Gen. Lacey, with Gen. Washington and others. 1778 227, 229 Eulogium by Judge Breckenbridg-e. of the brave men who have fallen in the contest with Great Britain, delivered July 5, 1779, in the German Catvinist Church, Phila 229, 23a FAGB Burning in effig\' the traitor Benedict Arnold, by the citizens of Phila., Sept., 1780 33s Address delivered Nov., 1781, in the Roman Catholic Church, Phila., by the M. L'Abbe Handole, during the celebration ot divine service, and thanksgiving for the capture of Lord Cornwallis 332, 233 Address by Dr. Benjamin Rush to the people of the United States. 1787 234, 336 Patriotic j;ifts ( f *he citizens , 336 Private beneficen';e 337, 238 Revolutionary reminiscences of Philadelphia 338, 339 DELAWARE. Proceedings of the committee of inspection of Kent County, in relation to certain tea, Jan. 36, 1775 339 Letter from Dr. James Tilton to Dr. Elmer upon the condition of aflairs in the state, 1775 339, 340 Petition of the inhabitants of Kent County to establish a militia, March, 1775 340 Recantation of an article reflecting upon the Patriots of Kent County, May, 1775 340, 341 Action of the committee of inspection in relation to same. May 3, 1775 340, 341 Letters to the committee of inspection of Kent County, assigning reasons for release from military service. June. 1775 341, 343 Correspondence upon the subject of Toryism in Suffolk County, Nov., 1775 2^3, 343 Arrest of a member of the Legislature by the Light Infantry, company of Dover, and the petition and remonstrance of the company to the House of Rep- resentatives, March, 1776 343, 344 Response of the members of the Assembly to the peti- tion, March, 1776 244, 345 Interesting selections from the correspondence of Gen- eral Cxsar Rodney and Capt Thos. Rodney. Let- ter from Cssar to Thomas Rodney relative to Stamp Act Congress, Oct. 20, 1765 245, 346 Letter from Caesar to Thos. Rodney, Sept. 17, 1774 — 246 Same, Sept. 19, 1774 246 Same, Sept. 34. 1774 247 Same, Oct., 1775 247, 348 Thomas to Caesar Rodney, August 30, 1776 248 Col. John Haslett to Gen. Csesar Rodney, Oct. 5, 1776 248 Thos. Rodney to Csesar Rodney, Dec. 30, 1776.. . .248, 349 Interestmg letter from Gen. Washington to Gen. Caesar Rodney, Sept. 34,1777 350 Gen. Washington to same, Aug. 26, 1779 351 Gen. Washington to same, Dec. 16, 1779 251 Gen. Washington to same. Aug. 37, 1780 351, 353 Thos. Rodney to Csesar Rodney, Jul)' 20, 1779.. . .352, 253 John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, to Thos. Rodnej', July 23, 1779 ^53 Thos. Rodney to Caesar Rodney, June 14, 1781... .253, 254 Dr. James Tilton, Williamsburg. Virginia, Dec. 16, 1781, to Thos. Rodney, relating to the American and French soldiers 354, 25S MARYLAND. Proceedings of the people assembled at Annapolis re- specting the importation of British goods, June 39, 1769 255-257 Proceedings of the merchants and others of Baltimore county, relative to the importation of European goods, Nov. 14, 1769 357, 358 Action of the people of Queen Anne county upon the subject of the Boston Port Bill, May 30, 1774 258, 259 Action of the people of Baltimore county upon the subject of the Boston Port Bill, May 31, 1774 359 Action of the people of Anne Arundel county upon the subject of the Boston Port Bill, June 4, 1774 359, 260 Patriotic recommendation of the people assembled at .■\nnapolis respecting manufactures and home in- dustry, Dec. 15, 1774 260-262 Memorial of James Christie to the Provincial Conven- tion, July 27, 1775. explanatory of his letter to Lieut. Col. Gabriel Christie of the British forces, and dis- claiming any act of treason to the colony 262, 363 Action ot the convention in the case of the said James Christie, Aug. 7, 1775 263, 364 Patriotic letter from a minister of the Church of Eng- land to the Earl of Dartmouth, Dec. 20, 1775 264-268 Patriotic address of the General Assembly to the people of the state, July 7, 17S0 268, 369 Address of the citizens of Baltimore to Gen. La Fayette. Nov. 15. 1 781 270 Replv of Gen. La Fayette, Nov. 15, 1781 170 Address of the merchants of Baltimore to Count De Rochambeau, Jnly 39, 17S2 270, 271 Reply of Count De'Rochambeau, July 30, 1782 371 Address of the Governor of the State to Count De Rochambeau, Au^ 11, 1782 271, 37« Reply of the Count De Rochambeau, Aug. ix, 1782... 37* CONTENTS. IS VIRGINIA. PAGE Patriotic proceedings of Delegates assembled at Will- iamsburg, Aug. I, 1774 -- i.V'.v''^'^" Instructions to the Delegates to Congress, V, illiams- burg, 1774 275, 276 Instructions of the Free-holders of Cumberland county to John Mayo and William Flemmg, their delegates to the convention, March, 1775 376 Interesting debate in the Legislature on the motion of Patrick Henry to place the colony in a state of de- fence, March 20, 1775 277-280 Resolution of the convention recommending a stay of proceedings in civil suits, March 25, 1775 280, 281 Resolutions for the encouragement ot home manufac- tures March 27, 1775 ....281, 2S2 Patriotic action of the town council of Fredencksburg, April 29, 1775 282 Important letters from Thomas Jefferson, relatmg to the causes resulting in the Declaration of Inde- pendence 282-284 Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Small, May 7, 1775 283 Thomas Jefferson to John Randolph, Aug. 35, 1775.283, 284 Action of Common Council of WilliamsBurg relative to the removal of arms belonging to the king, May 8, 1775 ■••••■,■'■■■•"'■• Proceedings in Hanover county relative to hostilities committed by the king's troops, May 9, 1775 284, 285 Patriotic address of the Baptists to the convention, and the action taken thereon, August 16, 1775... 28s, 286 Address of the Free-holders of Botetourt to Col. Andrew Lewis and Mr. John Boyer, Oct., 1773 286 Proclamation of Lord Dunmore offering freedom to the slaves belonging to the Rebels, Nov. 7, 1775 286, 3S7 Letter from Lord Dunmore to Gen. Howe referring to his Proclamation offering freedom to slaves of the rebels in Virginia, Nov. 30, 1775 2S7, 288 Proceedings in convention relating to the Proclamation of Lord Dunmore. Jan. 25, 1776 288-390 Outrages committed by British troops, 1776 290 Oath extorted from the people of Norfolk and Princess Anne, by Lord Dunmore, 1776 290, 291 Instructions of the convention to their delegates in Congress, May 15, 1776 291 Patriotic demonstrations of the members of the Con- vention at Williamsburg, toasts drank, and the Union flag unfurled. May 15, 1776 292 Test oath prescribed by the committee of the state, to be taken by the inhabitants thereof, 1776 292 Virginia called to arms. Proclamation of Gov. Patrick ffenry. May 14, 1779 V-'''^' "'' Interesting incidents relating to the Battle of \ ork- town. and surrender of Cornwallis, Oct. ig, 1781.293-295 Description of surrender 295, 296 Anecdote connected with surrender of same 296 Effect of the intelligence of the surrender of Corn- wallis. when received in England, Nov., 17S1 296-298 Important letter from Gen. Washington bearing upon the subject, July 13, 17S8 299 Interesting sketch of the patriot George Mason, the author of the celebrated Bill of Rights 300, 301 Copy of the first draught of the Declaration of Rights by George Mason, and adopted by the convention, June 12, 1776 301-303 Interesting letter from George Mason, Oct. 2, 1778.303, 304 Letters to his son, 1781-1783 304. i°i- 3°* George Mason to a friend, June, 1787 306, 307 Noble sentiments expressed by George Mason in his last will and testament 307 Interesting sketch of Gen. George Rogers Clarke 307 Sketch of John Champe, who attempted the seizure of the traitor, Arnold, at the instance of Major Lee, acting under orders from Gen. Washington 307-310 Sketch of Gen. John Cropper, a distinguished officer ot the Virginia Continental Line 310, 311 NORTH CAROLIN.A.. Address of the Assembly to Governor Josiah Martin, April, 1775 .......312, 313 Declaration of independence declared by the citizens of Mecklenburg county. May 20, 1775 313, 314 Incidents relating to same 314, 3' 5 Statements as to the authenticity of the same 315, 316 Address of the Provincial Congress to the British Empire, Sept. 3, 1775 3161 3*7 Royal Proclamation of Governor Josiah Martin to the people, Oct. 3, 17S0 3'7, 3"8 SOUTH CAROLINA. Action of the inhabitants of Charleston to resist the Stamp Act, 1775 3'9 & ddress of the Provincial Congress to Lord William Campbell, Governor of the Province, June 20, 1775. 320 PAGB Resolutions passed by the Provincial Congress, June 21,1775 .320, 321 Association formed for resistance to the aggressions of Great Britain, June, 1775 321 Determination of the people to resist the aggressions of Great Britain, Aug. 5, 1775 •. 321 Complimentary Resolutions ot the Provincial to the Continental Congress, Feb. 8, 1776 321 , 322 An Act to prevent sedition and punish insurgents and disturbers of the public peace, March 26, 1776 ^2-324 Address of the Assembly to John Rutlcdge, April 3, 1776 325 Reply of John Rutledge to the address, April 3, 1776 . 335 Resolutions passed by the General Assembly, April 6, 1776 335. 336 Speech of John Rutledge, President, to the General Assembly, April 11, 1776 326, 337 Chief Justice William Henry Drayton. His patriotic charges to the Grand Jury, and their presentments .337-353 His charge, April 23, 1776, commending the constitu- tion established by Congress, March 36, 1776 337-334 Presentments of the Grand Jury of the General Ses- sion upon the charge of Judge Drayton 334, 335 Charge delivered by Judge Drayton, The rise of thK American Empire, October 15, 1776 336-34^ Presentments of the Grand Jury of the Courtof General Session upon the charge of Judge Drayton 346, 347 Charge delivered by Judge Drayton, Oct. 31, 1777, on the i>iilitical affairs of the country 347-35' Presentments of the Grand Jury 353 Judge Drayton's address to Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe, commanding his Britan- nic majesty's forces in America, Oct. 33, 1776 353-357 Judge Drayton's speech upon the .\rlicles of Confed- eration of the United States oi America, Jan. 20, 1778 357-37« Oration of Dr. David Ramsey on the advantages of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1778 374-383 Oration delivered by Dr. Ladd, before the Governor and others, at Charleston, July 4, 1785 383-385 Patriotic charge of Judge Pendleton to the Grand Juries of Georgetown, Chowan, and Camden Dis- tricts upon the condition of society, 17S7 385-387 General Marion. Interesting sketches relating to his services 387-389 Marion's escape from the British dragoons 389 Interesting account of the escape of Mr. Hunter, of Darlington District, from the Tories 389,39° GEORGIA. Interesting extracts from letters written to the Home Government by Sir James Wright, Governor, and Captain General, relating to the Revolutionary movements of the colonies 390 Letter recommending that some concessions should be made by the people, looking to the restoration of cordiality and harmony with the Home Govern- ment, Aug. 34, 1774 390 Letter to the Home Government transmitting copy of the '* Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence," June 30, 1775, which confirms the genuineness of that Instrument 390; 313, N. C. Address to Governor Wright by the Provincial Con- gress, requesting that he appoint a day for fasting and prayer, July S, 1775 39' Gov. Wright's answer to the address, July 9, 1775 391 Gov. Wright to the Home Government relative to the action of the people in sympathy with the Revolu- tion, Oct. 14, 1775, Jan. 3, 1776, and March 10, 1776.. 391 Speech of Governor Archibald Bullock to the Provin- cial Congress, June 3c, 1776 391-393 Sergeant Jasper. Interesting account of his gallant deeds and signal service during the Revolution .393, 394 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. An eloquent speech made by one of the delegates, name unknown, in 1775 395t 39^ A day of humiliation and praj'er ordered, March 16, 1776 ■, 396 Exciting debate upon the subject of separation Irom England 397, 39' Eloquent speech of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, urging an immediate declaration of Independence, June 8, 1776 397-400 John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, favoring a condition of union with England. July i, 1776 400-40J Discussion for and against retaliation on prisoners of war. Speaker unknown, 1778 402,403 Resolutions passed October 31, 1776, urging the people to retaliation, and copy after their enemies, their German, negro, and copper-colored allies 403 i6 CONTENTS. PAGE Patriotic manifesto adopted, Oct. 30, 1778 404,405 Address to the inhabitants of the United States upon the condition of the country, urging united earnest efforts to defeat their enemies, May 36, 1779 405-408 Proclamation recommending to the people the observ- ance of the 13th day of December, 17S1, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, October 36, 1781 408, 409 History of the adoption of the Coat of Arms of the United States by Congress, June 36, 1783 409, 410 BRITISH PARLIAMENT. Interesting proceedings, speeches, and discussions relating to the American Colonies 410 Speech of the Earl of Chatham, March, 1774, on the declaratory bill of the sovereignty of Great Britain over the American Colonies 410, 411 Speech of Governor Johnston, in the House of Com- mons, March, 1774, on the bill for blockading the town of Boston 411-414 Interesting debate in the House of Commons, April, 1774, ' page of the history of this countr)- affords,* suffer your liberties to be ravished from you by lawless force, or cajoled away by flattery and fraud. The voice of your fathers' blood cries to you from the ground, my sons scorn to be slaves! in vain we met the frowns of tyrants — in vain we crossed the boisterous ocean, found a new world, and prepared it for the happy residence of liberty — in vain we toiled : — in vain we fought — we bled in vain, if you, our offspring, want valor to repel the assaults of her invaders ! Stain not the glory of your worthy ancestors, but like them resolve, never to part with your birth-right ; be wise in your deliberations, and determined in your exertions for the preservation of your liberties. Follow not the dictates of passion, but enlist yourselves under the sacred banner of reason ; use every method in your power to secure your rights ; at least prevent the curses of posterity from being heaped upon your memories. If you, with united zeal and fortitude, oppose the torrent of oppression; if you feel the true fire of patriotism burning in your breasts : if • At simul heroum laudes, et facta parentis Jam legere, et quae sit poteris cogaoscere virtus — Virg. you, from your souls, despise the most gaudy dress that slavery can wear ; if you really pre- fer the lonely cottage (whilst blest with lib- erty) to gilded palaces, surrounded with the ensigns of slavery, you may have the fullest assurance that tyranny, with her whole ac- cursed train, will hide their hideous heads in confusion, shame, and despair — if you perform your part, you must have the strongest confi- dence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable fore- fathers — who enabled them to turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful field, who so often made bare his arm for their salvation, will still be mindful of you, their offspring. May this Almighty Being graciously pre- side in all our councils. May he direct us to such measures as he himself shall approve, and be pleased to bless. May we ever be a people favored of God. May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum ot the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished ruin ! ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5. 1775- BY DR. JOSEPH WARREN. Tania- tttolis eraty Komanam condere ^entent . Virgil's jEn- Quiy iuetuenSy vivity liber niihi non erit unguam. HoR. Epis. My ever Honored Fellow-Citizens. It is not without the most humiliating con- viction of my want of ability that I now ap- pear before you : but the sense I have of the obligation I am under to obey the calls of my country at all times, together with an animat- ing recollection of your indulgence, exhibited upon so many occasions, has induced me, once more, undeserving as I am, to throw my- self upon that candor, which looks with kind- ness on the feeblest efforts of an honest mind. You will not now expect the elegance, the learning, the fire, the enrapturing strains of eloquence which charmed you when a Lovell, a Church, or a Hancock spake ; but you will permit me to say that with a sincerity equal to theirs, I mourn over my bleeding country : With them I weep at her distress, and with them deeply resent the many injuries she has received from the hands of cruel and unreasonable men. That personal freedom is the natural right of MASSACHUSETTS. 25 every man, and that property, or an exclusive right to dispose of what he has honestly acquired by his own labor, necessarily arises therefrom, are truths which common sense has placed beyond the reach of contradiction. And no man or body of men can, without being guilty of flagrant injustice, claim a right to dispose of the persons or acquisitions of any other man or body of men, unless it can be proved that such a right has arisen from some compact between the parties in which it has been expli- citly and freely granted. If I may be indulged in taking a retrospec- tive view of the first settlement of our country, it will be easy to determine with what degree of justice the late parliament of Great Britain have assumed the power of giving away that property which the Americans have earned by their labor. Our fathers having resolved never to wear the yoke of despotism, and seeing the Euro- pean world, at that time, through indolence and cowardice, falling a prey to tyranny, bravely threw themselves upon the bosom of the ocean, determined to find a place in which to enjoy their freedom, or perish in the glorious attempt. Approving heaven beheld the favorite ark danc- ing upon the waves, and graciously preserved it until the chosen families were brought in safety to these western regions. They found the land swarming with savages, who threat- ened death with every kind of torture. But savages, and death with torture, were far less terrible than slavery : nothing was so much the object of their abhorrence as a tyrant's power : they knew it was more safe to dwell with man in his most unpolished state, than in a country where arbitrary power prevails. Even anarchy itself, that bugbear held up by the tools of power (though truly to be deprecated) is infinitely less dangerous to mankind than arbitrary government. Anarchy can be but of a short duration ; for when men are at liberty to pursue that course which is most conducive to their own happiness, they will soon come into it, and from the rudest state of nature order and good government must soon arise. But tyranny, when once established, entails its curses on a nation to the latest period of time ; unless some daring genius, inspired by heaven, shall, unappalled by danger, bravely form and execute the design of restoring liberty and life to his enslaved, murdered country. The tools of power, in every age, have racked their inventions to justify the few in sporting with the happiness of the many ; and, having found their sophistry too weak to hold mankind in bondage, have impiously dared to force religion, the daughter of the king of heaven, to become a prostitute in the ser\'ice of hell. They taught that princes, honored with the name of Christian, might bid defiance to the founder of their faith, might pillage Pagan countries and deluge them with blood, only because they boasted themselves to be the disciples of that teacher who strictly charged his followers to do to others as they would that others should do unto them. This country having been discovered by an English subject, in the year 1620, was (accord- ing to the system which the blind superstition of those times supported) deemed the property of the crown of England. Our ancestors' when they resolved to quit their native soil, obtained from king James, a grant of certain lands in North America. This they probably did to silence the cavils of their enemies, for it cannot be doubted, but that they despised the pretended right which he claimed thereto. Certain it is, that he might, with equal pro- priety and justice, have made them a grant of the planet Jupiter. And their subsequent con- duct plainly shows that they were too well ac- quainted with humanity, and the principles of natural equity, to suppose that the grant gave them any right to take possession ; they there- fore entered into a treaty with the natives, and bought from them the lands ; nor have I ever yet obtained any information that our ancestors ever pleaded, or that the natives ever regarded the grant from the English crown ; the busi- ness was transacted by the parties in the same independent manner that it would have been, had neither of them ever known or heard of the island of Great Britain. Having become the honest proprietors of the soil, they immediately applied themselves to the cultivation of it, and they soon beheld the virgin earth teeming with the richest fruits, a grateful recompense for their unwearied toil. The fields began to ^'ave with ripening har- vests, and the late barren wilderness was seen to blossom like the rose. The savage natives saw with wonder the delightful change, and quickly formed a scheme to obtain that by fraud or force, which nature meant as the re- ward of industry alone. But the industrious emigrants soon convinced the rude invaders, that they were not less ready to take the field for battle than for labor, and the insidious foe was driven from their borders as often as he ventured to disturb them. The crown of Eng- land looked with indifference on the contest: our ancestors were left alone to combat with the natives. Nor is there any reason to be- lieve, that it was ever intended by the one 26 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. party, or expected by the other, that the grantor should defend and maintain the _§■/-««- tees in the peaceful possession of the lands named in the patents. And it appears plainly, from the history of those times, that neither the prince nor the people of England, thought themselves much interested in the matter. They had not then any idea of a thousandth part of those advantages which they since have and we are most heartily willing they should still continue to reap from us. But when, at an infinite expense of toil and blood, this widely extended continent had been cultivated and defended : when the hardy adventurers justly expected that they and their descendants should peaceably have enjoyed the har\est of those fields which they had sown, and the fruit of those vineyards which they had planted, this country was then thought worthy the attention of the British ministry' ; and the only justifiable and only successful means of rendering the colonies serviceable to Britain were adopted. By an intercourse of friendly offices, the two countries became so united in affection, that they thought not of any distinct or separate interests, they found both countries flourishing and happy. Britain saw her commerce extended, and her wealth increased ; her lands raised to an immense value ; her fleets riding triumphant on the ocean ; the terror of her arms spreading to every quarter of the globe. The colonist found himself free, and thought himself secure : he dwelt under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree and had none to make him afraid : he knew indeed, that by purchasing the manu- factures of Great Britain, he contributed to its greatness : he knew that all the wealth that his labor produced centered in Great Britain : But that, far from exciting his envy, filled him with the highest pleasure : that thought sup- ported him in all his toils. When the business of the day was past, he solaced himself with the contemplation, or perhaps entertained his listening family with the recital of some great, some glorious transaction which shines con- spicuous in the history of Britain : or, perhaps, his elevated fancy led him to foretel, with a kind of enthusiastic confidence, the glory, power, and duration of an empire which should extend from one end of the earth to the other: he saw, or thought he saw, the British nation risen to a pitch of grandeur which cast a veil over the Roman glory, and, ravished with the prae-view, boasted a race of British kings, whose names should echo through those realms where Cyrus, Alexander, and the Cassars were unknown ; princes, for whom millions of grateful subjects redeemed from slavery and Pagan ignorance, should, with thankful tongues, offer up their prayers and praises to that transcendently great and bene- ficent being, by whom kings reign and princes decree justice. These pleasing connections iriight have continued ; these delightsome prospects might have been every day extended ; and even the reveries of the most warm imagina- tion might have been realized ; but, unhappil) for Britain, the madness of an avaricious min ister of state, has drawn a sable curtain ovei the charming scene, and in its stead has brought upon the stage, di.scord, envy, hatred and revenge, with civil war close in their rear. Some demon, in an evil hour, suggested to a short-sighted financier, the hateful project of transferring the whole property of the king's subjects in America, to his subjects in Britain. The claim of the British parliament to tax the colonies, can never be supported but by such a transfer ; for the right of the house of Great Britain, to originate any tax or grant money, is altogether derived from their being elected by the people of Great Britain to act for them, and the people of Great Britain can- not confer on their representatives a right to give or grant anything which they themselves have not a right to give or grant personally. Therefore it follows, that if the members cho- sen by the people of Great Britain, to repre- sent them in parliament, have, by virtue of their being so chosen, any right to give or grant American property, or to lay any tax upon the lands or persons of the colonists, it is because the lands and people in the colonies, are, bona fide, owned by, and justly belonging to the people of Great Britain. But (as has been be- fore observed) every man has a right to per- sonal freedom, consequently a right to enjoy what is acquired by his own labor. And it is evident that the property in this country has been acquired by our own labor ; it is the duty of the people of Great Britain, to produce some compact in which we have explicitly given up to them a right to dispose of our persons or property. Until this is done, every attempt of theirs, or of those whom they have deputed to act for them, to give or grant any part of our property, is directly repugnant to every principle of reason and natural justice. But I may boldly say, that such a compact never existed, no, not even in imagina- tion. Nevertheless, the representatives of a nation, long famed for justice and the ex- ercise of every noble virtue, have been pre- vailed on to adopt the fatal scheme ; and MASSACHUSETTS. 27 although the dreadful consequences of this wicked policy have already shaken the empire to its centre, yet still it is persisted in. Regard- less of the voice of reason — deaf to the prayers and supplication — and unaffected with the flow- ing tears of suffering millions, the British min- istry still hug the darling idol ; and every rolling year affords fresh instances of the ab- surd devotion with which they worship it. Alas ! how has the folly, the distraction of the British councils blasted our swelling hopes, and spread a gloom over this western hem- isphere. The hearts of Britons and Americans, which lately felt the generous glow of mutual confi- dence and love, now burn with jealousy and rage. Though but of yesterday, I recollect (deeply affected at the ill-boding change) the happy hours that past while Britain and America rejoiced in the prosperity and great- ness of each other (heaven grant those halcyon days may soon return). But now the Briton too often looks on the American with an en- vious eye, taught to consider his just plea for the enjoyment of his earnings, as the effect of pride and stubborn opposition to the parent country. Whilst the American beholds the Briton, as the ruffian, ready first to take away his property, and ne.\t, what is still dearer to every virtuous man, the liberty of his country. When the measures of administration had disgusted the colonies to the highest degree, and the people of Great Britain had, by arti- fice and falsehood, been irritated against America, an army was sent over to enforce submission to certain acts of the British parlia- ment, which reason scorned to countenance, and which placemen and pensioners were found unable to support. Martial law and the government of a well- regulated city, are so entirely different, that it has always been considered as improper to quarter troops in populous cities ; frequent dis- putes must necessarily arise between the citi- zen and the soldier, even if no previous ani- mosities subsist. And it is further certain, from a consideration of the nature of mankind as well as from constant experience, that standing armies always endanger the liberty of the subject. But when the people on the one part, considered the army as sent to en- slave them, and the army on the other, were taught to look on the people as in a state of rebellion, it was but just to fear the most disa- greeable consequences. Our fears, we have seen, were but too well grounded. The many injuries offered to the town, I pass over in silence. I cannot now mark out the path which led to that unequalled scene of horror, the sad remembrance of which, takes the full possession of my soul. The sanguinary theatre again opens itself to view. The baleful images of terror crowd around me — and discontented ghosts, with hollow groans, appear to solemnize the anniversary of the fifth of March. Approach we then the melancholy walk of death. Hither let me call the gay companion ; here let him drop a farewell tear upon that body which so late he saw vigorous and warm with social mirth — hither let me lead the ten- der mother to weep over her beloved son — come widowed mourner, here satiate thy grief; behold thy murdered husband gasping on the ground, and to complete the pompous show of wretchedness, bring in each hand thy infant children to bewail their father's fate — take heed, ye orphan babes, lest, whilst your streaming eyes are fixed upon the ghastly corpse, yozir feet slide on the stones bespat- tered with your father's brains* Enough ! this tragedy need not be heightened by an in- fant weltering in the blood of him that gave it birth. Nature reluctant, shrinks already from the view, and the chilled blood rolls slowly backward to its fountain. We wildly stare about, and with amazement, ask who spread this ruin round us ? what wretch has dared deface the image of his God ? has haughty France, or cruel Spain, sent forth her myrmi- dons .' has the grim savage rushed again from the far distant wilderness.' or does some fiend fierce from the depth of hell, with all the ran- corous malice which the apostate damned can feel, twang her destructive bow, and hurl her deadly arrows at our breast } no ; none of these — but, how astonishing ! it is the hand of Britain that inflicts the wound. The arms of George, our righttul king, have been employed to shed that blood, when justice, or the honor of his crown, had called his subjects to the field. But pity, grief, astonishment, with all the softer movements of the soul, must now give way to stronger passions. Say, fellow-citizens what dreadful thought now swells your heav- ing bosoms — you fly to arms — sharp indigna- tion flashes from each eye — revenge gnashes her iron teeth — death grins an hideous smile, secure to drench his greedy jaws in human gore — whilst hovering furies darken all the air. But stop, my bold adventurous countrymen, * After Mr- Gray had been shot through the body, and had fallen dead on the ground, a bayonet was pushed through his skull; part of the bone being broken, his brains fell out upon the pavement. 28 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. stain not your weapons with the blood of Britons. Attend to reason's voice — humanity puts in her claim— and sues to be again admit- ted to her wonted seat, the bosom of the brave. Revenge is far beneath the noble mind. Many, perhaps, compelled to rank among the vile assassins, do from their inmost souls, detest the barbarous action. The winged death, shot from your arms, may chance to pierce some breast that bleeds al- ready for your injured country. The storm subsides — a solemn pause ensues — you spare, upon condition they depart. They go — they quit your city — they no more shall give offence. Thus closes the important drama. And could it have been conceived that we again should have seen a British army in our land, sent to enforce obedience to acts of parlia- ment destructive of our liberty. But the royal ear, far distant from this western world, has been assaulted by the tongue of slander ; and villains, traitorous alike to king and country, have prevailed upon a gracious prince to clothe his countenance with wrath, and to erect the hostile banner against a people ever affectionate and loyal to him and his illustrious predeces- sors of the house of Hanover. Our streets are again filled with armed men ; our harbor is crowded with ships of war; but these cannot intimidate us ; our liberty must be preserved ; it is far dearer than life, we hold it even dear as our allegiance ; we must defend it against the attacks of friends as well as enemies ; we can- not suffer even Britons to ravish it from us. No longer could we reflect with generous pride on the heroic actions of our American forefathers — no longer boast our origin from that far-famed island whose warlike sons have so often drawn their well tried swords to save her from the ravages of tyranny ; could we but for a moment, entertain the thought of giving up our hberty. The man who meanly will submit to wear a shackle, contemns the noblest gift of heaven, and impiously affronts the God that made him free. It was a maxim of the Roman people, which eminently conduced to the greatness of that state, never to despair of the commonwealth. The maxim may prove as salutary to us now, as it did to them. Short-sighted mortals see not the numerous links of small and great events, which form the chain on which the fate of kings and nations is suspended. Ease and prosperity (though pleasing for a day) have often sunk a people into effeminacy and sloth. Hardships and dangers (tho' we forever strive to shun them) have frequently called forth s\ich virtues, as have commanded the applause and reverence of an admiring world. Our country loudly calls you to be circumspect, vigilant, active and brave. Perhaps, (all gracious heaven avert it) perhaps, the power of Britain, a nation great in war, by some malignant influence, may be employed to enslave you : but let not even this discourage you. Her arms, 'tis true, have filled the world with ter- ror: her troops have reaped the laurels of the field : her fleets have rode triumphant on the sea — and when or where, did you, my country- men, depart inglorious from the field of fight!* you too can shew the trophies of your forefa- thers' victories and your own ; can name the fortresses and battles you have won ; and many of you count the honorable scars of wounds received, whilst fighting for your king and country. Where justice is the standard, heaven is the warrior's shield : but conscious guilt un- nerves the arm that lifts the sword against the innocent. Britain, united with these colonies, by commerce and affection, by interest and blood, may mock the threats of France and Spain : may be the seat of universal empire. But should America, either by force, or those more dangerous engines, luxury and corrup- tion, ever be brought into a state of vassalage, Britain must lose her freedom also. No lon- ger shall she sit the empress of the sea : her ships no more shall waft her thunders over the wide ocean : the wreath shall wither on her temples : her weakened arm shall be unable to defend her coasts : and she. at last, must bow her venerable head to some proud foreigner's despotic rule. But if, from past events, we may venture to form a judgment of the future, we justly may * The patience with which this people have borne the repeated injuries which have been heaped upon them, and their unwillingness to take any sanguinary measures, has, very injudiciously, been ascribed to cowardice, by per- sons both here and in Great Britain. I most heartily wish that an opinion, so erroneous in itself, and so fatal in its consequences, might be utterly removed before it be too late : and I think nothing further necessary to convince every intelligent man, that the conduct of this people is owing to the tender regard which they have for their fellow-men and an utter abhorrence to the shedding of human blood, than a little attention to their general temper and disposition, discovered when they cannot be supposed to be under any apprehension of danger to them- selves. — I will only mention the universal detestation which they shew to every act of cruelty, by whom, and upon whomsoever committed ;the mild spirit of their laws; the very few crimes to which capital penalties are an- nexed ; and the very great backwardness which both courtsand juries discover, in condemning persons charged with capital crimes. — But if any should think this observa- tion not to the purpose, I readily appeal to those gentle- men of the army who have been in the camp, or in the field, with the .Americans. MASSACHUSETTS. 29 expect that the devices of our enemies will but increase the triumphs of our country. I must indulge a hope that Britain's liberty, as well as ours, will eventually be preser\-ed by the virtue of America. The attempt of the British parliament to raise a revenue from America, and our denial of their right to do it, have exxited an almost universal enquiry into the right of mankind in general, and of British subjects in particular ; the necessary result of which must be such a liberality of sentiment, and such a jealousy of those in power, as will, better than an adaman- tine wall, secure us against the future ap- proaches of despotism. The malice of the Boston port-bill has been defeated in a very considerable degree, by giving you an opportunity of deserving. and our breth- ren in this and our sister-colonies an oppor- tunity of bestowing, those benefactions which have delighted your friends and astonished your enemies, not only in America, but in Eu- rope also. And what is more valuable still, the sympathetic feelings for a brother in dis- tress, and the grateful emotions excited in the breast of him who finds relief, must forever endear each to the other, and form those indis- soluble bonds of friendship and affection, on which the preservation of our rights so evi- dently depend. The mutilation of our charter, has made every other colony jealous for its own ; for this if once submitted to by us, would set on float the property and government of every British set- tlement upon the continent. If charters are not deemed sacred, how miserably precarious is every thing founded upon them. Even the sending troops to put these acts in execution, is not without advantages to us. The exactness and beauty of their discipline inspire our youth with ardor in the pursuit of military knowledge. Charles the invincible, taught Peter the great, the art of war. The battle of Pultowa convinced Charles of the proficiency Peter had made. Our country is in danger, but not to be de- spaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful — but we have many friends — deter- mining to be free, and Heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happi- ness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves. The faltering tongue of hoary age calls on you to support your coun- try. The lisping infant raises its suppliant hands, imploring defence against the monster slavery. Your fathers look from their celestial seats with smiling approbation on their sons, who boldly stand forth in the cause of virtue ; but sternly frown upon the inhuman miscreant, who, to secure the loaves and fishes to him- self, would breed a serpent to destroy his children. But, pardon me, my fellow-citizens, I know you want not zeal or fortitude. You will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle. However difficult the combat, you never will decline it when freedom is the prize. An independence of Great Britain is not our aim. No, our wish is, that Britain and the colonies may, like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in strength together. But whilst the infatuated plan of making one part of the empire slaves to the other is persisted in, the interest and safety of Britain, as well as the colonies, require that the wise measures, recom- mended by the honorable the continental con- gress, be steadily pursued ; whereby the unnatural contest between a parent honored, and a child beloved, may probably be brought to such an issue, as that the peace and happi- ness of both may be established upon a lasting basis. But if these pacific measures are in- eflectual, and it appears that the only way to safety, is through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces from your foes, but will, undauntedly, press forward, until tyranny is trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess liberty, fast by a Brunswick's side, on the American throne. You then, who nobly have espoused your country's cause, who generously have sacrificed wealth and ease — who have despised the pomp and shew of tinseled greatness — refused the summons to the festive board — been deaf to the alluring calls of luxury and mirth — who have forsaken the downy pillow, to keep your vigils by the midnight lamp, for the salvation of your invaded countr)-, that you might break the fowler's snare, and disappoint the vulture of his prey ; you then will reap that hanest of renown which you so justly have deserved. Your coun- try shall pay her grateful tribute of applause. Even the children of your most inveterate enemies, ashamed to tell from whom they sprang, while they, in secret, curse their stupid, cruel parents, shall join the general voice of gratitude to those who broke the fetters which their fathers' forged. Having redeemed your country', and secured the blessing to future generations, who, fired by your example, shall emulate your virtues, and learn from you the heavenly art of making millions happy ; with heart-felt joy — with transports all your own, you cry, the glorious 30 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. work is done. Then drop the mantle to some young Elisha, and take your seats with kindred spirits in your native skies. AN ORATION, Delivered at the King's Chapel in Boston, April 8, 1 776, on the re-interment of the re- mains of the late Most Worshipful Grand- master Joseph Warren, Esquire. President of the late Congress of this Colony, and Major Gen- eral of the Massachusetts forces, who was slain in the battle of Bunker s-hill, June 17, 1775. BY PEREZ MORTON, M. M. Illustrious relics! — What tidings from the grave ? why hast thou left the peaceful man- sions of that tomb, to visit again this troubled earth ! art thou the welcome messenger of peace ! art thou risen again to exhibit thy glorious wounds, and through them proclaim salvation to thy country ! or art thou come to demand the last debt of humanity, to which your rank and merit have so justly entitled you — but which has been so long ungenerously withheld ! and art thou angry at the barbarous usage .' be appeased, sweet ghost ! for though thy body has long laid undistinguished among the vulgar dead, scarce privileged with earth enough to hide it from the birds of prey ; though not a friendly sigh was uttered o'er thy grave ; and though the execration of an impious foe, were all thy funeral knells ; yet, matchless patriot ! thy memory has been embalmed in the affections of thy grateful countrymen ; who, in their breasts, have raised eternal monu- ments to thy braver)' ! But let us leave the beloved remains, and contemplate for a moment, those virtues of the man, the exercise of which have so deservedly endeared him to the honest among the great, and the good among the humble, In the private walks of life, he was a pattern for mankind. — The tears of her. to whom the world is indebted for so much virtue, are silent heralds of his filial piety ; while his tender off- spring, in lisping out their father's care, pro- claim his parental affection ; and an Adams can witness with how much zeal he loved, where he had formed the sacred connexion of a friend : — their kindred souls were so closely twined, that both felt one joy, both one afflic- tion. In conversation he had the happy talent of addressing his subject both to the under- standing and the passions; from the one he forced conviction, from the other he stole assent. He was blessed with a complacency of dis- position and equanimity of temper, which peculiarly endeared him to his friends, and which, added to the deportment of the gentle- man, commanded reverence and esteem even from his enemies. Such was the tender sensibility of his soul, that he need but see distress to feel it, and contribute to its relief. He was deaf to the calls of interest even in the course of his pro fession : and wherever he beheld an indigen object, which claimed his healing skill, he ad- ministered it, without even the hope of any other reward than that which resulted from the reflection of having so far promoted the happiness of his fellow-men. In the social departments of life, practising upon the strength of that doctrine, he used so earnestly to inculcate himself, that nothing so much conduced to enlighten mankind, and advance the great end of society at large, as the frequent interchange of sentiments, in friendly meeting ; we find him constantly en- gaged in this eligible labor ; but on none did he place so high a value, as on that most hon- orable of all detached societies. The Free and Accepted Jfasons : into this fraternity he was early initiated ; and after having given repeated proofs of a rapid proficiency in the arts, and after evidencing by his life, the pro- fessions of his lips — finally, as the reward of his merit, he was commissioned The Most Worshipful Grand-Master of all the ancient Masons, through North America. And you, brethren, are living testimonies, with how much honor to himself, and benefit to the craft uni- versal, he discharged the duties of his elevated trust ; with what sweetened accents he courted your attention, while, with wisdom, strength, and beauty, he instructed -his lodges in the secret arts of Freemasonry ; what perfect order and decorum he presen-ed in the government of them ; and, in all his conduct, what a bright example he set us, to live within compass and act upon the square. With what pleasure did he silence the wants of poor and pennyless brethren ; yea, the necessitous every where, though ignorant of the mysteries of the craft, from his benefac- tions, felt the happy effects of that institution which is founded on faith, hope and charity. And the world may cease to wonder, that he so readily offered up his life, on the altar of his country, when they are told that the main pillar of masonry is the love of mankind. The fates, as though they would reveal, in the person if our Grand-master, those mys- teries which have so long lain hid from the MASSACHUSETTS. 31 world, have suffered him, like the great master- builder in the temple of old, to fall by the hands of ruffians, and be again raised in honor and authority : we searched in the field for the murdered son of a widow, and we found him, by the turf and I he /'wit^. buried on the brow of a liill, though not in a decent grave. — And though we must again commit his body to the tomb, yet our breasts shall be the burying spot of his masonic virtues, and there — ** An adamantine monument we'll rear, " With this inscription," Masonry " lies here." — In public life, the sole object of his ambition was, to acquire the conscience of virtuous en- terprises ; amor patrie was the spring of his actions, and mens conscia recti \\a.s his guide. And on this security he was, on every occa- sion, ready to sacrifice his health, his interest, and his ease, to the sacred calls of his country. When the liberties of America were attacked, he appeared an early champion in the con- test : and thougli his knowledge and abilities would have insured riches and preferment (could he have stooped to prostitution) yet he nobly withstood the fascinating charm, tossed fortune back her plume, and pursued the in- flexible purpose of his soul, in guiltless com- petence. He sought not the airy honors of a name, else many of those publications which, in the early period of our controversy, served to open the minds of the people, had not appeared an- onymous. In every time of eminent danger, his fellow-citizens flew to him for advice ; like the orator of Athens, he gave it and dispelled their fears : — twice did they call him to the rostrum to commemorate the massacre of their brethren ; and from that instance, in persua- sive language he taught them, not only the dangerous tendency, but the actual mischief of stationing a military force in a free city, in a time of peace.— They learnt the profitable lesson and penned it among their grievances. But his abilities were too great, his delibera- tions too much wanted, to be confined to the limits of a single city, and at a time when our liberties were most critically in danger from the secret machinations and open assaults of our enemies, this town, to their lasting honor, elected him to take a part in the councils of the state. — And with what faithfulness he dis- charged the important delegation, the neglect of his private concerns, and his unwearied attendance on that betrustment, will sufficiently testify ; and the records of that virtuous as- sembly will remain the testimonials of his accomplishments as a statesman, and his integrity and services as a patriot, through all posterity. The congress of our colony could not observe so much virtue and greatness without honor- ing it with the highest mark of their favor, and by the free suffrages of that uncorrupted body of freemen, he was soon called to preside in the senate— where, by his daily counsels and exertions, he was constantly promoting the great cause of general liberty. But when he found the tools of oppression were obstinately bent on violence ; when he found the vengeance of the British court must be glutted with blood ; he determined, that what he could not effect by his eloquence or his pen, he would bring to purpose by his sword. And on the memorable 19th of April, he appeared in the field under the united characters of the general, the soldier, and the physician. Here he was seen animating his countrymen to battle, and fighting by their side, and there he was found administering healing comforts to the wounded. And when he had repelled the unprovoked assaults of the enemy, anrl had driven them back into their strong-holds, like the virtuous chief of Rome, he returned to the senate, and presided again at the councils of the fathers. When the vanquished foe had rallied their disordered army, and by the acquisition of fresh strength, again presumed to fight against free- men, our patriot, ever anxious to be where he could do the most good, again put off the senator, and, in contempt of danger, flew to the field of battle, where, after a stern, and almost victorious resistance, ah ! too soon for his country ! he sealed his principles with his blood — then — " Freedom wept, that merit could not save," But Wart-ens manes " must enrich the prave." Enriched indeed ! and the heights of Charles- town shall be more memorable for thy fall, than the Plains of Abraham are for that of the hero of Britain. For while he died con- tending for a single country, you fell in the cause of virtue and mankind. The greatness of his soul shone even in the moment of death ; for, if fame speaks true, in his last agonies he met the insults of his bar- barous foe with his wonted magnanimity, and with the true spirit of a soldier, frowned at their impotence. In fine, to complete the great character — • like Harrington he wrote — like Cicero he spoke — like Hampden he lived — and like Wolfe he died. And can we, my countrymen, with indiffe- rence behold so much valor laid prostrate by 32 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the hand of British tyranny ! and can we ever grasp that hand in affection again ? are we not yet convinced " that he who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored Indian, is less a savage than the king of Britain ! " have we not proofs, wrote in blood, that the corrupted nation, from whence we sprang, (though there may be some traces of their an- cient virtue left) are stubbornly fixed on our destruction ! and shall we still court a depen- dence on such a state? still contend for a con- nexion with those who have forfeited not only every kindred claim, but even their title to humanity ! forbid it the spirit of the brave Montgomery ! forbid it the spirit of immortal Warren ! forbid it the spirits of all our valiant countrymen ! who fought, bled, and died for far different purposes, and who would have thought the purchase dear indeed ! to have paid their lives for the paltry boon of displacing one set of villains in power, to make way for another. No. They contended for the estab- lishment of peace, liberty, and safety to their country ; and we are unworthy to be called their countrymen, if we stop at any acquisition short of this. Now is the happy season, to seize again those rights, which, as men, we are by nature entitled to, and which, by contract, we never have and never could have surrendered : — but which have been repeatedly and violently at- tacked by the king, lords and commons of Britain. Ought we not then to disclaim for- ever, the forleited affinity ; and by a timely amputation of that rotten limb of the empire, prevent the mortification of the whole .' ought we not to listen to the voice of our slaugh- tered brethren, who are now proclaiming aloud to their country — Go tell the king, and tell him from our spirits. That you and Britons can be friends no more ; Tell him, to you all tyrants are the same ; Or if in bonds, the never conquer'd soul Can feel a pang, more keen than slavery's self, 'Tis where the chains that crush you into dust. Are forg'd by hands, from which you hop'd for freedom. Yes, we ought, and will — we will assert the blood of our murdered hero against thy hos- tile oppressions, O shameless Britain ! and ■when •' thy cloud-capped towers, thy gorgeous palaces " shall, by the teeth of pride and folly, be levelled with the dust— and when thy glory shall have faded like the western sunbeam — the name and the virtues of Warren shall re- main immortal. GENERAL WARREN. [It is well remembered that this ardent patriot twice mounted the rostrum to address his fellow citizens on the subject of the massa- cre of the 5th of March : but the occasion of his second appointment for that purpose is not generally known Mr. Knapp, in his " bio- graphical sketches," just published, has given the following interesting explanation of it, which is in concurrence with the daring spirit of the man, who was always foremost in danger.] •' His next oration was delivered March 5th, 1775. It \^'as at his own solicitation that h« was appointed to the duty a second time. The fact is illustrative of his character, and worthy of remembrance. — Some British officers of the army then in Boston, had publicly declared that it should be at the price of the life of any man to speak of the event of March 5, 1770, on that anniversary. Warren's soul took fire at such a threat, so openly made, and he wished for the honor of braving it. This was readily granted, for at such a time a man would proba- bly find but few rivals. Many who would spurn the thought of personal fear, might be appre- hensive that they would be so far disconcerted as to forget their discourse. It is easier to fight bravely, than to think clearly or correctly in danger. — Passion sometimes nerves the arm to fight, but disturbs the regular current of thought. The day came, and the weather was remarkably fine. The Old South meeting-house was crowded at an early hour. The British officers occupied the aisles, the flight of steps to the pulpit, and several of them were within it. It was not precisely known whether this was accident or design. The orator, with the assistance of his friends, made his entrance at the pulpit window by a ladder. The officers, seeing his coolness and intrepidity, made way for him to advance and address the audience. An awful stillness preceded his exordium. Each man felt the palpitation of his own heart, and saw the pale but determined face of his neighbor. The speaker began his oration in a firm tone of voice, and proceeded with great energy and pathos. Warren and his friends were prepared to chastise contumely, prevent dis- grace, and avenge an attempt at assassination. The scene was sublime ; a patriot in whom the flush of youth, and the grace and dignity of manhood were combined, stood armed in thesanctuary of God, to animate and encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl defiance at their oppressors. The orator commenced with the early history of the country, described the tenure by which we held our liberties and property — the affection we had constantly shewn the parent country, and boldly told them how, and by whom these blessings of life had been violated. There was in this MASSACHUSETTS. 33 appeal to Britain — in this description of suffer- ing, agony and horror, a calm and high-souled defiance which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such another hour has sel- dom happened in the history of man, and is not surpassed in the records of nations. The thunders of Demosthenes rolled at a distance from Philip and his host — and Tully poured the fiercest torrent of his invective when Cati- line was at a distance, and his dagger no longer to be feared ; but Warren's speech was made to proud oppressors resting on their arms, whose errand it was to overawe, and whose business it was to fight. If the deed of Brutus deserved to be commem- orated by history, poetry, painting and sculp- ture, should not this instance of patriotism and bravery be held in lasting remembrance .'' If he ' That struck the foremost man of all this world,' was hailed as the first of freemen, what honors are not due to him, who, undismayed, bearded the British lion, to show the world what his countrymen dared to do in the cause of liberty .' Ifthe statue of Brutus were placed among those of the gods, who were the preservers of Roman freedom, should not that of Warren fill a lofty niche in the temple reared to perpetuate the remembrance of our birth as a nation ? " EULOGIUM ON WARREN. From Botta's History of the American war, — -published, he says, " in the Philadelphia papers," but we know not when, or where, or by whom, it was delivered, which we should have been glad to have ascertained. " What spectacle more noble," 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 coun- try for that of so devoted a citizen ? Send hither your satellites ; come feast your vindic- tive 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 perpe- trate, barbarians that you are ? But while the nane of American liberty shall live, that of Wai.en 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 of this illustrious citizen : he intreats, he exhorts, he implores you not to disturb his present felicity with the doubt, that he, perhaps, has sacrificed 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 contem- plate 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 gov- ernment. 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 atro- cious laws, they soon gave themselves up to joy in the midst of murder, expecting to see a whole continent drenched in the blood of free- men. 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 34 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. who have bequeathed you hberty. It costs us floods of gold and of blood ; it costs us, alas ! the life of Warren." ORATION, DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1773- BY DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. Impius haec culta novalia miles habebit ? Barbarus has segetes ? in quo discordia cives, perduxit miseros ? in queis consevimus agros > Virgil, Eel I O ! SOCII O passi graviora. dabit Deus his quoque finem ; revocate animos, msestumque timorem mittite, forsan et hsec olim meminisse juvabit. Virgil, ^ne. I. From a consciousness of inability, my friends and fellow countrymen, I have re- peatedly declined the duties of this anniver- sary. Nothing but a tirm attachment to the tottering liberties of America* added to the irresistible importunity of some valued friends, could have induced me (especially with a very short notice) so far as to mistake my abilities, as to render the utmost extent of your candor truly indispensable. When man was unconnected by social obliga- tions ; abhorrent to every idea of dependence ; actuated by a savage ferocity of mind, displayed in the brutality of his manners, the necessary exigencies of each individual, naturally impelled him to acts of treachery, violence and murder. The miseries of mankind thus proclaiming eternal war with their species, led them, pro- bably, to consult certain measures to arrest the current of such outrageous enormities. A sense of their wants and weakness, in a state of nature, doubtless inclined them to such reciprocal aids and support, as eventually established society. Men then began to incorporate ; subordina- tion succeeded to independence ; order to anarchy ; and passions were disarmed by civili- zation ; society lent its aid to secure the weak from oppression, who wisely took shelter with- in the sanctuary of law. Encreasing, society afterwards exacted, that the tacit contract made with her by each individual, at the time of his being incorporated, should receive a more solemn form to become authentic and irrefragable ; the main object being to add force to the laws, proportionate to the power and extent of the body corporate, whose energy they were to direct. * Periculosx plenum opus ales Tractas, incedis per ignes Suppositos cineri doloso. — Horace. Then society availed herself of the sacrifice of that liberty and that natural equality of which we are all conscious : superiors and magistrates were appointed, and mankind sub- mitted to a civil and political subordination. This is truly a glorious inspiration of reason, by whose influence, notwithstanding the incli- nation we have for independence, we accept control, for the establishment of order. Although unrestrained power in one person may have been the first and most natural recourse of mankind, from rapine and disorder ; yet all restrictions of power, made by laws, or participation of sovereignty, are apparent im- provements upon what began in unlimited power. It would shock humanity, should I attempt to describe those barbarous and tragic scenes, which crimson the historic page of this wretched and detestable constitution, where absolute dominion is lodged in one person: where one makes the whole and the whole is nothing. What motives, what events, could have been able to subdue men, endowed with reason, to render themselves the mute instru- ments, and passive objects of the caprice of an individual. Mankind, apprised of their privileges, in being rational and free, in prescribing civil laws to themselves, had surely no intention of being enchained by any of their equals ; and although they submitted voluntary- adherents to certain laws, for the sake of mutual security and happiness, they, no doubt, intended by the original compact, a permanent exemption of the subject body from any claims, which were not expressly surrendered, for the purpose of obtaining the security and defence of the whole. Can it possibly be conceived, that they would voluntarily be enslaved by a power of their own creation. The constitution of a magistrate does not, therefore, take away that lawful defence against force and injury, allowed by the law of nature ; we are not to obey a prince, ruling above the limits of the power entrusted to him ; for the commonwealth, by constituting a head, does not deprive itself of the power of its own pre- servation.* Government and magistracy, whe- ther supreme or subordinate, is a mere human ordinance, and the laws of every nation are the measure of magistratical power : and kings, the servants of the state, when they degenerate into tyrants, forfeit their right to government. Breach of trust in a governor,! or attempt- ing to enlarge a limited power, effisctually ab- * The celebrated Mrs. Macaulay. t Mrs. Macaulay. MASSACHUSETTS. 35 solves subjects from every bond of covenant and peace ; the crimes acted by a king against the people, are the highest treason against the highest law among meti* " If the king (says Grotius) hath one part of the supreme power, and the other part is in the senate or people, when such a king shall invade that part which doth not belong to him, it shall be lawful to oppose a just force to him, because his power doth not extend so far." The question, in short, turns upon this sin- gle point, respecting the power of the civil magistrate, is it the end of that office, that one particular person may do what he will without restraint .' or rather that society should be made happy and secure ? the answer is verj' obvious — And it is my firm opinion that the equal justice of God, and the natural freedom of mankind, must stand or fall together. When rulers become tyrants, they cease to be kings : they can no longer be respected as God's vicegerents, who violate the laws they were sworn to protect. The preacher may tell us of passive obedience, that tyrants are scour- ges in the hands of a righteous GoD to chas- tise a sinful nation, and are to be submitted to like plagues, famine and such like judgments : such doctrine may ser\'e to mislead ill-judging princes into a false security : but men are not to be harangued out of their senses ; human nature and self-preser\-ation will eternally arm the brave and vigilant, against slavery and op- pression. As a despotic government f is evidently pro- ductive of the most shocking calamities, what- ever tends to restrain such inordinate power, though in itself a severe evil, is extremely bene- ficial to society ; for where a degrading servi- tude is the detestable alternative, who can shudder at the reluctant poignard of a Brutus, the crimsoned axe of a Cromwell, or the reek- ing dagger of a Ravillac. To enjoy life as becomes rational creatures, to possess our souls with pleasure and satis- faction, we must be careful to maintain that inestimable blessing, liberty. By liberty I would be understood, the happiness of living under laws of our own making, by our personal consent, or that of our representatives. % * Salus populi suprema lex est. + The ingratitude and corruption of Rome is, perhaps. in no instance, more strongly marlied than in her treat- ment of her colonies ; by their labors, toils, and arms, she had reached to that summit of glorious exaltation, as to be like Britain, the wonder and dread of the world ; but by fatal experience those ruined colonies inculcate this serious lesson, the ambition of a despot is boundless ; his rapine is insatiable ; the accomplishment of his conquests over his enemies, is but the introduction of slavery, with her concomitant plagues, to his friends. X The very idea of representative, deputy or trustee, Without this, the distinctions among man- kind are but different degrees of misery ; for as the true estimate of a man's life consists in conducting it according to his own just senti- ment and innocent inclinations, his being is degraded below that of a free agent, which heaven has made him, when his affections and passions are no longer governed by the dic- tates of his own mind, and the interests of human society, but by the arbitrary, unre- strained will of another. I thank God we live in an age of rational inquisition, when the unfettered mind dares to expatiate freely on every object worthy its at- tention, when the privileges of mankind are thoroughly comprehended, and the rights of distinct societies are objects of liberal enquiry. The rod of the tyrant no longer excites our apprehensions, and to the frown of the despot which made the darker ages tremble,* we dare oppose demands of right, and appeal to that constitution, which holds even kings in fetters. It is easy to project the subversion of a peo- ple when men behold them, the ignorant or indolent victims of power ; but it is difficult to effect their ruin when they are apprised of their just claims, and are sensibly and seasonably affected with thoughts for their preservation. God be thanked the alarm is gone forth.t the people are universally informed of their char- ter rights ; they esteem them to be the ark of God to New-England, and like that of old, may it deal destruction to the profane hand that shall dare to touch it. In every state or society of men, personal liberty and security must depend upon the col- lective power of the whole, acting for the includes that of a constituent whose interest they are or- dained and appointed to promote and secure ; my unap- pointed, self-constituted agent in the liritish parliament, has fraudulenUy and arbitrarily surrendered my best in- terest, without my privity, or consent ; I do therefore hereby protest against all such powers as he shall claim in my behalf, and most solemnly discard him my service for- ever.— See Locke ^ Civil Government. Risum teneatis amici. * Calum nun animum fttutanty qui trans marc cur- rant. The citizens of Rome, Sparta, or Lacedemon, at those blessed periods when they were most eminent for their attachment to liberty and virtue, could never exhibit brighter examples of patriotic zeal, than are to be found at this day in America ; I will not presume to say that the original British spirit has improved by transplanting ; but this I dare afBrm, that should Britons stoop to oppres- sion, the struggles of their American brethren, will be their eternal reproach. t The instituting a committee of grievances and corre- spondence by the town of Boston, has served this valuable purpose : The general infraction of the rights of all the colonies, must finally reduce the discordant provinces, to a necessary combination for their mutual interest and defence : Some future congress will be the glorious source of the salvation of America : The Amphictiones of Greece, who formed the diet or great council of the states, exhibit an excellent model for the rising Americans 36 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION, general interest.* If this collective power is not of the whole, the freedom and interest of the whole is not secured : If this confluent power acts by a partial delegation, or for a partial interest, its operation is surely determi- nable, where its delegation ends. The constitution of England, I revere to a degree of idolatry ; but my attachment is to the common weal : The magistrate will ever command my respect, by the integrity and wisdom of his administrations. Junius well observes, " when the constitution is openly invaded, when the first original right of the people, from which all laws derive their authority, is directly attacked, inferior grievan- ces naturally lose their force, and are suffered to pass bywithout punishment or observation." Numberless have been the attacks made upon our free constitution ; numberless the grievances we now resent : but the Hydra mis- chief, is the violation of my right, as a British American freeholder, in not being consulted in framing those statutes I am required to obey. The authority of the British monarch over this colony was established, and his power derived from the province charter; by that we are entitled to a distinct legislation. As in every government there must exist a power su- perior to the laws, viz. the power that makes those laws, and from which they derive their authority : t therefore the liberty of the people is exactly proportioned to the share the body of the people have in the legislature ; and the check placed in the constitution, on the execu- tive power. The state only is free, where the people are governed by laws which they have a share in making ; and that country is totally enslaved, where one single law can be made or repealed, without the interposition or con- sent of the people. That the members of the British parliament are the representatives of the whole British empire, expressly militates with their avowed principles : property and residence within the * Lord Chief Justice Coke observes " when any new device is moved in the king's behalf, for aid or the like, commons may answer, they dare not agree without con- ference with their counties." The novel device of fleec- ing the colonies, was introduced in a way the constitution knows not of, and crammed down their throats, by meas- ures equally iniquitous. I will not alarm the sticklers for the present measures, by confronting them with more stale authorities, if they will permit me the following short but express declaration of Sidney, which they may chew at leisure. No man CAN GIVE THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER'S. + Nothing, continued the corporal, can be so sweet, An' please your honor, as liberty* Nothing, Trim, said my uncle Toby, musing— Whilst a man is free — cried the corporal, giving ft flourish with his stick thus : ^^" —Tristram Skandy. island, alone constituting the right of election ; and surely he is not my delegate in whose nomination or appointment I have no choice ; but however the futile and absurd claim of a virtual representation, may comport with the idea of a political visionary, he must (if possi- ble) heighten the indignation, or excite the ridicule of a freeborn American, who by such a fallacious pretext would despoil him of his property. An American freeholder, according to the just and judicious conduct of the present min- istry, has no possible right to be consulted, in the disposal of his property : when a lordly, though unlettered British elector, possessed of a turnip garden, with great propriety may ap- point a legislature, to assess the ample do- mains of the most sensible, opulent American planter. But remember, my brethren, when a people have once sold their liberties, it is no act of extraordinary generosity, to throw their lives and properties into the bargain, for they are poor indeed when enjoyed at the mercy of a master. The late conduct of Great Britain, so incon- sistent with the practice of former times, so subversive of the first principles of government, is sufficient to excite the discontent of the sub- ject : the Americans justly and decently urged an exclusive right of taxing themselves ; was it indulgent, conciliating, or parental conduct in that state, to exaggerate such a claim, as a concerted plan of rebellion in the wanton Americans ? and by a rigorous and cruel exer- cise of power to enforce submission, excite such animosities, as at some future period, may produce a bitter repentance .' Can such be called a legal tax or free gift ? it is rather levying contributions on grudging enslaved Americans, by virtue of an act framed and enforced, not only without, but against their consent ; thereby rendering the provincial assemblies an useless part of the constitu- tion. Where laws are framed and assessments laid without a legal representation, and obedi- ence to such acts urged by force, the despair- ing people robbed of every constitutional means of redress, and that people, brave and virtuous, must become the admiration of ages, should they not appeal to those powers, which the immutable laws of nature have lent to all man- kind. Fear is a slender tie of subjection ; we detest those whom we fear, and wish destruc- tion to those we detest, but humanity, upright- ness, and good faith, with an apparent watch- fulness for the welfare of the people, constitute MASSACHUSETTS. 37 the permanency, and are the firmest support of the sovereign's authority ; for when violence is opposed to reason and justice, courage never wants an arm for its defence. What dignity, what respect, what authority, can Britain derive from her obstinate adhe- rence to error ? she stands convicted of viola- ting her own principles, but perseveres with un- relenting severity ; we implore for rights as a grace — she aggravates our distress, by lopping away another and another darling privilege ; we ask for freedom and she sends the sword! To the wisdom, to the justice, to the piety of his most sacred majesty, I unite in my appeal with this unbounded empire ; God grant he may attend to the reiterated prayer, instead of the murmur of discontent, and the frown of louring disaffection ; we would uni- versally hail him with those effusions of genuine joy, and duteous veneration, which the proudest despot will vainly look for, from forced respect or ceremonial homage. Parties and factions, since the days of the detested Andross, have been strangers to this land ; no distinctions of heart felt animosity, dis- turbed the peace and order of society till the malignant folly of a * late rancorous com- mander in chief, conjured them from the dead : when shall this unhappy clime be purged of its numerous plagues ? when will our troubles, our feuds, our struggles cease ? when will the locusts leave the land ? then, and not till then, peace and plenty shall smile around us; the husbandman will labor with pleasure ; and honest industry reap the reward of its toil. But let us not forget the distressing occasion of this anniversary : the sullen ghosts of mur- dered fellow-citizens haunt my imagination " and harrow up my soul ; " methinks the tainted air is hung with the dews of death, while Ate, hot from hell, cries havoc, and lets slip the dogs of war. Hark ! the wan tenants of the grave still shriek for vengeance on their remorseless butchers : forgive us. Heaven ! should we mingle involuntary execrations, while hovering in idea over the guiltless dead. Where is the amiable, the graceful Maverick ? the opening blossom is now withered in his cheek, the sprightly fire that once lightened in his eye is quenched in death ;t the savage hands of brutal ruffians have crushed the un- suspecting victim, and in an evil hour snatched away his gentle soul. • The Nettlehain Baronet, t Where is the friendly, the industrious Cald- well .' he paced innoxious through the theatre of death, unconscious of design or danger, when the winged fate gored his bosom, and stript his startled soul for the world of spirits. Where are the residue of active citizens that were wont to tread these sacred floors .' fallen by the hands of the vindictive assassins they swell the horrors of the sanguinary scene. Loyalty stands on tiptoe at the shocking recol- lection, while justice, virtue, honor, patriotism become suppliants for immoderate vengeance : the whole soul clamors for arms, and is on fire to attack the brutal banditti ; we fly agonizing to the horrid aceldama ; we gaze on the man- gled corses of our brethren and grinning furies, glotting o'er their carnage, the hostile attitude of the miscreant murderers, redoubles our re- sentment, and makes revenge a virtue. By heaveti they die! thus nature spoke, and the swoln heart leap'd to execute the dreadful purpose ; dire was the interval of rage, fierce was the conflict of the soul. In that important hour, did not the stalking ghosts of our stem forefathers, point us to bloody deeds of ven- geance ? did not the consideration of our expiring liberties impel us to remorseless havoc ? but hark ! the guardian God of New England issues his awful mandate," Peace, be still ; " hush'd was the bursting war, the pouring tempest frowned its rage away. Con- fidence in that God, beneath whose wing we shelter all our cares, that blessed confidence released the dastard, the cowering prey : with haughty scorn we refused to become their executioners, and nobly gave them to the wrath of heaven : but words can poorly paint the hor- rid scene * — defenceless, prostrate, bleeding countrymen — the piercing agonizing groans — the mingled moan of weeping relatives and friends — these best can speak, to rouse the luke-warm into noble zeal ; to fire the zealous into manly rage, against the foul oppression of quartering troops, in populous cities, in times of peace. Thou who yon bloody walk shall traverse, there Where troops of Britain's king, on Britain's sons, Discharg'd the leaden vengeance ; pass not on Ere thou hast blest their memory, and paid Those hallowed tears, which sooth the virtuous dead : O stranger ! stay thee, and the scene around Contemplate well ; and if perchance thy home Salute thee with a father's honor'd name, Go call thy sons — instruct them what a debt They owe their ancestors, and make them swear To pay it, by transmitting down entire, Those sacred rights, to which themselves were bom. -Hie ubi barbarus hostis. Ut fera plus valeant legibus anna i^\\..—Ovid de Panto. -Multaque rubentia coede, Lubrica saxa madent, nulli sua profuit setas. — Lucan, Lib. 2. 38 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ORATION, DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5- 1774. BY THE HON. JOHN HANCOCK, ESQ. Vendidit hie auro, patriam, dominumque potentem Imposuit : fixit leges pretio atque refixit. Non, mihi si linguae centum sint, oraque centum, Ferrea vox, omnes scelerum : comprendere formas, ■ possim. Virg-. Men, brethren, fathers and fellcnv-country- men /—The attentive gravity, the venerable appearance of this crowded audience ; the dig- nity which I behold in the countenances of so many in this great assembly ; the solemnity of the occasion upon which we have met to- gether, joined to a consideration of the part I am to take in the important business of this day, fill me with an awe hitherto unknown ; and heighten the sense which I have ever had, of my unworthiness to fill this sacred desk ; but allured by the call of some of my respected fellow-citizens, with whose request it is always my greatest pleasure to comply, I almost forgot my want of ability to perform what they re- quired. In this situation I find my only sup- port, in assuring myself that a generous people will not severely censure what they know was well intended, though its want of merit, should prevent their being able to applaud it. And I pray, that my sincere attachment to the interest of my country, and hearty detestation of every design formed against her liberties, may be admitted as some apology, for my appearance in this place. I have always, from my earliest youth, re- joiced in the felicity of my fellow-men; and have ever considered it as the indispensable duty of every member of society to promote, as far as in him lies, the prosperity of every individual, but more especially of the commu- nity to which he belongs ; and also, as a faith- ful subject of the state, to use his utmost endeavors to detect, and having detected, strenuously to oppose every traitorous plot which its enemies may devise for its destruc- tion. Security to the persons and properties of the governed, is so obviously the design and end of civil government, that to attempt a logi- cal proof of it, would be like burning tapers at noonday, to assist the sun in enlightening the world ; and it cannot be either virtuous or hon- orable, to attempt to support a government, of which this is not the great and principal basis ; and it is to the last degree vicious and infamous to attempt to support a government, which manifestly tends to render the persons and properties of the governed insecure. Some boast of being friends to government ; I am a friend to righteous government founded upon the principles of reason and justice ; but I glory in publicly avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny. Is the present system, which the British administration have adopted for the government of the colonies, a righteous go- vernment ? or is it tyranny .' — Here suffer me to ask (and would to Heaven there could be an answer) what tenderness, what regard, respect or consideration has Great Britain shewn, in their late transactions, for the secu- rity of the persons or properties of the inhabi- tants of the colonies ? or rather, what have they omitted doing to destroy that security .' they have declared that they have, ever had, and of right ought ever to have, full power to make laws of sufficient validity to bind the colonies in all cases whatever : they have exercised this pretended right by imposing a tax upon us with- out our consent ; and lest we should shew some reluctance at parting with our property, her fleets and armies are sent to enforce their mad pretentions. The town of Boston, ever faith- ful to the British crown, has been invested by a British fleet : the troops of George the III. have crossed the wide Atlantic, not to engage an enemy, but to assist a band of traitors in trampling on the rights and liberties of his most loyal subjects in America — those rights and liberties which, as a father, he ought ever to regard, and as a king, he is bound, in honor, to defend from violations, even at the risk of his own life. Let not the history of the illustrious house of Brunswick inform posterity, that a king descended from that glorious monarch, George the n. once sent his British subjects to con- quer and enslave his subjects in America, but be perpetual infamy entailed upon that villain who dared to advise his master to such execra- ble measures ; for it was easy to foresee the consequences which so naturally followed upon sending troops into America, to enforce obe- dience to acts of the British parliament, which neither God nor man ever empowered them to make. It was reasonable to expect that troops, who knew the errand they were sent upon, would treat the people whom they were to subjugate, with a cruelty and haughtiness, which too often buries the honorable character of a soldier in the disgraceful name of an unfeeling ruffian. (The troops, upon their first ( arrival, took possession of our senate-house, ( and pointed their cannon against the judgment!) hall, and even continued them there whilst the '■. supreme court of judicature for this province \ was actually sitting to decide upon the lives / MASSACHUSETTS. 39 and fortunes of the king's subjects. Our streets nightly resounded with the noise of riot and debauchery : our peaceful citizens were hourly exposed to shameful insults, and often felt the effects of their violence and outrage. — But this was not all : as though they thought it not enough to violace our civil rights, they endea- vored to deprive us of the enjoyment of our reli- gious privileges ; to viciate our morals, and thereby render us deserving of destruction. Hence the rude din of arms which broke in upon your solemn devotions in your temples, on that day hallowed by heaven, and set apart by God himself for his peculiar worship. Hence, impious oaths and blasphemies so often tortured your unaccustomed ear. Hence, all the arts which idleness and luxury could invent, were used to betray our youth of one sex into extravagance and effeminacy, and of the other to infamy and ruin ; and did they not succeed but too well ? did not a reverence for religion sensibly decay .•' did not our infants almost learn to lisp out curses before they knew their horrid import .' did not our youth forget they were Americans, and regardless of the admoni- tions of the wise and aged, servilely copy from their tyrants those vices which finally must overthrow the empire of Great Britain ? and must I be compelled to acknowledge, that even the noblest, fairest part of all the lower creation did not entirely escape the cursed snare ? when virtue has once erected her throne within the female breast, it is upon so solid a basis that nothing is able to expel the heavenly inhabi- tant. But have there not been some, few indeed, I hope, whose youth and inexperience have rendered them a prey to wretches, whom, upon the least reflection, they would have despised and hated as foes to God and their country ? I fear there have been some such unhappy instances ; or why have I seen an honest father clothed with shame ; or why a virtuous mother drowned in tears .' But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of that dismal night, when in such quick succession we felt the extremes of grief, astonishment and rage ; when Heaven in anger, for a dreadful moment suffered hell to take the reins ; when Satan with his chosen band opened the sluices of New-England's blood, and sacri- legiously polluted our land with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons. Let this sad tale of death never be told without a tear ; let not the heaving bosom cease to bum with a manly indignation at the barbarous story, through the long tracts of future time : let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening children 'til tears of pity glisten in their eyes, and boiling passions shake their tender frames ; and whilst the anniversary of that ill-fated night is kept a jubilee in the grim court of pandaemonium, let all America join in one common prayer to heaven, that the inhuman, unprovoked murders of the fifth of March, 1770, planned by Hills- borough, and a knot of treacherous knaves in Boston, and executed by the cruel hand of Preston and his sanguinary coadjutors, may ever stand on history without a parallel. But what, my countrymen, withheld the ready arm of vengeance from executing instant justice on the vile assassins .' perhaps you feared promis- cuous carnage might ensue, and that the inno- cent might share the fate of those who had performed the infernal deed. But were not all guilty ? were you not too tender of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your necks ? but I must not too severely blame a fault, which great souls only can commit. May that magnificence of spirit which scorns the low pursuits of malice, may that generous compas- sion which often preserves from ruin, even a guilty villain, forever actuate the noble bosoms of Americans ! But let not the miscreant host vainly imagine that we feared their arms. No ; them we despised ; we dread nothing but slavery. Death is the creature of a poltroon's brains ; 'tis immortality to sacrifice ourselves for the salvation of our country. We fear not death. That gloomy night, the pale faced moon, and the affrighted stars that hurried through the sky, can witness that we fear not death. Our hearts which, at the recollection, glow with rage that four revolving years have scarcely taught us to restrain, can witness that we fear not death ; and happy it is for those who dared to insult us, that their naked bones are now piled up an everlasting monument of Massachusetts' bravery. But they retired, they fled, and in that flight they found their only safety. We then expected that the hand of public justice would soon inflict that punish- ment upon the murderers, which, by the laws of God and man, they had incurred. But let the unbiassed pen of a Robertson, or perhaps of some equally famed American, conduct this trial before the great tribunal of succeeding generations. And though the murderers may escape the just resentment of an enraged peo- ple ; though drowsy justice, intoxicated by the poisonous draught prepared for her cup, still nods upon her rotten seat, yet be assured, such complicated crimes will meet their due reward. Tell me, ye bloody butchers ! ye vil- lains high and low ! ye wretches who contrived, as well as you who executed the inhuman deed ! do you not feel the goads and stings of 40 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. conscious guilt pierce through your savage bosoms ? though some of you may think your- selves exalted to a height that bids defiance to human justice, and others shroud yourselves beneath the mask of hypocrisy, and build your hopes of safety on the low arts of cunning, chicanery and falsehood ; yet do you not some- times feel the gnawings of that worm which never dies ? do not the injured shades of Mave- rick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks and Carr, attend you in your solitary walks, arrest you even in the midst of your debaucheries, and fill even your dreams with terror ? but if the unappeased manes of the dead should not disturb their murderers, yet surely even your obdurate hearts must shrink, and your guilty blood must chill within your rigid veins, when you behold the miserable Monk, the wretched victim of your savage cruelty. Observe his tottering knees, which scarce sustain his wasted body ; look on his haggard eyes ; mark well the death-like paleness on his fallen cheek, and tell me, does not the sight plant daggers in your souls ? un- happy Monk ! cut off in the gay morn of man- hood, from all the joys which sweeten life, doomed to drag on a pitiful existence, without even a hope to taste the pleasures of returning health ! yet Monk, thou livest not in vain ; thou livest a warning to thy country, which sympathizes with thee in thy sufferings ; thou Uvest an affecting, an alarming instance of the unbounded violence which lust of power, as- sisted by a standing army, can lead a traitor to commit. For us he bled, and now languishes. The wounds by which he is tortured to a lingering death, were aimed at our country ! surely the meek-eyed charity can never behold such suf- ferings with indifference. Nor can her lenient hand forbear to pour oil and wine into these wounds, and to assuage at least, what it can- not heal. Patriotism is ever united with humanity and compassion. This noble affection which im- pels us to sacrifice every thing dear, even life itself, to our country, involves in it a common sympathy and tenderness for ever)' citizen, and must ever have a particular feeling for one who suffers in a public cause. Thoroughly persuaded of this, I need not add a word to engage your compassion and bounty towards a fellow citizen, who, with long protracted anguish, falls a victim to the relentless rage of our common enemies. Ye dark designing knaves, ye murderers, parricides ! how dare you tread upon the earth, which has drank in the blood of slaughtered innocents, shed by your wicked hands.' how dare you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of heaven, the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition ? but if the laboring earth doth not expand her jaws ; if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death yet hear it, and tremble ! the eye of heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul, traces the leading clue through all the labyrinths which your industrious folly has devised ; and you, how- ever you may have screened yourselves from human eyes, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of God. But I gladly quit the gloomy theme of death, and leave you to improve the thought of that important day, when our naked souls must stand before that being, from whom nothing can be hid. I would not dwell too long upon the horrid effects which have already followed from quartering regular troops in this town ; let our misfortunes teach posterity to guard against such evils for the future. Standing armies are sometimes (I would by no means say generally, much less universally) composed of persons who have rendered themselves unfit to live in civil society ; who have no other motives of conduct than those which a desire of the present gratification of their passions suggests ; who have no property in any country ; men who have given up their own liberties, and emy those who enjoy liberty ; who are equally indifferent to the glorj' of a George or a Louis ; who for the addition of one penny a day to their wages, would desert from the Christian cross, and fight under the crescent of the Turkish sultan, from such men as these, what has not a state to fear .' with such as these, usurping Caesar passed the Rubicon ; with such as these he humbled mighty Rome, and forced the mistress of the world to own a master in a traitor. These are the men whom sceptered robbers now employ to frustrate the designs of God, and render vain the bounties which his gracious hand pours indiscriminately upon his crea- tures. By these the miserable slaves in Turkey, Persia, and many other extensive countries, are rendered truly wretched, though their air is salubrious, and their soil luxu- riously fertile. By these, France and Spain, though blessed by nature with all that admin- isters to the convenience of life, have been reduced to that contemptible state in which they now appear; and by these Britain but if I was possessed of the gift of prophecy, I dare not, except by divine com- MASSACHUSETTS. 41 mand, unfold the leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful kingdom is inscribed. But since standing armies are so hurtful to a state, perhaps my countrymen may demand some substitute, some other means of render- ing us secure against the incursions of a for- eign enemy. But can you be one moment at a loss ? will not a well disciplined militia afford you ample security against foreign foes ? we want not courage ; it is discipline alone in which we are exceeded by the most formidable troops that ever trod the earth. Surely our hearts flutter no more at the sound of war, than did those of the immortal band of Persia, the Macedonian phalanx, the invincible Roman legions, the Turkish Janissaries, the Gens des Armes of France, or the well known grenadiers of Britain. A well disciplined militia is a safe, an honorable guard to a community like this, whose inhabitants are by nature brave, and are laudably tenacious of that freedom in which they were born. From a well regulated militia we have nothing to fear ; their interest is the same with that of the state. When a country is invaded, the militia are ready to ap- pear in its defence ; they march into the field with that fortitude which a consciousness of the justice of their cause inspires ; they do not jeopard their lives for a master who considers them only as the instruments of his ambition, and whom they regard only as the daily dis- penser of the scanty pittance of bread and water. No, they fight for their houses, their lands, for their wives, their children, for all who claim the tenderest names, and are held dearest in their hearts, they fight pro aris et foc:s, for their liberty, and for themselves, and for their God. And let it not offend, if I say, that no militia ever appeared in more flourish- ing condition, than that of this province now doth ; and pardon me if I say — of this town in particular. — I mean not to boast ; I would not excite envy but manly emulation. We have all one common cause ; let it therefore be our only contest, who shall most contribute to the security of the liberties of America. And may the same kind Providence which has watched over this country from her infant state, still enable us to defeat our enemies. I cannot here forbear noticing the signal manner in which the designs of those who wish not well to us have been discovered. The dark deeds of a treacherous cabal, have been brought to public view. You now know the serpents who, while cherished in your bosoms, were darting their envenomed stings into the vitals of the constitution. But the representatives of the people have fi.\ed a mark on these ungrateful monsters, which, though it may not make them so secure as Cain of old, yet renders them at least as infamous. Indeed it would be atfron- tive to the tutelar deity of this country even to despair of saving it from all the snares which human policy can lay. True it is, that the British ministry have annexed a salary to the office of the governor of this province, to be paid out of a revenue, raised in America without our consent. They have attempted to render our courts of justice the instruments of extending the autho- rity of acts of the British parliament over this colony, by making the judges dependent on the British administration for their support. But this people will never be enslaved with their eyes open. The moment they knew that the governor was not such a governor as the char- ter of the province points out, he lost his power of hurting them. They were alarmed ; they suspected him, have guarded against him, and he has found that a wise and a brave people, when they know their danger, are fruitful in expedients to escape it. The courts of judicature also so far lost their dignity, by being supposed to be under an undue influence, that our representatives thought it absolutely necessary to resolve that they were bound to declare that they would not receive any other salary besides that which the general court should grant them ; and if they did not make this declaration, that it would be the duty of the house to impeach them. Great expectations were also formed from the artful scheme of allowing the East India company to export tea to America, upon their own account. This certainly, had it suc- ceeded, would have effected the purpose of the contrivers, and gratified the most sanguine wishes of our adversaries. We soon should have found our trade in the hands of for- eigners, and taxes imposed on every thing which we consumed ; nor would it have been strange, if, in a few years, a company in London should have purchased an exclusive right of trading to America. But their plot was soon discovered. The people soon were aware of the poison which, with so much craft and subtility, had been concealed : loss and disgrace ensued : and, perhaps, this long- concerted master-piece of policy, may issue in the total disuse of tea, in this country, which will eventually be the saving of the lives and the estates of thousands — yet while we rejoice that the adversary has not hitherto prevailed against us, let us by no means put off the harness. Restless malice, and disappointed ambition, will still suggest new measures to 42 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. our inveterate enemies. Therefore let us also be ready to take the field whenever danger calls ; let us be united and strengthen the hands of each other, by promoting a general union among us. Much has been done by the committees of correspondence for this and the other towns of this province, towards uniting the inhabitants ; let them still go on and pros- per. Much has been done by the committees of correspondence, for the houses of assembly, m this and our sister colonies, for uniting the inhabitants of the whole continent, for the security of their common interest. May suc- cess ever attend their generous endeavors. But permit me here to suggest a general congress of deputies, from the several houses of assembly, on the continent, as the most effectual method of establishing such an union, as the present posture of our affairs require. At such a congress a firm foundation may be laid for the security of our rights and liberties a system may be formed for our common safety, by a strict adherence to which, we shall be able to frustrate any attempts to over- throw our constitution ; restore peace and harmony to America, and secure honor and wealth to Great Britain, even against the in- clinations of her ministers, whose duty it is to study her welfare ; and we shall also free ourselves from those unmannerly pillagers who impudently tell us, that they are li- censed by an act of the British parliament to thrust their dirty hands into the pockets of every American. But I trust, the happy time will come, when with the besom of destruc- tion, those noxious vermin will be swept forever from the streets of Boston. Surely you never will tamely suffer this country to be a den of thieves. Remember, my friends, from whom you sprang. — Let not a meanness of spirit, unknown to those whom you boast of as your fathers, excite a thought to the dishonor of your mothers. I conjure you by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray, but that you act ; that, if necessary, ye fight, and even die, for the prosperity of our Jerusalem. Break in sunder, with noble disdain, the bonds with which the Philistines have bound you. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed by the soft arts of luxur)' and effeminacy, into the pit digged for your destruction. Despise the glare of wealth. That people who pay greater res- pect to a wealthy villain, than to an honest upright man in poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved ; they plainly shew that wealth, how- ever it may be acquired, is in their esteem, to be preferred to virtue. But I thank God, that America abounds in men who are superior to all temptation, whom nothing can divert from a steady pursuit of the interest of their country ; who are at once its ornament and safe-guard. And sure I am, I should not incur your displeasure, if I paid a respect so justly due to their much honored characters in this place ; but when I name an Adams, such a numerous host of fellow pa- triots rush upon my mind, that I fear it would take up too much of your time, should I at- tempt to call over the illustrious roll : but your grateful hearts will point you to the men ; and their revered names, in all succeeding times, shall grace the annals of America. From them, let us, my friends, take example ; from them, let us catch the disine enthusiasm ; and feel, each for himself, the God-like pleasure of diffusing happiness on all around us ; of deli- vering the oppressed from the iron grasp of tyranny ; of changing the hoarse complaints and bitter moans of wretched slaves, into those cheerful songs, which freedom and content- ment must inspire. There is a heart-felt satis- faction in reflecting on our exertions for the public weal, which all the sufferings an enraged tyrant can inflict, will never take away ; which the ingratitude and reproaches of those whom we have saved from ruin, cannot rob us of. The virtuous asserter of the rights of mankind, merits a reward, which even a want o f success in his endeavors to save his countr)', the heaviest misfortune which can befal a genuine patriot, cannot entirely prevent him from re- ceiving. I have the most animating confidence that the present noble struggle for hberty, will ter- minate gloriously for America. And let us play the man for our God, and for the cities of our God ; while we are using the means in our power, let us humbly commit our righte- ous cause to the great Lord of the universe, who loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity. And having secured the approbation of our hearts, by a faithful and unwearied discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of Him who raiseth up and putteth down the empires and king- doms of the world as He pleases ; and with cheerful submission to His sovereign will, devoutly say, " Although the fig tree shall not blossom, jteither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet we will rejoice in the LORD, we will joy in the GOD of our salvation." MASSACHUSETTS. 43 ORATION DELIVERED AT WATERTOWN,* MARCH 5, 1776. BY PETER THACHER, M. A. Asellum in prato timidus pascebat senex Is, hostium clamore subito territus, Suadebat afino fugere, ne possent capi. At ille lentus : quaeso, num binas mihi, Clitellas impositurum victorem putas ? Senex negavit. Ergo quid refert mea, Cui serviam ? Clitellas dum portem meas. — Pkadrus. My friends — When the ambition of princes induces them to break over the sacred barriers of social compact, and to violate those rights, which it is their duty to defend, they will leave no methods unessayed to bring the peo- ple to acquiesce in their unjustifiable encroach- ments. In this cause, the pens of venal authors have in every age, been drawn : with Machiavilian subtilty, they have labored to persuade man- kind, that their public happiness consisted in being subject to uncontroled power ; that they were incapable of judging concerning the mys- teries of government ; and that it was their interest to deliver their estates, their liberties, and their lives, into the hands of an absolute monarch. Mitred hypocrites, and cringing, base-souled priests, have impiously dared to enlist the oracles of God into the service of despotism ; to assert that, by the command of the supreme law-giver, we are bound to surrender our rights into the hands of the first bold tyrant who dares to seize them ; and that when they are seized, it is rebellion against God, and treason against the prince, for us to attempt to resume them. Depraved as is the human understanding, it hath yet strength enough to discern the ridi- culous fallacy of these assertions : the votaries of ignorance and superstition may, indeed, be imposed upon by them. When we place unlimited confidence in our civil or spiritual fathers, we can swallow, with ease, the most improbable dogmas : but there are feelings in the human heart, which compel men to recog- nize their own rights — to venerate the majesty of the people — and to despise the insult which is offered to their understandings by these doating absurdities. Had princes no other methods to accomplish their purposes, could they not establish their usurpation, without convincing men's judgments of their utility ? they would be more harmless to mankind than they have ever yet been. They might be sur- • Boston was at this time gamsoned by the British troops, and the inhabitants were in the country ; which occasioned this oration to be delivered at Watertown. rounded with the fascinating gewgaws of regal pomp ; a few parasites might bow the knee before these idols of their own creating ; the weak and the wicked might obey their man- dates ; but the baneful influence which they now have upon the interests of individuals, and of society, would come to a period : they would not revel in the spoils of nations, nor trample upon the ruins of public liberty. Conscious of this, they have used arguments, and pursued methods, entirely different from these, to effect their designs ; instead of con- vincing the understandings, they have ad- dressed themselves to the passions of men : the arts of bribery and corruption have been tried with a fatal success: men, we know, have sold their children, their country, and their God, for a small quantity of painted dirt, which will perish with the using. Extensive as are the revenues of princes, they are still inadequate to the purpose of bribing large communities to submit to their pleasure ; corrupting therefore a few, they have overawed the rest ; from small beginnings, and under specious pretences, they will raise a standing military force, the most successful engine ever yet wielded by the hand of law- less domination. With such a force, it is easy for an ambitious prince, possessed by nature of very slender abili- ties, to subvert every principle of liberty in the. constitution of his government, and to render his people the most abject of slaves : if any indi- vidual feels the injury done to his country, and wishes to restore it to a state of happiness, with a bayonet at his breast, a dragoon will compel him to silence ; if the people, awakened to see their interest and their duty, assemble for the same purpose, a military force is at hand to subdue them, and by leaden argu- ments, to convince them of their error. An easy task would it be to enlarge upon the fatal consequences of keeping up such a standing army in time of peace, and of quarter- ing a lawless body of men, who despise the just restraints of civil authority, in free and populous cities : that no vestige of freedom can remain in a state where such a force exists : that the morals of the people will be gradually corrupted : that they will contract such a habit of tame submission, as to become an easy prey to the brutal tyrant who rules them, hath been heretofore largely and plainly demonstrated, by persons so much more capable of doing it, than he who is speaking, that it would be presumption in him to attempt it now. There is no need of recurring to the ancient histories of Greece and Rome for instances of 44 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. these truths. The British nation, once famous for its attachment to freedom, and enthusiasti- cally jealous of its rights, is now become a great tame beast, which fetches and carries for any minister who pleases to employ it. Englishmen have been wont to boast of the excellence of their constitution ; to boast that it contained whatever was excellent in every form of government hitherto, by the wit of man, devised : in their king, whose power was limited, they have asserted that they enjoyed the advan- tages of monarchy, without fear of its evils : while their house of commons, chosen by the suf- frages of the people, and dependent upon them, represented a republic, their house of peers, forming a balance of power between the king and the people, gave them the benefit of an aristocracy. In theory, the British constitution is, on many accounts, e.xcellent ; but when we observe it reduced to practice, when we observe the British government, as it has been, for a long course of years administered, we must be convinced that its boasted advantages are not real : the management of the public revenue, the appointment of civil and military officers, are vested in the king : improving these advan- tages which these powers give him, he hath found means to corrupt the other branches of the legislature : Britons please themselves with the thought of being free ; their tyrant .suffers them to enjoy the shadow, whilst he himself grasps the substance of power. Impos- sible would it have been for the kings of England to have acquired such an exorbitant power, had they not had a standing army under their command : with the officers of this army, they have bribed men to sacrifice the rights of their country : having artfully got their arms out of the hands of the people, with their mercenary forces they have awed them into submission. When they have appeared, at any time, dis- posed to assert their freedom, these troops have been ready to obey the mandates of their sovereign, to imbrue their hands in the blood of their brethren. Having found the efficacy of this method to quell a spirit of liberty in the people of Great Britain, the righteous administration of the righteous king George the third, determined to try the experiment upon the people of America. To fright us into submission to their unjustifiable claims, they sent a military force to the town of Boston. This day leads us to reflect upon the fatal effects of the measure ! by their intercourse with troops, made up in general of the most abandoned of men, the morals of our youth were corrupted : the temples and the day of our God were scandalously profaned : we experienced the most provoking insults ; and at length saw the streets of Boston strewed with the corpses of five of its inhabitants, murdered in cool blood, by the British mercenaries. The indignant rage which swelled your bo- soms upon this occasion — the fortitude and humanity which you discovered — the anguish of the friends and relatives of the dead and wounded, with all the horrors of that memora- ble night, have been painted in vivid colors by an Hancock and a Warren ; they have shewn the necessity of those exertions made by the town, which defeated, at that time, the designs of the enemies to American liberty, and preserved us, for the present, from the calamities of war. But the past year hath presented us with a tragedy more striking, because more extensive, than this : a tragedy, which more plainly proves the fatal effects of keeping up standing armies in time of peace, than any arguments what- soever; we have seen the ground crimsoned with the gore of hundreds of our fellow-citi- zens ; — we have seen the first city in America, for wealth and extent, depopulated — we have seen others destroj'ed, and heard our savage enemies breathing out thirstings for our blood. Finding their arts insufficient to flatter, or their treasures to bribe, the people of America out of their freedom, the British government determined, by force, to subjugate them to their arbitrary will ; in consequence of this determination, a large party of their troops marched from Boston, on the morning of the ever memorable nineteenth of April last : flushed with the hopes of certain victory, and defying the armies of the living God, they broke through every divine and political obligation ; they wantoned in cruelty; they shed again American blood. Aroused by the unprovoked injury, like a lion awaking from his slumber, we sprang to arms ! we felt ourselves inspired with the spirit of our ancestors ; we heard our brethren's blood crjing to us for vengeance ; we rushed into the midst of battle ; we compelled our enemies to betake themselves to disgraceful flight ; we pursued them with avidity, and desisted not till they took refuge in that city, of which, by fraud and treachery, they had possessed themselves. Trusting to the divine protection, from that hour we determined never to sheathe the sword, till we had reparation for our injuries ; till we had secured our own freedom and the freedom of our posterity : from that hour the den of enemies hath been surrounded by an American army, MASSACHUSETTS. 45 brave and determined : although they had before boasted of their superiority to all the troops in the world, they have scarcely dared to set their feet out of their strong holds since that time, and instead of ravaging the American conti- nent in a single campaign, with a single regi- ment, they have proceeded one mile and an half'xn the conquest of it. The heights of Charlestown witnessed to the world, that Americans, fighting in the cause of freedom, were a formidable foe : although they were surrounded by troops hitherto deemed invincible ; although they saw the habi- tations of their countrymen inveloped with flames ; although cannon roared on every quar- ter, and they beheld scenes of desolation and bloodshed, to which they were entirely unused, yet they retired not till they had compelled their enemy twice to retreat, and had expended the whole of their ammunition : the British forces gained the ground, but they lost the flower of their army. From one end of the continent to the other, a series of successes hath attended the Ameri- can arms ; instead of having troops of savages poured down to our frontiers (which the mur- derous policy of the tyrant of Britain induced him to attempt) we have, through the favor of heaven, carried our victorious arms into the very bowels of Canada ; instead of having our stores and provisions cut off by the enemy, we have made important captures from them : success hath crowded our enterprises, while disappointment hath followed those who op- pose us. That elation of spirit, which is excited by our victories, is damped by our feeling the calamities of war. To hear the expiring groans of our beloved countrymen ; to behold the flames of our habitations, once the abodes of peace and plenty, ascending to Heaven ; to see the ruin and desolation spread over our fruitful villages, must occasion sensations in the high- est degree painful. This day, upon which the gloomy scene was first opened, calls upon us to mourn for the heroes who have already died in the bed of honor, fighting for God and their country. Especially, does it lead us to recollect the name and the virtues of general Warren! the kind, the humane, tiie benevolent friend, in the private wall' holds up to our view, to teach us what bold and unprin- cipled spirits have effected by the aid of armies. This ambitious subject, having been for several years engaged in the humane, the soldierly employment, of slaughtering his fellow-men, and in extending his conquests over countries which he had not even a pretence to invade ; this Ccesar, who boasted that he had slain a million of men,* was at length ordered home by the senate to answer to some charges against his conduct. He knew that at such an interview his sword would be his ablest advocate. He therefore led his veteran legions, " nothing loth," against his country; passed the Rubicon ; fought his way to Rome ; plunged a dagger in her vitals ; impiously trampled on her dearest rights ; and seized on empire crimsoned, execra- ble parricade ! crimsoned with the richest blood of Rome's best citizens ! Too late the patriot poignard reached the traitor's heart. Cffisar fell — alas ! the republic had fallen before. Rome changed her govern- ors, but the tyranny remained. The same army that had enabled Julius to triumph over the liberties of his country, led the cars of Octavius, Anthony and Lepidus, through seas of Roman blood, and bade the cursed trium- virate divide an enslaved world ! If Rome could have been saved, Brutus and his virtuous associates would have saved her ; but a standing army, and a perpetual dictator, were, and ever will, prove too hard for the patriotic few. Learn hence, my coun- trymen, that a state may sink so low in slavery that even virtue itself cannot retrieve her. From these examples, prudence dictates — resist beginnings. A free and wise people will never suffer any citizen to become too popular — much less too powerful. A man may be for- midable to the constitution even by his virtues. But why do I keep your attention fixed on remote transactions ! our own times furnish additional and convincing proofs of the destruc- tive consequences of practical corruption, and mercenary armies. Sweden, the bravest, hardiest, freest nation of the north — Sweden, in one hour, was plunged from the distinguished heights of liberty into abject vassalage. What ties can bind a king ? » Plutarch says that Csesar could boast, that he had slain a million of men, gave a million their liberty, and made a million prisoners. Vid. Ptut. in vit. Ccesar, Scarce had Gustavus the Third ascended the throne of limited monarchy ; scarce had the roofs of the senate house ceased to reverbe- rate the insidious accents of his inauguration speech,* whilst yet the venerable representa- tives of their country were fondly anticipating the blessings that would arise from the reign of so wise, so gracious a king. The unblushing parricide surrounded with an armed host, the temple in which the senate was assembled, planted his cannon against the gates, and with the swords of his guards at the throats of the * This speech is inserted at large, not only because it is fraught with excellent advice, but also to shew how little reliance ought to be placed on coronation speeches. The king of Sweden's speech to the states on the ist of June. 1772. *' You are this day assembled, in order to confirm in the manner of your ancestors, the band of union which ties you to me, and me to you, and both to the whole com- monwealth ; we must therefore remember, with the most sensible gratitude, the benevolence of the Almighty, who has ordered things so, that this ver>' ancient kingdom of the Swedes and Goths is still existing, after so many foreign, as well as natural shocks, and that I, in the throne of my ancestors, can yet address free and indepen- dent states. Assured of your hearts, most sincerely proposing to merit them, and to fix my throne upon your love and felicity, the public engagement which you are going to enter into, would, in my opinion, be needless, if ancient custom and the law of Sweden did not require it of you. Unhappy the king who wants the tie of oaths to secure himself on the throne, and who, not assured of the hearts of his subjects, is constrained to reign only by the force of laws, when he cannot bj' the love of his subjects ! I need not put you in mind of the weightiness of the engagement you are going to take ; the states of Sweden know best the extreme of their duty to themselves and the commonwealth ; may concord and harmony ever unite your hearts ; may foreign views and private gain ever be sacrificed to public interest; may this alone be a perpetual bond of union amongst you ; and may the ambition of any part of you, never raise any such disturbances as may endanger the freedom and independency of the whole commonwealth ! Genttemen of the house of nobles^ Preserve always the honor and intrepidity of your an- cestors ; be an example to your fellow-citizens ; and, as you are the first order of the kingdom, be also the first in virtue and love of your country. Good nun of the reverend order ofclergyy May mutual friendship and peace, obedience to the laws, reverence to God and the king, bear witness to me and the country, of your zeal in the execution of the sa- cred office, with which you are entrusted ! Good men of the respectable order of burghers^ Strive always with your fellow-subjects who shall con- tribute the most to the public good ; may the fruits of the extensive share which belongs to you, be general credit and confidence, useful institutions, frugal living, and moderate gain, which lead to sure and certain wealth. Good men of the zuorthy order of peasants^ May piety, diligence, temperance, and old Swedish faith and modesty, be the strongest confirmation of the honor always due to that order which gives subsistence to all the others ; an honor which the Swedish peasants have at all times attained. This is all I ask of you, when you observe this, you per- form in the best manner, that duty to me, and your coun- try, which according to the Swedish laws, I now call upon you to confirm by oath." MASSACHUSETTS. 59 senators, demanded immediate absolution from his coronation oath, by which he had most sacredly bound himself to preserve inviolate the laws and liberties of the Swedes ! astonishing that a stripling, whose language breathed the glowing sentiments of enthusiastic generosity, so natural to youth, could, with such facility, set at deliance all that is held sacred, honora- ble and obligatory among men ! but the lust of domination, so natural to human nature, will ever prove too hard for the checks of con- science and the dictates of right, when a favo- rable opportunity presents to gratify it. Gus- tavus, knowing that the army were ready to assist his iniquitous designs (as all standing armies are to promote despotism, because under such a system of rule, soldiers must be necessary and consequently favored) the bar- riers raised by justice and his plighted faith to Sweden, became slight indeed. Force backed inclination, and Gusta\ais changed circum- scribed authority, for unconfined sovereignty.* Let us now turn our eyes to that nation whom we once did love, and with whom we had yet been friends, had not an unparalleled series of folly and cruelty, compelled us to re- nounce the pleasing relationship. A short retrospect of whose public conduct, subsequent to the last war, will afford many and important instructions. In 1763 peace was restored after a war of seven years, successfully waged in every quar- ter of the globe. At that period what an un- rivalled figure did Great Britain stand amongst the nations ! great beyond all former example, in arms, in commerce, and in wealth. Not a corner of the earth but had witnessed her achievements. Wheresoever she directed her armies, victory and conquest attended ; while her irresistible navy, thundering over every ocean, not only subdued, but annihilated the fleets of her enemies. Triumphant in war, not less distinguished in peace. In many of the polite, in most of the useful arts and sciences, superior to her neighbors. In commerce unequalled ; not a sea but bore, not a wind but wafted her count- less ships laden with the riches of the earth, and made her crowded ports the marts of the world. Late glorious nation, how art thou fallen, how lost ! from so envied, so stupendous an height, by the perverted will of thy in- fatuated monarch, and the pernicious counsels * For an historical account of tllis revolution, vid. Gentleman's Magazine for 1773, page 397, &c. For the Swedish constitution, vid. the abbot Vertot. For a complete system of despotism, see the lex regia of Denmark, constituted by Frederick 3d, in 1665, and published by Christian sth, in 1683. of his nefarious ministers. Driven to the fear- ful edge of ruin, we now behold thee tottering o'er the gulf of annihilation, whilst France and her allies urge thee over the irremediable steep I When we consider the capital defects in the English constitution — the character of her present weak and ambitious monarch —the luxury, dissipation and venality of her influen- tial men, we shall cease to wonder at her de- clension and present circumstances. In a limited monarchy, where the prince, as supreme executive magistrate, and first branch of the legislature, is invested with the important prerogative of making peace and war, is con- stituted the sole fountam of honor, and be- comes the exclusive disposer of every lucrative and honorable appointment, civil, ecclesiastic, and military, his influence becomes too enor- mous to be compatible with the public liberty : but if to such extravagant powers (by a fatal error in the constitution, placed in the hands of the prince) he should superadd a detestable system of corruption to bribe the representa- tives of the people (a system which, during the reign of his present Britannic majesty, hath been urged to its utmost possible extent) the worst species of vassalage must ensue. That equipoise between the respective branches of the legislature (in which the seeming theoretic excellence of the English constitution consists) will be totally destroyed ; the executive will involve the powers of the legislative, and whilst the letter and formalities of the constitution are retained, its spirit and intendment will be totally lost. An absolutely arbitrarj', with the forms of a free government (that worst and surest of all tyrannies) will gradually succeed, and be finally established, unless a total revolu- tion is happily effected by timely exertions of the people, before the despot has strengthened himself with a mercenary army, and forever closed their chains. But this tyranny is already established in Great Britain : for what hopes can Britons en- tertain of effectinga revolution, whilst the crown, by the multiplicity of gifts in its power, can maintain an infamous majority in each house of parliament to legalize, and a standing army to enforce, its projects, however imperious, in- human or unjust. In vain, a few wise and virtuous men see and lament their dishonorable situation — an army of forty thousand soldiers, in time of peace, and a still more numerous band of placemen and pensioners, properly disposed throughout the kingdom, effectually stifle in their birth every effort of patriotism to restore the constitution to its primeval principles. 6o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Such is the boasted constitution, such the prince, and such the present condition of the people of Britain. Unhappy nation, thus con- stitutionally enslaved — thus legally undone ! un- worthy descendants of illustrious ancestors — thus to suffer your most essential rights to be bartered away, your government not only cor- rupted, but perverted to purposes diametrically opposite to its original intention. An house of commons, at first constituted to watch over and preserve your rights and immunities from the encroaching steps of ambitious princes, you have permitted to become an engine in the hands of royalty, the more effectually to abridge or nullify those rights. A parliament, consti- tuted the stewards of your property, who, instead of guarding it from the insatiable grasp of royal avidity, you patiently see lavishingly indulging the utmost extravagance of regal profusion ; granting enormous sums for effect- ing the most pernicious purposes, traitorously leaguing with the servants of the crown in loading you with intolerable taxes, and, sharers in the spoil, prodigally complying with the most unbounded demands of ministerial rapa- city, while they, at the same time, treacherously unite to screen the most infamous defaulters of the public money. Instead of bravely draw- ing your swords in defence of your freedom and national honor, you first tamely acquiesced in an insidious and ignominious law,* by which you were basely disarmed, like slaves, and then from necessity, submitted to keeping on foot, in time of peace, a standing army, that, in time of war, had been raised profes- sedly for the defence of the national territories from foreign attacks — an army which you now behold without shame and without regret, spreading devastation and horror over a late peaceful and happy country ; and having at length dismembered the empire, are now at- tempting to reduce us to the most infamous and most miserable of all conditions, that of being the conquered vassals of your weak, vin- dictive, despotic monarch. Degenerate sons of mighty fathers ! how poor is the consolation for the loss of essential rights, that you still retain the empty privilege of pasquinading your king and his ministers, whilst you are destitute of that public spirit and solid virtue which should purge your cor- rupted government and reform your wretched constitution. From subjection to a government, thus de- fective and corrupt, and thus vilely adminis- / ♦ Vid. Statutes at large — Particularly 2 Geo. 3d. ch. sg, and loth Geo. 3d. ch. 19 and Black. Com. B. a. ch. 37. — ^ For the game and forest laws. tered, what freeman would not struggle for an emancipation ? but if there is an American present, who can yet secretly wish for a re- union with this nation, and a share in her ideal privileges, let him for a moment consider the innumerable indignities which, for fifteen years back, have been offered us by this haughty power, added to the savage barbarities which they have exercised in every part of America where their army have made any progress, and he must blush at the spiritless, the ignoble sentiment. In 1764 the plan for raising a revenue from this country was resolved on by the British ministry, and their obsequious parliament were instructed to pass an act for that purpose. Not content with having for a century directed the entire commerce of America, and centered its profits in their own island, thereby deriving from the colonies every substantial advantage which the situation and transmarine distance of the country could afford them : not content with appointing the principal officers in the dif- ferent governments, while the king had a nega- tive upon every law that was enacted : not content with our supporting the whole charge of our municipal establishments, although their own creatures held the chief posts therein not content with laying external duties upon our mutilated and shackled commerce, they, by this statute, attempted to rob us of even the curtailed property, the hard-earned peculium which still remained to us — to create a revenue for the support of a fleet and army, in reality to overawe and secure our subjection, not (as they insidiously pretended) to protect our trade, or defend our frontiers; the first of which they annoyed, and the latter deserted. After repealing this imperious edict, not because it was unjust in principle, but inexpedi- ent in exercise, they proceeded to declare, by a public act of the whole legislature, that we had no property but what was at their disposal, and that Americans, in future, were to hold their privileges and lives solely on the tenure of the good will and pleasure of a British parliament. Acts soon followed correspondent to this un- righteous determination, which, not quadrating with American ideas of right, justice and reason, a fleet and army were sent to give them that force which laws receive when pro- mulgated from the mouths of cannon, or at the points of bayonets. We then first saw our harbor crowded with hostile ships, our streets with soldiers — soldiers accustomed to consider military prowess as the standard of excellence, and vain of the splendid pomp attendant on regular armies, they con- MASSACHUSETTS. 6i temptuously looked down on our peaceful orders of citizens. Conceiving themselves more powerful, they assumed a superiority which they did not feel ; and whom they could not but envy, they affected to despise. Per- haps, knowing they were sent, and believing they were able to subdue us, they thought it was not longer necessary to observe any meas- ures with slaves — hence that arrogance in the carriage of the officers — hence that licentious- ness and brutality in the common soldiers, which at length broke out with insufferable violence, and proceeding to personal insults and outrageous assaults on the inhabitants, soon roused them to resentment, and produced the catastrophe which we now commemorate. The immediate horrors of that distressful night* have been so often and so strikingly painted, that I shall not again wring your feeling bosoms with the affecting recital : to the faith- ful pen of history I leave them to be repre- sented as the horrid prelude to those more extensive tragedies which, under the direction of a most obdurate and sanguinary prince, have since been acted in every corner of America where his armies have been able to pene- trate. Our citizens who fell on that memorable night, falling bequeathed us this salutary les- son, written indelibly with their blood. Con- fusion, murders, and misery must ever be the consequence of mercenary standing armies cantoned in free cities.t My countrymen, suffer not the slaughtered brethren we now lament to have bled in vain ; let us forever retain the important lesson, and •hey will not have ineffectually fallen. Security shall spring from their tombs, and their deaths preserve the lives of citizens yet unborn. Suc- ceeding generations shall celebrate the era of this anniversary as the epoch of American triumph, not as a day of sadness ; and future patriots nobly envy the death of those, who dying taught their countrymen e.xperimental wisdom. -Hecaten vocat altera, scevam Altera Tisiphonen serpentes, atque videres Infernas errare Canes ; Lunamque rubentem Ne foret his Testis post magna latere sepulchra. Hor. L.l.S. t Et altis urbibus ultim^e Stetere Caus^ cur perirent Funditus imprimeretque muris Hostile aratrum Exircitus insolens. Hor. Lib. I. Car. i6. ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1780. BY MR. JONATHAN MASON, JUN. . " Devotion to the public. Glorious flame \ Celestial ardor ! in what unknown worlds Hast thou been blessing myriads since in Rome, Old virtuous Rome, so many deathless names From thee their lustre drew ? since taught by thee Their poverty put splendor to the blush. Pain grew luxurious, and even death delight." Thomson^ voi. I. p. 336. " Unblest by virtue^ government and league Becomes a circling junto of the great To rob by law What are without it senates, save a face Of consultation deep and reason free. While the determin'd voice and heart are sold ? What boasted freedom, save a sounding name ? And what election, but a market vile Of slavery self-barter'd ? " — Id. p. 3. My friends and felhrw citizens. — That the greatness and prosperity of a people depend upon the proportion of public spirit and the love of virtue which is found to exist among them, seems to be a maxim established by the universal consent, and I may say, experience of all ages. Man is formed with a constitution wonder- fully adapted for social converse and connec- tion. Scarcely ushered into the world, but his wants teach him his inability, of himself, to provide for them. Wrapt in astonishment, with an anxiety inexpressible, the solitary exist- ent looks around for the aid of some friendly neighbor, and should he perchance meet the desired object ; should he find one, endowed with intellectual faculties, beset with the same wants and weaknesses, and in all respects the very image of himself ; should he find him with a heart open to mutual kind offices, and a hand stretched out to bestow a proportion of his labor, with a bosom glowing with gratitude, his soul is on the wing to express the sense he entertains of the generous obligation. A confidence is established between him and his benefactor, they swear perpetual friendship, and a compact for mutual protection and assist- ance becomes imperceptibly consented to. Thus doubly armed, together they pursue their morning route to satisfy those demands only which nature reminds them of. and while the ingenuity of the one is exercised to ensnare, the strength of the other is, perhaps, employed to subdue their vigorous opponent. Their little family soon increases ; and as their social ring becomes gradually enlarged, their obligations to each other are equally cir- cular. Honest industry early teaches them, that a part only is sufficient to provide for the whole, and that a portion of their time may be 62 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. spared to cull the conveniences as well as appease the wants of nature. Property and personal security appear to be among the first objects of their attention, and acknowledged merit receives the unanimous suffrage to pre- side guardian over the rights and privileges of their infant society. The advantages derived are in a moment experienced. Their little policy, erected upon the broad basis of equality, they know of no superiority but that which virtue and the love of the whole demands ; and while, with cheerfulness, they entrust to his care a certain part of their natural rights, to secure the remainder, the agreement is mutual, and the obligation upon his part equally solemn and binding to resign them back, either at the instance and request of their sovereign pleasure, or whensoever the end should be perverted for which he received them. Integrity of heart, benevolence of disposition, the love of freedom and public spirit, are con- spicuous excellencies in this select neighbor- hood. Lawless ambition is without a friend, and the insinuating professional pleas of tyrants, ever accompanied by the magnificence and splendor of luxury',* are unheard of among them ; but simple in their manners, and honest in their intentions, their regulations are but few and those e.xpressive, and without the aid of extreme refinement.t by a universal ad- herence to the spirit of their constitution, and to those glorious principles from which that spirit originated, we find them attaining real glory — we find them crowned with every bles- sing that human nature hath ever known of— we find them in the possession of that summit of solid happiness that universal depravity will admit of. Patriotism is essential to the preservation and well being of every free government. To love one's country I has ever been esteemed honorable ; and under the influence of this * A mode of living above a man's annual income weakens the state, by reducing to poverty not only the squanderers themselves, but many innocent and industri- ous persons connected with them. Luxury is above all pernicious in a commercial state. Small profits satisfy the ft-ugal and industrious, but the luxurious despise almost every branch of trade but what returns great profits. Home's Hist, of Man, Tol. 2. /. 113, In the savage state man is almost all body with a very small proportion of mind. In the maturity of civil society, he is complete both in mind and body. In a state of de- generacy by luxury and voluptuousness, he has neither mind nor body. Id. 114. t There are very few laws which are not good while the state retains its principles. Montesq. 6. 8. 6. 13. X The amor patriee, or patriotism, stands at the head of social affections, and so high in our esteem, that no actions, but what proceed from it, are termed grand or heroic. It triumphs over ever^' sel£sb motive, is a firm noble passion, every social virtue is cultivated, freedom prevails through the whole, and the public good is the object of every one's con- cern. A constitution, built upon such princi- ples, and put in execution by men possessed with the love of virtue and their fellow-men, must always ensure happiness to its members. The industry of the citizen will receive encour- agement, and magnanimity, heroism and benevolence will be esteemed the admired qualifications of the age. Every, the least in- vasion on the public liberty, is considered as an infringement on that of the subject ; and feeling himself roused at the appearance of oppression, with a divine enthusiasm, he flies to obey the summons of his country, and does she but request, with zeal he resigns the life of the indi\idual for the preser\'ation of the whole. Without some portion of this generous prin- ciple, anarchy and confusion would immediately ensue, the jarring interests of individuals, re- garding themselves only, and indifferent to the welfare of others, would still further heighten the distressing scene, and with the assistance of the selfish passions, it would end in the ruin and subversion of the state. But where patri- otism is the leading principle, unanimity is conspicuous in public and private councils. The constitution receives for its stability the united efforts of every individual, and revered for its justice, admired for its principle, and formidable for its strength, its fame reaches to the skies. Should we look into the history of the ancient republics, we shall find them a striking example of what I have asserted, and in no part of their progress to greatness, producing so many illustrious actions, and advancing so rapidly in the road to glory, as when actuated by public spirit and the love of their country. The Greeks in particular ever held such sentiments as these in the highest veneration, and with such sentiments as these alone they established their freedom, and finally conquered the in- numerable armies of the east. When Xerxes,* the ambitious prince of Persia, vainly thinking that nature and the very elements were subject to his control, inflamed with the thoughts of conquest, threat- ening the seas, should they resist, with his dis- pleasure, and the mountains, should they oppose his progress : when, after having collected the armies of the then known world under his support to every virtue, and wherever it prevails the morals of the people are found to be pure and cor- rect. Elements 0/ Critieism, * Herod, C. F. C. 55, g9. and Rollin An. His MASSACHUSETTS. 63 banners, he entered the bowels of Greece, lead- ing forth his millions, resolutely bent upon the destruction and extirpation of this small but free people, what do we perceive to be their conduct upon so alarming an occasion ? do they tamely submit without a struggle ? do they abandon the property, their liberties, and their country, to the fury of these merciless invaders ? do they meanly supplicate the favor, or intreat the humanity of this haughty prince? no ! sensible of the justice of their cause, and that valor is oftentimes superior to numbers ; undaunted by the appearance of this innumer- able host, and fired with the glorious zeal, they, with one voice, resolve to establish their liber- ties, or perish in the attempt. View them at the moment when the armies of their enemies, like an inundation, overspread their whole Grecian territory ; when oppression seemed as though collecting its mighty force, and Hberty lay fettered at the shrine of ambi- tion ; then shone forth the heavenly principle, then flamed the spirit of the patriot, and laying aside all sentiments of jealousy, as though favored with the prophetic wisdom of heaven, with bravery unexampled, they charge their foe, and fighting in defence of their country, success crowns virtuous attempt. With three hun- dred Lacedemonians,* one only of whom was left to tell the fate of these intrepid men to their weeping country, they conquered the combined force of the whole eastern world. The privileges and immunities of the states of Holland, t after a contest of forty years, in which they withstood the exertions of their powerful neighbors, being established by the force of this single principle, which appears to prevail both in the senate and the field, might also be adduced in support of what I have advanced ; but, my fellow-countrymen, we can- not want additional proofs ; the living history of our own times, will carry conviction to the latest posterity, that no state, that no community, I may say that no family, nay even that no individual can possibly flourish and be happy without some portion of this sacred fire. It was this that raised America from being the haunt of the savage, and the dwelling-place of ♦ These brave Lacedemonians thought it became them who were the choicest soldiers of the chief people of Greece, to devote themselves to certain death, in order to make the Persians sensible how difficult it is to reduce freemen to slavery, and to teach the rest of Greece, by their example, either to vanquish or to perish. A monu- ment was afterwards erected to the memory of Leonidas and those who fell with him at Thermopyl^ ; upon which was this inscription : Die hospes, Spartanis te hie vidisse jacentus Dum-, Sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur.— /Tf/Z/n. + Temple's Observation. the beast, to her present state of civilization and opulence : it was this that hath supported her under the severest trials : it was this that taught her sons to fight, to conquer and to die in support of freedom and its blessings; and what is it, but this ardent love of liberty, that has induced you, my fellow-citizens, to attend on this solemn occasion, again to encourage the streams of sensibility, and to listen with so much attention and candor to one of the youngest of your fellow-citizens, whose youth and inability plead powerfully against him, while the annual tribute is paid to the memory of those departed citizens, who fell the first sacrifices to arbitrary power. Check not such generous feelings. They are the fruits of virtue and humanity, and while the obligations you remain under to those unhappy men, lead you to shed the sympathetic tear, to dwell with pleasure upon their memories, and execrate the causes of their death, remember that you "can never repay them. Ever bear it in your minds, that so implicit was the confidence you willingly placed in that country, that owed to you her affection, that, notwithstanding the introduction of that inhuman weapon of tyrants into the very heart of your peaceful villages, you still would fain rely on their deceitful asser- tions, and paint the deformed monster to your imaginations as the minister of peace and protection. Men, born in the bosom of liberty, in the exercise of the social affections in their full vigor, having once fi.xed them upon partic- ular objects, they are not hastily eradicated. Unaccustomed to sport with, and wantonly sacrifice these sensible overflowings of the heart, to run the career of passion and blinded lust, to be familiar with vice, and sneer at virtue, to surprise innocence by deceitful cun- ning and assume the shape of friendship to con- ceal the greater enmity, you could not at once realize the fi.xed the deliberate intention of those from whom you expected freedom, to load you with slavery and chains, and not till insult repeated upon insult ; not till oppression stalked at noon-day through every avenue in your cities : nay, not till the blood of your peaceful brethren flowed through your streets, was the envenomed serpent to be discovered in the bushes : not till a general trespass had been made upon the keenest feelings of human nature, and the widowed mother was summoned to entomb the cold remains of her affectionate son ; the virtuous bosom to resign its tender partner, and social circles their nearest friends , could you possibly convince yourselves that you and Britain were to be friends no more. Thrice happy day ! the consequences of which 64 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. have taught the sons of America, that a pro- per exercise of public spirit and the love of virtue hath been able to surprise and baffle the most formidable and most powerful tyranny on earth. Patriotism is a virtue which will ever be universally admired, even by those incapable of possessing it. Its happy effects are equally visible in individuals as in states, and if we bestow a moment's reflection upon the heroes of antiquity, who have been deservedly cele- brated by succeeding generations, both for their abilities and conduct, we shall find that the true source of their greatness was this sjjirit of freedom, and their inviolable attach- ment to the interest of their country. With an attentive silence we listen to the historian while he relates to us the integrity of conduct, the invincible courage, the earnest glow of soul, and the ardent love of liberty which was exhibited in the lives of those illus- trious men, and so great were their virtues that we are scarce able to credit them, but as the dreams of fancy, or the fictions of the in- genious. It is recorded of the celebrated Timoleon,* general of Corinth, that notwithstanding he was blest with a temper singularly humane, and with feelings that were ever roused at the miseries of his fellow-men, he loved his country so passionately, that after making use of every argiiment in his power to convince an elder brother of his error, for attempting to become the tyrant of it, he devoted him to death ; a brother on whom he had previously placed his affection, and whose life being exposed to the fire of the enemy in a severe battle, he had before saved at the great risk of his own. Even in old age, after a period of rigid retire- ment for twenty years, we are attracted by the disinterested conduct of this exalted patriot. When the Syracusians, groaning under every species of cruelty, which lust, avarice and ambi- tion could inflict, supplicated their generous neighbors for assistance to alleviate those miseries they themselves had been exposed to, Timoleon, urged to accept the command of the Corinthian auxiliaries, at first hesitated, his age, his manners, his private happiness and the endearments of his family forbade it ; but sensible that he was but a member of the community, and stung by the cries of inno- cence, his inclinations were of but trivial moment in competition with his duty. View him at the head of his chosen army, assembled to plead the cause of sufi'ering virtue. In possession of arms and of power, • RolUn. if inclined to pervert them, are his principles changed with his station ? are his thoughts bent on conquest or on death ? or does he entertain a secret wish to seize the moment of confidence, or build his greatness upon the ruins of the distressed, or to remove one tyrant to reinstate another .' no ! but fired with a generous glow of soul, fired with the manly sentiments of freedom, with an implaca- ble hatred to oppression of all kinds, he marches his troops to the deliverance of his afflicted people, and with a firmness becoming soldiers fighting under the standard of liberty, after a series of fatigue and toil, harassing marches and fierce conflicts, he dethrones the tyrant, and is proclaimed the deliverer of Syra- cuse. Having restored tranquillity to this unhappy country, repeopled their cities, revived their laws, and dispensed justice to all ranks and classes, he resigned his command, and retreated once again to the private walks of life, accompanied with the grateful acknowledg- ments of millions, as the patron of their liberty and the savior of their country. Happy man ! endowed with such a noble soul, prone to feel for the misfortunes, and rejoice in the happi- ness of his fellow-creatures. But why need we resort to distant ages to furnish us with instances of the effects of patriotism upon individuals .' will not the present day afford at least one illustrious example to our purpose ? yes, my fellow-coun- tr)-men, America, young America too, can boast her patriots and heroes, men who have saved their country by their virtues, whose characters posterity will admire, and with a pleased attention, Hsten on tiptoe to the story of their glorious exertions. Let us pause a moment only upon the select catalogue, and take the first upon the list. View him in his private station, and here, as though Providence for his excellencies had selected him for her own from the extensive circle of humanity, we perceive him enjoying her richest dispensations. By an affluent for- tune, placed beyond the reach of poverty or dependence, blessed with the social circle of friends, and happily connected by yet more endearing ties, peaceful reflections are his companions through the day, and the soothing slumbers of innocence hover over his couch ; charity presides steward of his household, and the distressed are ever sure to receive from his bosom that sigh which never fails to console, and from his cheek the alleviating tear of sympathy. Having reached the summit of human felicity, beyond even the picture of his most sanguine expectations, it is indifferent to MASSACHUSETTS. 65 him, as an individual, whether prince or people rule the state, but nurtured in the bosom of freedom, endowed with a greatness of soul, swallowed up with public spirit and the love of mankind, does oppression scatter her baleful prejudices, does ambition rear its guilty crest, friends,* relations and fortunes are like the dust of the balance. The pleas of nature give way to those of his country, and urged on by heavenly motives, he flies instantly to her relief. Seehim, while grief distracts his bosom at the effusion of human blood, grasp the sword of justice and buckle on the harness of the war- rior. See him, with fortitude unparalleled, with perseverance indefatigable, deaf to pleasure and despising corruption, cheerfully encountering the severest tasks of duty, and the hardest toils of a military life. Modest in prosperity, and shining like a meteor in adversity, we behold this patriotic hero, with a small army of determined freemen, attacking, fighting and conquering an army composed of the bravest veteran troops of Britain. And shall we, my countrymen, stop the cur- rent of gratitude .' and can we forbear testi- fying our joy upon the success of such singular exertions .' shall we seal his death before we thank him for his senices ? by no means. — Our acknowledgments will irresistibly flow from us to this deserved object of admiration, and his very actions will sting the soul of the ungrateful wretch, until he is forced to admire their lustre, and confess his inability to equal them. Some there are who, Roman-like, would banish him for his good conduct ; but while we copy the spirit of this great people, let us not be as diligent to catch their vices. Such con- duct is inconsistent with the sentiments of freemen, and surely we cannot forget that he has saved our country. Rewards! and punishments are in the hands of the public, and it is equally consistent with generosity and humanity to bestow the one. as inflict the other. We cannot be too cautious in the objects of our gratitude ; let merit, con- spicuous merit, be the standard to which our praises shall resort, and it will excite a noble emulation in others, and let us rather forbear that respect, which is too often found attendant * Cari sunt parentes. cari liberi, propinqui, familiares, sed omnes omnium caritates patriae unae complexa est. pro qua quU bonus dubitel mortem oppetere ? Cic, t One method of preventing crimes is to reward virtue. If the rewards for the discovering of useful truths have increased our knowledge and multiplied good boolts, is it not probable that rewards, distributed by the beneficent hand of a sovereign, would also multiply virtuous actions? The coin of honor is inexhaustible, and is abundantly fruitful in the hands of a prince who distributes it wisely. Marq. o/ Becoa. upon the rich, though their wealth has been amassed with the ruin of their country. But the praises of us are not the patriot's only reward ; with an approving conscience sweetening the declivity of life, his invitation is to the skies, there to receive a far more pre- cious reward, for the establishment of that principle to which, since the origin of mankind, heaven hath paid an immediate attention. " Where the brave youth with love of glory fired, Who greatly in his country's cause expired, Shall know he conquered. The firm patriot there. Who made the welfare of mankind his care, Though still by faction, vice, and fortune crost. Shall find his generous labor was not lost." — Caio, Such is the progress of public spirit and the love of virtue, and it is the only pillar upon which can safely be erected the happiness of mankind. Without some play of the social affections in every society, without some barrier to oppose the stormy passions of individuals, without some general attachment to the public welfare, a door is open to ambition and politi- cal corruption ; * luxury and selfishness become fashionable vices, and the spirit of the govern- ment is perverted ; the public good is neglected, the riches of the state insecure, the liberty of the subject slighted, and the attempt of the tyrant made successful by the follies of the people. What but the want of patriotism, that hath buried in ruins the mighty empires of Greece and Rome, that standing armies, the scourge of the innocent, prevail throughout all Europe, that the pages of history present to our view so melancholy a picture of the human species, and that America and Britain are not at this day running the road to greatness and glory in concert ; and what is it but the want of pa- triotism that could induce that haughty nation, divested of every public virtue, of every bosom feeling, of every pretension to humanity, without apology or pretext, to usher a standing army, composed of vagrants, criminals, and mercena- ries, into our peaceful countr>-. O my countr)men, it is the want of pa- triotism that we are at this time called to weep over the wanton massacre of innocent men ; that this is not the only house of mourning; that the fields of America have become devoted to war, and scenes of slaughter familiar to her sons ; that our oppressors yet persist in their destructive system of tyranny, and if their • The Assyrian, the Persian and Cracsian, the three first universal monarchies, finally sunk under luxury and corruption ; and it is well known that the Romans did not preserve their liberties for half a century after being de- bauched by the luxury of Asia, but fell a prey to its vices; and was at length divided by the Goths and Vandals. 66 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. power was equal to their thirst of blood, with the spirit of ambition by which they are now directed, would lead them to destroy and extir- pate the whole human race. But thanks be to heaven, that by the force of those virtues which they have discarded, we have nobly resisted the attempts of these cruel men, and the miseries they have so profusely dealt out to us, are returning, with additional vengeance, upon their own heads. The danger of the issue is now past, and if we but retain the same pa- triotic ardor, with which we first defended our rights from the grasp of our enemies, they are every day in our power. We have every thing to hope ; they on the other hand have every- thing to fear. Youth, vigor, and the invincible arm of justice, are on our side : — The genius of liberty also is our advocate, who, though persecuted, hath never been conquered. In our day we are called to see a happy country laid waste at the shrine of ambition ; to experience those scenes of distress which history is filled with : but experience rivets its lessons upon the mind, and if we resolve with deliberation, and execute with vigor, we may yet be a free and flourishing people. Repine not too much at the ravages of war, nor mur- mur at the dispensations of Providence. We oftentimes rate our blessings in proportion to the difficulty in attaining thtm, and if, without a struggle, we had secured our liberties, per- haps we should have been less sensible of their value. Chastisements in youth are not without their advantages ; blessings most commonly spring from them in old age. They lead us to reflect seriously in the hour of retirement, and to cherish those qualifications which are fre- quently lost in the glare of prosperity. The important prophecy is nearly accom- plished. The rising glory of this western hemisphere is already announced, and she is summoned to her seat among the nations. We have publicly declared ourselves convinced of the destructive tendency of standing armies : we have acknowledged the necessity of public spirit and the love of virtue to the happiness of any people, and we profess to be sensible of the great blessings that flow from them. Let us not then act unworthy of the reputable character we now sustain : like the nation we have abandoned, be content with freedom in form and tyranny in substance, profess virtue arid practice vice, and convince an attentive world that in this glorious struggle for our lives and properties, the only men capable of prizing such exalted privileges, were an illus- trious set of heroes, who have sealed their principles with their blood. Dwell, my fellow- citizens, upon the present situation of your country. Remember that though our enemies have dispensed with the hopes of conquering, our land is not entirely freed of them, and should our resistance prove unsuccessful by our own inattention and inactivity, death will be far preferable to the yoke of bondage. Let us therefore be still vigilant over our enemies — instil into our armies the righteous cause they protect and support, and let not the soldier and citizen be distinct characters among us. By our conduct let us convince them, * that it is for the preservation of themselves and their country they are now fighting ; that they, equally with us, are interested in the event, and abandon them not to the insatiable ra- pacity of the greedy executioner. As a reward for our exertions in the great cause of freedom, we are now in the possession of those rights and privileges attendant upon the original state of nature, with the opportu- nity of establishing a government t for ourselves, independent upon any nation or any people upon the earth. We have the experience of ages to copy from, advantages that have been denied to any that have gone before us. Let us then, my fellow-citizens, learn to value the blessing. Let integrity of heart, the spirit of freedom and rigid virtue be seen to actuate every member of the commonwealth. Let not party rage, private animosities, or self in- terested motives, succeed that religious attach- ment to the public weal which has brought us successfully thus far ; for vain are all the boasted charms of liberty if her greatest vo- taries are guided by such base passions. The trial of our patriotism is yet before us, and we have reason to thank heaven that its principles are so well known and diffused. Exercise to- wards each other the benevolent feelings of friendship, and let that unity of sentiment, which has shone in the field, be equally ani- mating in our councils. Remember that prosperity is dangerous : that though successful, we are not infallible ; that like the rest of mankind we are capable of erring. The line of our happiness may be traced with exactness, and still there may be a difficulty in pursuing it. Let us not forget that our enemies have other arts in store for our destruction ; that they are tempting us into * It has ever been thought inconsistent with good policy and common sense to commit the defence of a country to men who have no interest in its preservation. Diod. Lib. i.p. 67. t The true definition of a free state is where the legis- lature adheres strictly to the laws of nature, and calculates every one of its regulations for improving society and for " promoting industry and honesty among the people. Home's Hist, vol. 2. /. 132. MASSACHUSETTS. ^7 those snares which, after successful struggles, proved the ruin of the empires of the east ; and let this sacred maxim receive the deepest im- pression upon our minds, that if avarice, if extortion, if luxury and political corruption, are suffered to become popular among us, civil discord and the ruin of our country will be the speedy consequence of such fatal vices ; but while patriotism is the leading principle, and our laws are contrived with wisdom, and exe- cuted with vigor, while industr\', frugality and temperance, are held in estimation, and we depend upon public spirit and the love of vir- tue for our social happiness, peace and afflu- ence will throw their smiles upon the brow of the individual, our commonwealth will flourish, our land become the land of liberty, and America an asylum for the oppressed. ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, I781. BY THOMAS DAWES, JUN. " Patria cara — carter Libertas t^^ Fathers, friends and citizens— k\o\&x\% apolog)', even at a time when uncommon pro- priety might justify it, and trusting rather to a continuance of the same liberality which has ever noted my countiymen, I attempt the duties of this solemn anniversary. And it is conceived that we shall, in some measure, perform those duties, if we sketch out some general traits of liberty, and mark the lines of her progress in particular nations, if we paint the wounds she has suffered from corruption and despotic force, and iVom the whole deduce such sentiments as become a brave and free, though injured people. Numerous as the descriptions are of prime- val man, the reflective eye is not yet wear)'. We still feel an interest in that Arcadian state which so well imitated the world we are look- ing for. And we shall continue to feel it so long as nature is pleasing and the heart retains a feature of innocence. Like the gods,* our first fathers had but few desires, and those to be satisfied by the works of virtue. Their passions were as the gales of their own Eden — enough to give a spring to good actions — to keep the waters of life in motion without in- ducing storm and whirlwind.t Conversing * II was represented of Marcus Aurelius. thai in imita- ting the gods, his study was to have as few wants as possible. I'id. Spectator Na. 634. t The passions of every kind, under proper restraints, are the gentle breezes which keep life from stagnation; but, let loose, they are the storms and whirlwinds which tear up all before them. Mrs. Brooke, with divinities, liberty, sent from aoove, was their peculiar inmate : that liberty, whose spirit, mingling with the nature of man at his formation, taught him, unlike the other ani- mals, to look upward and hope for a throne above the stars : * that liberty who taught him to pluck, with confidence, the fruits of nature ; to pursue the direction of reason upon his heart, and, under that direction, to acquire, secure and enjoy all possible happiness, not impeding, but assisting others in the same privilege.! When families, and consequently human wants were aftenvard multiplied, it was this same liberty who, joined with justice, led the patriarchs to some aged oak. There, in the copious shade, misunderstandings were explained, and charity and peace embraced each other.— Such was the morning cf man I But misunderstandings are quarrels in em- bryo. Satisfaction of one want originated ano- ther. Depravity grew enraptured with strife. The wind was up. Passion raged. Brother's blood then smoked from the ground and cried for vengeance. Nimrod commenced his prelude to tyranny, and Fame was clamorous with the deeds of death.— Liberty heard and trembled— considered herself an outcast, and has, on many times since, travelled up and down the world forlorn, forsaken, majesty, in rao-s. Nor will she, perhaps, until the millen- nium comes, if America does not now retain her, ever command that complete and perma- nent homage which is suitable to her nature. The old republics may have been the most per- fect seats of her residence while they lasted, and are often mustered up from the tomb of empire to witness the adoration which they paid her. But even there she received so fre- quent violence that the continuance of her reign was for the most part precarious ; and when even at the summit of her glor)', she was only elevated that her fall might be more astonishing. Having passed all the degrees of fortune, thank God she has found her way to these remote shores, and, if from effects we may judge, she is well pleased with her new abode. O cherish the divine inhabitant! O let her not return to the courts above with a story that shall fire the heavens against us— that she had blessings for us, but that we were not prepared to receive them— that she could find among us no lasting habitation; but that, Uke the dove after the deluge, she * Pronaque cum spectent animalia csetera terram, Is homina sublime dedit, cffilumque tueri Jussit. -O^'''- 'Y"- t No man's social liberty is lessened by another s en- iuying the same. — BoUan. 68 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. was scarce favored with the top of some friendly mountain for a melancholy mo- ment. Liberty, my friends, is a palladium to the place of her dwelling, a rock and a sure de- fence. Wherever she is, every man has some- thing to protect. He knows what are his riches, and that while he liveth himself shall gather them. He views, with conscious joy, his circumstances. His social affections shoot out and flourish. Even his prejudices are a source of satisfaction, and among them local attachment, a fault which leads to the side of patriotism. Supported by, and tenacious of these fruits of liberty, some little free states, which the geographer in his map and otherways never noticed, have long stood uninjured by change, and some of them inaccessible by the greatest efforts of power. There is now, in a distant quarter of the globe, a living illustration of this remark. Situate upon a venerable pile of rocks, in Italy, stands the commonwealth of St. Marino. It was founded by a holy man whose name it bears, and who fled to this romantic fairy-land to erjoy religion and free air unpur- sued by power and the restless spirit of the world. His example was followed by the pious, the humane, and the lovers of freedom. And these, a favorite few, who were before scattered up and down through other parts of Italy ; who had lived all their days under arbi- trary rule, and whom nature had secretly, taught that there was somewhere a happier institution for man — these hurried away to the snowy top of St. Marino ; and having there first tasted those rights which come down from God, made it their life's labor to support and hand them down in purity. There every man finds his prosperity in submitting to those laws which diffuse equality. There every man feels himself happily liable to be called to the senate or the field : every man divides his day be- tween alternate labor and the use of arms — on tip-toe, ready to start for the prize, the mark of universal emulation — the common weal ; officious to promote that interest which is at once the public's and his own. So stands a constitution informed with the very essence of liberty. It has so stood, while other neigh- boring states have been blackened and defaced with frequent revolution. And we prophesy that till the approach of some unforeseen vice — till some degeneracy unknown to the sires creep upon the sons, St. Marino must stand admired : as, in its present circumstance, no prince or potentate, after sitting down and counting the cost, will ever attempt the im- penetrable union of so much prudence and virtue.* The name of 'Venice now occurs to memory as another modern example of genuine great- ness. The ascendency gained by that single city over the whole Ottoman power — the uni- versal panic that struck and pervaded all orders of the Turks when routed at Darda- nelles, and the reasonable fear of approaching dissolution that reached even to the throne and blasted the heart and withered the nerves of a despot : these, amazing at first, nevertheless appear, when their springs are laid open, the natural issues of a contest between free agents and slaves.t A more ancient and perhaps still more bril- liant proof of the proportionate powers of dif- ferent degrees of liberty, may be gathered from the annals of the city of Tyre. The Lybian madman J who thought he had conquered all and wept that he had no more to conquer § — the invincible son of Jove, before whom princi- palities and powers had bowed down their heads as a bulrush — behold him, with his phalanx, puzzled and Confounded at the walls of Tyre. To overrun Asia cost him less labor, enterprise and valor, than the reduction of this one favorite haunt of liberty. J And perhaps he had never reduced her but for her own fall- ing off from her pristine wisdom. Her liberty was not in first full vigor, but had received a shock from corruption introduced with riches. Briber}', pride, and oppression followed close behind. She was then cast out as profane from the mountain of God.T Tyre is become like the top of a rock — a place to spread nets upon. Let us consider the story of Tyre as a monu- ment which upon one side shews the force of excellence, and upon the other the baneful influence of vice ; a memento that every state below the sun has, like Achilles of old, some vulnerable part. As not a nation is exempted ; and lest, in a fond prejudice, we might exclude our own America, and so induce a fatal secu- rity, even .America has received a caveat from heaven, and in her youthful purity has been * Many of Uie facts here mentioned of St. Marino may be seen in Addison's more complete accounts of that republic. t This alludes only to a particular era in the Venetian history, ? And the horned head belied the Lybian god. Pa/r. § Alexander, after all his conquests, complained that he had no more worlds to subdue. Seneca on a Hap/y Life. \ For an illustration of this see ancient universal history vol. ii. page 75 and on ; also — tliat part of Newton on the prophecies which relate to Tyre, vol. i. \ Ezekiel, xxxiit. 16. MASSACHUSETTS. 6^ tempted by her enemies. With what sort of success tempted we need but remember the machinations and flight of the most infamous Arnold, and the affecting, though just separa- tion of the unfortunate Andre. Happy the nation that, apprised of the whole truth, impartially weighs its own alloy, and bars, with tenfold adamant, its gate of danger. — But to return. I had cherished some aversion to names grown trite by repetition, and had, on that account, evaded the ancient republics. But 1 find the observation just, that " half our learn- ing is their epitaph." I conceive that the " moss-grown " columns and broken arches of those once-renowned empires are full with instruction as were the groves of Lyceum or the school of Plato. Let Greece then be the subject ofa moment's reflection. When liberty fled from the gloom of Egypt, she sought out and settled at infant Greece — there dissemi- nated the seeds of greatness — there laid the ground-work of republican glorj'. Simplicity of manners, piety to the gods, generosity and courage were her earliest character. " Human nature shot wild and free." * Penetrated with a spirit of industry, her sons scarcely knew of relaxation ; even their sports were heroic. Hence that elevated, independent soul, that contempt of danger, that laudable bias to their country and its manners. Upon the banks of Eurota flourished her principal state. Frugal- ity of living and an avarice of time were of the riches of Lacedsmon. Her ma.xims were drawn from nature, and one was " that nothing which bore the name of Greek was born for slavery." From this idea flowed an assistance to her sister states. From a like idea in her sis- ter states that friendship was returned in grate- ful measure. This, had it continued, would have formed the link of empire, the charm that would have united and made Greece invulner- able. While it lasted, the joint efforts of her states rendered her a name and a praise through the whole earth. And here, was it not for the sake of a lesson to my countr)-, I would not only drop my eulogium of Greece, but draw an impervious veil over her remaining history. Her tenfold lustre might at this day have blazed to heaven, had the union t of her states been held * From Dr. Blair's dissertation upon the works of Ossian. t Accuracy has been offended that this example is em- ploj'ed for the American states — which resemble each other in constitution and are united in their last resort ; whereas the Grecian were unlike among themselves and professedly separate. Rut attention to the history of Greece will discover in the causes of her fall a lesson sufficiently apposite to our purpose. The anonymous translator of Tourreil writes as follows : " When Persia, more sacred. But that union of her states, that cement of her existence once impaired — hear the consequence ! the fury of civil- war blows her accursed clarion. The banners late of conquering freedom now adorn the triumphs of oppression. Those states which lately stood in mighty concert, invincible, now breathe mutual jealousy and fall piecemeal a prey to the common enemy. Attic wisdom, Theban hardihood. Spartan valor, would not combine to save her. That very army, which' Greece had bred and nourished to reduce the oriental pride, is turned vulture upon her own vitals — a damnable parricide, the faction of a tyrant. Behold the great and God-like Greece, with all her battlements and towers about her, borne headlong from her giddy height — the shame, the pity of the world. Having attempted some general sketches of liberty, from the dawn of social life to the fall of national glory, I would be somewhat more particular upon those qualities to which her triumphs are chiefly indebted. In the vile economy of depraved man, there appears an inclination to bestow upon one part power and affluence, and to impose upon the other debility and woe. When that inclination is gratified, the majority being slaves, the re- mains of freedom are shared among the great ; like the triumphal bridge at the Archipelago, so strangely dignified, that, by a decree of the senate, none of the vulgar were suffered to enjoy it. When that inclination is counter- balanced by the laws ; when the true interests of both those parts are reconciled ; when socie- ty is considered as " a public combination for private protection,"* — and the governed find their happiness in their submission — there is the essence of all powerful liberty. Not to wire-draw a sentiment already graven upon the hearts of this audience, it is such a liberty, as that every man who has once tasted it, becomes a temporary soldier as soon as it is invaded, and so often vanquished by the Grecians, despaired of subdu- injj them, her last shift was to divide them ; to which their prosperity opened her a means. Spirits naturally quick and too licentious, blown up with their frequent- victories, could not contain themselves or govern their good fortune ; they abandoned themselves to jealousies and ambition.— These divisions ended, at last in a geireral slavery." Thomson most beautifully speaks the truth upon the same occasion — When Greece with Greece, Embroil'd with foul contention, fought no more For common glory and for common weal ; Hut. false to freedom, sought to quell the free ; Broke the lirra band of peace, and sacred love. That lent the whole irrefragable force ; And as around the partial trophy blush'd, Prepared the wav for total overflow. • Earl of Abingdon. 70 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. resents any violence offered it, as an attack upon his life — hence it is that, in free states, as such, there is no such thing as a perpetual standing army. For the whole body of the people, ever ready, flock to the general stand- ard upon emergency, and so preclude the use of that infernal engine. I say infernal engine, for the tongue " labors, and is at a loss to ex- press," the hideous and frightful consequences that flow wherever the powers of hell have pro- cured its introduction. Turkey and Algiers are the delight of its vengeance. Denmark, once over-swarmed with the brave inhabitants of the north, has suffered depopulation, poverty and the heaviest bondage from the quartering troops amongst their peasants in time of peace : if it can be called peace, when robbery, confla- gration and murder are let loose upon the sons of men. Indeed, it is said that no nation ever kept up an army in time of peace that did not lose its liberdes. I believe it. Athens, Corinth, Svracuse, and Greece in general were all over- turned by that tremendous power: and the same power has been long operating with other causes to humble the crest of Britain. Let us hear a passage from Davenant ; " If (says he, speaking of standing armies) they who believed this eagle in the air frighted all motions towards liberty ; if they who heretofore thought armies in times of peace and our free- dom inconsistent ; if the same men should throw off a whig principle so fundamental, and thus come to clothe themselves with the detested garments of the tories, and if all that has been here discoursed on should happen, then will the constitution of this country be utterly subverted."* It would exceed the limits of the present occasion to expatiate upon all the instances wherein the liberties of Britain have in fact suffered according to the views of Davenant. Suffice it to say that a standing army has been, long since, virtually engrafted a limb upon her constitution, has frequently overawed her parliament, sometimes her elections.t and has carried distraction and massacre} into different parts of her empire. That standing mercenary troops must sooner or later entail servitude and misery upon their employers, is an eternal truth that appears * For the whole passage, which was too lengthy for our purpose, vid. the works of Dr. Davenant, corrected by Whitworth, vol. ii. p. 333. — Edition 1771. t The election of the Scotch Peers in the year 1735, and the misconduct of Blackerby and others, at the election of the Westminster members in the year 1741, are instances well kn )wn.— Vid. Burgh's Politic Disq. 2d vol. p. 444 and 473. X Theaffair of Capt. Porteus at Edinburgh (vid. London Magazine for 1737, in a variety of pages) and of Capt. PrestoD, at Boston, are of themselves sufficient examples. from the nature of things. On the one hand behold an inspired yeomanry, all sinew and soul, having stepped out and defended their ancient altars, their wives and children, return- ing in peace to till those fields which their own arms have rescued. Such are the troops of every free people.* Such were the troops who, led on by the patriot Warren, gave the first home-blow to our oppressors. Such were the troops who, fired by Gates in the northern woods, almost decided the fate of nations. Such were the troops who, under the great and amiable Lincoln, sustained a siege in circum- stances that rank him and them with the captains and soldiers of antiquity. Such, we trust, are the troops who, inferior in number, though headed indeed by the gallant and judicious Morgan, lately vanquished a chosen veteran band long dedicated to Mars and dis- ciplined in blood. And such, we doubt not, are the troops who beat the British legions from the Jerseys, and have ever since preserved their country, under the conduct of that superior man who combines in quality the unshaken constancy of Cato, the triumphant delay of Fabius, and upon proper occasions the enter- prising spirit of Hannibal. May the name of Washington continue steeled, as it ever has been, to the dark slander- ous arrow that flies in secret. As it ever has been ! for who have offered to ecHpse his glory, but have afterward sunk away diminished, and " shorn of their own beams." Justice to other characters forbids our stop- ping to gaze at this constellation of heroes, and would fain draw forth an eulogium upon all who have gathered true laurels from the fields of America. " Thousands — the tribute of our praise Demand ; but who can count the stars of heaven ? Who speak their influence on this lower world." T/to»tson. Whither has our gratitude borne us ? let us behold a contrast — the army of an absolute prince — a profession distinct from the citizen and in a different interest — a haughty phalanx, whose object of warfare is pay, and who, the batde over, and if perchance they conquer, re- turn to slaughter the sons of peace. This is a hard saying. But does not all history press forward to assert its justice ? do not the pras- * " That the yeomanry are the bulwark of a free people *' — was, if memory serves, in a celebrated extempore speech of the honorable Samuel Adams, made in the year 1773. The steadiness of that great republican to his political creed, evinces that sentiments grounded upon just data will not easily bend to a partial interest, or accommodate to the changes of popular opinion. MASSACHUSETTS. 71 torian bands of tottering Rome now crowd upon the affrighted memor)' ? do not the em- bodied guards from Petersburg and Constantino- ple stalk horrid the tools of revolution and mur- der? to come nearer home for an example, do we not see the darkened spring of 1770, like the moon in a thick atmosphere, rising in blood and ushered in by the figure of Britain plunging her poignard in the young bosom of America? Oh, our bleeding country ! was it for this our hoary sires sought thee through all the elements, * and having found thee sheltering away from the western wave, disconsolate, cheered thy sad face, and decked thee out like the garden of God ? Time was when we could all affirm to this gloomy question — when we were ready to cry out that our fathers had done a vain thing. — I mean upon that unnatural night which we now commemorate ; when the fire of Brutus was on many a heart — when the strain of Grac- chus was on many a tongue. "Wretch that I am, whither shall 1 retreat ? whither shall I turn me? to the capitol? the capitol swims in my brother's blood. To my family ? there must I see a wretched, a mournful and afflicted mother ? " t — Misery' loves to brood over its own woes : and so peculiar were the woes of that night, so expressive the pictures of despair, so various the face of death, { that not all the grand tragedies which have been since acted, can crowd from our minds that era of the human passions, that preface to the general conflict that now rages. May we never forget to offer a sacrifice to the manes of our brethren who bled so early at the foot of liberty. Hitherto we have nobly avenged their fall : but as ages cannot expunge the debt, their melancholy ghosts still rise at a stated season, and will for- ever wander in the night of this noted anni- versary. Let us then be frequent pilgrims at their tombs — there let us profit of all our feel- ings ; and, while the senses are " struck deep with woe," give wing to the imagination. Hark ! even now in the hollow wind I hear the voice of the departed. O ye, who listen to wis- dom and aspire to immortality, as ye have avenged our blood, thrice blessed ! as ye still war against the mighty hunters of the earth, your names are recorded in heaven ! Such are the suggestions of fancy : and hav- ing given them their due scope ; having de- scribed the memorable fifth of March as a sea- son of disaster, it would be an impiety not to consider it in its other relation. For the rising honors of these states are distant issues, as it — elementa per omnia qu^erunt. — Juv. t Guthrie's Cicero de Oratore. t " Plurima mortis imago.' were, from the intricate * though all-wise Divinity which presided upon that night. Strike that night out of time, and we quench the first ardor of a resentment which has been ever since increas- ing, and now accelerates the fall of tyranny. The provocations of that night must be num- bered among the master-springs which gave the first motion to a vast machinery, a noble and comprehensive system of national independence. "The independence of America," says the writer, under the signature of Common Sense, " should have been considered as dating its era from the first musket that was fired against her." Be it so ! but Massachusetts may cer- tainly date many of its blessings from the Bos- ton massacre — a dark hour in itself, but from which a marvellous light has arisen. From that night revolution became inevitable, and the occasion commenced of the present most beau- tiful form of government. We often read of the original contract, and of mankind, in the eariy ages, passing from a state of nature to immediate civilization. But what eye could penetrate through gothic night and barbarous fable to that remote period. Such an eye, per- haps, was present, when the Deity conceived the universe and fixed his compass upon the great deep. t And yet the people of Massachusetts have reduced to practice the wonderful theory. A numerous people have convened in a state of nature, and, like our ideas of the patriarchs, have deputed a few fathers of the land to draw for them a glorious covenant. It has been drawn. The people have signed it with rap- ture, and have, thereby, bartered, among themselves, an easy degree of obedience for the highest possible civil happiness. To render that covenant eternal, patriotism and political virtue must forever blaze — must blaze at the present day with superlative lustre ; being watched, from different motives, by the eyes of all mankind. Nor must that patriotism be contracted to a single commonwealth. A combination of the states is requisite to support them individually. "Unite or die" is our indispensable motto. Every step from it is a step nearer to the region of death. This idea was never more occasional than at the present * " Tlie ways of heaven are dark and intricate." Addison^ s Cato. t Not that we can believe, with some theoretical writers, that individuals met together in a large plain, entered into an original contract, etc. But though society had not its formal beginning from any convention of individuals, etc. And this is what we mean by the original contract of society ; which though perhaps, in no instance it has been formally expressed, at the first institution of a state, yet, etc. — \st Btack^tone s Com. p. 47, vid, the ivkoU passage. 72 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. crisis — a crisis pregnant with fate and ready to burst with calamity. I allude to that languor which, like a low hung cloud, overshadows a great part of the thirteen states. That the young, enterprising America, who stepped out in the cause of human kind, and no other arm daring, lopped the branches of wide despotic empire — that the same America should now suffer a few insolent bands to ravage her borders with impunity — that her now tardy hand should suspend the finishing stroke of resentment, and leave to her generous allies a labor which her own vigor ought to effect ; this must disturb those, illustrious, who fell in her infant exertions ; this must stab the peace of the dead, however it may affect the hearts of the living. Oh could I bear a part among the means of awakening virtue — oh could I call strength to these feeble lungs and borrow that note which shook the throne of Julius ! vain wish ! if the silent suggestions of truth — if the secret whispers of reason are not sufficient — the efforts of human eloquence might be futile, her loudest bolt might roll unheeded ! This is not intended to inspire gloom ; but only to persuade to those exertions which are necessary to life and independence. Let jus- tice then be done to our country — let justice be done to our great leader ; and, the only means under heaven of our salvation, let his army be replenished. That grand duty over, we will once more adopt an enthusiasm sublime in itself but still more so as coming from the lips of a first patriot — the chief magistrate of this com- monwealth. " I have, said he, a most animat- ing confidence that the present noble struggle for liberty will terminate gloriously for Ameri- ca." Aspiring to such a confidence, I sA the expressive leaves of fale thrown wide ; Of future times I see the mighty tide. And borne triumphant on its buoyant wave, A god-like number of the great and brave. The bright, wide ranks of martyrs — here they rise — Heroes and patriots move before my eyes : These crown'd with olive, those with laurel come. Like the first fathers of immortal Rome. Fly time ! oh lash thy fiery steeds away — Roll rapid wheels and bring the smiling day,* When these blest states, another promis'd land, Chosen out and foster'd by the Almighty hand, Supreme shall rise their crowded shores shall be The fix'd abodes of empire and of liberty. * Sun gallop down the western skies. Gang soon to bed and quickly rise ; O lash your steeds, post time away, And haste about the bleezing day. Aiian Rant lay. ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1782, BY GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. Quid tantum insano juvat indulgere dolori ? non hsec sine numine divum. Virg. j^n. 2dy 776. Eveniunt — — Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum ; Et documenta damus, qua sinus origine nati. Ovid Metatn. Lib. i, 414. Fathers, friends, and fellow citisens — When I consider the important occasion from which this anniversary derives its origin, and the respectable characters that have exerted them- selves to perpetuate its history, I confess there is an unusual security in my feelings : since no mistaken effort of mine can injure an institution founded on so memorable an event, and sup- ported by names so justly claiming the applause of posterity. While I rely, then, upon that honesty of in- tention, which is itself the best apology for its errors, permit me to employ the present hour, which your united voices have annually made sacred to the commemoration of our country's wrongs, in recapitulating the most injurious of her sufferings, among which that on the tragi- cal fifth of March is by no means the least, and in recounting the blessings which have followed from measures as really disgraceful to those who adopted them, as they were intentionally destructive to those against whom they were levelled. A nation falling from those great principles of justice and virtue which had made her respectable; subverting the boasted improve- ments of her arts to the savage purposes of revenge ; with venality and corruption en- trenched on her cabinet, affords a spectacle too serious for the amusement of the beholder. He turns for relief to the annals of those people whose masculine virtues have obstinately, will he not say wisely, resisted the refinement of a civilized world. But from the misfortunes of such a nation, much is to be learned. As she is hurried onwards by the vortex of that im- measurable gulf, in which empires sink to rise no more, let her serve us as a signal to avoid the first impulse of its resistless tide. To trace Great Britain through the whole progress of her ambition in this country, would be to step back to a very eariy period ; for, long before she avowed her system of colonial slavery in the stamp-act, the liberties of our ancestors had endured the most alarming inno- vation from her throne. Without cause, and without notice, she had invalidated their charters ; laid impositions upon their trade ; MASSACHUSETTS. 73 attempted a most dangerous influence over their internal government, by endeavoring to make it independent of the people ; — and all this with the same confidence, as though her policy and foresight, and not her persecutions, had settled them on this side the Atlantic. But the full display of her despotic policy was reserved to add accumulated disgrace to the inglorious reign of the third George. Then, intoxicated with America, she slumbered upon the tottering pillars of her own constitution ; the hand of slavery rocked her as she lay on the giddy height ; falsehood gilded her visions and bound her senses with the enchantment of success ; while her blind ambition alone remained awake, to misdirect the ordinary assistance of fortune, and to make her fall equally certain and complete. The genius of Britain once interred, the first spectre which shot from its tomb was the stamp-act. This promulgation of a scheme so repugnant to the fundamental principles of the late English constitution, announced the fall, but did not obliterate the memory of that much re- spected system, in this country. America saw that the act bore not a single feature of its reputed parent, and having detected its illegiti- macy, effectually resisted its operation. But, as though conviction must ever be productive of obstinacy, Britain desisted not to rend in pieces the charters of her colonies, which served to remind her of the violence she committed on her own. Her administration affecting to realize the fables* of its minions, whose very fears were as subservient to its purposes, as their hopes were dependent on its venality, and making pretence of trespasses, which, if real, the laws were open to punish, unmasked its true designs, by quartering an armed force in this metropolis in a time of peace. Where was the citizen whose indignation did not flash at this undisguised attack on his liberties ? the soldier's pride too grew sanguin- ary at the idea of contempt from the people he himself had been taught to despise ; and, as though heaven designed to effect its greatest purposes by the sacrifice of what men conceive to be the dearest objects of its guardianship, the lives and rights of citizens were delivered over to the scourge of military rancor. Venerable t patrons of freedom, wherever your country may lie ! boast not that the rea- son and speculative truths of this our common • For some of these fanciful misrepresentitions, see a vindication of the town of Hoston, from many false and malicious aspersions, contained in certain letters written by Governor Bernard and others, published by order of the town, 1769. t See Abbe Raynal's Hist. American Revolution, p. 65. cause, armed an extensive world in support of its justice. Turn to the tragedy we commemo- rate, as imprinted by the bloody hand of the tyrant, and view the highest outrage his power could commit, or the forbearance of humanity sustain. There hecatombs of slaughtered citi- zens were offered at the shrine of cursed ambition. — What can we add to their memories through whose wounds their country bled ; whose names are handed round the globe with the great occasion on which they fell ; and whose tombs shall ever stand a basis to the stateliest pillar in the temple of freedom ? heaven has avenged their fall by realizing the prophecy of the indignant American, as he vented his anguish over their rankling blood. " These are indeed my country's wounds,* but oh ! said he, the deep and tremendous restitu- tions are at hand ; I see them with a prophetic eye this moment before me. Horrors shall be repaid with accumulation of horror. The wounds in America shall be succeeded by deep-mouthed gashes in the heart of Britain ! the chain of solemn consequences is now advancing. Yet, yet my friends, a little while, and the poor, forlorn one, who has fought and fallen at the gate of her proper habitation, for freedom, for the common privileges of life, for all the sweet and binding principles in human- ity, for father, son, and brother, for the cradled infant, the wailing widow, and the weeping maid ; yet, yet and she shall find an avenger. Indignant nations shall arm in her defence. Thrones and principalities shall make her cause their own, and the fountains of blood that have run from her exhausted veins shall be answered by a yet fuller measure of the horri- ble effusion — blood for blood ; and desolation for desolation ; O my injured country ! my massacred America ! " Melancholy scene ! the fatal, but we trust the last effect in our country, of a standing army quartered in populous cities in a time of peace. Britain having thus violated the greatest law nations or individuals can be held by, to use the language of the ancients, threw a veil over the altars of her gods whom she was too haughty to appease. Would to heaven, for her sake, we too had a veil to hide from the eye of justice, the ashes of our desolated towns, and the tracks which her ravages have imprinted through every quarter of our once peaceful land. Iff "every act of authority of one person over another, for which there is not an absolute • Anonymous. t liecaeria on Crimes and Punishments, p. 10. 74 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. necessity, is tyrannical," and if tyranny justifies resistance, to have remained inactive, under these injuries, had been a kind of political stoicism, equally inconsistent with the laws of nature and society. On such principles arose the memorable declaration of July, 1776. — A declaration which at once gave life and freedom to a nation ; dissolved a monopoly unnatural as unjust ; and extended the embraces of our country to the universe. — A declaration which heaven has since ratified by the successful event of her arms. For, when we consider the number of her victories ; the disadvantages under which they were obtained ; the chain of important consequences which depended upon the very moment of their decision, who but must acknowledge, after allowing to our mili- tary actors every thing heroism can claim, that there appeared peculiar marks of more than human assistance .•' the surrender of entire ar- mies to a power which they affected to look upon rather as an object of their chains than of their swords, was a degree of glory of which no enemy that ever passed the Roman yoke afforded to that republic. Hapless Britain ! for even those whom you injure must pity you, how has fortune added acrimony to her fickle- ness, in choosing for a scene of your dis- grace, that climate where, in a late war, she so loudly vaunted the invincibility of your arms ! America once unfettered, nobly relied upon the uprightness of her cause and the bravery of her sons. But, as though the virtues of one crown were to apologize for the merciless cruelty of another, a monarch, equally wise in council as brilliant and powerful in arms, met her in alliance which must ever enliven her gratitude ; exalt the honor of France, and we trust too, promote the interests of both. Among the advantages which have risen from these great events to the people of Massa- chusetts, that of securing their lives, their liberties, and property, the great object of all civil government, by a constitution of their own framing, is not to be accounted the least. Dismembered from a government, which had long stood by the exactest balance of its powers, even against the corruption of its ministers, they found themselves accustomed to princi- ples, which age had stamped with authority, and patriots sealed with their blood. The cause of their separation had taught them the avenues through which despotism insinuates itself into the community, and pointed out the means of excluding it. Under these circum- stances they produced a system which, we trust, experience will evince to be an improve- ment * upon the best mankind have hitherto admired. The quick return of all delegated power to the people, from which it is made to spring, and the check which each part of the government has upon the excesses of the other, seem to warrant us in placing on it all the confidence human laws can deserve. But, Let us not trust laws : an uncorrupted peo- ple can exist without them ; a corrupted people cannot long exist with them, or any other hu- man assistance. They are remedies which at best always disclose and confess our evils. The body politic, once distempered, they may indeed be used as a crutch to support it a while, but they can never heal it. Rome, when her bravery conquered the neighboring nations, and united them to her own empire, was free from all danger within, because her armies, being urged on by a love for their country, would as readily suppress an internal as an ex- ternal enemy. In those times she made no scruple to throw out her kings who had abused their power. But when her subjects fought not for the advantage of the commonwealth ; when they thronged to the Asiatic wars for the spoils they produced, and preferred prostituting the rights of citizenship upon any barbarian that demanded them, to meeting him in the field for their support, then Rome grew too modest to accept from the hands of a dictator those rights, which she ought to have impaled him for daring to invade. No alteration in her laws merely, could have effected this. Had she remained virtuous she might as well have expelled her dictators as her kings. But what laws can save a people who, for the very pur- pose of enslaving themselves, choose to con- sider them rather as councils which they may accept or refuse, than as precepts which they are bound to obey .'' t with such a people they must ever want a sanction and be contemned. — I Virtue and long life seem to be as inti- mately allied in the political as in the moral world : she is the guard which providence has set at the gate of freedom. True it is, when the nature and principles of a government are pure, we have a right to suppose it at the farthest possible distance from falling. ♦ Is it not so in the equality of representation and mode of election ? t A conscience more scrupulous, than it is probable Sylla ever had, would be apt to imagine this general dis- position of the people wiped away the guilt of enslaving them from any hand that effected it. If m any case, 'tis in this that we may apply the maxim volenti non fit in- juria. X Virtue, in a republic, is a most single thing, it is a love for the republic; it is a sensation, and not a conse- quence of acquired knowledge : a sensation that may be felt by the meanest as well as by the highest person in the state. SJ>irit 0/ Laws, Book ^thy chap, id. MASSACHUSETTS. 75 But when we consider that those countries * in which the wisest institutions of republican governments have been established, now exhibit the strongest instances of apostacy, we cannot but see the necessity of vigilance. Commerce, which makes, perhaps, the greatest distinction between the old world and the modern, having raised new objects for our curiosity, habitual indulgence hath at length made them necessary to our infirmities. Thus effeminated, can we hope to exceed the rigor of their principles, who even forbade the men- tioning of a foreign custom, and whose sump- tuary laws are held up in our age as objects of astonishment ? Such nations have mouldered away, an uncontrovertible proof, that the best constructed human governments, like the human body, tend to corruption ; but as with that too, there are not wanting remedies to procrastinate their final decay. Among the causes of their fall there are none more common or less natural than that of their own strength. Continual wars making a military force necessary, the habit of conquest once acquired and other objects being wanting, history is not without t instances of its turning itself inwards, and gnawing as it were, upon its own bowels. Happy are we in the frequent change of our soldiery.^ This seems to be the best antidote against such an evil. It prevents that lethargy which would be a symptom of death in the citizen at home : and checks that immoderation in the soldier which is apt to mislead his virtues in the field. By this ex- change of their qualities they mutually warrant happiness to each other, and freedom to their countr)'. America once guarded against herself, what has she to fear ? her natural situation may well inspire her with confidence. Her rocks and hermountainsare the chosen temples of liberty. The extent of her climate, and the variety of its produce, throw the means of her greatness into her own hands, and insure her the traffic of the world. Navies shall launch from her forests, * The politic Greeks who lived under a popular govern- ment, who knew no other support but virtue. The modern inhabitants of that country are entirely taken up with manufactures, commerce, finances, riches, and luxuries. S/irt/ 0/ Laii's^ Book ^d. chap -^d. + For a complete collection of these, I beg leave to refer to the 3d book of the political disquisitions. % The design of society being to protect the weak against the more powerful, whatever tends to taking away the distinction between them, and to putting all its mem- bers upon the same level, must be consonant to its first principles. This was an object with the old republics ; Rome obliged her citizens to serve in the tield ten years, between the age of sixteen years and forty-seven. Vid. Refleczions on the rise and /all 0/ the Rom, Emp. c. 10. last note. and her bosom be found stored with the most precious treasures of nature. May the industry of her people be a still surer pledge of her wealth. The union of her states too is founded upon the most durable principles: the simi- larity of the manners, religion, and laws of their inhabitants, must ever support the mea- sure which their common injuries originated. Her government, while it is restrained from violating the rights of the subject, is not dis- armed against the public foe. Could Junius Brutus, and his colleagues, have beheld her republic erecting itself on this disjointed neck of tyranny, how would they have wreathed a laurel for her temples as eter- nal as their own memories ! America ! fairest copy of such great originals ! be virtuous, and thy reign shall be as happy as durable, and as durable as the pillars of the world you have enfranchised. ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1783. BY DR. THOMAS WELSH. Non tali auxilio, nee defensoribus istis Tempus eget : Virgil Aineid,, Lib. 2. line 521. Friends and fellovj-ctfizcns — Invited to this place by your choice, and recollecting your well known indulgence, I feel myself already pos- sessed of your candor, while I " impress upon your minds, the ruinous tendency of standing armies being placed in free and populous cities in a time of peace." A field here presents, annually traversed by those who, by their sagacity have discovered, and by their voices declared, in strains of manly eloquence, the source from whence those fatal streams originate, which like the destroying pestilence, have depopulated king- doms and laid waste the fairest empires. In prosecution of the subject, I presume I shall not offend a respectable part of my audi- ence, I mean the gentlemen of the American patriot army * — an army whose glor}' and vir- tues have been long since recorded in the tem- ple of fame — her trumpet has sounded their praises to distant nations — her wing shall bear them to latest ages. When the daring spirit of ambition, or the boundless lust of domination, has prompted • I should not have neglected so favorable an opening to have shewn my poor respects to the character of the commander in chief of the .American army, but from a consciousness of inability to add to a name, more durable than marble, which will outlive the assaults of envy and the ravages of time. 76 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. men to invade the * natural peaceful state of society, it is among the first emotions of the heart, to repel the bold invader. Men, assem- bled from such motives, having expelled the enemy from their borders, re-assuming the pruning hook and the spade, for the sword and the spear, have, in all ages, been called the saviours of their country. A militia is the most natural defence of a free state, from invasion and tyranny : they who compose the militia, are the proprietors of the soil ; and who are so likely to defend it, as they who have received it from their ances- tors — acquired it by their labor — or obtained it by their valor .' every free man has within his breast the great essentials of a soldier, and having made the use of arms familiar, is ever ready for the field. And where is the tyrant who has not reason to dread an army of freemen .' In the battle of Naseby.t in the days of Cromwell, the number of forces was equal on both sides ; and all circumstances equal. In the parliament's army only nine officers had ever seen actual service and most of the sol- diers were London apprentices, drawn out of the city two months before. In the king's army there were about a thousand officers who had served abroad, yet the veterans were routed by the apprentices. Rome advanced on the zenith of glory and greatness, and conquered all nations in the times of the republic, while her army was an unpaid militia. The Grecians carried on their wars against Persia by means of their militia ; and at last beat the numerous mercenary armies, and sub- dued the vast empire of Persia. The deeds of valor performed by my own countrymen, and in our day, are numerous and recent, and point out, as with a sun-beam, that the militia is to a free country a lasting security. You will now permit me to consider the condition and consequences of a standing army. Men who enlist themselves for life soon lose the feelings of citizens. To command and be commanded, e.xcites an idea of servi- tude and dependence, which degrades the • The natural state of nations with respect to each other . is certainly that of society and peace. Such is the natu- ral and primitive state of one man with respect to ano- ther ; and whatever alteration mankind may have made in regard to their original state, they cannot, without viola- ting their duty, break in upon that state of peace and society, in which nature has placed them, and which, by her laws, she has strongly recommended to their observ- ance. Purlamaqui^Part ^. Chap i. S^c. 4. t Vid. Political Disquisitions. mind, and in a social view, destroys the char- acter of a free agent.* They who follow the profession of arms con- ceive themselves exempted from the useful oc- cupations of life, and thence contract a habit of dissipation ; soldiers inured to exercise and labor in their duty, at leisure to roam, will not be wholly inactive in a city, where the means of gratification abound ; pursuing the objects of pleasure with the same zeai with which they engaged in the toils and enterprises of the field, whole armies have too late found themselves destroyed by the dissolving power of luxury. We have a remarkable instance of this, my fellow-citizens, in the army of Hannibal, which, having withstood the greatest hardships, and which the most dreadful dangers had never been able to discourage, in winter quarters, at Capua, was entirely conquered by plenty and pleasures.! The effects of luxur)-, though productive of the greatest misfortunes to an army stationed in a city, are by no means confined to that class of men. The great body of the people, smote by the charms and blandishments of a life of ease and pleasurement, fall easy victims to its fascinations. The city, reared by the forming hand of industry, soon feels the symp- toms of dissolution — the busy merchant now no more extends his commerce ; the mechanic throws aside his chisel ; the voice of riot suc- ceeds to the sounds of the hammer, and the midnight revel to the vigils of labor. When a large respectable standing army has been stationed in a city, commanded by officers of known patriotism, who have taught those under their orders to interchange the kind and friendly offices of life ; citizens, conceiving them- selves secured from domestic broils and the dan- ger of invasion from abroad, imperceptibly relax in their attention to military exercises, and may thus be exposed as a tempting bait to an aspir- ing despot ; besides, a people who have made themselves respectable by their personal atten- tion to their own defence, neglecting their militia, may be insulted by those neighbors * Moore, in his view of society and manners in Europe, observes — " As to the common soldiers, the leading idea of the discipline is, to reduce them in many respects, to the nature of machines : that they may have no volition of their own, but be actuated solely by that of their offi- cers ; that they may have such a superlative dread of their officers, as annihilates all fear of the enemy ; that they may move forward when ordered, without deeper reasoning or more concern than the firelocks they carry along with them-" + Vid. Livy's Roman history for an account of the bat- tles, sufferings, and almost incredible march and destruc- tion of the renowned Carthaginian general and his army. MASSACHUSETTS. 17 who had formerly been accustomed to revere their power. When communities have so far mistaken their interest as to commit the defence of ever)' thing valuable in life to a standing army, the love of ease will scarcely permit them to re- assume the unpleasant task of defending them- selves. At the conclusion of a long and bloody war, the liberties of a people are in real danger from the admission of troops into a free city. When an anny has suffered every hardship to which the life of a soldier is peculiarly incident, and has returned crowned with the well-earned laurels of the field, they justly expect to be received into the open arms, and with the applauses of those for whom they have fought, and in whose cause they have bled ; in a situa- tion like this, whole communities, in transport of gratitude, have weakly sacrificed at the shrine of a deliverer, every thing for which their armies have fought, or their heroes bled. Nations, the most renowned among the ancients for their wisdom and their policy, have viewed the army with an eye of attentive jealousy ; the Romans, characterized for per- sonal braver)',* trembled for their countrj', at the sight of one hundred and fifty lictors, or peace officers, as a guard of the decemviri. Such an army was dangerous, they said, to liberty. These politic people knew the prevail- ing propensity in all mankind to power. The history of later times has abundantly justified the wisdom of their jealousies. All parts of Europe which have been enslaved, have been enslaved by armies. No nation can be said to enjoy internal liberty which admits them in a time of peace. When a government has a body of standing troops at command, it is easy to form pretensions for the distribution of them, so as to effect their own purposes ; when a favorite point is to be carried, a thousand soldiers may convey irresistible argument, and compel men to act against their feelings, inter- est, and country. Such were the arguments employed by Philip the Second, of Spain, to persuade the inhabitants of the Netherlands to relinquish their liberties, their property, and their religion ; the progress of these dreadful measures pro- duced scenes of massacre and devastation, the * In the battles fought in our age, every single soldier has very little security and confidence except in the multi- tude ; but among the Romans, every individual, more robust and of greater experience in war, as well as more inured to the fatigues of it. than the enemy, relied upon himself only. He was naturally endued with courage, or in other words, with that virtue which a sensibility of our own strength inspires. Montesquieu. recital of which must excite exquisite horror in the most savage breast. One of the commanders of the army under the duke of Alva, demanding a pass through the city of Rotterdam,* was at first refused, but assuring the magistrates that he meant only to lead his troops through the town, and not to lodge them in it, they consented to suffer the companies to pass through one by one : no sooner had the first company entered the city, than the officer, without regard to his engage- ments, ordered them to keep the gates open until the other companies should arrive : one of the citizens, endeavoring to shut the gate, was killed by his own hand ; his troops, eager to follow his example, drew their swords, and, giving a-loose to their fury, spread themselves over the town, and butchered more than three hundred of the inhabitants. This was among the first events of that war which rendered the Netherlands a scene of horror and devastation for more than thirty years ; but which, whilst it proved the source, on many occasions, of extreme distress to the people, called forth an exertion of virtue, spirit, and intrepidity, which seldom occurs in the annals of history. — Never was there a more unequal contest, than between the inhabitants of the Low-Countries and the Spanish mon- arch ; and never was the issue of anv dispute more contrary to what the parties had reason to expect. Under similar circumstances, my fellow- citizens, a standing army was introduced and stationed in this city ; which produced the scene we now commemorate, and which I know you cannot all remember, but let the stranger hear and let the listening youth be told — that on the evening of the fifth of March, seventeen hundred and seventy, under the orders of a mercenary officer, murder, with her polluted weapons, stood trampling in the blood of our slaughtered countr\-men ; imagi- nation cannot well conceive what mingling passions then convulsed the soul and agonized the heart ! — those pangs were sharp indeed, which ushered into life a nation ! — like Her- cules t she rose brawny from the cradle, the snakes of Britain yet hung hissing round her horrible, and fell ! — at her infant voice they * The whole affair is related at length in Watson's His- tory of the Low Countries, to which the reader is referred. t Hercules is represented, when very young, engaged in the most courageous and dangerous enterprises — such as encountering lions, squeezing them to death against his own breast, or tearing their jaws asunder ; sometimes, when an infant, grasping serpents with a little smile upon his cheek, as if he was pleased with their fine colors and their motions, and killing them by his strong gripe with so much ease, that he scarce deigns to look upon them. 78 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. hasted — at the dread of her rising arm they fled away. America, separated from the nations of Europe by the mighty ocean, and from Britain by the miglitier hand of heaven, is acknow- ledged an independent nation ; she has now to maintain her dignity and importance among the l' of religion, government, origi- nal manners, and the most extensive and lasting com- mercial interests, can form a ground and an invitation to political connexions, the subscriber flatters himself, that in all these particulars the union is so obviously natural, that there has seldom been a more distinct designation of Providence to any two distant nations to unite themselves together." Extracts from the memorial to their high mightinesses, the states general of the United Provinces of the Low- Countries, by that great statesman and patriot, his excel- lency John .Adams, esq., minister plenipotentiary at the Hague, dated Leyden, .\pril 19, 1781. MASSACHUSETTS. 79 which we were once a part, we even weep over our enemy, when we reflect that she was once great ; that her navies rode formidable upon the ocean ; that her commerce was extended to ever>' harbor of the globe ; that her name was revered wherever it was known ; that the wealth of nations was deposited in her island ; and that America was her friend, but by means of her standing armies, an immense continent is separated from her kingdom,* and that once- mighty empire, ready to fall an untimely victim to her own mad policy. Near eight full years have now rolled away since America has been cast off from the bo- som and embraces of her pretended parent, and has set up her own name among the empires. The assertions of so young a country, were at first beheld with dubious expectation ; and the world were ready to stamp the name of rash- ness or enterprise according to the event. But a manly and fortunate beginning soon ensured the most generous assistance. The renowned and the ancient Gauls came early to the combat — wise in council — mighty in bat- tle ! then with new fury raged the storm of war ! the seas were crimsoned with the richest blood of nations ! America's chosen legions waded to freedom through rivers, dyed with the mingled blood of her enemies and her citizens ; through fields of carnage, and the gates of death ! At length independence is ours — the halcyon day appears ! lo from the east I see the har- binger, and from the train, 'tis peace herself, and as attendants, all the gentle arts of life ; commerce displays her snow-white navies fraught with the wealth of kingdoms ; plenty from her copious horn, pours forth her richest gifts. Heaven commands ! the east and the west give up, and the north keeps not back ! all nations meet I and beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning- hooks, and resolve to learn war no more. Henceforth shall the American wilderness blos- som as the rose, and every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig-tree, and none shall make him afraid. • A doubt may be entertained of the truth of this asser- tion ; but we can hardly believe that it would have entered into the head o( a minister or parliament, to collect a militia in Great Britain to enforce their acts in America ; so that in our view, had the army been disbanded at the end of the last war, .America and Britain at this moment would have been parts of the same kingdom. IMPORTANT LETTER WRITTEN BY GOV. HUTCHINSON OF MASSA- CHUSETTS, July 20, 1770. A great number of governor Hutchinson's letters have lately fallen into the hands of our people. A correspondent at Roxbury has favored us with the following extract from one of them to general Gage, then at New York, dated at Boston, July 20, 1770. '• It appears to me to be a matter of great importance to his majesty's general service, and to the real interest of the colonies, that the discord begin- ning between New York and us should be en- couraged : I wrote some time ago to Mr. C upon this subject, but he rather declined concerning himself in it ; he certainly has a strange aversion, which nothing but the con- federacy against Great Britain could have conquered : this has too much the appearance of Machiavelian policy; but it is justifiable, as it has the most obvious tendency to save the colonies ruining themselves, as well as pre- venting them destroying the mother country. If Pennsylvania could be brought to take part with New York, I think the fiusi'iwss would be done. I must beg the favor of you not to let this letter come under any other than your own observation." MASSACHUSETTS STATE PAPERS. SPEECH OF Gov. T. Hutchinson to the Council AND House of Representatives, Feb. 16, 1773- Gentlemeti of the Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives . The proceedings of such of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, as assembled together, and passed and published their resolves or votes, as the act of the town, at a legal town meeting, denying, in the most express terms, the supremacy of parliament, and inviting every other town and district in the province, to adopt the same principle, and to establish com mittees of correspondence, to consult upon proper measures to maintain it, and the pro- ceedings of divers other towns, in consequence of this invitation, appeared to me to be so un- warrantable, and of such a dangerous nature and tendency, that I thought myself bound to call upon you in my speech at opening the ses- sion, to join with me in discountenancing and bearing a proper testimony against such irreg- ularities and innovations. 8o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. I stated to you fairly and truly, as I con- ceived, the constitution of the kingdom and of the province, so far as relates to the depend- ence of the former upon the latter ; and I de- sired you, if you differed from me in sentiments, to show me, with candor, my own errors, and to give your reasons in support of your opinions, so far as you might differ from me. I hoped that you would have considered my speech by your joint committees, and have given me a joint answer: but as the house of representatives have declined that mode of proceeding, and as your principles in government are very differ- ent, I am obliged to make separate and dis- tinct replies. I shall first apply myself to you. Gentlemen of the Council : The two first parts of your answer, which re- spect the disorders occasioned by the stamp act, and the general nature of supreme author- ity, do not appear to have a tendency to invali- date anything which I have said in my speech ; for, however the stamp act may have been the immediate occasion of any disorders, the authority of parliament was, notwithstanding, denied, in order to justify or excuse them. And. for the nature of the supreme authority of par- liament, I have never given you any reason to suppose, that I intended a more absolute power in parliament, or a greater degree of active or passive obedience in the people, than what is founded in .the nature of government, let the form of it be what it may. I shall, therefore, pass over those parts of your answer, without any other remark. I would also have saved you the trouble of al! those authorities which you have brought to show, that all taxes upon English subjects, must be levied by virtue of the act, not of the king alone, but in conjunc- tion with the lords and commons, for I should very readily have allowed it ; and I should as readily have allowed, that all other acts of legislation must be passed by the same joint authority, and not by the king alone. Indeed, I am not willing to continue a con- troversy with you, upon any other parts of your answer. I am glad to find, that inde- pendence is not what you have in contem- plation, and that you will not presume to prescribe the exact limits of the authority of parliament, only, as with due deference to it, you are humbly of opinion, that, as all human authority in the nature of it is, and ought to be limited, it cannot constitutionally extend, for the reasons you have suggested, to the levying of taxes, in any form, on his majesty's subjects of this province. I will only observe, that your attempts tc draw a line as the limits of the supreme author- ity in government, by distinguishing some natu- ral rights, as more peculiarly exempt from such authority than the rest, rather tend to evince the impracticability of drawing such a line : and that some parts of your answer seem to infer a supremacy in the province, at the same time that you acknowledge the supremacy of parliament ; for otherwise, the rights of the subjects cannot be the same in all essential re- spects, as you suppose them to be, in all parts of the dominions, " under a like form of legislature." From these, therefore, and other considera- tions, I cannot help flattering myself, that upon more mature deliberation, and in order to a more consistent plan of government, you will choose rather to doubt the expediency of par- liament's exercising its authority in cases that may happen, than to limit' the authority itself, especially, as you agree with me in the proper method of obtaining a redress of grievances by constitutional representations, which cannot well consist with a denial of the authority to which the representations are made ; and from the best information I have been able to obtain, the denial of the authority of parliament, ex- pressly, or by implication, in those petitions to which you refer, was the cause of their being admitted, and not any advice given by the min- ister to the agents of the colonies. I must en- large, and be more particular in my reply to you. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : I shall take no notice of that part of your answer, which attributes the disorders of the province, to an undue exercise of the power of parliament ; because you take for granted, what can by no means be admitted, that parliament had exercised its power without just authority. The sum of your answer, so far as it is perti- nent to my speech, is this. You allege that the colonies were an acqui- sition of foreign territor)', not annexed to the realm of England ; and, therefore, at the abso- lute disposal of the crown ; the king, having, as you take it, a constitutional right to dispose of, and alienate any part of his territories, not annexed to the realm : that Queen Elizabeth accordingly conveyed the property, dominion, and sovereignty of Virginia, to Sir Walter Raleigh, to be held of the crown by homage and a certain render, without resening any share in the legislative and executive authority: that the subsequent grants of America were similar in this respect ; that they were without any reseri'ation for securing the subjection of MASSACHUSETTS. 8i the colonists to the parliament, and future laws of England ; that this was the sense of the English crown, the nation, and our predeces- sors, w-hen they first took possession of this countr)' ; that, if the colonies were not then an- nexed to the realm, they cannot have been an- nexed since that time ; that, if they are not now annexed to the realm, they are not part of the kingdom ; and, consequently, not subject to the legislative authority of the kingdom ; for no country, by the common law, was subject to the laws or to the parliament, but the realm of England. Now, if this foundation shall fail you in every part of it, as I think it will, the fabric which you have raised upon it must certainly fall. Let me then observe to you, that as English subjects, and agreeable to the doctrine of feu- dal tenure, all our lands and tenements are held mediately, or immediately, of the crown, and although the possession and use, or profits, be in the subject, there still remains a dominion in the crown. When any new countries are discovered by English subjects, according to the general law and usage of nations, they become part of the state, and, according to the feudal system, the lordship or dominion, is in the crown ; and a right accrues of disposing of such territories, under such tenure, or for such ser\-ices to be performed, as the crown shall judge proper ; and whensoever any part of such territories, by grant from the crown, be- comes the possession or property of private persons, such persons, thus holding, under the crown of England, remain, or become sub- jects of England, to all intents and purposes, as fully as if any of the royal manors, forests, or other territory, within the realm, had been granted to them upon the like tenure. But that it is now, or was, when the plantations were first granted, the prerogative of the kings of England to alienate such territories from the crown, or to constitute a number of new gov- ernments, altogether independent of the sove- reign legislative authority of the English empire, I can by no means concede to you. I have never seen any better authority to support such an opinion, than an anonymous pamphlet, by which, I fear, you have too easily been misled ; for I shall presently show you, that the declara- tions of king James the I. and of king Charles the I, admitting they are truly related by the author of this pamphlet, ought to have no weight with you ; nor does the cession or res- toration, upon a treaty of peace, of countries which have been lost or acquired in war, mili- tate with these pnnciples ; nor may any partic- 6 ular act of power of a prince, in selling, or delivering up any part of his dominions to a foreign prince or state, against the general sense of the nation, be urged to invalidate them ; and, upon examination, it will appear, that all the grants which have been made of America, are founded upon them, and are made to conform to them, even those which you have adduced in support of very different principles. You do not recollect that, prior to what you call the first grant by queen Elizabeth to Sir Walter Raleigh, a grant had been made by the same princess, to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, of all such countries as he should discover, which were to be of the allegiance of her, her heirs and successors ; but he dying in the prosecution of his voyage, a second grant was made to Sir Walter Raleigh, which, you say, conveyed the dominion and sovereignty, with- out any reserve of legislative or executive authority, being held by homage and a render. To hold by homage, which implies fealty and a render, is descriptive of soccage tenure, as fully as if it had been said to hold, as of our manor of East Greenwich, the words in your charter. Now, this alone was a reserve of dominion and sovereignty in the queen, her heirs and successors ; and, besides this, the grant is made upon this express condition, which you pass over, that the people remain subject to the crown of England, the head of that legislative authority, which, by the Eng- lish constitution, is equally extensive with the authority of the crown, throughout every part of the dominions. Now, if we could suppose the queen to have acquired, separate from her relation to her subjects, or in her natural capacity, which she could not do, a title to a country discovered by her subjects, and then to grant the same country to English subjects, in her public capacity as queen of England, still, by this grant, she annexed it to the crown. Thus, by not distinguishing between the crown of England and the kings and queens of Eng- land, in their personal or natural capacities, you have been led into a fundamental error, which must prove fatal to your system. It is not material, whether Virginia reverted to the crown by Sir Walter's attainder, or whether he never took any benefit from his grant, though the latter is most probable, seeing he ceased from all attempts to take possession of the country after a few years'trial. There were, undoubtedly, divers grants made by king James the I. of the continent of America, in the be- ginning of the seventeenth centur)-, and similar to the grant of queen Elizabeth, in this respect. 82 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. that they were dependent on the crown. The charter to the council at Plymouth, in Devon, dated November 3, 1620, more immediately respects us, and of that we have the most authentic remains. By this charter, upon the petition of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, a corporation was constitu- ted, to be, and continue by succession, forever in the town of Plymouth aforesaid, to which corporation, that part of the American conti- nent, which lies between 40 and 48 degrees of latitude, was granted, to be held of the king, his heirs and successors, as of the manor of East Greenwich, with powers to constitute subordinate governments in America, and to make laws for such governments, not repug- nant to the laws and statutes of England. From this corporation, your predecessors ob- tained a grant of the soil of the colony of Mas- sachusetts-Bay, in 1627, and in 1628, they obtained a charter from king Charles the I. making them a distinct corporation, also with- in the realm, and giving them full powers within limits of their patent, very like to those of the council of Plymouth, throughout their more extensive territory. We will now consider what must have been the sense of the king, of the nation, and of the patentees, at the time of granting these patents. From the year 1602, the banks and sea coasts of New England had been frequented by Eng- lish subjects, for catching and dr)'ing cod-fish. When an exclusive right to the fisher)' was claimed, by virtue of the patent of 1620, the house of commons was alarmed, and a bill was brought in for allowing a free fishery ; and it was upon this occasion, that one of the secretaries of state declared, perhaps as his own opinion, that the plantations were not an- nexed to the crown, and so were not within the jurisdiction of parliament. Sir Edwin Sandys, who was one of the Virginia company, and an eminent lawyer, declared, that he knew Virginia had been annexed, and was held of the crown, as of the manor of East Greenwich, and he believed New England was so also ; and so it most certainly was. This declaration, made by one of the king's servants, you say, shewed the sense of the crown, and, being not secretly. but openly declared in parliament, you would make it the sense of the nation also, not- withstanding your own assertion, that the lords and commons passed a bill, that shewed their sense to be directly the contrary. But if there had been full evidence of express declara- tions made by king James the I. and king Charles the I. they were declarations contrary to their own grants, which declare this country to be held of the crown, and consequently it must have been annexed to it. And may not such declarations be accounted for by other actions of those princes, who, when they were soliciting the parliament to grant the duties of tonnage and poundage, with other aids, and were, in this way, acknowledging the rights of parliament, at the same time were requiring the payment of those duties, with ship money, etc., by virtue of their prerogative ? But to remove all doubts of the sense of the nation, and of the patentees of this patent, or charter, in 1620, I need only refer you to the account published by Sir Ferdinando Gorges himself, of the proceedings in parliament upon this occasion. As he was the most active member of the council of Plymouth, and, as he relates what came within his own knowledge and observation, his narrative, which has all the appearance of truth and sincerity, must carry conviction with it. He says, that soon after the patent was passed, and whilst it lay in the crown office, he was summoned to ap- pear in parliament, to answer what was to be objected against it ; and the house being in a committee, and Sir Edward Coke, that great oracle of the law, in the chair, he was called to the bar, and was told by Sir Edward, that the house understood that a patent had been granted to the said Ferdinando, and divers other noble persons, for establishing a col- ony in New England, that this was deemed a grievance of the commonwealth, contrary to the laws, and to the privileges of the subject, that it was a monopoly, etc., and he required the deliver)' of the patent into the house. Sir Ferdinando Gorges made no doubt of the authority of the house, but subinitted to their disposal of the patent, as, in their wisdom, they thought good ; " not knowing, under favor, how any action of that kind could be a grievance to the public, seeing it was under- taken for the advancement of religion, the en- largement of the bounds of our nation, etc. He was willing, however, to submit the whole to the honorable censures." After divers attendances, he imagined he had satisfied the house, that the planting a colony was of much more consequence, than a simple disorderly course of fishing. He was, notwithstanding disappointed; and. when the public grievances of the kingdom were presented by the two houses, that of the patent for New England was the first. I do not know how the parlia- ment could have shewn more fully the sense they then had of their authority over this new acquired territory ; nor can we expect better evidence of the sense which the patentees had MASSACHUSETTS. 83 of it, for I know of no historical fact, of which we have less reason to doubt. And now, gentlemen, I will shew you how it appears from our charter itself, which you say I have not yet been pleased to point out to you, except from that clause, which restrains us from making laws repugnant to the laws of England ; that it was the sense of our prede- cessors, at the time when the charter was granted, that they were to remain subject to the supreme authority of parliament. Besides this clause, which I shall have occa- sion further to remark upon before I finish, you will find that, by the charter, a grant was made of exemption from all taxes and impositions upon any goods imported into New England, or exported from thence into England, for the space of twenty-one years, except the custom of five per cent, upon such goods as, after the expiration of seven years, should be brought into England. Nothing can be more plain, than that the charter, as well as the patent to the council of Plymouth, constitutes a corporation in England, with powers to create a subordi- nate government or governments within the plantation, so that there would always be sub- jects of taxes and impositions both in the king- dom and in the plantation. An exemption for twenty-one years, implies a right of imposition after the expiration of the term, and there is no distinction between the kingdom and the plantation. By what authority then, in the understanding of the parties, were those impo- sitions to be laid ? If any, to support a system, should say by the king, rather than to ac- knowledge the authority of parliament, yet this could not be the sense of one of our principal patentees, Mr. Samuel Vassal, who, at that instant, 1628, the date of the charter, was suffering the loss of his goods, rather than sub- mit to an imposition laid by the king, without the authority of parliament ; and to prove that, a few years after, it could not be the sense of the rest, I need only to refer you to your own records for the year 1642, where you will find an order of the house of commons, conceived in such terms as discover a plain reference to this part of the charter, after fourteen years of the twenty-one were expired. By this order, the house of commons declare, that all goods and merchandise exported to New England, or imported from thence, shall be free from all taxes and impositions, both in the kingdom and New England, until the house shall take further order therein to the contrary. The sense which our predecessors had of the bene- fit which they took from this order, evidently appears from the vote of the general court, acknowledging their humble thankfulness, and preserving a grateful remembrance of the honorable respect from that high court, and resolving, that the order sent unto them, under the hand of the clerk of the honorable house of commons, shall be entered among their public records, to remain there unto posterity. And, in an address to parliament, nine years after, they acknowledge, among other undeserved favors, that of taking off the customs from them. I am at a loss to know what your ideas could be, when you say that, if the plantations are not part of the realm, they are not part of the kingdom, seeing the two words can properly convey but one idea, and they have one and the same signification in the different languages from whence they are derived. I do not charge you with any design ; but the equivocal use of the word realm, in several parts of your an- swer, makes them perplexed and obscure. Sometimes you must intend the whole dominion, which is subject to the authority of parliament ; sometimes only strictly the territorial realm, to which other dominions are, or may be an- nexed. If you mean that no countries, but the ancient territorial realm, can, constitutionally be subject to the supreme authority of Eng- land, which you have very incautiously said is a rule of the common law of England — this is a doctrine which you will never be able to sup- port. That the common law should be con- troled and changed by statutes, every d^y's experience teaches ; but that the common law prescribes limits to the extent of the legislative power, I believe has never been said upon any other occasion. That acts of parliaments, for several hundred years past, have respected countries, which are not strictly within the realm, you might easily have discovered by the statute books. You will find acts for regula- ting the affairs of Ireland, though a separate and distinct kingdom. Wales and Calais, whilst they sent no representatives to parlia- ment, were subject to the like regulations ; so are Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, &c. which send no members to this day. These countries are not more properly a part of the ancient realm, than the plantations, nor do I know they can more properly be said to be annexed to the realm, unless the declaring that acts of pariia- ment shall extend to Wales, though not par- ticularly named, shall make it so, which I conceive it does not, in the sense you intend. Thus, I think, I have made it appear that the plantations, though not strictly within the realm, have, from the beginning, been consti- tutionally subject to the supreme authority of 84 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the realm, and are so far annexed to it, as to be, with the realm and the other dependencies upon it, one entire dominion ; and that the plantation, or colony of Massachusetts-Bay in particular, is holden as feudatory of the impe- rial crown of England. Deem it to be no part of the realm, it is immaterial ; for, to use the words of a very great authority in a case, in some respects analogous, " being feudatory, the conclusion necessarily follows, that it is under the government of the king's laws and the king's courts, in cases proper for them to in- terpose, (like counties Palatine) it has peculiar laws and customs, jura regalia, and complete j.urisdiction at home." Your remark upon, and construction of the words, not repugnant to the laws of England, are much the same with those of the council ; but can any reason be assigned why the laws of England, as they stood just at that period, should be pitched upon as the standard, more than at any other period ? If so, why was it not recurred to when the second charter was granted, more than sixty years after the first ? It is not improbable, that the original intention might be a repugnancy in general, 3.\\A fortiori, such laws as were made more immediately to respect us, but the statute of 7th and 8th of king William and queen Mary, soon after the second charter, favors the latter construction only, and the province agent, Mr. Dummer, in his much applauded defence of the charter, says that, then, a law in the plantations may be said to be repugnant to a law made in Great Britain, when it flatly contradicts it, so far as the law made there mentions and relates to the plantations. But, gentlemen, there is another clause, both in the first and second charier, which, I think, will serve to explain this, or to render all dispute upon the construc- tion of it unnecessary. You are enabled to impose such oaths only, as are warrantable by, or not repugnant to the laws and statutes of the realms. 1 believe you will not contend, that these clauses must mean such oaths only as were warrantable at the respective times when the charters were granted. It has often been found necessary, since the date of the charters, to alter the forms of oaths to the government by acts of parliament, and such alterations have always been conformed to in the plantations. Lest you should think that I admit the au- thority of king Charles the II., in giving his assent to an act of the assembly of Virginia, which you subjoin to the authorities of James the I. and Charles the I. to have any weight, I must observe to you, that I do not see any greater inconsistency with Magna Charta, in the king's giving his assent to an act of a sub- ordinate legislature immediately, or in person, than when he does it mediately by his gover- nor or substitute; but if it could be admitted, that such an assent discovered the king's judg- ment that Virginia was independent, would you lay any stress upon it, when the same king was, from time to time, giving his assent to acts of parliament, which inferred the dependence of all the colonies, and had, by one of those acts, declared the plantations to be inhabited and peopled by his majesty's subjects of England ? I gave you no reason to remark upon the absurdity of a grant, to persons not bom with- in the realm, of the same liberties which would have belonged to them, if they had been born within the realm : but rather guarded against it, by considering such grant as declara- tory only, and in the nature of an assurance, that the plantations would be considered as the dominions of England. But is there no absur- dity in a grant from the king of England, of the liberties and immunities of Englishmen to persons born in, and who are to inhabit other territories than the dominions of England ; and would such grant, whether by charter, or other letters patent, be sufficient to make them in- heritable, or to entitle them to the other liber- ties and immunities of Englishmen, in any part of the English dominions? As I am willing to rest the point between us, upon the plantations having been, from their first discovery and settlement under the crown, a part of the dominions of England, I shall not take up any time in remarking upon your argu- ments, to show that, since that time, they cannot have been made a part of those domin- ions. The remaining parts of your answer are principally intended to prove that, under both charters, it hath been the sense of the people that they were not subject to the jurisdiction of parliament, and, for this purpose, you have made large extracts from the history of the colony. Whilst you are doing honor to the book, by laying any stress upon its authority, it would have been no more than justice to the author, if you had cited some other passage in my speech to the history. I have said that, except about the time of the anarchy, which preceded the restoration of king Charles the II. I have not discovered that the authority of parliament had been called in question, even by particular persons. It was, as 1 take it from the principles imbibed in those times of anarchy, that the persons of intluence, mentioned in the history, disputed the authority of parliament, MASSACHUSETTS. but the government would not venture to dis- pute it. On tlie contrary, in four or five years after the restoration, the government declared to the king's commissioners, that the act of navigation had been for some years observed here, that they knew not of its being greatly violated, and that such laws as appeared to be against it, were repealed. It is not strange, that these persons of influence should prevail upon a great part of the people to fall in, for a time, with their opinions, and to suppose acts of the colony necessary to give force to acts of parliament. The government, however, several years before the charter was vacated, more ex- plicitly acknowledged the authority of parlia- ment, and voted that their governor should take the oath required of him, faithfully to do and perform all matters and things enjoined him by the acts of trade. I have not recited in my speech, all these particulars, nor had I them all in my mind ; but I think, I have said nothing inconsistent with them. My principles in government, are still the same with what they appear to be in the book you refer to ; nor am I conscious that, by any part of my conduct I have given cause to suggest the contrar>-. Inasmuch as you say that I have not partic- ularly pointed out to you the acts and doings of the general assembly, which relate to acts of parliament, I will do it now, and demonstrate to you that such acts have been acknowledged by the assembly, or submitted to by the people. From your predecessors' removal to America, until the year 1640, there was no session of parliament ; and the first short session, of a few- days only, in 1640, and the whole of the next session, until the withdraw of the king, being taken up in the disputes between the king and the parliament, there could be no room for plantation affiiirs. Soon after the king's with- draw, the house of commons passed the mem- orable order of 1642; and, from that time to the restoration, this plantation seems to have been distinguished from the rest ; and the several acts and ordinances, which respected the other plantations, were never enforced here ; and, possibly, under color of the exemp- tion, in 1642, it might not be intended they should be executed. For fifteen or sixteen years after the restora- tion, there was no officer of the customs in the colony, except the governor, annually elected by the people, and the acts of trade were but little regarded ; nor did the governor take the oath required of governors, by the act of the 12th of king Charles the II. until the time which I have mentioned. — Upon the revolu- tion, the force of an act of parliament was evident, in a case of as great importance as any which could happen to the colony. King William and queen Mary were proclaimed in the colony, king and queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, in the room of king James ; and this, not by virtue of an act of the colony, for no such act ever passed, but by force of an act of parliament, which altered the succession to the crown, and for which the people waited several weeks, with anxious concern. By force of another act of parliament, and that only, such officers of the colony as had taken the oaths of allegiance to king James, deemed themselves at liberty to take, and accordingly did take, the oaths to king William and queen Mary. And that I may mention other acts of the like nature together, it is by force of an act of parliament, that the illustrious house of Hanover succeeded to the throne of Britain and its dominions, and by several other acts, the forms of the oaths have, from time to time, been altered ; and, by a late act, that form was established which every one of us has complied with, as the charter, in express words, requires, and makes our duty. Shall we now dispute whether acts of parliament have been submitted to, when we find them submitted to, in points which are of the very essence of our constitu- tion ? If you should disown that authority, which has power even to change the succession to the crown, are you in no danger of denying the authority of our most gracious sovereign, which I am sure none of you can have in your thoughts ? I think I have before shewn you, gentlemen, what must have been the sense of our predeces- sors at the time of the first charter; let us now, whilst we are upon the acts and doings of the assembly, consider what it must have been at the time of the second charter. Upon the first advice of the revolution in England, the authority which assumed the government, instructed their agents to petition parliament to restore the first charter, and a bill for that purpose passed the house of commons, but went no further. Was not this owning the authority of parliament ? By an act of parlia- ment, passed in the first year of king William and queen Mary, a form of oaths was estab- lished, to be taken by those princes, and by all succeeding kings and queens of England, at their coronation ; the first of which is, that they will govern the people of the kingdom, and the dominions thereunto belonging, ac- cording to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same. When the colony directed their agents to make 86 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. their humble application to king William, to grant the second charter, they could have no other pretence than, as they were inhabitants of part of the dominions of England ; and they also knew the oath the king had taken, to govern them according to the statutes in par- liament. Surely, then, at the time of this charter, also, it was the sense of our predeces- sors, as well as of the king and of the nation, that there was, and would remain, a supremacy in the parliament. About the same time, they acknowledge, in an address to the king, that they have no power to make laws repugnant to the laws of England. And, immediately after the assumption of the powers of government, by virtue of the new charter, an act was passed to revive, for a limited time, all the local laws of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, respectively, not repugnant to the laws of England. And, at the same session, an act passed, establishing naval officers, in several ports of the province, for which this reason is given, that all undue trading, contrary to an act of parliament, made in the fifteenth year of king Charles 11. may be prevented in this, their majesty's province. The act of this province, passed so long ago as the second year of king George the I. for stating the fees of the custom house officers, must have relation to the acts of parliament, by which they are constituted ; and the provision made in that act of the province, for extending the port of Boston to all the roads, as far as Cape Cod, could be for no other purpose, than for the more effectual carrying the acts of trade into execution. And, to come nearer to the present time, when an act of parliament had passed, in 1771, for putting an end to certain unwarranta- ble schemes, in this province, did the authority of government, or those persons more immedi- ately affected by it, ever dispute the validity of it.' On the contrary, have not a number of acts been passed in the province, the burdens to which such persons were subjected, might be equally apportioned ; and have not all those acts of the province been very carefully framed, to prevent their militating with the act of par- liament ? 1 will mention, also, an act of parliament, made in the first year of queen Anne, although the proceedings upon it more immediately respected the council. By this act no office, civil or military, shall be void, by the death of the king, but shall continue six months, unless suspended, or made void, by the next successor. By force of this act, governor Dudley continued in the administration six months from the demise of queen Anne, and immediately after, the council assumed the administration, and continued it until a proclamation arrived from king George, by virtue of which governor Dudley reassumed the government. It would be tedious to enumerate the addresses, votes and messages, of both the council and house of representa- tives, to the same purpose. I have said enough to shew that this government has submitted to parliament, from a conviction of its constitu- tional supremacy, and this not from inconsider- ation, nor merely from reluctance at the idea of contending with the parent state. If, then, I have made it appear that, both by the first and second charters, we hold our lands, and the authority of government, not of the king, but of the crown of England, that being a dominion of the crown of England, we are consequently subject to the supreme authority of England. That this hath been the sense of this plantation, except in those few years when the principles of anarchy, which had prevailed in the kingdom, had not lost their influence here ; and if, upon a review of your principles, they shall appear to you to have been delusive and erroneous, as I think they must, or, if you shall only be in doubt of them, you certainly will not draw that conclusion, which otherwise you might do, and which I am glad you have hitherto avoided ; especially when \ou consider the obvious and inevitable distress and misery of independence upon oui mother country, if such independence could be allowed or maintained, and the probability of much greater distress, which we are not able to foresee. You ask me, if we have not reason to fear we shall soon be reduced to a worse situa- tion than that of the colonies of France, Spain, or Holland. I may safely affirm that we have not ; that we have no reason to fear any evils from a submission to the authority of parlia- ment, equal to what we must feel from its authority being disputed, from an uncertain rule of law and government. For more than seventy years together, the supremacy of par- liament was acknowledged, without complaints of grievance. The effect of every measure cannot be foreseen by human wisdom. What can be expected more, from any authority, than when the unfitness of a measure is discovered, to make it void .' When, upon the united representations and complaints of the Ameri- can colonies, any acts have appeared to parlia- ment to be unsalutary, have there not been repeated instances of the repeal of such acts.' We cannot expect these instances should be carried so far as to be equivalent to a disa- vowal, or relinquishment of the right itself. MASSACHUSETTS. 87 Why, then, shall we fear for ourselves, and our posterity, greater rigor of government for seventy years to come, than what we and our predecessors have felt, in the seventy years past. You must give me leave, gentlemen, in a few words, to vindicate myself from a charge, in one part of your answer, of having, by my speech, reduced you to the unhappy alternative of appearing, by your silence, to acquiesce in my sentiments, or of freely discussing this point of the supremacy of parliament. I saw, as I have before observed, the capital town of the province, without being reduced to such an alternative, voluntarily, not only discussing but determining this point, and inviting every other town and district in the province to do the like. I saw that many of the principal towns had followed the example, and that there was immi- nent danger of a compliance in most, if not all the rest, in order to avoid being distinguished. Was not I reduced to the alternative of ren- dering myself justly obnoxious to the displea- sure of my sovereign, by acquiescing in such irregularities, or of calling upon you to join with me in suppressing them .' Might I not rather have expected from you an expression of your concern, that any persons should pro- ject and prosecute a plan of measures, which would lay me under the necessity of bringing this point before you .■" It was so far from being my inclination, that nothing short of a sense of my duty to the king, and the obliga- tions I am under to consult your true interest, could have compelled me to it. Gentlemen of the Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, We all profess to be the loyal and dutiful subjects of the king of Great Britain. His majesty considers the BriUsh empire as one entire dominion, subject to one legislative power ; a due submission to which, is essen- tial to the maintenance of the rights, liberties and privileges of the several parts of this do- minion. We have abundant evidence of his majesty's tender and impartial regard to the rights of his subjects ; and I am authorized to say, that " his majesty will most graciously approve of every constitutional measure that may contribute to the peace, the happiness, and prosperity of his colony of Massachusetts- Bay, and which may have the effect to shew to the world, that he has no wish beyond that of reigning in the hearts and affections of his people." T. Hutchinson. ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRE- SENTATIVES. TO THE SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR, OF FEB- RUARY SIXTEENTH; MARCH 2, 1 773. May it please your Excellency, In your speech, at the opening of the present session, your excellency expressed your dis- pleasure at some late proceedings of the town of Boston, and other principal towns in the province. And, in another speech to both houses, we have your repeated exceptions at the same proceedings, as being " unwarrant- able," and of a dangerous nature and tendency ; " against which, you thought yourself bound to call upon us to join with you in bearing a proper testimony." This house have not dis- covered any principles advanced by the town of Boston, that are unwarrantable by the con- stitution ; nor does it appear to us, that they have " invited every other town and district in the province to adopt their principles." We are fully convinced, that it is our duty to bear our testimony against " innovations, of a dan- gerous nature and tendency ; " but it is clearly our opinion, that it is the indisputable right of all, or any of his majesty's subjects, in this province, regularly and orderly to meet to- gether, to state the grievances they labor under ; and to propose, and unite in such constitutional measures, as they shall judge necessary or proper, to obtain redress. This right has been frequently exercised by his majesty's subjects within the realm ; and we do not recollect an instance, since the happy revolution, when the two houses of parliament have been called upon to discountenance, or bear their testimony against it, in a speech from the throne. Your excellency is pleased to take notice of some things which we " allege," in our answer to your first speech ; and the observation you make, we must confess, is as natural and un- deniably true, as any one that could have been made ; that, " if our foundation shall fail us in every part of it, the fabric we have raised upon it must certainly fall." You think this foundation will fail us ; but we wish your ex- cellency had condescended to a consideration of what we have "adduced in support of our principles." We might then, perhaps, have had some things offered for our conviction, more than bare affirmations ; which, we must beg to be excused if we say, are far from being sufficient, though they came with your excel- lency's authority, for which, however, we have a due regard. Your excellency says that, " as English sub- 88 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. jects, and agreeable to the doctrine of the feudal tenure, all our lands are held mediately, or immediately, of the crown." We trust your excellency does not mean to introduce the feudal system in its perfection ; which, to use the words of one of our greatest historians, was " a state of perpetual war, anarchy, and confusion, calculated solely for defence against the assaults of any foreign power ; but, in its provision for the interior order and tranquillity of society, extremely defective. A constitution, so contradictory to all the principles that govern mankind, could never be brought about, but by foreign conquest or native usurpation." — And a very celebrated writer calls it, " that most iniquitous and absurd form of govern- ment, by which human nature was so shame- fully degraded." This system of iniquity, by a strange kind of fatality, " though originally formed for an encampment, and for military purposes only, spread over a great part of Europe ; " and, to serve the purposes of oppression and tyranny, " was adopted by princes, and wrought into their civil constitu- tions;" and, aided by the canon law, cal- culated by the Roman Pontiff to exalt himself above all that is called God, it prevailed to the almost utter extinction of knowledge, virtue, religion and liberty from that part of the earth. But, from the time of the reformation, in pro- portion as knowledge, which then darted its rays upon the benighted world, increased and spread among the people, they grew impatient under this heavy yoke ; and the most virtuous and sensible among them, to whose steadfast- ness we, in this distant age and climate, are greatly indebted, were determined to get rid of it ; and, though they have in a great measure subdued its power and influence in England, they have never yet totally eradicated its principles. Upon these principles, the king claimed an absolute right to, and a perfect estate in, all the lands within his dominions ; but how he came by this absolute right and perfect estate, is a mystery which we have never seen unravelled, nor is it our business or design, at present, to inquire. He granted parts or parcels of it to his friends, the great men, and they granted lesser parcels to their tenants. All, therefore. derived their right and held their lands, upon these principles, mediately or immediately of the king, which Mr. Blackstone, however, calls, " in reality, a mere fiction of our English tenures." By what right, in nature and reason, the christian princes in Europe, claimed the lands of heathen people, upon a discovery made by any of their subjects, is equally mysterious. Such, however, was the doctrine universally prevailing, when the lands in America were discovered ; but, as the people of England, upon those principles, held all the lands they possessed, by grants from the king, and the king had never granted the lands in America to them, it is certain they could have no sort of claim to them. Upon the principles advanced, the lordship and dominion, like that of the lands in England, was in the king solely, and a right from thence accrued to him, of disposing such territories, under such tenure, and for such services to be performed, as the king or lord thought proper. But how the grantees became subjects of England, that is, the supreme au- thority of the parliament, your excellency has not explained to us. We conceive that, upon the feudal principles, all power is in the king; they afford us no idea of parliament. "The lord was in early times, the legislator and judge over all his feudatories," says Judge Blackstone. By the struggle for liberty in England, from the days of king John, to the last happy revolution, the constitution has been gradually changing for the better ; and, upon the more rational principles that all men, by nature, are in a state of equality in respect of jurisdiction and do- minion, power in England has been more equally divided. And thus, also, in America, though we hold our lands agreeably to the feudal principles of the king, yet our predeces- sors wisely took care to enter into compact with the king, that power here should also be equally divided, agreeably to the original funda- mental principles of the English constitution, declared in Magna Charta, and other laws and statutes of England, made to confirm them. Your excellency says, " you can by no means concede to us that it is now, or was, when the plantations were first granted, the prerogative of the kings of England, to constitute a number of new governments, altogether independent of the sovereign authority of the English empire." By the feudal principles, upon which you say " all the grants which have been made of America are founded, the constitution of the emperor have the force of law." If our gov- ernment be considered as merely feudatory, we are subject to the king's absolute will, and there is no authority of parliament, as the sov- ereign authority of the British empire. Upon these principles, what could hinder the king's constituting a number of independent govern- ments in America .' That king Charles the I. did actually set up a government in this colony, conceding to it powers of making and executing laws, without any resen'ation to the English MASSACHUSETTS. 89 parliament, of authority to make future laws binding therein, is a fact which your excellency has not disproved, if you have denied it. Nor have you shown that the parliament or nation objected to it ; from whence we have inferred that it was ar. acknowledged right. And we cannot conceive, why the king has not the same right to alienate and dispose of countries ac- quired by the discovery of his subjects, as he has to " restore, upon a treaty of peace, coun- tries w-hich have been acquired in war," carried on at the charge of the nation ; or to "sell and deliver up any part of his dominions to a for- eign prince or state, against the general sense of the nation ; " which is " an act of power," or prerogative, which your excellency allows. You tell us, that " when any new countries are discovered by English subjects, according to the general law and usage of nations, they be- come part of the state." The law of nations is, or ought to be, founded on the law of reason. It was the saying of Sir Edwin Sandis, in the great case of the union of the realm of Scotland with England, which is applicable to our pres- ent purpose, that "there being no precedent for this case in the law, the law is deficient ; and the law being deficient, recourse is to be had to custom ; and custom being insufficient, we must recur to natural reason " — the greatest of all authorities, which, he adds, "is the law of nations." The opinions, therefore, and deter- minations of the greatest sages and judges of the law in the exchequer chamber, ought not to be considered as decisive or binding in our present controversy with your excellency, any further than they are consonant to natural rea- son. If, however, we were to recur to such opinions and determinations, we should find very great authorities in our favor, to show that the statutes of England are not binding on those who are not represented in parliament there. The opinion of Lord Coke, that Ireland was bound by statutes of England, wherein they were named, if compared with his other writings, appears manifestly to be grounded upon a supposition, that Ireland had, by an act of their own, in the reign of king John, con- sented to be thus bound ; and, upon any other supposition, this opinion would be against rea- son ; for consent only gives human laws their force. We beg leave, upon what your excel- lency has obser\'ed of the colony becoming a part of the state, to subjoin the opinions of several learned civilians, as quoted by a very able lawyer in this country. " Colonies," says Puffendorf, " are settled in different methods ; for, either the colony continues a part of the commonwealth it was set out from, or else is obliged to pay a dutiful regard to the mother commonwealth, and to be in readiness to de- fend and vindicate its honor, and so is united by a sort of unequal confederacy ; or, lastly, is erected into a separate commonwealth, and assumes the same rights with the state it de- scended from." And king Tullius, as quoted by the same learned author from Grotius, says, " we look upon it to be neither truth nor justice, that mother cities ought, of necessity, and by the law of nature, to rule over the colonies." Your excellency has misinterpreted what we have said, " that no country, by the common law, was subject to the laws or the parliament, but the realm of England ; " and are pleased to tell us, " that we have expressed ourselves incautiously." We beg leave to recite the words of the judges of England, in the before mentioned case, to our purpose. " If a king go out of England with a company of his servants, allegiance remaineth among his subjects and servants, although he be out of his realm, whereto his laws are confined." We did not mean to say, as your excellency would sup- pose, that " the common law prescribes limits to the extent of the legislative power," though we shall always affirm it to be true, of the law of reason and natural equity. Your excellency thinks you have made it appear, that the " colony of Massachusetts-Bay is holden as feudatory of the imperial crown of England ; " and, therefore, you say, "to use the words of a very great authority in a case, in some respects analogous to it," being feudatory, it necessarily follows that " it is under the government of the king's laws." Your excellency has not named this authority ; but we conceive his meaning must be, that, being feudatory, it is under the government of the king's laws abso- lutely ; for, as we have before said, the feudal system admits of no idea of the authority of parliament ; and this would have been the case of the colony, but for the compact with the king in the charter. Your excellency says, that " persons thus holding under the crown of England, remain or become subjects of England," by which, we suppose your excellency to mean, subject to the supreme authority of parliament, " to all intents and purposes, as fully as if any of the royal manors, etc., within the realm, had been granted to them upon the like tenure." We appre- hend, with submission, your excellency is mis- taken in supposing that our allegiance is due to the crown of England. Every man swears allegiance for himself, to his own king, in his natural person. " Every subject is presumed by law to be sworn to the king, which is to his go PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. natural person," says lord Coke — Rep. on Cal- vin's case. " The allegiance is due to his nat- ural body;" and, he says, "in the reign of Edward II. the Spencers, the father and the son, to cover the treason hatched in their hearts, invented this damnable and damned opinion, that homage and oath of allegiance was more by reason of the king's crown, that is, of his politic capacity, than by reason of the person of the king ; upon which opinion they inferred execrable and detestable consequents." The judges of England, all but one, in the case of the union between Scotland and England, declared that " allegiance followeth the natural person, not the politic," and, " to prove the allegiance to be tied to the body nat- ural of the king, and not to the body politic, the lord Coke cited the phrases of divers statutes, mentioning our natural liege sovereign." If, then, the homage and allegiance is not to the body politic of the king, then it is not to him as the head, or any part of that legislative au- thority, which your excellency says " is equally extensive with the authority of the crown throughout every part of the dominion ; " and your excellency's observation thereupon must fail. The same judges mention the allegiance of a subject to the kings of England, who is out of the reach and extent of the laws of Eng- land, which is perfectly reconcilable with the principles of our ancestors, quoted before from your excellency's histoiy, but, upon your excel- lency's principles, appears to us to be absurdity. The judges, speaking of a subject, say, " al- though his birth was out of the bounds of the kingdom of England, and out of the reach and extent of the laws of England, yet, if it were within the allegiance of the king of England, etc., Normandy, Aquitain, Gascoign, and other places, within the limits of France, and, conse- quently, out of the realm or bounds of the king- dom of England, were in subjection to the kings of England." And the judges say, "Rex et RegiuDit, be not so relatives, as a king can be king of but one kingdom, which clearly holdeth not, but that his kingly power extending to divers nations and kingdoms, all owe him equal subjection, and are equally born to the benefit of his protection ; and although he is to govern them by their distinct laws, yet any one of the people coming into the other, is to have the benefit of the laws, wheresoever he cometh." So they are not to be deemed aliens, as your excellency in your speech supposes, in any of the dominions, all which accords with the principles our ancestors held. " And he is to bear the burden of taxes of the place where he cometh, but living in one, or for his liveli- hood in one, he is not to be taxed in the other, because laws ordain taxes, impositions, and charges, as a discipline of subjection, particu- larized to every particular nation." Nothing, we think, can be more clear to our purpose than the decision of judges, perhaps as learned as ever adorned the English nation, or in favor of America, in her present controversy with the mother state. Your excellency says that, by " our not dis- tinguishing between the crown of England and the kings and queens of England, in their per- sonal or natural capacities, we have been led into a fundamental error." Upon this very distinction we have availed ourselves. We have said, that our ancestors considered the land, which they took possession of in America, as out of the bounds of the kingdom of England, and out of the reach and extent of the laws of England ; and that the king also, even in the act of granting the charter, considered the ter- ritory as not within the realm ; that the king had an absolute right in himself to dispose of the lands, and that this was not disputed by the nation ; nor could the lands, on any solid grounds, be claimed by the nation ; and, there- fore, our ancestors received the lands, by grant, from the king ; and, at the same time, com- pacted with him, and promised him homage and allegiance, not in his public or politic, but natural capacity only. If it be difficult for us to show how the king acquired a title to this country in his natural capacity, or separate from his relation to his subjects, which we con- fess, yet we conceive it will be equally difficult for your excellency to show how the body poli- tic and nation of England acquired it. Our ancestors supposed it was acquired by neither; and, therefore, they declared, as we have before quoted from your history, that, saving their actual purchase from the natives of the soil, the dominion, the lordship, and sovereignty, they had, in the sight of God and man, no right and title to what they possessed. How much clearer then, in natural reason and equity, must our title be, who hold estates dearly pur- chased at the expense of our own, as well as our ancestors' labor, and defended by them with treasure and blood. Your excellency has been pleased to confirm, rather than deny or confute, a piece. of history, which, you say, we took from an anonymous pamphlet, and by which you " fear we have been too easily misled." It may be gathered from your own declaration, and other authori- ties, besides the anonymous pamphlet, that the house of commons took exception, not at the king's having made an absolute grant of the MASSACHUSETTS. 91 territory, but at the claim of an exclusive right to the fishery on the banks and sea coast, by virtue of the patent. At this you say " the house of commons was alarmed, and a bill was brought in for allowing a free fishery." And, upon this occasion, your excellency allows that " one of the secretaries of state declared, that the plantations were not annexed to the crown, and so were not within the jurisdiction of par- liament." If we should concede to what your excellency supposes might possibly, or, " per- haps," be the case, that the secretary made this declaration " as his own opinion," the event showed that it was the opinion of the king too ; for it is not to be accounted for upon any other principle, that he would have denied his royal assent to a bill, formed for no other purpose, but to grant his subjects in England the privilege of fishing on the sea coasts in America. The account published by Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges himself, of the proceedings of parliament on this occasion, your excellency thinks will remove all doubt of the sense of the nation, and of the patentees of this patent or charter, in 1620. "This narrative," you say, " has all the appearance of truth and sin- cerity," which we do not deny ; and, to us, it carries this conviction with it, that " what was objected " in parliament, was the exclusive claim of fishing only. His imagining that he had satisfied the house, after divers attendan- ces, that the planting a colony was of much more consequence than a simple disorderly course of fishing, is sufficient for our convic- tion. We know that the nation was at that time alarmed with apprehensions of monopo- lies ; and, if the patent of New England was presented by the two houses as a grievance, it did not show, as your excellency supposes, " the sense they then had of their authority over this new acquired territory," but only their sense of the grievance of a monopoly of the sea. We are happy to hear your excellency say, that " our remarks upon, and construction of the words, not repugnant to the laws of Eng- land, are much the same with those of the council." It serves to con^rm us in our opin- ion, in what we take to be the most important matter of difference between your excellency and the two houses : After saying, that the statute of 7th and 8th of William and Mary favors the construction of the words, as intend- ing such laws of England as are made more immediately to respect us, you tell us, that " the province agent, Mr. Dummer, in his much applauded defence, says that then a law of the plantations may be said to be repugnant to a law made in Great Britain, when it flatly con- tradicts it, so far as the law made there men- tions and relates to the plantations." This is plain and obvious to common sense, and, there- fore, cannot be denied. But, if your excellency would read a page or two further, in that ex- cellent defence, you will see that he mentions this as the sense of the phrase, as taken from an act of parliament, rather than as the sense he would choose himself to put upon it ; and he expressly designs to show, in vindication of the charter, that, in that sense of words, there never was a law made in the plantations repug- nant to the laws of Great Britain. He gives another construction, much more likely to be the true intent of the words, namely, " that the patentees shall not presume, under color of their particular charters, to make any laws inconsistent with the great charter, and other laws of England, by which the lives, liberties, and properties of Englishmen are secured." This is the sense in which our ancestors un- derstood the words ; and, therefore, they are unwilling to conform to the acts of trade, and disregarded them till they made provision to give them force in the colony, by a law of their own ; saying, " that the laws of England did not reach America ; and those acts were an in- vasion of their rights, liberties, and properties," because they w'ere not " representedin parlia- ment." The right of being governed by laws, which were made by persons in whose election they had a voice, they looked upon as the foundation of English liberties. By the com- pact with the king, in the charter, they were to be as free in America as they would have been if they had remained within the realm ; and, therefore, they freely asserted that they " were to be governed by laws made by themselves, and by officers chosen by themselves." Mr. Dummer says, " it seems reasonable enough to think that the crown," and, he might have added, our ancestors, " intended by this injunc- tion to provide for all its subjects, that they might not be oppressed by arbitrary power ; but, being still subjects, they should be pro- tected by the same mild laws, and enjoy the same happy government, as if they continued within the realm." And, considering the words of the charter in this light, he looks upon them as designed to be a fence against oppres- sion and despotic power. But the construction which your excellency puts upon the words, reduces us to a state of vassalage, and exposes us to oppression and despotic power, whenever a parliament shall see fit to make laws for that purpose, and put them in execution. We flatter ourselves that, from the large 92 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. extracts we have made from your excellency's history of the colony, it appears evidently that, under both charters, it hath been the sense of the people and of the government, that they were not under the jurisdiction of parliament. We pray you again to turn to those quotations, and our observations upon them ; and we wish to have your excellency's judicious remarks. When we adduced that history, to prove that the sentiments of private persons of influence, four or five years after the restoration, were very different from what your excellency appre- hended them to be, when you delivered your speech, you seem to concede to it, by telling us, " it was, as you take it, from the principles imbibed in those times of anarchy, (preceding the restoration,) that they disputed the authority of parliament ; " but, you add, " the govern- ment would not venture to dispute it." We find, in the same history, a quotation from a letter of Mr. Stoughton, dated seventeen years after the restoration, mentioning " the country's not taking notice of the acts of navigation, to observe them." And it was, as we take it, after that time that the government declared, in a letter to their agents, that they had not submitted to them ; and they ventured to " dis- pute " the jurisdiction, asserting that they apprehended the acts to be an invasion of the rights, liberties, and properties of the subjects of his majesty in the colony, they not being represented in parliament, and that " the laws of England did not reach America." It very little avails in proof, that they conceded to the supreme authority of parliament, their telling the commissioners, " that the act of navigation had for some years before been observed here ; that they knew not of its being greatly violated ; and that such laws as appeared to be against it, were repealed." It may as truly be said now, that the revenue acts are obsened by some of the people of this province ; but it cannot be said that the government and people of this province have conceded that the parliament had authority to make such acts to be obsen'ed here. Neither does their declaration to the commissioners, that such laws as appeared to be against the act of navigation, were repealed, prove their concession of the authority of par- liament, by any means, so much as their mak- ing provision for giving force to an act of parliament within this province, by a deliberate and solemn act or law of their own, proves the contrary. You tell us, that "the government, four or five years before the charter was vacated, more explicitly," that is, than by a conversation with the commissioners, " acknowledged the author- ity of parliament, and voted that their governor should take the oath required of him, faithfully to do and perform all matters and things en- joined him by the acts of trade." But does this, may it please your excellency, show their ex- plicit acknowledgment of the authority of par- liament ? Does it not rather show directly the contrary ? For, what could there be for their vote, or authority, to require him to take the oath already required of him by the act of par- liament, unless both he and they judged that an act of parliament was not of force sufficient to bind him to take such an oath ? We do not deny, but, on the contrary, are fully persuaded, that your excellency's principles in government are still of the same with what they appear to be in the history ; for you there say, that " the passing this law, plainly shows the wrong sense they had of the relation they stood unto England." But we are from hence convinced, that your excellency, when you wrote the his- tory, was of our mind in this respect, that our ancestors, in passing the law, discovered their opinion, that they were without the jurisdiction of parliament ; for it was upon this principle alone, they shewed the wrong sense they had, in your excellency's opinion, of the relation they stood unto England. Your excellency, in your second speech, con- descends to point out to us the acts and doings of the general assembly, which relates to acts of parliament, which, you think, " demonstrates that they have been acknowledged by the as- sembly, or submitted to by the people," neither of which, in our opinion, shows that it was the sense of the nation, and our predecessors, when they first took possession of this planta- tion, or colony, by a grant and charter from the crown, that they were to remain subject to the supreme authority of the English parlia- ment. Your excellency seems chiefly to rely upon our ancestors, after the revolution, " proclaim- ing king William and queen Mar)-, in the room of king James," and taking the oaths to them, '• the alteration of the form of oaths, from time to time," and finally, "the establishment of the form, which every c*ie of us has complied with, as the charter, in express terms, requires and makes our duty." We do not know that it has ever been a point in dispute, whether the kings of England were ipso facto kings in, and over, this colony, or province. The compact was made between king Charles the I. his heirs and successors, and the governor and company, their heirs and successors. It is easy, upon this principle, to account for the acknowledg- ment of, and subnr.ission to, king William and MASSACHUSETTS. 93 queen Mary, as successors of Charles the I. in the room of king James ; besides, it is to be considered, that the people in the colony, as well as in England, had suffered under the tyrant James, by which he had alike forfeited his right to reign over both. There had been a revolution here, as well as in England. The eyes of the people here were upon William and Mary ; and the news of their being proclaimed in England was, as your excellency's history tells us, •' the most joyful news ever received in New England." And, if they were not pro- claimed here, " by virtue of an act of the colony," it was, as we think may be concluded from the tenor of your history, with the general or universal consent of the people, as apparent- ly as if " such act had passed." It is consent alone that makes any human laws binding; and, as a learned author observes, a purely voluntary submission to an act, because it is highly in our favor and for our benefit, is in all equity and justice, to be deemed as not at all proceeding from the right we include in the legislators, that they thereby obtain an authori- ty over us, and that ever hereafter, we must obey them of duty. We would observe, that one of the first acts of the general assembly of this province, since the present charter, was an act requiring the taking the oaths mentioned in an act of parliament, to which you refer us. For what purpose was this act of the assembly passed, if it was the sense of the legislators that the act of parliament was in force in the province .' And, at the same time, another act was made for the establishment of other oaths necessary to be taken, both which acts have the royal sanction, and are now in force. Your excellency says, that when the colony applied to king William for a second charter, they knew the oath the king had taken, which was to govern them according to the statutes in parliament, and (which your excellency here omits,) the laws and customs of the same. By the laws and customs of parliament, the people of England freely debate and consent to such statutes as are made by themselves or their chosen representatives. This is a law or cus- tom, which all mankind may justly challenge as their inherent right. According to this law, the king has an undoubted right to govern us. Your excellency, upon recollection, surely will not infer from hence, that it was the sense of our predecessors that there was to remain a supremacy in the English parliament, or a full power and authority to make laws binding upon us, in all cases whatever, in that parliament, where we cannot debate and deliberate upon the necessity or expediency of any law, and. consequently, without our consent ; and, as it may probably happen, destructive of the first law of society, the good of the whole. You tell us that, " after the assumption of all the powers of government, by virtue of the new charter, an act passed for the reviving, for a limited time, all the local laws of the Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, respectively, not repugnant to the laws of England. And, at the same session, an act passed establishing naval officers, that all undue trading, contrary to an act of parliament, may be prevented." Among the acts that were then revived, we may reasonably suppose was that, whereby provision was made to give force to this act of parliament in the province. The establish- ment, therefore, of the naval officers, was to aid the execution of an act of parliament, for the obsen-ance of which, within the colony, the assembly had before made provision, after free debates, with their own consent, and by their own act. The act of parliament, passed in 1741, for putting an end to several unwarrantable schemes, mentioned by your excellency, was designed for the general good ; and, if the validity of it was not disputed, it cannot be urged as a concession of the supreme authority, to make laws binding on us in all cases what- ever. But. if the design of it was for the gen- eral benefit of the province, it was. in one respect, at least greatly complained of by the persons more immediately affected by it ; and to remedy the inconvenience, the legislature of this province passed an act, directly militating with it ; which is the strongest evidence that, although they may have submitted, sui si7i:>i//o, to some acts of parliament, that they conceived might operate for their benefit, they did not conceive themselves bound by any of its acts which, they judged, would operate to the injury even of individuals. Your excellency has not thought proper to attempt to confute the reasoning of a learned writer on the laws of nature and nations, quoted by us, on this occasion, to shew that the authority of the legislature does not extend so far as the fundamentals of the constitution. We are unhappy in not having your remarks upon the reasoning of that great man ; and, until it is confuted, we shall remain of the opinion, that the fundamentals of the constitu- tion being excepted from the commission of the legislators, none of the acts or doings of the general assembly, however deliberate and sol- emn, could avail to change them, if the people have not, in very express terms, given them the power to do it ; and that, much less ought 94 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. their acts and doings, however numerous, which barely refer to acts of parliament made expressly to relate to us, to be taken as an acknowledgment that we are subject to the supreme authority of parliament. We shall sum up our own sentiments in the words of that learned writer, Mr. Hooker, in his ecclesiastical policy, as quoted by Mr. Locke. — " The lawful power of making laws to command whole political societies of men, be- longing so properly to the same entire societies that for any prince or potentate of what kind soever, to exercise the same of himself, and not from express commission, immediately and personally received from God, is no better than mere tyranny. Laws, therefore, they are not, which public approbation hath not made so ; for laws human, of what kind soever, are avail- able by consent. " " Since men, naturally, have no full and perfect power to command whole politic multitudes of men, therefore, utterly without our consent, we could in such sort, be at no man's commandment living. And to be commanded, we do not consent, when that society, whereof we be a party, hath at any time before consented." We think your excellency has not proved, either that the colony is a part of the politic society of Eng- land, or that it has ever consented that the parliament of England or Great Britain, should make laws binding upon us, in all cases, whether made expressly to refer to us or not. We cannot help, before we conclude, expres- sing our great concern, that your excellency has thus repeatedly, in a manner, insisted upon our free sentiments on matters of so delicate a nature and weighty importance. The question appears to us to be no other, than whether we are the subjects of absolute unlimited power, or of a free government, formed on the princi- ples of the English constitution. If your excel- lency's doctrine be true, the people of this pro- vince hold their lands of the crown and people of England ; and their lives, liberties, and pro- perties, are at their disposal ; and that, even by compact and their own consent, they were subject to the king, as the head alterius populi of another people, in whose legislature they have no voice or interest. They are, indeed, said to have a constitution and a legislature of their own ; but your excellency has explained it into a mere phantom ; limited, controled, superseded, and nullified at the will of another. Is this the constitution which so charmed our ancestors, that, as your excellency has miormed us, they kept a day of solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God when they received it .' And were they men of so little discernment, such children in understanding, as to please them- selves with the imagination, that they were blessed with the same rights and liberties which natural born subjects in England en- joyed, when at the same time, they had fully consented to be ruled and ordered by a legisla- ture, a thousand leagues distant from them, which cannot be supposed to be sufficiently acquainted with their circumstances, if con- cerned for their interest, and in which they cannot be in any sense represented ? [The committee who reported the above, were Mr. Gushing, (the speaker), Mr. S. Adams, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Philips, Major Fos- ter, Col. Bowers, Mr. Hobson, Col. Thayer, and Mr. Denny.] RESOLUTIONS, House of Representatives. On motion of Mr. S. Adams, the following re- solutionswere adopted, no to 4, Afajy 28, 1773. Whereas, the speaker hath communicated to this house, a letter from the truly respectable house of Burgesses, in his majesty's ancient colony of Virginia, enclosing a copy of the resolves entered into by them, on the 12th of March last, and requesting that a committee of this house may be appointed to communi- cate, from time to time, with a corresponding committee, then appointed by the said house of Burgesses in Virginia : And, whereas this house is fully sensible of the necessity and importance of a union of the several colonies in America, at a time when it clearly appears, that the rights and liberties of all are systematically invaded ; in order that the joint wisdom of the whole may be em- ployed in consulting their common safety : Resolved, That this house have a very grate- ful sense of the obligations they are under to the house of Burgesses, in Virginia, for the vigilance, firmness and wisdom, which they have discovered, at all times, in support of the rights and liberties of the American colonies ; and do heartily concur with their said judicious and spirited resolves. Resoh'ed, That a standing committee of cor- respondence and enquir}- be appointed, to con- sist of fifteen members, any eight of whom to be a quorum ; whose business it shall be, to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British parliament, or proceedings of administrations as may relate to, or affect the British colonies in America, and to keep up and maintain a MASSACHUSETTS. 95 correspondence and communication with our sister colonies, respecting these important con- siderations ; and the result of such their pro- ceedings, from time to time, to lay before the house. Resolved, That it be an instruction to the said committee, that they do, without delay, inform themselves particularly of the principles and authority, on which was constituted a court of enquiry, held in Rhode Island, said to be vested with powers to transport persons, accused of offences committed in America, to places beyond the seas, to be tried.* Resolved, That the said committee be further instructed to prepare and report to this house, a draft of a very respectful answer to the letter, received from the speaker of the honorable house of Burgesses of Virginia, and another, to a letter received from the speaker of the honorable house of representatives, of the colony of Rhode Island : also, a circular letter to the several other houses of assembly, on this continent, enclosing the aforesaid resolves, and requesting them to lay the same before their respective assemblies, in confidence, that they will readily and cheerfully comply with the wise and salutary resolves of the house of Burgesses, in Virginia. [The committee of correspondence, chosen in pursuance of the resolves aforesaid, were Mr. Gushing, (the speaker), Mr. Adams, hon. John Hancock, Mr. William Phillips, captain William Heath, hon. Joseph Hawley, James Warren, esq. R. Derby, jun. esq. Mr. Elbridge Gerry, J. Bowers, esq., Jedediah Foster, esq. Daniel Leonard, esq. captain T. Gardner, capt. Jonathan Greenleaf, and J. Prescott, esq.] LETTER FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ADDRESSED TO THE SPEAKERS OF THE SEVERAL HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY, ON THE CONTINENT. BOSTON, JUNE 3, 1773. Sir — The house of representatives of this province, being earnestly attentive to the con- troversy between Great Britain and the colo- nies, and considering that the authority claimed and exercised by parliament, on the one side, and by the general assemblies of this conti- * In consequence of burning the Gaspee, a British armed vesseL which had greaUy harassed the navigation of Rhode Island, a court of enquiry was appointed, under the great seal of England, to be holden at Newport. They met once and again, but linally dissolved, without doing any thing important. It was supposed that many persons, suspected of burning the Gaspee, would have been sent to England for trial. nent, on the other, greatly militates, and is productive of this unhappy contention, think it of the utmost importance to the welfare of both, and particularly of the colonies, that the constitutional powers of each be inquired into, delineated and fully ascertained. That his majesty's subjects of America, are entitled to the same rights and liberties as those of Great Britain, and that these ought, in justice, by the constitution, to be as well guaranteed and secured, to the one as to the other, are too apparent to be denied. It is, by this house, humbly conceived, to be likewise undeniable, that the authority assumed, and now forcibly exercised by parlia- ment, over the colonies, is utterly subversive of freedom in the latter ; and that, while his majesty's loyal subjects in America have the mortification, daily, to see new abridgments of their rights and liberties, they have not the least security for those which at present remain. Were the colonist only affected by a legislature, subject to their control, they would, even then, have no other security than belongs to them by the laws of nature, and the English constitution ; but should the authority, now claimed by pariiament, be fully supported by power, submitted to by the colonies, it appears to this house that there will be an end to liberty in America; and that the colonists will then change the name of freemen for that of slaves. In order to adjust and settle these important concerns, the free and magnanimous Bur- gesses of Virginia have proposed a method for uniting the councils of its sister colonies ; and it appearing to this house to be a measure very wise and salutary, is cheerfully received and heartily adopted. With great respect for your honorable as- sembly, and in confidence that a matter, which so nearly affects the safety of each colony, will be assisted by its wise councils, permit this house to enclose a copy of resolutions, lately entered into here, and to request you to com- municate the same at a convenient opportunity. Thomas Gushing, Speaker. [June 2, 1773, the galleries having been cleared, by a vote of the house, Mr. S. Adams observed, " that he perceived the minds of the people were much agitated by a report, that let- ters of an extraordinary nature had been written and sent to England, greatly to the prejudice of this province : that he had obtained certain let- ters, with different signatures, with the consent of the gentleman from whom he received them, that they should be read in the bouse ; under 96 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. certain restrictions, namely, that the said let- ters be neither printed nor copied, in whole, or in part," — and he accordingly offered them for the consideration of the house. A vote then passed, that the letters be read ; and they were read accordingly ; being signed, Thomas Hutch- inson, Andrew Oliver, Charles Paxton, Robert Auchmutty, etc. The whole house was then resolved into a committee, to take said letters into consideration, and the house adjourned to the afternoon. Mr. Hancock, from the com- mittee of the whole house, reported, that the committee were of opinion, the tendency and design of the said letters, was to overthrow the constitution of this government, and to intro- duce arbitrary power into the province, and the report was accepted, loi to 5. A committee of nine was, thereupon, chosen, to consider what was proper to be done, in reference to the letters aforesaid ; and the speaker (Mr. Gush- ing), Mr. Adams, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Gorham, Mr. Pickering, Maj. Hawley, Col. Warren, Mr. Payne and Major Foster, were chosen.] DESTRUCTION OF TEA In Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, De- cember 16, 1773. Tea. — There have been some doubts con- cerning the destruction of the tea on the i6th of December, 1773. The number of the ships, and the place where they were situated is not quite certain. — One gentleman, now living, over 70 years of age, thinks that they were at Hub- bard's wharf, as it was then called, about half way between Griffin's (now Liverpool) and Foster's wharf, and that the number of ships was four or five. Another gentleman, who is 75 years of age, and who was one of the guard detached from the new grenadier company, says that he spent the night, but one, before the destruction of the tea, in company with gen. Knox, then a private in that company, on board of one of the tea ships; that this ship lay on the south side of Russell's wharf; and that there were two more on the north side of the same wharf, and he thinks one or two at Griffin's wharf A gentleman now living, who came from England in one of the tea ships, thinks there were but two, but he is uncertain where they lay. A song, written soon after the time, tells of " Three ill-fated ships at Griffin's wharf." The whole evidence seems to result in this, that there were three ships^but whether at Russell's or Griffin's wharf, or one or more at each, is not certain. The number of chests I destroyed was, according to the newspapers of the time, 342. There was a body meeting on this i6th of December, 1773. This matter of the tea was the occasion of the meeting. The meeting began at Faneuil Hall, but that place not being large enough it was adjourned to the Old South, and even that place could not con- tain all who came. Jonathan Wdliams was moderator. Among the spectators was John Rowe, who lived in Pond street where Mr. Pres- cctt now lives ; among other things, he said, — " Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water " — and this suggestion was received with great applause. Governor Hutchinson was at this time at the house on Milton hill where Barney Smith, esqr. lives. A committee was sent from the meeting, to request him to order the ships to depart. — While they were gone, speeches were made, for the purpose of keep- ing the people together. The committee re- turned about sunset with his answer, that he could not interfere. At this moment the Indian yell was heard from the street. Mr. Samuel Adams cried out that it was a trick of their enemies to disturb their meeting, and requested the people to keep their places — but the people rushed out, and accompanied the Indians to the ships. The number of persons disguised as Indians is variously stated — none put it lower than 60, none higher than 80. It is said by persons who were present, that nothing was destroyed but tea — and this was not done with noise and tumult, little or nothing being said either by the agents or the multitude, — who looked on. The impression was that of solemn- ity, rather than of riot and confusion. — The de- struction was effected by disguised persons, and some young men who volunteered ; one of the latter collected the tea which fell into the shoes of himself and companions, and put it into a phial and sealed it up ; which phial is now in his possession, — containing the same tea. — The contrivers of this measure, and those who carried it into effect, will never be known ; some few persons have been mentioned as be- ing among the disguised ; but there are many and obvious reasons why secrecy then, and concealment since, were necessary. None of those persons who were confidently said to have been of the party, (except some who were then minors or very young men), have ever admitted that they were so. The person who appeared to know more than any one, I ever spoke with, refused to mention names. Mr. Samuel Adams is thought to have been in the counselling of this exploit, and many other men who were leaders in the political afl'airs of the times ; — and the hall council is said to have been in the MASSACHUSETTS. 97 back room of Edes and Gill's printing office, at the corner of the alley leading to Battle street church from Court street. There are very few alive now, who helped to empty the chests of tea, and these few will probably be as prudent as those who have gone before them. Daily Adzi. LETTER Relating to the Destruction of Tea IN Boston Harbor by the " Mohawk Indians." With regard to the Indians who destroyed the three cargoes of tea in the harbor of Bos- ton, I have met with a slight notice that con- firms the remark of president Adams, that " they were no ordinary Mohawks." It is in the Historical Sketch of Charlestown, by the hon. Joseph Bartlett, M.D., in which he says, that E. N. (giving only the initials) a respecta- ble inhabitant of that town, had repeatedly in- formed him that he was among the Indians who destroyed the tea. J. F. The " Mohawk Indians." Hanover, N. H., June 22, 1819. Sir — Seeing a notice or a letter addressed to president Adams from you, I take the liberty of giving you the information, in part, you wish. My father, Anthony Morse, afterwards a lieutenant during the revolutionary war, but since deceased, and Mr. Joseph Roby, now of this town, were the most active in destroying the tea in Boston harbor. Mr. Roby thinks there is but one or two now surviving besides himself. I am, sir, yours with esteem, Lewis R. M. Morse. Mr. H. Niles. REVOLUTIONARY RECOLLECTIONS Relating to the Destruction of Tea IN Boston Harbor. From the National Gazette of Sept. 5, 1821. I am one of that class of your readers who are much pleased with the plan of the reminis- cences, and wish it may be promoted, by our well-informed aged citizens taking the trouble to present to the public such authentic facts and information as their memories can furnish. It may be the means of preserving some flow- 7 ers, and placing them in the chaplet of the his- toric muse, which would otherwise fall to the ground and perish in oblivion. I offer the following. Upon reading the Boston reminiscence of the tea-ship, the line quoted from the old song occasioned the whole of it to rise like an exha- lation before me. As near beauteous Boston lying. On the gently swelling tiood, Without jack or pendant flying, Three ill-fated tea-ships rode. Just as glorious Sol was setting, On the wharf, a numerous crew. Sons of freedom, fear forgetting, Suddenly appear'd in view. Ann'd with hammers, axes, chisels, Weapons new for warlike deeds, Towaids the herbage freighted vessels, They approach'd with dreadful speed. Hovering o'er their heads, in mid sky. Three bright angel forms were seen ; That was Hampden, this was Sidney, With fair Liberty between. ■ Soon," they cned, ' your foes you'll banish, ' Soon your triumph will be won, ' Scarce shall setting Phcebus vanish, ' Ere the deathless deed be done.' Quick as shot the ships were boarded. Hatches burst and chests display'd ; Axes, hammers, help atforded," What a glorious crash they made ! Captains ! once more hoist your streamers, Spread your sails and plough the wave ! Tell your masters they are dreamers, When they thought to cheat the brave. EXTRACT FROM THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. To the Council and House of Repre- sentatives, January 26, 1774. Gentlemen of the Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives. The judicial proceedings of the governor and council, as the supreme court of Probate, and as the court for determining in cases of mar- riage and divorce, having been impeded in many instances, where the opinion of the gov- ernor has been different from that of the ma- jority of the councillors present, the governor having always considered his consent as neces- sary to every judicial act. In the year 1771, I stated the arguments, as well against as for the claim of the governor; and his majesty having been pleased to order the case thus stated, to 98 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. be laid before the lords of his majesty's most honorable privy council, I am now able to in- form you, that it has been signified to me, to be his majesty's pleasure, that I do acquiesce in the determination of the majority of councillors present, voting as a court for proving wills and administration, and deciding controversies con- cerning marriage and divorce, although I should differ in opinion from that majority. This order more immediately respects the council ; nevertheless, the tender regard which his majesty has shown for the interest and conve- nience of his subjects, in a construction of the charter, different from what had been made by all his governors, ever since its first publica- tion, make it proper for me to communicate the order to both houses. I am required to signify to you his majesty's disapprobation of the appointment of commit- tees of correspondence, in various instances, which sit and act, during the recess of the general court, by prorogation. T. Hutchinson. EXTRACT FROM THE ANSWER Of the House of Representatives to THE Governor, February 5, 1774. May it please your excellency. It affords great satisfaction to this house to find, that his majesty has been pleased to put an end to an undue claim, heretofore made by the governors of this province, grounded upon a supposition that the consent of the chair was necessary to the validity of the judicial acts of the governor and council. Whereby their pro- ceedings, when sitting as the supreme court of Probate, and as the court for determining in cases of marriage and divorce, have been so often impeded. The royal order, that the governor shall acquiesce in the determination of the majority of the council, respects not the council only, but the body of the people of this province. And his majesty has herein shewed his regard to justice, as well as the interest and convenience of his subjects, in rescuing a clause in the charter from a construction which, in the opinion of this house, was repugnant to the express meaning and intent of the charter, in- consistent with the idea of a court of justice, and dangerous to the rights and property of the subject. Your excellency is pleased to inform the two houses, that you are required to signify to them his majesty's disapprobation of the ap- pointment of committees of correspondence, in various instances, which sit and act, during the recess of the general court, by prorogation. You are not pleased to explain to us the grounds and reasons of his majesty's disapprobation ; until we shall have such explanation laid be- fore us, a full answer to this part of your speech will not be expected from us. We cannot, however, omit saying, upon this occasion, that while the common rights of the American sub- jects, continue to be attacked in various in- stances, and at times when the several assem- blies are not sitting, it is highly necessary that they should correspond w-ith each other, in order to unite in the most effectual means for the obtaining a redress of their grievances. And as the sitting of the general assemblies in this, and most of the colonies, depends upon the pleasure of the governors, who hold them- selves under the direction of administration, it is to be expected, that the meeting of the assem- blies will be so ordered, as that the intention proposed by a correspondence between them, will be impracticable, but by committees, to sit and act in the recess. We would, moreover, observe that, as it has been the practice for years past for the governor and lieutenant gov- ernor of this province, and other officers of the crown, at all times, to correspond with minis- ters of state, and persons of influence and dis- tinction in the nation, in order to concert and carry on such measures of the British adminis- tration, as have been deemed by the colonists to be grievous to them, it cannot be thought unreasonable, or improper for the colonists to correspond with their agents, as well as with each other, to the end, that their grievances may be so explained to his majesty, as that, in his justice, he may afford them necessary re- lief As this province has heretofore felt the great misfortune of the displeasure of our sovereign, by means of misrepresentations, per- mit us further to say, there is room to appre- hend that his m.ajesty has, in this instance, been misinformed, and that there are good grounds to suspect, that those who may have misinformed him, have had in meditation fur- ther measures destructive to the colonies, which they were apprehensive would be defeated by means of committees of correspondence sitting and acting in the recess of the respective assem- blies. It must be pleasing to the good people of this province, to find that the heavy debt which had been incurred by their liberal aids, through the course of the late war, for the subduing his majesty's inveterate enemies, and extending his territory and dominion in America, is so nearly discharged. Whenever the house of repre- MASSACHUSETTS. 99 sentatives shall deem it incumbent upon them to provide for any future charges, it will be done, as it ought, by such ways and means as, after due deliberation, to them shall seem meet. In the meantime, this house will employ the powers with which they are entrusted, in sup- porting his majesty's just authority in the pro- vince, according to the royal charter, and in despatching such public business as now prop- erly lies before us. And, while we pursue such measures as tend, by God's blessing, to the redress of grievances, and to the restora- tion and establishment of the public liberty, we persuade ourselves, that we shall, at the same time, .is far as in us lies, most effectually secure the tranquility and good order of the govern- ment, and the great end for which it was insti- tuted, the safety and welfare of the people. [The committee, by whom the foregoing was reported, were, the speaker, Mr. S. Adams, Mr. Hancock, Col. Warren, Col. Thayer, Col. Bowers, and Captain Derby.] Dr. Church, Dr. Holtan, Mr. Gerry, Col. Trying, Captain Robinson, Major Foster, and Mr. Gorham. The day following, the committee reported a message to Governor Gage, which was accepted, and is as follows :] ELECTION OF DELEGATES By the General Court of Massachu- setts. To convene at Philadelphia, Penn., to consid- er the critical and alarming condition of the country. Jime, 1774. [Before the general court of Massachusetts separated, in June, 1774, they elected five dele- gates, to meet such as should be chosen by the other colonies, to convene, at Philadelphia, to consider the critical and alarming situation of the country. — They met in September, 1774, and delegates from all the other provinces, (except Georgia, which, however, soon after- wards joined the confederacy,) convened there, at that period, and formed the first continental congress. The following gentlemen were ap- pointed delegates : Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, Robert T. Paine, James Bowdoin, and John Adams. And as the general court was dissolved, it was also proposed to have a pro- vincial congress, or meeting of deputies, from every town in this state. Deputies were ac- cordingly chosen, and met at Salem, October 7th, 1774. An adjournment was immediately voted, to Concord. John Hancock was chosen president, and Benjamin Lincoln, secretary. A committee was appointed to consider the state of the province, consisting of the follow- ing gentlemen, viz. the president, Joseph Haw- ley, Dr. Joseph Warren, Samuel Dexter, Col. Ward, Col. Warren, Captain Heath, Col. Lee, MESSAGE From the Provincial Congress, Sitting AT Concord, to his Excellency Gov- ernor Gage. May it please your Excellency, The delegates, from the several towns in the province of Massachusetts-Bay, convened in congress, beg leave to address you. The dis- tressed and miserable state of the province, occasioned by the intolerable grievances and oppressions to which the people are subjected, and the danger and destruction to which they are exposed, of which your excellency must be sensible, and the want of a general assembly, have rendered it indispensably necessary to collect the wisdom of the province, by their delegates, in this congress, to concert some adequate remedy for preventing impending ruin, and providing for the public safety. It was with the utmost concern we see your hostile preparations, which have spread such alarm through the province and the whole con- tinent, as threaten to involve us in all the confusion and horrors of civil war: and, while we contemplate an event so deeply to be regretted by every good man, it must occasion the surpri.se and astonishment of all mankind, that such measures are pursued, against a peo- ple whose love of order, attachment to Britain, and loyalty to their prince, have ever been truly exemplary. Your excellency must be sensible, that the sole end of government is the protection and security of the people : when- ever, therefore, that power, which was origin- ally instituted to effect these important and valuable purposes, is employed to harass and enslave the people, in this case it becomes a curse, rather than a blessing. The most painful apprehensions are excited in our minds, by the measures now pursuing ; the rigorous execution of the (Boston) port bill, with improved severity, must certainly reduce the capital and its numerous dependencies to a state of poverty and ruin. The acts for alter- ing the charter,* and the administration of * In June of this year, an act of parliament was passed, revoking that part of the charter, which allowed the representatives of the people to elect counsellors ; and the king, with the advice of his ministers, was empow- ered to appoint them; and, in August, he accordingly lOO PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. justice in the colony, are manifestly designed to abridge this people of their rights, and to license murders : and, if carried into execution, will reduce them to slavery. The number of troops in the capital, increased by daily acces- sions drawn from the whole continent, together with the formidable and hostile preparations which you are now making on Boston Neck, in our opinion, greatly endanger the lives, liberties, and property, not only of our brethren in the town of Boston, but of this province in general. Permit us to ask your excellency, whether an inattentive and unconcerned ac- quiescence to such alarming, such menacing measures, would not evidence a state of in- sanity ? Or, whether the delaying to take every possible precaution for the security of this province, would not be the most criminal neglect in a people, heretofore rigidly and justly tenacious of their constituted rights? Penetrated with the most poignant concern, and ardently solicitous to preserve union and harmony between Great Britain and the colo- nies, necessary to the well being of both, we entreat your excellency to remove that brand of contention, the fortress at the entrance of Boston. We are much concerned that you should have been induced to construct it, and thereby causelessly excite such a spirit of resent- ment and indignation, as now generally prevails. We assure you, that the good people of this colony never have had the least intention to do any injury to his majesty's troops ; but on the contrary, most earnestly desire, that every obstacle to treating them as fellow subjects may be immediately removed : but are con- strained to tell your excellency, that the minds of the people will never be relieved, till those hostile works are demolished. And we request you, as you regard his majesty's honor and interest, the dignity, and happiness of the empire, and the peace and welfare of this pro- vince, that you immediately desist from the fortress, now constructing at the south entrance into the town of Boston, and restore the pass to its natural state. AN HONEST JURY. The refusal of certain gentlemen, returned to serve as grand jurors for Boston, or Suffolk county, in 1774, being frequently alluded to, the following, which shews the reasons why appointed others, commonly called mandamus counsellors ; Deing wholly independent of the people and holding their office of the crown, they were liltely to be fit instruments of oppression and tyranny. they would not be impanelled, becomes highly interesting : County of Suffolk, BOSTON, Aug. 30, 1774. We, who are returned by the several towns in this county, to serve as grand jurors at the superior court for this present term, being actuated by a zealous regard for peace and good order, and a sincere desire to promote justice, righteousness and good government, as being essential to the happiness of the com- munity, would now most gladly proceed to the discharge of the important duty required in that department, could we persuade ourselves that, by doing thus, it would add to our own reputation, or promote the welfare of our country. But when we consider the dangerous inroads that have been made upon our civil constitution, the violent attempts now making to alter and annul the most essential parts of our charter, granted by the most solemn faith of kings, and repeatedly recognized by British kings and parliaments ; while we see the open and avowed design of establishing the most complete system of despotism in this province, and thereby reducing the freeborn inhabi- tants thereof to the most abject state of slavery and bondage ; we feel ourselves necessarily constrained to decline being impanelled, for reasons that we are ready to offer to the court, if permitted, which are as follows : 1st. Because Peter Oliver, esq., who sits as chief judge of this court, has been charged with high crimes and misdemeanors, by the late honorable house of representatives, the grand inquest of this province ; of which charge he has never been legally acquitted, but has been declared by that house, unqualified to act as judge of this court. 2d. Because, by a late act of the British par- liament, for altering the constitution of this province, the continuance of the present judges of this court, as well as the appointment of others, from the ist of July last, is made to depend solely on the king's pleasure, vastly different from the tenure of the British judges ; and as we apprehend they now hold their places, only in consequence of that act, all the judicial proceedings of the court will be taken as concessions to the validity of the same, to which we dare not assent. 3d. Because three of the judges, being the major part of the court, namely, the said Peter Oliver, esq. Foster Hutchinson, esq. and William Brown, esq. by taking the oath of counsellors under authority of the aforemen- tioned act, are (as we are informed) sworn to carry into execution all the late grievous acts MASSACHUSETTS. lOI of the British parliament, among the last of which, is one, made ostensively for the impar- tial administration of justice in this province, but, as we fear, really for the impunity of such persons as shall, under pretext of executing those acts, murder any of the inhabitants thereof, which acts appear to us to be utterly repugnant to every idea of justice and common humanity, and are justly complained of, throughout America, as highly injurious and oppressive to the good people of this province, and manifestly destructive of their natural as well as constitutional rights. 4th. Because we believe, in our consciences, that our acting in concert with a court so con- stituted, and under such circumstances, would be so far betraying the just and sacred rights of our native land, which were not the gift of kings, but were purchased solely with the toil, the blood, and treasure, of our worthy and re- vered ancestors, and which we look upon our- selves under the most sacred obligations to maintain, and to transmit the same, whole and entire to our posterity. Therefore, we, the subscribers, unanimously decline serving as grand jurors at this court. William Thompson Joseph Willet Paul Revere Robert Williams James Ivers Joseph Pool Lemuel Kollock Nicholas Cooke, jr. William Bullard Moses Richardson Abraham Wheeler Peter Boyer Thomas Crafts, jr. Joseph Hall Henry Plimpton Jonathan Day Nathaniel Beecher Ebenezer Hancock Joseph Jones Thomas Pratt Abijah Upham Samuel Hobart. CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN ADAMS. Second President of the United States. Let- ters written to him by distinguished persons in the years 1774, 1775, '^'^'^ '776, together •with Letters from him to various persons. From John Trumbull, Esq. to John Adams, dated Boston, Aug. 10, \TJi,. [Extracts.] In the county of Worcester, the people, at a general meeting, have resolved that no court shall be held there, according to the new regu- lation of juries, and that judge Oliver shall not take his seat. Upon a report that a regiment would be sent to protect the court, they de- clared that they were ready to meet it. It is to be hoped, however, that no violent measures will be taken, till the sense of the whole con- tinent is known ; as the people have great dependence upon the determinations of con- gress, and expect them to chalk out the line for their conduct. As to the soldiers here, they are no more feared than if they were the troops of Lilliput. Indeed, they are much more disposed to flight than combat, and have more inclination to desert to us than to fight us — above two hundred having already left them. To put a stop to these frequent deser- tions, the officers are obliged to treat them with great severity — death or 1000 lashes, is the only choice offered to those who are re- taken. There is a humorous story told about town of one of the deserters, though I cannot say it is absolutely to be depended upon as a fact : a soldier, whose name is Patrick, deserted sometime ago and settled in a country town at some distance, and there undertook to instruct a company of about fifty men in military exer- cises. A sergeant and eight men were sent to apprehend deserters, got intelligence of him, and agreed with a countryman, for a couple of guineas, to conduct them to him. Patrick, it seems, was at that time exercising his company ; however, being called by the sergeant and his men, he immediately came up to them. The sergeant demanded what he did there, told him he was his prisoner, and ordered him to return and join his regiment. Sir, said Patrick, I beg your pardon, but I don't think it possible for me to obey you at present. The sergeant re- peated his orders in a very peremptory style. Patrick still assured him of the great improb- ability of his being able to comply with the command; but told him, as it was not abso- lutely certain, he would see what could be done about it. You must know, said he, that we determine every thing here by a vote — and turning to his company, which had by this time come up,— gentlemen, says he, if it be your mind that I should leave the town and return to my regiment, please to manifest it. Not a single hand appeared in favor of the motion. He then desired that those who were contrary-minded should manifest it, which passed ncm. con. The sergeant and his men, finding themselves in so small a minority, and seeing it in vain to oppose the general voice of the meeting, were about to return again in peace, when one or two of his men were desirous to have it put to vote whether they should not stay also. Patrick, as moderator, immediately put the question, which it was not difficult to carry in such an assembly, and the sergeant, knowing it vain to resist, returned with six men to his regiment. I02 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. From J. Palmer, Esq., dated at Boston, Sept. 14, 1774, to John Adams, Esq., at Phil- adelphia. [Extracts.] The spirit of liberty is amazingly increased, so that there is scarce a tory and hardly a neutral to be found in the country. This province seems ripe for a more popular govern- ment, if not restrained by congress, who will doubtless give all the encouragement to all that the good of the whole will admit of. Some talk of resuming our first charter, others of absolute independency. Our eye is to the congress — may wisdom direct your every step. — You will see that our government has told us, that the refusing submission to the late acts of parliament is getteral throughout the province ; and that he should lay the same before his majesty: and since that I have received satisfaction that our friends to govern- ment are convinced they can't carry these acts into effect ; and are willing, if possible, to keep matters in a state of suspense until they hear from home. At the same time they continue to entrench and fortify the neck, professedly, and I believe really and only, for self-defence. /Vw« Benjamin Kent, Esq., i'(7 John Adams, dated Boston, Sept. -iTy, 1774. [Extract.] Our enemies, for their own further security, as well as to bring the town into the most complete dependence on the army and navy, spare no labor or pains ; they suffer no owner of powder to take a single grain out of the town's magazine, and there is none to be bought in the town. Two or three days ago, after the men of war had spiked up our can- non at the battery, they robbed us of six good pieces of large cannon, as we were carrying them in a gondola through the mill pond to Watertown. They take and keep the guns and cutlasses out of carts and wagons going over the Neck ; and no doubt, if they thought they could disarm the town they would do it instantly. [He then mentions that their friends in Connecticut urged them to act before gen- eral Gage should receive the additional regi- ments which he expected — but that the people of Boston "would not undertake any thing material before they heard from the grand council of America, which we hope will remain forever."] He then expresses a wish that the congress would consider their case, and says, " we are not suspicious that it can possibly be disagreeable to the grand congress that we should do everything in our power towards our defence ; but to lie still so long as in any mea- sure to disable us to secure ourselves by and bye, when we can now prevent it, would be very unwise, and it may be fatal to the town." " It is necessary for us, as far as we can, to prepare for the worst that can happen ; that we may not be unhappily surprised when the worst shall come. Look into Europe and see how tyranny flourishes ; and if the tyrants will but join their forces, in a little time not one free state will be left on the other side of the Atlantic — which God forbid ! In conclusion he says, " I do most heartily hope and desire, the body of representatives of all the colonies, may have eternity, for the glory of God, and the happiness of the Ameri- can world. This is the prayer of the faith of your and their most cordial brotherand friend." Richard Cranch, Esq., to Mr. Adams, dated Boston, Oct. 15, 1774. [Extract.] I hear that a letter from one P s, a clergyman in Connecticut, has been intercepted, and that an attested copy of it is now before our congress. The contents of it are very ex- traordinary — he informs the person to whom it is addressed, that he has received advice that several regiments more from England, and a number of men of war, are expected, and that when they arrive, hanging work -will begin, — and that those only will be safe whose lintels and door posts shall be sprinkled. Our ministers in this province put up their ardent petitions in public for the direction and bless- ing of heaven on your congress. Dr. Samuel Cooper to Mr. Adams, dated i6th Oct. 1774. Having just been informed that Mr. Tudor is going to Philadelphia, I take this oppor- tunity to thank you for the obliging favor of your letter of 29th September. The struggle, as you justly observe, between fleets and armies and commercial regulations, must be very unequal : We hope, however, the con- gress will carry this mode of defence as far as it will go, and endeavor to render it as early effectual as it can be, since the operation of it must necessarily be slow — were we at ease we would wait — but being first seized and griped by the merciless hand of power, we are " tor- tured even to madness," and yet, perhaps, no people would give a greater example of patience and firmness, could the people be sure of the approbation and countenance of the continent; MASSACHUSETTS. 103 in consolidating themselves in the best man- ner they are able, they should have, they say, fresh spirits to sustain the conflict. The re- port of an uncommon large quantity of British goods sent to New York and Philadelphia, naturally carries our thoughts to a non-con- sumption — Nothing could more thoroughly em- barrass these selfish importers, and none ever deserved more such a punishment. Our provincial congress is assembled ; they adjourned from Concord to Cambridge. Among them and through the province the spirit is ardent. And I think the inhabitants of this town are distracted to remain in it with such formidable fortifications at its entrance. Besides the regiments expected from the south- ward and Canada, we have several companies from Newfoundland, of which we had no appre- hension until they arrived. The tories depend that the administration will push their point with all the force that they can spare, and this I think we ought to e.xpect and take into our account. Mr. Adams to Mr. Chase. Philadelphia, July i, 1776. Dear Sir — Your favor by the post this morning gave me much pleasure, but the gene- rous and unanimous vote of your convention gave me much more. It was brought into congress this morning, just as we were entering on the great debate. — That debate took up most of the day, but an idle mispense of time, for nothing was said, but what had been re- peated and hackneyed, in that room, before, an hundred times, for six months past. In the committee of the whole, the question was carried in the affirmative, and reported to the house. — A colony desired it to be post- poned until to-morrow, when it will pass by a great majority, perhaps with almost unani- mity ; yet I cannot promise this, because one or two gentlemen may possibly be found, who will vote point blank against the known and declared sense of their constituents. Maryland, however, I have the pleasure to inform you, behaved well. — Paca, generously and nobly. Alas, Canada ! we have found misfortune and disgrace in that quarter — Evacuated at last — transports arrived at Sandy-Hook, from whence we may expect an attack in a short time, upon New- York or New-Jersey — and our army is not so strong as we could wish. The militia of New-Jersey and New England, not so ready as they ought to be. The Romans made it a fixed rule never to send or receive ambassadors, to treat of peace with their enemies, while their affairs were in an adverse or disastrous situation. There was a generosity and magnanimity in this, be- coming freemen. It flowed from that temper and those principles which alone can preseri-e the freedom of a people. It is a pleasure to find our Americans of the same temper. It is a good symptom, foreboding a good end. If you imagine that I expect this declaration will ward off calamities from this countiy, you are mistaken. A bloody conflict we are des- tined to endure. — This has been my opinion from the beginning. You will certainly re- member my decided opinion was, at the first congress, when we found that we could not agree upon an immediate non-exportation, that the contest could not be settled without blood- shed, and that if hostilities should once com- mence, they would terminate in an incurable animosity between the two countries. Every political event since the 19th of April, 1775, has confirmed me in this opinion. If you imagine that I flatter myself with happiness and halcyon days, after a separation from Great Britain, you are mistaken again. I don't expect that our new government will be so quiet as I could wish, nor that happy harmony, confidence, and affection, between the colonies, that every good American ought to study, labor, and pray for, for a long time. But freedom is a counterbalance for poverty, discord, and war, and more. It is your hard lot and mine to be called into life, at such a time ; — yet even these times have their pleasures. I am your friend and servant, John Adams. Mr. Adams to Governor Bullock. Philadelphia, July i, 1776. Dear Sir — Two days ago I received your favor of May ist. — I was greatly disappointed, sir, in the information you gave me, that you should be prevented from visiting Philadelphia. I had flattered myself with hopes of your join- ing us soon, and not only affording us the addi- tional strength of your abilities and fortitude, but enjoying the satisfaction of seeing a temper and conduct here, somewhat more agreeable to your wishes, than those which prevailed when you were here before. But I have since been informed, that your countrymen have done themselves the justice to place you at the head of their affairs, a station in which you may perhaps render more essential senice to them, and to America, than you could here. There seems to have been a great change in 104 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the sentiments of the colonies since you left us, and I hope that a few months will bring us all to the same way of thinking. This morning is assigned for the greatest debate of all — a declaration, that these colonies are free and independent states, has been re- ported by a committee, appointed some weeks ago for that purpose, and this day, or to-mor- row, is to determine its fate. — May Heaven prosper the new born republic, and make it more glorious than any former republics have been ! The small-pox has ruined the American army in Canada, and of consequence the American cause. A series of disasters has happened there, partly owing I fear to the in- decision at Philadelphia, and partly to the mistakes or misconduct of our officers in that department. But the small-pox, which infected every man we sent there, completed our ruin, and compelled us to evacuate that important province. — We must, however, regain it some time or other. My countrj-men have been more successful at sea, in driving away all the men of war com- pletely out of Boston harbor, and in making prizes of a great number of transports and other vessels. We are in daily expectation of an armament before New York, where, if it comes, the con- flict must be bloody. The object is great which we have in view, and we must expect a great expense of blood to obtain it. But we should always remember, that a free constitu- tion of civil government cannot be purchased at too dear a rate, as there is nothing, on this side the new Jerusalem, of equal importance to mankind. It is a cruel reflection, that a little more wisdom, a little more activity, or a little more integrity, would have preser\ed us Canada, and enabled us to support this trj-ing conflict, at a less expense of men and money. But irretrievable miscarriages ought to be lamented no further, than to enable and stimulate us to do better in future. Your colleagues. Hall and Gynn, are here in good health and spirits, and as firm as you yourself could wish them. Present my compli- ments to Mr. Houston. Tell him the colonies will have republics for their governments, let us lawyers, and your divines, say what we will. I have the honor to be, with great esteem and respect, sir, your sincere friend and most humble servant, John Adams. Ht's Excellency Archibald Bullock, Esq. of Georgia. TWO LETTERS FROM PRESIDENT ADAMS. Written one in the morning, the other in the evening, of the ^d of July, 1776, and Cor- respondence of Judge Dawes relating thereto. FROM A LATE BOSTON PAPER. Mr. Editor — Some years ago, having seen in your paper a brilliant paragraph from a letter of the hon. John Adams to a friend — not, however, for the first time, it having appeared before on many a fourth of July — I was curious to learn from its venerable author who was that friend, and also such anecdotes concern- ing the subject of the letter, as he might be willing to communicate. He gratified my curiosity, with his accustomed energy, on a transaction in which he had taken so distin- guished a part. After the death of Mrs. Adams, the accomplished friend to whom the letter was addressed, he was pleased to send me a copy of it, and of another written to her on the same third of July. It is proba- ble that, after the loss of such a companion, a review of their epistolary correspondence brought to his recollection the inquiries I had made, and the subsequent conversation, though years had elapsed. These letters I present to the public, but not without permis- sion ; believing that they will be read with much interest on the forty-third anniversary of the grand event which they announced. Thomas Dawes. Boston, July 3, 1819. John Adams to Judge Dawes. The following letter was not intended for publication, but we cannot resist a desire we feel — for reasons which will be obvious to the reader — to record the document in our files ; and apologize to our fellow-citizens for the liberty we have taken. QUINCY, February 16, 1S19. Respected and beloved Judge Dawes : Inclosed are copies of two letters written by me to my wife, one in the morning, the other in the evening of the 3d of July, 1776, the day after the vote of independence was passed in congress. An extract of one of them has been published in the newspapers. Once on a time, upon my stony field hill, you interrogated me concerning that extract, in so particular a manner, that I thought you felt a tincture of pyrrhonism concerning its authenti- city. If you have still any doubts, I will show MASSACHUSETTS. 105 you the original letters, in my hand writing, whenever you will do me the honor of a visit to Quincy. In those days, my principal cor- respondent was my wife, who was then sur- rounded by many of the principal politicians of the age, such as general James Warren, of Plymouth, and his lady ; Dr. Cotton Tufts, of Weymouth ; my brother Richard Cranch, of Braintree, and gen. Joseph Palmer, of German- town, and many others, who were constantly enquiring of her the news from congress. Whatever related merely to public affairs, she read to them, or suffered them to read. I am, sir, with perfect esteem and sincere affection, your friend and humble servant, John Adams. Judge Dawes. John Adams to Mrs. Adams. Philadelphia, yz^/K 3, [morm'n^] 1776. Your favor of June 17, dated at Plymouth, was handed me yesterday by the post. I was much pleased to find that you had taken a journey to Plymouth to see your friends, in the long absence of one whom you may wish to see. The excursion will be an amusement, and will serve your health. How happy would it have made me to have taken this journey with you ! I was informed, a day or two before the receipt of your letter, that you were gone to Plymouth, by Miss P., who was obliging enough to inform me, in your absence, of the particu- lars of the expedition to the Lower Harbor, against the men of war.— Her narration is executed with a precision and perspicuity which would have become the pen of an ac- complished historian. I am very glad you had so good an oppor- tunity of seeing one of our little American men of war. Many ideas, new to you, must have presented themselves in such a scene ; and you will in future better understand the relations of a sea engagement. I rejoice extremely in Dr. Bulfinch's petition for leave to open an Hospital. But I hope the business will be done upon a larger scale. 1 hope that one Hospital will be licensed in every county, if not in every town. I am happy to find you resolved to be with the children in the first class. Mr. W. and Mrs. Q. are cleverly through innoculation in this city. I have one favor to ask, and that is, that in your future letters you would acknowledge the receipt of all those you may receive from me, and mention their dates ; by this means I shall know if any of mine miscarry. The information you give me of our friend's refusing his appointment, has given me much pain, grief, and anxiety. I believe I shall be obliged to follow his example. I have not fortune enough to support my family, and, what is of more importance, to support the dignity of that exalted station.* It is too high and lifted up for me, who delight in nothing so much as retreat, solitude, silence, and obscu- rity. In private life, no one has a right to censure me for following my own inclinations in retirement, in simplicity and fmgality ; but in public life every man has a right to remark as he pleases ; at least he thinks so. Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America ; and a greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among men. A resolution was passed, with- out one dissenting colony : " That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to he., free and miiepeiident states ; and, as free and independent states, they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which other states may rightfully do." You wSl see, in a few days, a declaration, setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will betaken up in a few days. When I look back to the year 1761, and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance, in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of the controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom ; at least this is my judgment — time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wast- ing, and distresses still more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least, it will inspire us with many virtues which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices, which threaten to disturb, * Office of chief justice of the superior court of Massa- chusetts, to which Mr. Adams had been appointed, but which he declined, preferring his seat in the old congress, to which he had been re-elected. T. D. io6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming in every part, will require a puri- fication from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power ; and the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. I am not without apprehensions from this quarter ; but I must submit all my hopes and fears to an over ruling Providence, in which, unfashion- able as it may be, I firmly believe. John Adams. John Adams to Mrs. Adams. Philadelphia, July 3 [imening] 1776. Had a declaration of independence been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alli- ance with foreign states. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession of Canada. You will, perhaps, wonder how such a dec- laration would have influenced our affairs in Canada ; but, if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. Many gentle- men in high stations, and of great influence, have been duped, by the ministerial bubble of commissioners, to treat ; and, in real, sincere expectation of this event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid in promoting measures for the reduction of that province. Others there are in the colonies, who really wished that our enterprise in Canada would be defeated ; that the colonies might be brought into danger and distress between two fires, and be thus induced to submit. Others really wished to defeat the expedition to Canada, lest the conquest of it should elevate the minds of the people too much to hearken to those terms of reconcilation which they believed would be offered us. These jarring views, wishes, and designs, occasioned an opposi- tion to many salutary measures which were proposed for the support of that expedition, and caused obstructions, embarrassments, and studied delays, which have finally lost us the province. All these causes, however, in conjunction, would not have disappointed us, if it had not been for a misfortune which could not have been foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented — I mean the prevalence of the small- pox among our troops. This fatal pestilence completed our destruction. It is a frown ot Providence upon us, which we ought to lay to heart. But, on the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advan- tages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest and well meaning, though short- sighted and mistaken people, have been gradu- ally, and at last totally, extinguished. Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets — by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection — in town and county meetings, as well as in private conversations ; so that the whole people, in every colony, have now adopted it as their own act. This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago. But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be a memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illu- minations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever. You will think me transported with enthu- siasm ; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory ; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not. John Adams. Several of the volumes of the Weekly Re- gister, are enriched by the correspondence of Mr. Adams. His letters to the editor, en- closing his communications to Mr. Wirt, (the elegant author of the " Sketches " of the fa- mous Patrick Henry, of Virginia) inserted in the 14th vol. page 257, et seq., are highly in- teresting. Mr. Wirt has claimed for Mr. Henry the declaration '"we fizust fight," which Mr. Adams says was derived from a letter which MASSACHUSETTS. 107 he himself had shewn to Mr. Henry, written by Major Hawley, of Northampton, Mass., in 1774. The following, as connected with this subject, cannot fail of exciting the most pleasant feelings in those who delight to trace the first dawnings of our glorious revolution. Editor. EXTRACT Of a letter from President Adams to H. NiLES, QuiNCY, Feb. 5, 1819. Dear Sir, — I enclose you the " broken hints to be communicated to the committee of con- gress for the Massachusetts," by Major Joseph Hawley, of Northampton. This is the original paper that I read to Patrick Henry in the fall of the year 1774, which produced his rapturous burst of appro- bation, and solemn asseveration " I am of THAT MAN'S MIND." I pray you to send it back to me. I would not exchange this original for the show book of Harvard college, and printed it shall be at my own expense in a hand-bill." Broken Hints to be communicated to the Com- mittee of Congress for the Massachusetts. " We must fght, if we can't otherwise rid ourselves of British taxation, all revenues, and the constitution or form of government enacted for us by the British parliament. It is evil againsl right — utterly intolerable to every man who has any idea or feeling of right or liberty. It is easy to demonstrate that the regulation act will soon annihilate every thing of value in the charter, introduce perfect despotism, and render the house of representatives a mere form and ministerial engine. It is now or never, that we must assert our liberty. Twenty years will make the number of tones on this continent equal to the number of whigs. They who shall be born will not have any idea of a free government. It will necessarily be a question, whether the new government of this province shall be suf- fered to take place at all, — or whether it shall be immediately withstood and resisted ? A most important question this — I humbly conceive it not best forcibly or wholly to resist it, immediately. There is not heat enough yet for battle. Constant, and a sort of negative resistance of government, will increase the heat and blow the fire. There is not military skill enough. That is improving, and must be encouraged and improved, but will daily increase. Fight we must finally, unless Britain retreats. But it is of infinite consequence that victory be the end and issue of hostilities. If we get to fighting before necessary dispositions are made for it, we shall be conquered, and all will be lost forever. A certain clear plan, for a constant, adequate and lasting supply of arms and militaiy stores, must be devised and fully contemplated. This is the main thing. This, I think, ought to be a capital branch of the business of congress — to wit : to devise and settle such a plan ; at least, clearly to investigate how such supplies can be extensively had in case of need. While this is effecting — to wit : while the continent is providing themselves with arms and military stores, and establishing a method for a sure and unfailing and constant supply, I conceive we had best to negotiate with Britain. If she will cede our rights and restore our liberties all is well — every good man will rejoice : if she will not agree to relinquish and abolish all American revenues, under every pretence and name, and all pretensions to order and regulate our internal policy and constitution — then, if we have got any constant and sufficient supply of military stores, it will be time to take our arms. I can't quit this head — it ought to be immediately and most seriously attended to. It can't be any other than madness to com- mence hostilities before we have established resources on a sure plan for certain and effectual military supplies. Men, in that case, will not be wanting. But what considerate man will ever consent to take arms and go to war, where he has no reasonable assurance but that all must be given over and he fall a prey to the enemy, for want of military stores and ammunition, in a few weeks ? Either an efi"ectual non-consumption agree- ment or resistance of the new government will bring on hostilities very soon. I. As to a non-consumption agreement — it appears to me that ought to be taken for cer- tain truth, that no plan of importation or con- sumption of tea, British goods in general, or enumerated articles, which is to rest and depend on the virtue of all the individuals, will succeed ; but must certainly prove abortive. The ministry may justly call such a plan futile— futile it will turn out. A plan of that sort may safely rest and be founded on the virtue of the majority : but then the majority, by the plan, must be directed to control the minority, which implies force. The plan, there- fore, must direct and prescribe how that force shall be exercised. Those, again, who exercise that force, under io8 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the direction and by order of the majority, must by that majority be defended and indemnified. Dispositions must therefore necessarily be made to resist or overcome that force which will be brought against you — which will directly produce war and bloodshed. From thence it follows, that any other non- consumption or non-importation plan, which is not perfectly futile and ridiculous, implies hos- tilities and war. 2. As to the resistance of the new govern- ment, that also implies war : for in order to resist and prevent the effect of the new govern- ment, it is indispensably necessary that the charter government, or some other, must be maintained — co nstitutionally exercised and supported. The people will have some government or other — they will be drawn in by a seeming mild and just administration, which will last awhile ; legislation and executive justice must go on in some form or other, and we may depend on it they will, — therefore the new government will take effect until the old is restored. The old cannot be restored until the council take on them the administration, call assem- blies, constitute courts, make sheriffs, etc. The council will not attempt this without good assurance of protection. This protection can't be given without hostilities. Our salvation depends upon an established persevering union of the colonies. The tools of administration are using every device and effort to destroy that union, and will certainly continue so to do — Thereupon, all possible devices and endea- vors must be used to establish, improve, brighten and maintain such union. Every grievance of any one colony must be held and considered by the whole as a griev- ance to the whole, and must operate on the whole as a grievance to the whole. This will be a difficult matter to effect : but it must be done. Quere, therefore— whether is it not abso- lutely necessary that some plan be settled for a continuation of congresses ? — But here we must be aware that congresses will soon be declared and enacted by parliament to be high treason. Is the India company to be compensated or not ? If to be compensated — each colony to pay the particular damage she has done, or is an average to be made on the continent .' The destruction of the tea was not unjust — therefore to what good purpose is the tea to be paid for, unless we are assured that by so doing, our rights will be restored and peace obtained ? What future measures is the continent to preserve with regard to imported dutied tea, whether it comes as East India property or otherwise, under the pretence and lie that the tea is imported from Holland, and the goods imported before a certain given day? Dutied tea will be imported and consumed — goods continue to be imported — your non-importation agreement eluded, rendered contemptible and ridiculous — unless all teas used, and all goods, are taken into some public custody which will be inviolably faithful." [The foregoing is a literal copy of the vene- rable paper before me, except its frequent abbreviations of the and that, with the addition only of a few commas, etc. to make it read.] ADDRESS OF THE PROVINCIAL CON- GRESS To THE Inhabitants of the towns AND DISTRICTS OF MASSACHUSETTS-BaY, December 4, 1774. Friends and brethren : At a time when the good people of this colony were deprived of their laws, and the administration of justice ; when the cruel op- pressions brought on their capital had stag- nated almost all their commerce ; when a standing army was illegally posted among us, for the express purpose of enforcing submission to a system of tyranny ; and when the general court was, with the same design, prohibited to sit ; we were chosen, and empowered by you, to assemble and consult upon measures neces- sary for our common safety and defence. With much anxiety for the common welfare, we have attended this service, and upon the coolest deliberation, have adopted the measures recommended to you. We have still confidence in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of our sovereign, as well as in the integrity, humanity, and good sense of the nation. And, if we had a reasonable expectation that the truth of facts would be made known in England, we should entertain the most pleasing hopes, that the measures concerted by the colonies, jointly and severally, would procure a full redress of our grievances : but we are constrained in justice to you, to our- selves, and to posterity, to say, that the inces- sant and unrelenting malice of our enemies has been so successful, as to fill the court and MASSACHUSETTS. 109 kingdom of Great Britain with falsehood and calumnies concerning us, and excite the most bitter and groundless prejudices against us ; that the sudden dissolution of parliament, and the hasty summons for a new election, gives us reason to apprehend that a majority of the house of commons will be again elected, under the influence of an arbitrar>' ministry ; and that the general tenor of our intelligence from Great Britain, with the frequent reinforcements of the army and navy at Boston, excites the strongest jealousy, that the system of colony administra- tion, so unfriendly to the protestant religion, and destructive of American liberty, is still to be pursued, and attempted with force, to be carried into execution. You are placed, by Providence, in a post of honor, because it is a post of danger; and while struggling for the noblest objects, the liberties of our country, the happiness of pos- terity, and rights of human nature, the eyes, not only of North America and the whole British empire, but of all Europe, are upon you. Let us be, therefore, altogether solicitous that no disorderly behavior, nothing unbecom- ing our character, as Americans, as citizens, and Christians, be justly chargeable to us. Whoever, with a small degree of attention, contemplates the commerce between Great Britain and America, will be convinced that a total stoppage thereof will soon produce, in Great Britaiii, such dangerous effects, as can- not fail to convince the ministry, the parlia- ment, and people, that it is their interest and duty to grant us relief Whoever considers the number of brave men inhabiting North Ameri- ca, well know, that a general attention to mili- tary discipline must so establish their rights and liberties as, under God, to render it impos- sible for an arbitrary minister of Britain to destroy them. These are facts, which our enemies are apprised of, and if they will not be influenced by principles of justice, to alter their cruel measures towards America, these ought to lead them thereto. They, however, hope to effect by stratagem what they may not obtain by power, and are using arts, by the assistance of base scribblers, who undoubtedly receive their bribes, and by many other means, to raise doubts and divisions throughout the colonies. To defeat their wicked designs, we think it necessary for each town to be particularly care- ful, strictly to execute the plans of the conti- nental and provincial congress ; and, while it censures its own individuals counteracting those plans, that it be not deceived, or diverted from its duty, by rumors, should any take place, to the prejudice of other communities. Your provincial congresses, we have reason to hope, will hold up the towns, if any should be so lost, as not to act their parts ; and none can doubt, that the continental congress will rectify errors, should any take place, in any colony, through the suhtilty of our enemies. Surely, no argu- ments can be necessary to excite you to the most strict adherence to the American associa- tion, since the minutest deviation in one colony, especially in this, will probably be misrepre- sented in the others, to discourage their general zeal and perseverance, which, however, we assure ourselves, cannot be effected. While the British ministrj' are suffered, with a high hand, to tyrannize over America, no part of it, we presume, can be negligent in guarding against the ravages threatened by the standing army, now in Boston ; these troops will, undoubtedly, be employed in attempts to defeat the association which our enemies can- not but fear will eventually defeat them ; and, so sanguinary are those our enemies, as we have reason to think, so thirsty for the blood of this innocent people, who are only contend- ing for their rights, that we should be guilty of the most unpardonable neglect, should we not apprise you of your danger, which appears to us imminently great, and ought attentively to be guarded against. The improvement of the militia in general, in the military art, has been therefore thought necessary, and strongly recommended by this congress. We now think, that particular care should be taken by the towns and districts in this colony, that each of the minute men, not already provided therewith, should be immediately equipped with an effective fire-arm, bayonet, pouch, knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and ball, and that they be disciplined three times a week, and oftener, as opportunity may offer. To encourage these, our worthy countrymen, to obtain the skill of complete soldiers, we recommend it to the towns, and districts, forth- with to pay their own minute men a reasonable consideration for their services; and, in case of a general muster, their further services must be recompensed by the province. An atten- tion to discipline in the militia, in general, is, however, by no means to be neglected- With the utmost cheerfulness, we assure you of our determination to stand or fall with the liberties of America ; and while we humbly im- plore the Sovereign Dispcser of all things, to whose Divine Providence the rights of his creatures cannot be indifferent, to correct the errors and alter the measures of an infatuated ministry, we cannot doubt of his support, even no PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. in the extreme difficulties which we all may have to encounter. May all means devised, for our safety, by the .general congress of America, and assemblies or conventions of the colonies, be resolutely executed, and happily succeeded ; and may this injured people be reinstated in the full exercise of their rights, without the evils and devastations of civil war. PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF MASSA- CHUSETTS, Dec. 8, 1774, RECOMMENDING MANUFAC- TURES AND HOME INDUSTRY. In Provincial Congress, Cambridge, Dec. 8, 1774. As the happiness of particular families arises, in a great degree, from their being more or less dependent upon others ; and as the less occasion they have for any article belonging to others, the more independent ; and conse- quently the happier they are : So the happi- ness of every political body of men upon earth is to be estimated, in a great measure, upon their greater or less dependence upon any other political bodies ; and from hence arises a forcible argument, why every state ought to regulate their internal policy in such a manner as to furnish themselves, within their own body, with every necessary article for subsis- tence and defence : Otherwise their political existence will depend upon others, who may take advantage of such weakness and reduce them to the lowest state of vassalage and slaver}'. For preventing so great an evil, more to be dreaded than death itself, it must be the wisdom of this colony at all times, more espe- cially at this time, when the hand of power is lashing us with the scorpions of despotism, to encourage agriculture, manufactures and econ- omy, so as to render this state as independent of every other state as the nature of our coun- try will admit. From the consideration there- of, and trusting that the virtue of the peo- ple of this colony is such, that the following resolutions of this congress, which must be productive of the greatest good, will by them be effectually carried into execution. And it is therefore resolved — 1st. That we do recommend to the people the improvement of their breed of sheep, and the greatest possible increase of the same ; and also the preferable use of our own woolen manufactures ; and to the manufacturers, that they ask only reasonable prices for their goods ; and especially a very careful sorting of the wool, so that it may be manufactured to the greatest advantage, and as much as may be, into the best goods. 2d. We do also recommend to the people the raising of hemp and flax ; and as large quantities of flax-seed, more than may be wanted for sowing, may be produced, we would also further recommend the manufac- turing the same into oil. 3d. We do likewise recommend the making of nails ; which we do apprehend must meet with the strongest encouragement from the public, and be of lasting benefit both to the manufacturer and the public. 4th. The making of steel, and the preferable use of the same, we do also recommend to the inhabitants of this colony. 5th. We do in like manner recommend the making tin-plates, as an article well worth the attention of this people. 6th. As fire-arms have been manufactured in several parts of this colony, we do recom- mend the use of such, in preference to any imported. And we do recommend the mak- ing of gun-locks, and furniture and other locks, with other articles in the iron way. 7th. We do also earnestly recommend the making of salt-petre, as an article of vast im- portance to be encouraged, as may be directed hereafter. 8th. That gun-powder is also an article of such importance, that every marT amongst us who loves his country, must wish the establish- ment of manufactories for that purpose, and, as there are the ruins of several powder mills, and sundr)' persons among us who are acquainted with that business, we do heartily recommend its encouragement, by repairing one or more of said mills, or erecting others, and renewing said business as soon as possible. 9th. That as several paper mills are now usefully employed, we do likewise recommend a preferable use of our own manufactures in this way ; and a careful saving and collecting rags, etc., and also that the manufacturers give a generous price for such rags, etc. loth. That it will be the interest, as well as the duty of this body, or of such as may suc- ceed us, to make such effectual provision for the further manufacturing of the several sorts of glass, as that the same may be carried on to the mutual benefit of the undertaker and the public, and firmly established in this colony. nth. That whereas buttons of excellent qualities and of various sorts are manufactured among us, we do earnestly recommend the general use of the same ; so that the manufac- MASSACHUSETTS. Ill tones may be extended to the advantage of the people and manufacturers. 1 2th. That whereas salt is an article of vast consumption within this colony, and in its fish- eries, we do heartily recommend the making the same, in the several ways wherein it is made in the several parts of Europe ; espe- cially in the method used in that part of France where they make bay salts. 13th. We do likewise recommend an encour- agement of horn-smiths in all their various branches, as what will be of public utility. 14th. We do likewise recommend the estab- lishment of one or more manufactories for making wool comber's combs, as an article necessar>' in our woolen manufactures. 1 5th. We do in like manner heartily recom- mend the preferable use of the stocking and other hosiery wove among ourselves, so as to enlarge the manufactories thereof, in such a manner as to encourage the manufacturer and serve the country. 1 6th. As madder is an article of great im- portance in the dyer's business, and which may be easily raised and cured among ourselves, we do therefore earnestly recommend the raising and curing the same. I7th. In order the more effectually to carry these resolutions into effect, we do earnestly recommend. That a society or societies be established for the purposes of introducing and establishing such arts and manufactures as may be useful to this people, and are not yet introduced, and the more effectually estab- hshing such as we have already among us. i8th. We do recommend to the inhabitants of this province to make use of our manufac- tures, and those of our sister colonies, in pref- erence to all other manufactures. Signed by order of the Provincial Congress, John Hancock, President. A true extract from the minutes, Benjamin Lincoln, Secretary. THE PROSCRIBED OF BOSTON, 1774. From the Boston Gazette, 1774. The following is an authentic copy of a letter which was lately thrown into the camp, with the following direction : " To the Officers and Soldiers of his Majesty's Troops in Boston. " It being more than probable that the king's standard will soon be erected, from rebellion breaking out in this province, it is proper that you, soldiers ! should be acquainted with the authors thereof, and of all the misfortunes brought upon the province ; the following is a list of them, viz : Samuel Adams James Bowdoin Dr. Thomas Young Dr. Benjamin Church Capt. John Bradford Josiah Quincy Maj. Nath'l. Barber Wm. MoUineux John Hancock William Cooper Dr. Chauncey Dr. Cooper Thomas Cushing Joseph Greenleaf and William Denning, " The friends of your king and country and of America, hope and expect it from you, soldiers, the instant rebellion happens, you will put the above persons immediately to the sword, destroy their houses, and plunder their effects : it is just that they should be the first victims to the mischief they have brought upon us. [signed] A friend to Great Britain and America. " P. S. Don't forget those trumpeters of sedition, the printers, Edes & Gill, and Thomas." LETTER From a Gentleman of the Province of Massachusetts to a Friend in Lon- don, January 21, 1775. You have, no doubt, long before this time, heard the particulars of the general congress, and that the court and the country have digested their thoughts upon them, if not adopted their consequent plans of conduct. God grant that the nation and parliament may think favorably of them, and grant the prayer of our petition to the king. — Britain and America are made to be friends ; and it is the most unnatural, detest- able quarrel between them that ever happened in the world. Britons and Americans may write or say what they will, but this quarrel never will, and never can be made up, but by restor- mg us to the stale we were in, in 1763. It is as certain as that London or Boston exist, that no other plan or scheme of policy that ever can be invented, will keep the two coun- tries together, but that which nature dictated, and which experience found useful for 150 years. It is in vain, it is delirium, it is frenzy to think of dragooning three millions of Eng- lish people out of their liberties, at the distance of 3000 miles. It is still more extravagantly wild for a nation to think of doing it, when itself is sinking down into a bottomless gulf 112 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of debt, in order to make the conquered lift her out of it. " The congress have drawn a line by the banks of the ocean. They have claimed their own exclusive jurisdiction in all interior con- cerns, and in all cases of taxation. They have left to Great Britain the exclusive sovereignty of the ocean, and over their trade. They have placed both upon constitutional principles ; and if Britons were not content with all we have but our liberty, we say as the corporation of London said to the king in 1770, ■' We call God and men to witness, that as we do not owe our liberty to those nice and subtle distinctions which pensions and lucrative employments have invented, so neither will we be deprived of it by them ; but as it was gained by the stem virtue of our ancestors, by the virtue of their descendants it shall be preser\'ed. " The congress consisted of the representa- tives of twelve colonies. Three millions of free white people were there represented. Many of the members were gentlemen of ample fortunes and eminent abilities. Neither corruption nor intrigue had any share, I be- lieve, in their elections to this service, and in their proceedings you may see the sense, the temper and principles of America, and which she will support and defend, even by force of arms, if no other means will do. " The state of this province is a great curi- osity. I wish the pen of some able historian may transmit it to posterity. Four hundred thousand people are in a state of nature, and yet as still and peaceable at present as ever they were when government was in full vigor. We have neither legislators nor magistrates, nor executive officers. We have no officers but military ones. Of these, we have a multi- tude, chosen by the people, and exercising them with more authority and spirit than ever any did who had commissions from a governor. " The town of Boston is a spectacle worthy of the attention of a deity, suffering amazing distress, yet determined to endure as much as human nature can, rather than betray America and posterity. General Gage's army is sickly, and extremely addicted to desertion. What would they be, if things were brought to ex- tremities .' Do you think such an army would march through our woods and thickets, and country villages, to cut the throats of honest people contending for liberty .' " The neighboring colonies of New-Hamp- shire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, are arm- ing and training themselves with great spirit, and if they must be driven to the last appeal, devoutly praying for the protection of heaven. " There is a spirit prevailing here, such as I never saw before. I remember the conquest of Louisburg in 1745; I remember the spirit here when the duke d'Anville's squadron was upon this coast, when forty thousand men marched down to Boston, and were mustered and numbered upon the common, complete in arms, from this province only in three weeks ; but I remember nothing like what I have seen these six months past." [Almon's Remembrancer. OCCURRENCE AT OLD SOUTH CHURCH. Boston, March 5, 1775. FROM THE BOSTON CENTINEL. Mr. Russell. — On reading in your last Wed- nesday's Centinel, an extract from Mr. Knapp's biography of Warren, it reminded me of some circumstances, not mentioned by him, which occurred at the " Old South " on the 5th of March, 1775, which was the anniversary of the massacre of several inhabitants of the town of Boston by the British troops, in 1770. Mr. Hancock had delivered an oration the preceding year on the same occasion, in the course of which he had made the following obser\'ations : — "Standing armies are sometimes (I would by no means say generally, much less univer- sally) composed of persons who have rendered themselves unfit to live in civil society ; who have no other motives of conduct than those which a desire of the present gratification of their passions suggests : who have no property in any country ; men who have lost or given up their own liberties, and envy those who en- joy liberty ; who are equally indifferent to the glory of a George or a Louis ; who for the addition of one penny a day to their wages, would desert from the Christian cross, and fight under the crescent of the Turkish sultan. From such men as these what has not a state to fear.' — With such as these usurping Caesar passed the Rubicon ; with such as these he humbled mighty Rome, and forced the mis- tress of the world to own a master in a traitor. These are the men whom sceptered robbers now employ to frustrate the designs of God, and render vain the bounties which his gra- cious hand pours indiscriminately upon his creatures. By these the miserable slaves in Turkey, Persia, and many other extensive countries, are rendered truly wretched, though MASSACHUSETTS. "3 the air is salubrious, and their soil luxuriously fertile. By these France and Spain, though blessed by nature with all that administers to the convenience of life, have been reduced to that contemptible state in which they now ap- pear ; and by these BRITAIN ! ! ! but if I was possessed of the gift of prophecy, I dare not, except by Divine command, unfold the leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful kingdom is inscribed." At that time there were no British troops in Boston ; four regiments, however, shortly after arrived, the officers of which expressed the most decided detestation of the above inserted quotation, and as Mr. Knapp says, " threatened vengeance on any orator, who should dare to repeat such sentiments." When Warren de- livered his Oration the following year, in defiance of those threats, the British army had been reinforced to nearly ten thousand men, and more than an hundred of the officers at- tended secretly artned for the purpose of taking revenge, on the utterance of any sentiment, which should be obnoxious to them. The writer of this article was standing in the broad aisle, near the upper end, and saw Capt. Chapman, of the Royal Welch Fusileers, on the lowest step of the pulpit stairs, playing ■w\\\\ three pistol bullets \n his right hand, and occasionally casting looks of contempt on the orator, but more particularly on William Cooper, esq. the town clerk, who was seated near him, directly under the pulpit. Mr. Cooper maintained a firm and undaunted countenance, and returned his looks with dis- dain. I never look back upon that scene with- out horror, in the contemplation of the danger we were then in of a much inore horrid mas- sacre than the one we were then commemora- ting. A trifle, lighter than air, would have deluged that church, in the minds of both parties, it has always been a wonder to me that the war did not commence on that day. The 47th regiment, (it was supposed by de- sign), passed the church at this time, the drums beating with redoubled force. This regiment was commanded by the infamous colonel Kesbit, who, a few days after, caused an innocent man to be tarred and feathered, and carted through the principal streets in open day, and headed the party himself ! ! ! followed by some grenadiers and the whole band of the regiment, in defiance of that laii' ■which he was ostensibly sent to protect. After the orator had made some remarks on the massacre of the 5th of March, 1770, he said — 8 " And could it have been conceived that we again should have seen a British army in our land, sent to enforce obedience to acts of par- liament destructive of our liberty.? But the royal ear, far distant from this western world, has been assaulted by the tongue of slander ; and VILLAINS, TRAITOROUS alike to KING and COUNTRY, have prevailed upon a gracious prince to clothe his countenance with wrath, and to erect the hostile banner against a peo- ple ever affectionate and loyal to him and his illustrious predecessors of the house of Han- over. Our streets are again filled with armed men ; our harbor is crowded with ships of war, but these cannot intimidate us ; our liberty must be preserved ; it is far dearer than life, we hold it even dear as our allegiance : we must defend it against the attacks of friends as well as enemies : we cannot suffer even Britons to ravish it from us." While this sentence was repeating. Captain Chapman exclaimed — FlE ! FlE ! It was at first supposed that FIRE was cried, which oc- casioned a momentary disturbance — when William Cooper rose from his chair, and with a voice truly Stentorian, vociferated that " there was no fire, but the fire of envy, burn- ing in the hearts of our enemies, which he hoped soon to see extinguished," looking with indignation on Chapman, Hawkes and other officers who were near him. I could enlarge on this subject, Mr. Russell, but as I have already extended my remarks beyond my original intentions, and I fear encroached on your patience, 1 will subscribe myself. An Old Bostonian. BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, April 19, 1775. Billerica, Mass. i6th June, 1819. Sir — From having lately seen some notice in the papers, of your wish to obtain the names of those who destroyed the tea in Boston harbor, in December, 1773,* I was led to believe that the names of those patriotic citizens, who fell in the defence of their just privileges, on the nineteenth of April, 1775, might be also acceptable and as worthy of being perpetuated. As they were the first who fell in the revolutionary contest — as they fell not in the act of desolating an unoffending * See tlie letter of president .\dams to H. Niles, May 10 \%\q~\Veekly Register, vol. XV, p- 336. 114 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. country and in multiplying the miseries of their fellow men, to gain laurels — but in resisting the ravages of an invading enemy, they are entitled to grateful recollection, to honorable distinction. I have, therefore, enclosed you a list of the names of those who were killed on that memorable day. It has been principally collected from a narrative of the excursion and ravages of the king's troops, under the com- mand of general Gage on the 19th April, 1775, to which I have added a few notes, which are derived from other authentic sources. With sentiments of respect, your most obe- dient servant, JOHN Farmer. To H. NiLES. A List of the Prmiincials who were killed in the Action of the \')th April, 1775, and the Towns to which they respectively belonged. Acton. — Capt. Isaac Davis, Abner Hosman, James Hayward. Bedford. — Capt. Jonathan Wilson. Beverly. — Mr. Kynnim. Brookline. — Isaac Gardner,* esq. Cambridge. — William Mercy, Moses Rich- ardson, John Hicks, Jason Russell, Jabez Wy- man and Jason Winship. Charlestown. — James Miller,t Edward Bar- ber.t Danvers. — Henry Jacobs, Samuel Cook, Eb- enezer Goldthwait, George Southwick, Benja- min Daland, jun. Jotham Webb, and Perly Putnam. Dedham. — Elias Haven. Le.vington. — Jonas Parker, Robert Monroe, Jedidiah Monroe, John Raymond, Samuel Had- ley, Jonathan Harrington, jun. Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, Nathaniel Wyman, and John Brown. II Lynn. — Abednego Ramsdell, Daniel Town- sond, William Flynt and Thomas Hadley. Medford. — Henry Putnam and William Polley. Needham. — Lieut. John Bacon, Sergeant Elisha Mills, Amos Mills, Nathaniel Chamber- lain, Jonathan Parker. Salem. — Benjamin Pierce. * He had volunteered his services, and was killed on the return of the troops to Boston. He was born at Brookline, 9th May, 1736, and graduated at Harvard college in 1747. " In his domestic, social, civil and religious capacity he was equally beloved and respected. The ineiancholy circumstance of his death excited great public sensibility as well as private lamentation and regret." Rev. Mr. Pierce's Hist. Brookline. t James Millei was 66 years of age. J Aged 16, son of capt. William Barber of Charlestown. \ A monument is erected in Lexington to the memory of the eight first, who fell on the morning of the 19th Sudbury. Josiah Haynes,* Asahel Reed. Wateriown. — Joseph Cooledge. VVoburn. — Asa Parker and Daniel Thomp- son. All who were killed belonged to Massa- chusetts. The Americans had 49 killed 34 wounded 4 missing 87 Total. The British loss in killed, wounded and miss- ing was 273. REMINISCENCES RELATING TO THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. Effect of the news of the Battle of Lexington on the Colonists. The people of " the good old thirteen states," though they had made up their minds to suf- fering and endurance, did not enter on the con- tests for their rights and liberties in a hasty and unadvised manner ; they had counted the cost, and, although determined to sacrifice all that they held dear, rather than to crouch as slaves, yet they shuddered at being forced upon that extremity. The intelligence of the battle of Lexington, the first blood that was drawn in the quarrel, was received with the deepest regret ; in Philadelphia the bells were muffled, and an expression of horror and gloom covered the countenances of all its citizens. Offensive Treatment of the Citizens OF Boston by the British Authori- ties after the Battle of Lexington. There are very few of the present generation, who have any idea of the humiliation to which their ancestors were subjected, while under a colonial government, from the contumely and insolence of upstart officers, who, in their own country, had been as servile as the spaniel, but on their arrival here, aped the port and au- thority of the lion. Not only humiliations, but other severe sufferings and privations were endured by them, with patience and fortitude, and with a moral rectitude, which would have done honor to Greece or Rome, in their most virtuous days. After the battle of Lexington, the egress of a part of the inhabitants of Boston was prohibited by a breach of faith on the part of Gen. Gage, and those who were permitted to depart, were * Mr. Haynes was an officer of the church. MASSACHUSETTS. "S obliged to obtain passports, as mentioned in my last communication. It was not until the fifth of June that my father became determined to leave the town. On that day he directed me to make out a schedule of the family, agreeably to the rules instituted by general Gage, and demand a pass of major Cain, of the army, who was empow- ered to perform that semce. Such was the crowd of citizens, eagerly pressing to obtain passports, that it was not until several hours of exertion that I was enabled to reach the door of the major's apartment, and when it was opened, I was so forcibly urged on by the crowd behind, that, on entering the chamber, I lost my balance, which caused me to rush violently into the room, and though he must have perceived that the act was involuntary, yet he had the brutality to exclaim (in broad Scotch) " hoot, hoot mon ! are you going to murder me .' " I was obliged to bear this in- solence in silence, though my countenance must have exhibited marks of indignation, and I walked to a window which looked into the court yard, where my feelings were still more excited by a view of my fellow citizens, who, with countenances almost bordering on despair, were waiting for a favorable moment to obtain admission. The first reflection which pre- sented itself to my mind was, what must be the indignation of our king, if he knew how his faithful, loyal, and affectionate subjects, were abused, insulted, and driven into acts of reluctant resistance. Which brought to my recollection a part of Warren's oration, on the preceding 5th of March, in which he observes, that " The royal ear, far distant from this ivestern world, has been assaulted by the tontine of slander, and villains, traitorous alike to king and country, have prevailed upon a gra- cious prince to clothe his countenance with wrath." Even then a reconciliation was fondly hoped for by many of the most strenuous asser- tors of the rights of the colonies, although blood had been shed at Lexington ; and even after the battle of Bunker's Hill, the congress presented an humble petition to the king, and an affectionate address to their fellow subjects in England, in which, (with much feeling), they say, " We have not yet learnt to rejoice at a victory obtained over Englishmen," and humbly entreated that their grievances might be re- dressed. Ardent hopes were entertained that these conciliatory and loyal measures, would induce the king to change his ministers, and take to his councils a Chatham, a Cambden, and a Rockingham. Most fortunately, how- ever, for the eventual prosperity and happiness of America, they pursued their mad schemes of burning our towns, hiring the savages of the wilderness and foreign mercenaries, to spread death and desolation through the land, which finally weaned us from our fond attachment to an ungrateful and cruel mother, and, on the glorious 4th of July, 1776, we passed the Rubi- con ! ! — Never ! never ! never ! to return again under her subjection, but to establish a govern- ment of our own, founded on the principles of justice and equal laws, the influence of whose example, we hope, will eventually emancipate the world from tyranny and despotism. Amer- ica ! recollect the awful and solemn responsi- bility which reposes on your conduct. " Contemplate well ; and if perchance thy home " Salute thee with a father's honored name, " Go call thy sons — instruct them what a DEBT " They owe their ancestors, and make them swear " To pay it, by transmitting down intire " Those sacred rights, to which themselves were born." But to return to the object of my communi- cation — after waiting nearly an hour the major accosted me with, " Well, young man, what do you want ? " I handed him a schedule of my father's family, including that of his sister's (the widow of a clerg)'man). He examined a small book which contained what the tories called the " black list," when slowly raising his scowl- ing eyes, he said with great asperity, " Your father, young man, is a damn'd rebel, and cannot be accommodated with a pass." Not at all intimidated by his brutality, I asserted with much vehemence, that my father was no rebel, that he adored the illustrious house of Han- over, and had fought for good king George the 2d, in forty-five. Whether it was, that he himself had been a real rebel in Scotland, in 1745, or whether my mentioning that number reminded him of Wilkes' North Briton No. 45, a paper published in London, and peculiarly obnoxious to the house of Hanover, was intended as an insinuation against his own loyalty, (which it really was), — whatever may have been the cause of his irritation — the moment I had finished speaking he rose from his chair, and with a countenance foaming with rage, he ordered me out of the room with abusive lan- guage. The sentinel at the door had an Eng- lish countenance, and, with apparent sympathy, very civilly opened it for my departure, which I made without turning my back on my adversary'. On mquiry it was afterwards ascertained, that what constituted the crime of my father and caused him to be denominated a rebel, was his having been a member of the Whig club ! The Whig club, in consequence of the per- ii6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUl ON. turbed state of the times, had not assembled or met for more than a year. The gentlemen that had composed it, were James Otis, Dr. War- ren, Dr. Church, Dr. Young, Richard Derby, of Salem, Benjamin Kent, Nathaniel Barber, William Mackay, Col. Bigelow, of Worcester, and about half a dozen more. Through the in- strumentality of my lather, 1 was sometimes admitted to hear their deliberations. There was always at each meeting, a speech or dis- sertation by one of the members, on the princi- ples of civil liberty, and the British constitution. They professed loyalty to the king, but were in violent opposition to the encroachments of the parliament, and their discussions tended to a consideration of what would be the duty of Americans if those encroachments were con- tinued. For this purpose they corresponded with some society in London, the name of which I have forgotten, (probably the Revolu- tion society). Among the names of their cor- respondents I recollect, Wilkes, Saville, Barre and Sawbridge. A few years previous to the revolution, they sent the London society two green turtle, one of which weighed 45 and the other 92 pounds. Those who are acquainted with the history of those times, will easily understand to what those numbers alluded. On their arrival in London, a grand dinner was prepared, at which Col. Barre presided, and among other distinguished guests I recollect hearing the names of earl Temple, lord Camb- den, and the lord mayor ; and among the toasts," The Whig club of Boston," and " The ninety-two patriots of Massachusetts Bay," were drank with three times three cheers. Female Patriotism. — Battle of Lexing- ton. The MS. of the following interesting letter was politely forwarded to us by a gentleman of Baltimore, and was found among some old papers of a distinguished lady of Philadelphia. — It is a copy of a letter from a lady of Philadel- phia to a British officer at Boston, written immediately after the battle of Lexington, and previous to the declaration of independence. — It fully exhibits the feelings of those times. — A finer spirit never animated the breasts of the Roman matrons, than the following letter breathes : Sir — We received a letter from you — where- in you let Mr. S. know that you had written after the battle of Lexington, particularly to me — knowing my martial spirit — that I would delight to read the exploits of heroes. Surely, my friend, you must mean the New England heroes, as they alone performed exploits worthy fame — while the regulars, vastly superior in numbers, were obliged to retreat with a rapidi- ty unequalled, except by the French at the battle of Minden. Indeed, general Gage gives them their due praise in his letter home, where he says lord Percy was remarkable for his actinty. You will not, I hope, take offence at any expression that, in the warmth of my heart, should escape me, when I assure you, that though we consider you as a public enemy, we regard you as a private friend ; and while we detest the cause you are fighting for, we wish well to your own personal interest and safety. Thus far by way of apology. As to the martial spirit you suppose me to possess, you are greatly mistaken. I tremble at the thoughts of war ; but of all wars, a civil one : our all is at stake ; and we are called upon by every tie that is dear and sacred to exert the spirit that Heaven has given us in this righteous struggle for liberty. I will tell you what I have done. My only brother I have sent to the camp with my prayers and blessings ; I hope he will not dis- grace me ; I am confident he will behave with honor, and emulate the great examples he has before him ; and had I twenty sons and brothers they should go. I have re- trenched every superfluous expense in my table and family ; tea 1 have not drank since last Christmas, nor bought a new cap or gown since your defeat at Lexington, and what I never did before, have learnt to knit, and am now making stockings of American wool for my servants, and this way do I throw in my mite to the public good. I know this, that as free I can die but once, but as a slave I shall not be worthy of life. I have the pleasure to assure you that these are the sentiments of all my sister Americans. They have sacrificed both assemblies, parties of pleasure, tea drink- ing and finery to that great spirit of patriotism, that actuates all ranks and degrees of people throughout this e.xtensive continent. If these are the sentiments of females, what must glow in the breasts of our husbands, brothers and sons.' They are as with one heart determined to die or be free. It is not a quibble in politics, a science which few understand, which we are contending for; it is this plain truth, which the most ignorant peasant knows, and is clear to the weakest capacity, that no man has a right to take their money without their consent. The supposition is ridiculous and absurd, as none but highwaymen and robbers attempt it. Can you, my friend, reconcile it with your own MASSACHUSETTS. "7 good sense, that a body of men in Great Britain, who have little intercourse with Amer- ica, and of course linow nothing of us, nor are supposed to see or feel the misery they would inflict upon us, shall invest themselves with a power to command our lives and properties, at all times and in all cases whatsoever? You say you are no politician. Oh, sir, it requires no Machiavelian head to develop this, and to discover this tyranny and oppression. It is written with a sun beam. Every one will see and know it because it will make them feel, and we shall be unworthy of the blessings of Heaven, if we ever submit to it. All ranks of men amongst us are in arms. — Nothing is heard now in our streets but the trumpet and drum ; and the universal cry is "Americans to arms." All your friends are officers : there are captain S. D., lieut. B. and captain J. S. We have five regiments in the city and county of Philadelphia, complete in arms and uniform, and very expert at their mili- tary manoeuvres. We have companies of light- horse, light infantry, grenadiers, riflemen, and Indians, several companies of artillery, and some excellent brass cannon and field pieces. Add to this, that every county in Pennsylvania, and the Delaware government, can send two thousand men to the field. Heaven seems to smile on us, for in the memory of man never were known such quantities of flax, and sheep without number. — We are making powder fast, and do not want for ammunition. In short, we want for nothing but ships of war to defend us, which we could procure by making alli- ances : but such is our attachment to Great Britain, that we sincerely wish for reconcilia- tion, and cannot bear the thoughts of throwing off all dependence on her, which such a step would assuredly lead to. The God of mercy will, I hope, open the eyes of our king that he may see, while in seeking our destruction, he will go near to complete his own. It is my ardent prayer that the effusion of blood may be stopped. We hope yet to see you in this city, a friend to the liberties of America, which will give infinite satisfaction to. Your sincere friend, C. S. To Captain S., in Boston. Address OF Provincial Congress of Mas- SACHUSEITS, To the Inhabitants of Great Britain. Watertown, April 26th, 1775. Friends and Fellow Subjects — Hostilities are at length commenced in this colony by the troops under the command of General Gage, and it being of the greatest importance, that an early, true, and authentic account of this inhu- man proceeding should be known to you, the congress of this colony have transmitted the same, and from want of a session of the hon. continental congress, think it proper to address you on the alarming occasion. By the clearest depositions relative to this transaction, it will appear that on the night preceding the nineteenth of April instant, a body of the king's troops, under command of colonel Smith, were secretly landed at Cam- bridge, with an apparent design to take or destroy the military and other stores, provided for this colony, and deposited at Concord — that some inhabitants of the colony, on the night aforesaid, whilst travelling peaceably on the road, between Boston and Concord, were seized and greatly abused by armed men, who ap- peared to be officers of General Gage's army ; that the town of Lexington, by these means, was alarmed, and a company of the inhabi- tants mustered on the occasion — that the reg- ular troops on their way to Concord, marched into the said town of Lexington, and the said company, on their approach, began to disperse — that, notwithstanding this, the regulars rushed on with great violence and first began hostilities, by firing on said Lexington com- pany, whereby they killed eight, and wounded several others — that the regulars continued their fire, until those of said company, who were neither killed nor wounded, had made their escape — that colonel Smith, with the de- tachment then marched to Concord, where a number of provincials were again fired on by the troops, two of them killed and several wounded, before the provincials fired on them, and that these hostile measures of the troops, produced an engagement that lasted through the day, in which many of the provincials and more of the regular troops were killed and wounded. To give a particular account of the ravages of the troops, as they retreated from Concord to Charlestown, would be very difficult, if not impracticable ; let it suffice to say, that a great number of the houses on the road were plun- dered and rendered unfit for use, several were burnt, women in child-bed were driven by the soldiery naked into the streets, old men peace- ably in their houses were shot dead, and such scenes exhibited as would disgrace the annals of the most uncivilized nation. These, brethren, are marks of ministerial vengeance against this colony, for refusing, with her sister colonies, a submission to sla- ii8 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. very ; but they have not yet detached us from our royal sovereign. We profess to be his loyal and dutiful subjects, and so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready, with our hves and fortunes, to defend his person, family, crown and dignity. Nevertheless, to the per- secution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit — appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free. We cannot think that the honor, wisdom and valor of Britons will suffer them to be longer inactive spectators of measures in which they themselves are so deeply interested — measures, pursued in opposition to the solemn protests of many noble lords, and expressed sense of conspicuous commoners, whose knowl- edge and virtue have long characterized them as some of the greatest men in the nation — measures, executed contrary to the interest, petitions and resolves of many large, respecta- ble and opulent counties, cities and boroughs in Great Britain — measures highly incompatible with justice, but still pursued with a specious pretence of easing the nation of its burthens — measures which, if successful, must end in the ruin and slaver)- of Britain, as well as the per- secuted American colonies. We sincerely hope that the Great Sovereign of the universe, who hath so often appeared for the English nation, will support you in every rational and manly exertion with these colonies, for saving it from ruin, and that, in a constitutional connection with the mother country, we shall soon be altogether a free and happy people. By order, Joseph Warren, President P. T. Resolutions of the Provincial Con- gress OF Massachusetts deposing Gen- eral Gage. Watertown, May 5, 1775. Whereas his excellency, general Gage, since his arrival in this colony, hath conducted, as an instrument in the hands of an arbitrary ministry, to enslave this people ; and a detach- ment of the troops under his command, has of late been by him ordered to the town of Con- cord, to destroy the public stores, deposited in that place for the use of that colony : and whereas, by this clandestine and perfidious measure, a number of respectable inhabitants of this colony, without any provocation given by them, have been illegally, wantonly, and inhumanly slaughtered by his troops : Therefore, resolved, that the said general Gage hath, by these and many other means, utterly disqualified himself to serve to this colony as a governor, and in every capacity ; and that no obedience ought, in future, to be paid by the several towns and districts in this colony, to his writs for calling an assembly, or to his proclamations, or any other of his acts or doings ; but that, on the other hand, he ought to be considered and guarded against, as an unnatural and inveterate enemy to the country. Joseph Warren, President P. T. CORRESPONDENCE Between Gen. Lee, Continental army, and Gen. J. BurgOYNE of the British forces, Boston, Mass. General Lee to Gen. Burgoyne upon his arrival in Boston. Philadelphia, June 7, 1775. My Dear Sir — We have had twenty different accounts of your arrival at Boston, which have been regularly contradicted the next morning ; but as I now find it certain that you are ar- rived, I shall not delay a single instant address- ing myself to you. It is a duty I owe to the friendship I have long and sincerely professed for you ; a friendship to which you have the strongest claim from the first moments of our acquaintance. There is no man from whom I have received so many testimonies of esteem and affection : there is no man whose esteem and affection could in my opinion, have done me greater honor. I entreat and conjure you, therefore, my dear sir, to impute these few lines not to a petulant itch of scribbling, but to the most unfeigned solicitude for the future tran- quillity of your mind, and for your reputation, I sincerely lament the infatuation of the times, when men of such a stamp as Mr. Burgoyne and Mr. Howe, can be seduced into so impious and nefarious a service by the artifice of a wicked and insidious court and cabinet. You, sir, must be sensible that these epithets are not unjustly severe. You have yourself expe- rienced the wickedness and treachery of this court and cabinet. You cannot but recollect their manoeuvres in your own select committee, and the treatment yourself, as president, re- ceived from these abandoned men. You can- not but recollect the black business of St. Vincent's by an opposition to which you acquired the highest and most deserved honor. I shall not trouble you with my opinion of the right of taxing America without her own con- MASSACHUSETTS. 119 sent, as I am afraid, from what I have seen of your speeches, that you have already formed your creed on this article ; but I will boldly affirm, had this right been established by a thousand statutes, had America admitted it from time immemorial, it would be the duty of every good Englishman, to exert his utmost to divest parliament of this right, as it must inevi- tably work the subversion of the whole empire. The malady under which the state labors is indisputably derived from the inadequate repre- sentation of the subject, and the vast pecuniary influence of the crown. To add to this pecu- niary influence and incompetency of represen- tation, is to insure and precipitate our destruc- tion. To wish any addition, can scarcely enter the heart of a citizen, who has the least spark of public virtue, and who is at the same time capable of seeing consequences the most im- mediate. I appeal, sir, to your own conscience, to your experience and knowledge of our court and parliament, and I request you to lay your hand upon your heart, and then answer with your usual integrity and frankness, whether, on the supposition America should be abject enough to submit to the terms imposed, you think a single guinea, raised upon her, would be applied to the purpose (as it is ostentatiously held out to deceive the people at home) of easing the mother country .' or whether you are not convinced that the whole they could extract would be applied solely to heap up still further the enormous fund for corruption, which the crown already possesses, and of which a most diabolical use is made. On these principles I say, sir, every good Englishman, abstracted of all regard for America, must oppose her being taxed by the British parlia- ment ; for my own part, I am convinced that no argument (not totally abhorrent from the spirit of liberty and the British constitution) can be produced in support of this right. But it will be impertinent to trouble you upon a subject which has been so amply, and in my opinion, so fully discussed. I find by a speech given as yours in the public papers, that it was by the king's positive command you embarked in this service. I am somewhat pleased that it is not an office of your own seeking, though, at the same time, I must confess that it is very alarming to every virtuous citizen, when he sees men of sense and integrity, (because of a certain profession) lay it down as a rule im- plicitly to obey the mandates of a court, be they ever so flagitious. It furnishes, in my opinion, the best arguments for the total reduc- tion of the army. But I am running into a tedious essay, whereas I ought to confine my- self to the main design and purpose of this letter, which is to guard you and your col- leag^jes from those prejudices which the same miscreants, who have infatuated general Gage and still surround him, will labor to instil into you against a brave, loyal and most deserving people. The avenues of truth will be shut up to you. I assert, sir, that even general Gage will deceive you as he has deceived himself ; I do not say he will do it designedly. I do not think him capable ; but his mind is totally poi- soned, and his understanding so totally blinded by the society of fools and knaves, that he no longer is capable of discerning facts as manifest as the noon day sun. I assert, sir, that he is ignorant, that he has from the beginning been consummately ignorant of the principles, tem- per, disposition and force of the colonies. I assert, sir, that his letters to the ministry, (at least such as the public have seen) are one continued tissue of misrepresentation, injustice, and tortured inferences from misstated facts. I affirm, sir, that he has taken no pains to inform himself of the truth ; that he has never conversed with a man who has had the cour- age or honesty to tell him the truth — I am apprehensive that you and your colleagues may fall into the same trap, and it is the appre- hension that you may be inconsiderately hur- ried by the vigor and activity you possess, into measures which may be fatal to many innocent individuals, may hereafter wound your own feelings, and which cannot possibly serve the cause of those who sent you, that has pro- moted me to address these lines to you. I most devoutly wish, that your industry, valor and military talents, may be reserv-ed for a more honorable and \'irtuous service against the natural enemies of your country, (to whom our court are so basely complaisant) and not be wasted in ineffectual attempts to reduce to the wretchedest state of servitude, the most meritorious part of your fellow subiects. I say, sir, that any attempts to accomplish this purpose, must be ineffectual. You cannot pos- sibly succeed. No man is better acquainted with the state of this continent than myself I have run through almost the whole colonies, from the North to the South, and from the South to the North. I have conversed with all orders of men. from the first estated gentlemen, to the lowest planters and farmers, and can assure you, that the same spirit animates the whole. Not less than an hundred and fifty thousand gentlemen, yeomen and farmers, are now in arms, determined to presene their liberties or perish. — As to the idea that the Americans are deficient in courage, it is too ridiculous and I20 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. glaringly false to deserve a serious refutation. 1 never could conceive upon what this notion was founded. 1 served several cam- paigns in America the last war, and cannot recollect a single instance of ill behavior in the provincials, where the regulars acquitted them- selves well. Indeed we well remember some instances of the reverse, particulariy where the late colonel Grant, (he who lately pledged himself for the general cowardice of America) ran away with a large body of his own regi- ment, and was saved from destruction by the yalor of a few Virginians. Such preposterous arguments are only proper for the Rgibys and Sandwichs, from whose mouths never issued, and to whose breasts, truth and decency are utter strangers. You will much oblige me in communicating this letter to general Howe, to whom I could wish it should be considered in some measure addressed, as well as to your- self. Mr. Howe is a man for whom I have ever had the highest love and reverence. I have honored him for his own connections, but above all for his admirable talents and good qualities. I have courted his acquaintance and friendship, not only as a pleasure, but as an ornament ; I flattered myself that I had ob- tained it. — Gracious God ! is it possible that Mr. Howe should be prevailed upon to accept of such an office ? That the brother of him, to whose memory the much injured people of Boston erected a monument, should be em- ployed as one of the instruments of their destruction ! — But the fashion of the times it seems is such, as renders it impossible that he should avoid it. The commands of our most gracious sovereign, are to cancel all moral obligations, to sanctify every action, even those that the satrap of an eastern despot would start at. — I shall now beg leave to say a few words with respect to myself and the part 1 act. — I was bred up from my infancy in the highest veneration for the liberties of mankind in general. What I have seen of courts and princes convince me, that power cannot be lodged in worse hands than in theirs ; and of all courts I am persuaded that ours is the most corrupt and hostile to the rights of humanity. I am convinced that a regular plan has been laid (indeed every act, since the present accession, evinces it) to abolish even the shadow of liberty from amongst us. It was not the demolition of the tea, it was not any other particular act of the Bostonians, or of the other provinces which constituted their crimes. But it is the noble spirit of liberty manifestly perv-ading the whole continent, which has rendered them the objects of ministerial and royal vengeance. — Had they been notoriously of another disposi- tion, had they been ho7nines ad servitudinen, paratos, they might have made as free with the property of the East-India company as the felonious North himself with impunity. But the lords of St. James', and their mercenaries of St. Stephen's, will know that, as long as the free spirit of this great continent remains un- subdued, the progress they can make in their scheme of universal despotism, will be but trifling. Hence it is, that they wage inexpia- ble war against America. In short, this is the last asylum of persecuted liberty. — Here, should the machinations and fury of her enemies prevail, that bright goddess must fly off from the face of the earth, and leave not a trace behind. These, sir, are my principles ; this is my persuasion, and consequentially I am deter- mined to act. I have now, sir, only to entreat that whatever measures you pursue, whether those which your real friends (myself amongst them) would wish, or unfortunately those which our accursed niisrulers shall dictate, you will still believe me to be, personally, with the greatest sincerity and affection. Yours, &c. C. Lee. General Burgoyne, in answer to Gene- ral Lee. Boston, Jufy 9, 1775. Dear Sir — When we were last together in service, I should not have thought it within the vicissitude of human affairs that we should meet at any time, or in any sense as foes ; the letter you have honored me with, and my own feelings combine to prove we are still far from being personally such. I claim no merit from the attentions you so kindly remember, but as they manifest how much it was my pride to be known for your friend. Nor have I departed from the duties of that character, when I will not scruple to say, it has been almost general offence to maintain it : I mean since the violent part you have taken in the commotions of the colonies. It would exceed the limits and propriety of our present correspondence to argue at full, the great cause in which we are engaged. But anxious to preserve a consistent and ingenuous character, and jealous, I confess, of having the part I sustain imputed to such motives as you intimate, I will state to you as concisely as I can, the principles upon which, not voluntarily, but most conscientiously, I undertook it. 1 have, like you, entertained from my infancy a veneration for public liberty. I have like- wise regarded the British constitution as the best safeguard of that blessing, to be found ir MASSACHUSETTS. 121 the history of mankind. The vital principle of the constitution, in which it moves and has its being, is the supremacy of the king in parlia- ment; a compound, indefinite, indefeasible power, coeval with the origin of the empire, and coextensive over all its parts — I am no stranger to the doctrines of Mr. Locke and other of the best advocates for the rights of mankind, upon the compact always implied between the governing and governed, and the right of resistance in the latter, when the com- pact shall be so violated as to leave no other means of redress. I look with reverence, almost amounting to idolatry-, upon those im- mortal whigs who adopted and applied such doctrine during part of the reign of Charles the 1st, and in that of James the lid. — Should cor- ruption pervade the three estates of the realm, so as to pervert the great ends of their institu- tion, and make the power, vested in them for the good of the whole people, operate like an abuse of the prerogative of the crown, to general oppression, I am ready to acknowledge, that the same doctrine of resistance applies as forcibly against the abuses of the collective body of power, as against those of the crown, or either of the component branches sepa- rately : still always understood that no other means of redress can be obtained. — A case, I contend, much more difficult to suppose when it relates to the whole than when it relates to parts. But in all cases that have existed, or can be conceived, I hold that resistance, to be justifiable, must be directed against the usurpation or undue e-xercise of power, and that it is most criminal when directed against any power itself inherent in the constitution. And here you will discern immediately why I drew a line in the allusion I made above to the reign of Charles the first. Towards the close of it the true principle of resistance was changed, and a new system of government projected accordingly. The patriots, previous to the long parliament and during great part of it, as well as the glorious revolutionists of 1688, resisted to vindicate and restore the con- stitution ; the republicans resisted to subvert it. Now, sir, lay your hand upon your heart, as you have enjoined me to do on mine, and tell me, to which of these purposes do the proceed- ings of America tend ? Is it the weight of taxes imposed, and the impossibility of relief, after due representation of her burthens, that has induced her to take arms ? Or is it a denial of the legislative right of Great Britain to impose them, and consequently a struggle for total independency ? — For the idea of a power that can tax externally and not internally, and all the sophistry that attends it, though it may catch the weakness and prejudices of the multitude, in a speech or a pamphlet, is too preposterous to weigh seriously with a man of your understanding, and I am persuaded you will admit the question fairly put. It is then for a relief from taxes — or from the control of parliament, " in all cases whatso- ever," that we are in war ? If for the former the quarrel is at an end — There is not a man of sense and information in America, who does not see it is in the power of the colonies to obtain a relinquishment of the exercise of taxa- tion immediately and forever. — I boldly assert it, because sense and information must also suggest to every man, that it can never be the interest of Britain to make a second trial. But if the other ground is taken, and it is in- tended to wrest from Great Britain, a link of that substantial, and I hope perpetual chain, by which the empire holds — think it not a minis- terial mandate ; think it not mere professional ardor ; think it not prejudice against any part of our fellow subjects, that induces men of integrity, and among such you have done me the honor to class me, to act with vigor : — But be assured it is conviction that the whole of our political system depends upon preser\ing entire its great and essential parts, and none is so great and essential as the supremacy of legisla- tion — It is conviction that as a king of Eng- land never appears in so glorious a capacity as when he employs the executive power of the state to maintain the laws, so in the present exertions of that power, his majesty is partic- ularly entitled to our zeal and grateful obedi- ence, not only as a soldiers but as citizens. These principles, depend upon it, actuate the army and fleet throughout. And let me, at the same time add, there are few, if any, gentlemen among us who would have drawn his sword in the cause of slaver)'. But, why do I confine myself to the fleet and army : I affirm the sentiments I here touched, to be those of the great bulk of the nation. I appeal even to those trading towns which are suffer- ers by the dispute, and the city of London at the head of them, notwithstanding the peti- tions and remonstrances that the arts of parties and factions have extorted from some indi- viduals ; and last, because least in your favor, I appeal to the majorities of the last year upon American questions in parliament. The most licentious news writer wants assurance to call these majorities ministerial; much less will you, when you impartially examine the characters of which they were in a great degree composed — men of the most independent principles and 122 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. fortunes, and many of them professedly in op- position in their general line of conduct. Among other supporters of British rights against American claims, I will not speak positively, but I firmly believe, I may name the men of whose integrity and judgment you have the highest opinion, and whose friendship is nearest your heart : I mean lord Thanet, from whom my aid de camp has a letter for you, with another from Sir C. Davers. I do not enclose them, because the writers, little imagining how difficult your conduct would render our intercourse, desired they might be delivered into your own hands. For this purpose, as well as to renew " the rights of our fellowship," I wish to see you ; and above all I should think an interview happy if it induced such explanations as might tend in their consequences to peace. I feel, in common with all around me, for the unhappy deluded bulk of this country — they foresee not the distress that is impending. I know Great Britain is ready to open her arms upon the first reasonable overtures of accommodation ; I know she is equally resolute to maintain her original rights : and I also know, that if the war proceeds, your hundred and fifty thousand men will be no match for her power. I put my honor to these assertions, as you have done to others, and I claim the credit I am willing to give. The place I would propose for our meeting is the house on Boston Neck, just within our advanced sentries, called Brown's house. I will obtain authority to give you my parole of honor for your secure return : I shall expect the same on your part, that no insult be offered to me. If the proposal is agreeable to you, name your day and hour — And, at all events, accept a sincere return of the assurances you honor me with, and believe me affectionately yours, J. BURGOYNE. P. S. I have been prevented by business answering your letter sooner. — I obeyed your commands in regard to general Howe and Clinton ; and I likewise communicated to lord Percy the contents of your letter and my an- swer. — They all join with me in compliments, and authorize me to assure you they do the same in principles. General Lee's answer to General Bur- goyne's Letter. Cambridge, Head- Quarters, Jiilyw, 1775. General Lee's compliments to General BuR- GOYNE. — Would be extremely happy in the in- terview he so kindly proposed. But as he perceives that General Burgoyne has already made up his mind on this great subject ; and that it is impossible that he [Gen. Lee] should ever alter his opinion, he is apprehensive that the interview might create those jealousies and suspicions, so natural to a people struggling in the dearest of all causes, that of their liberty, property, wives, children and their future generations. He must, therefore, defer the happiness of embracing a man whom he most sincerely loves until the subversions of the present tyrannical ministry and system, which he is persuaded must be in a few months, as he knows Great Britain cannot stand the con- test. — He begs General Burgoyne will send the letters which his aid de camp has for him. If Gardiner is his aid de camp, he desires his love to him. PROCLAMATION OF GOV. THOMAS GAGE, OF Mass. June 12, 1775. REVOLUTIONARY DOCUMENT. We have recently procured a copy of the instrument by which GAGE, in 1775, proclaimed a pardon to all Americans who should "lay down their arms and retnrn to their duty," with the exception of SAMUEL ADAMS and JOHN HANCOCK. We find by the introduc- tion, that it was published by the Whigs, from the British original. It is in the hand-bill form, and we believe it has never before appeared in a newspaper. — Ed. Boston Patriot. Cambridge, June 14, 1775. The following is a copy of an infamous thing handed about here yesterday, and now re- printed to satisfy the curiosity of the public. As it is replete with consummate impudence, the most abominable lies, and stuffed with daring expressions of tyranny, as well as re- bellion against the established constitution! authority of the AMERICAN STATES, no one will hesitate in pronouncing it to be the genuine production of that perfidious, petty tyrant, Thomas Gage. BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE HON. THOMAS GAGE, ESQ Governor and commander in chief in and over his majesty's Province of Massachusetts- Bay, and vice-admiral of the same. A PROCLAMATION. ■Whereas the infatuated multitudes, who have long suffered themselves to be conducted by certain well-known incendiaries and traitors, MASSACHUSETTS. 123 in a fatal progression of crimes, against the constitutional authority of the state, have at length proceeded to avowed rebellion ; and the good effects which were expected to arise from the patience and lenity of the king's govern- ment, have been often frustrated, and are now rendered hopeless, by the influence of the same evil counsels ; it only remains for those who are entrusted with supreme rule, as well for the punishment of the guilty, as the protection of the well affected, to prove they do not bear the sword in vain. The infringements which have been com- mitted upon the most sacred rights of the crown and people of Great Britain, are too many to enumerate on one side, and are too atrocious to be palliated on the other. All unprejudiced people who have been witnesses of the late transactions, in this and neighboring provinces, will find, upon a transient review, marks of premeditation and conspiracy that would jus- tify the fullness of chastisement : And even those who are least acquainted with facts, can- not fail to receive a just impression of their enormity, in proportion as they discover the arts and assiduity by which they have been falsified or concealed. The authors of the present unnatural revolt, never daring to trust their cause or their actions to the judgment of an impartial public, or even to the dispassionate reflection of their followers, have uniformly placed their chief confidence in the suppression of truth : And while indefatigable and shame- less pains have been taken to obstruct every appeal to the real interest of the people of America, the grossest forgeries, calumnies and absurdities that ever insulted human under- standing, have been imposed upon their credu- lity. The press, that distinguished appendage of public liberty, and when fairly and impar- tiafly employed, its best support, has been invariably prostituted to the most contrary' purposes : the animated language of ancient and virtuous times, calculated to vindicate and promote the just rights and interests of man- kind, have been applied to countenance the most abandoned violation of those sacred bles- sings ; and not only from the flagitious prints, but from the popular harangues of the times, men have been taught to depend upon activity in treason for the security of their persons and properties ; till, to complete the horrible profa- nation of terms and of ideas, the name of GoD has been introduced in the pulpits to excite and justify devastation and massacre. The minds of men having been thus gradu- ally prepared for the worst extremities, a num- ber of armed persons, to the amount of many thousands, assembled on the 19th of April last, and from behind walls and lurking holes, at- tacked a detachment of the king's troops who, not expecting so consummate an act of frenzy, unprepared for vengeance and willing to decline it, made use of their arms only in their own defence. Since that period the rebels, deriving confidence from impunity, have added insult to outrage ; have repeatedly fired upon the king's ships and subjects, with cannon and small arms ; have possessed the roads and other communi- cations by which the town of Boston was sup- plied with provisions ; and, with a preposterous parade of military arrangement, they affect to hold the army besieged ; while part of their body make daily indiscriminate invasions upon private property, and, with a wantonness of cruelty ever incident to lawless tumult, carry depredation and distress wherever they turn their steps. The actions of the 19th of April are of such notoriety, as must bafile all at- tempts to contradict them, and the flames of buildings and other property, from the islands and adjacent country, for some weeks past, spread a melancholy confirmation of the sub- sequent assertions. In this exigency of complicated calamities, I avail myself of the last effort within the bounds of my duty to spare the effusion of blood ; to offer, and I do hereby in his majesty's name, offer and promise his most gracious pardon, to all persons who shall forthwith lay down their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects, excepting only from the benefit of such pardon. SAMUEL ADAMS and JOHN HANCOCK, whose offences are of too flagi- tious a nature to admit of any other considera- tion than that of condign punishment. And to the end that no person within the limits of this proffered mercy may plead igno- rance of the consequences of refusing it, I by these presents proclaim, not only the persons above-named and excepted, but also all their adherents, associates and abettors, meaning to comprehend in those terms all and every person, and persons of what class, denomina- tion or description soever, who have appeared in arms against the king's government, and shall not lay down the same as afore-men- tioned ; and likewise all such as shall so take arms after the date hereof, or who shall in any- wise protect and conceal such offenders, or assist them with money, provision, cattle, arms, ammunition, carriages, or any other necessary for subsistence or offence ; or shall hold se- cret correspondence with them by letter, mes- sage, signal, or otherwise, to be rebels and traitors, and as such to be treated. 124 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. And whereas, during the continuance of the present unnatural rebellion, justice cannot be administered by the common law of the land, the course whereof has, for a long time past, been violently impeded, and wholly interrupted ; from whence results a necessity for using and exercising the law martial ; I have therefore thought fit, by the authority vested in me, by the royal charter to this province, to publish, and I do hereby publish, proclaim and order the use and exercise of the law martial, within and throughout the province, for so long time as the present unhappy occasion shall neces- sarily require ; whereof all persons are hereby required to take notice, and govern themselves, as well to maintain order and regularity among the peaceable inhabitants of the province, as to resist, encounter and subdue the rebels and traitors above described by such as shall be called upon for those purposes. To these inevitable, but I trust salutary mea- sures, it is a far more pleasing part of my duty to add the assurances of protection and sup- port, to all who, in so trying a crisis, shall man- ifest their allegiance to the king, and affection to the parent state. So that such persons as may have been intimidated to quit their habi- tations in the course of this alarm, may return to their respective callings and professions, and stand distinct and separate from the parricides of the constitution, till GoD, in his mercy, shall restore to his creatures, in this distracted land, that system of happiness from which they have been seduced, the religion of peace, and liberty founded upon law. Given at Boston, this twelfth day of June, in the fifteenth year of the reign of his majesty George the third, by the grace of GoD, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, KING, defender of the Faith, etc. Annoque Domini, 1775. Thomas Gage. By his excellency's command : Tho's Flucker, Secretary. God save the king. INSTRUCTION OF ADJUTANT GEN- ERAL HORATIO GATES For recruiting troops, Massachusetts Bay, July 10, 1775. Instructions for the officers of the several regiments of the Massachusetts Bay forces, who are immediately to go upon the recruiting service. You are not to enlist any deserter from the ministerial army, nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America, nor any under eighteen years of age. As the cause is the best that can engage men of courage and principle to take up arms, so it is expected that none but such will be ac- cepted by the recruiting officer ; the pay, pro- vision, etc., being so ample, it is not doubted but the officers set upon this service, will with- out delay, complete their respective corps, and march the men forthwith to the camp. You are not to enlist any person who is not an American born, unless such person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in this country. The person you enlist, must be provided with good and complete arms. Given at the head-quarters at Cambridge, this loth day of July, 1775. Horatio Gates, Adj. Gen. PROCLAMATION OF THANKSGIVING By the Council of Watertown, Massa- chusetts, Nov. 4, 1775. Although, in consequence of the unnatural, cruel, and barbarous measures, adopted and pursued by the British administration, great and distressing calamities are brought upon our dis- tressed country, and in this colony in particular, we feel the dreadful effects of a civil war, by which America is stained by the blood of her valiant sons, who have bravely fallen in the laudable defence of our rights and privileges ; our capital, once the seat of justice, opulence and virtue, is unjustly wrested from its proper owners, who are obliged to flee from the iron hand of tyranny, or held in the unrelenting arms of oppression ; our seaports greatly distressed, and towns burnt by the foes who have acted the part of barbarous incendiaries. And, although the wise and Holy Governor of the world has, in his righteous Providence, sent droughts into this colony, and wasting sickness into many of our towns, yet we have the greatest reason to adore and praise the Su- preme Disposer of events, who deals infinitely better with us than we deserve ; and amidst all his judgments hath remembered mercy, by causing the voice of health again to be heard amongst us ; instead of famine, affording to an ungrateful people a competency of the neces- saries and comforts of life ; in remarkably pre- ser\'ing and protecting our troops, when in ap- parent danger, while our enemies, with all their MASSACHUSETTS. 125 boasted skill and strength, have met with loss, dzsappoin/men/, and defeat ; and, in the course of his good Providence, the Father of all Mer- cies, hath bestowed upon us many other favors, which call for our grateful acknowledgments : There/ore — We have thought fit, with the advice of the council and house of representa- tives, to appoint Thursday, the 23d of Novem- ber, instant, to be observed as a day of public Ihanksgiving, throughout this colony ; hereby calling upon ministers and people, to meet for religious worship on the said day, and dei'outfy to offer up their unfeigned praises to Almighty God, the source and benevolent bestower of all good, for his affording the necessary means of subsistence, though our commerce has been pre- vented, and the supplies from the fishery denied us ; — that such a measure of health is enjoyed among us; that the lives of our officers and sol- diers have been so remarkably preserved, while our enemies have fallen before them ; that the vigorous efforts, which have been used to excite the savage vengeance of the wilderness, and rouse the Indians to arms, that an unavoid- able destruction might come upon our frontiers, have been almost miraculously defeated ; that our unnatural enemies, instead of ravaging the country with uncontroled sway, are confined within such narrow limits, to their own mortifi- cation and distress, environed by an American army, brave and determined ; — that such a band of union, founded upon the best princi- ples, unites the American colonies, — that our rights and privileges, both civil and religious, are so far preserved to us, notwithstanding all the attempts of our barbarous enemies to deprive us of them. And to offer up humble and fen'ent prayers to Almighty God, for the whole British empire ; especially for the ttniied American colonies : — That He would bless our civil rulers, and lead them into wise and prudent measures, at this dark and difficult day; that He would endow our general court with all that wisdom which is profitable to direct ; that He would gracious- ly smile upon our endeavors to restore peace. preser\-e our rights and privileges, and hand them down to posterity ; that He would give wisdom to the American Congress, equal to their important station ; that He would direct the generals, and the American armies, wher- ever employed, and give them success and victory ; that He would preserv'e and strengthen the harmony of the united colonies ; that He would pour out his spirit upon all orders of men, through the land, bring us to a hearty repentance and reformation ; purify and sanctify all His churches ; that He would make ours. Emanuel's land ; that He would spread the knowledge of the Redeemer through tht* whole earth, and fill the world with his glory. And all servile labor is forbidden on said day. Given under our hands, at the council chamber, in Watertown, the fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. By their honors' command, Perez Morton, Dep. Sec. James Otis, Benjamin Lincoln, Walter Spooner, Michael Farley, Caleb Gushing, Joseph Palmer, Joseph Whitcomb, Samuel Holten, Jedidiah Foster, Jabez Fisher, James Prescott, Moses Gill, Eldad Taylor, Benjamin White. GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE. PROCLAMATION By the Great and General Court of THE Colony of Massachusetts Bay, January 23, 1776. The frailty of human nature, the wants of individuals, and the numerous dangers which surround them, through the course of life, have, in all ages, and in every country, impelled them to form societies and establish governments. As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the peo- ple is the only foundation of it, in reason, morality, and the natural fitness of things. And therefore every act of government, every exercise of sovereignty, against, or without, the consent of the people, is injustice, usurpation, and tyranny. It is a maxim that in every government, there must exist, somewhere, a supreme, sovereign, absolute, and uncontrolable power ; but this power resides always in the body of the people ; and it never was, or can be dele- gated to one man, or a few ; the great Creator has never given to men a right to vest others with authority over them, unlimited either in duration or degree. When kings, ministers, governors, or legis- lators, therefore, instead of exercising the powers entrusted with them, according to the principles, forms and proportions stated by the constitution, and established by the original compact, prostitute those powers to the pur- poses of oppression — to subvert, instead of supporting a free constitution ; — to destroy, instead of preserving the lives, liberties and properties of the people ; — they are no longer 126 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. to be deemed magistrates vested with a sacred character, but become public enemies, and ought to be resisted. The administration of Great Britain, despis- ing equally the justice, humanity and magnan- imity of their ancestors ; and the rights, liber- ties and courage of Americans, have, for a course of years, labored to establish a sover- eignty in America, not founded in the consent of the people, but in the mere will of persons, a thousand leagues from us, whom we know not, and have endeavored to establish this sovereignty over us, against our consent, in all cases whatsoever. The colonies, during this period, have recurred to every peaceable resource in a free constitu- tion, by petitions and remonstrances, to obtain justice; which has been not only denied to them, but they have been treated with unex- ampled indignity and contempt ; and at length, open war of the most atrocious, cruel and san- guinary' kind, has been commenced against them. To this an open, manly and successful resistance has hitherto been made ; thirteen colonies are now firmly united in the conduct of this most just and necessary war, under the wise councils of their congress. It is the will of Providence for wise, right- eous, and gracious ends, that this colony should have been singled out, by the enemies of America, as the first object, both of their en\'y and their revenge ; and after having been made the subject of several merciless and vin- dictive statutes, one of which was intended to subvert our constitution by charter, is made the seat of war : No effectual resistance to the system of tyranny prepared for us, could be made with- out either instant recourse to arms, or a tem- porary' suspension of the ordinary powers of government, and tribunals of justice. To the last of which evils, in hope of a speedy recon- ciliation with Great Britain, upon equitable terms, the congress advised us to submit : — And mankind has seen a phenomenon, \vithout example in the political world, a large and populous colony, subsisting in great decency and order, for more than a year, under such a suspension of government. But as our enemies have proceeded to such barbarous extremities, commencing hostilities upon the good people of this colony, and with unprecedented malice exerting their power to spread the calamities of fire, sword and famine through the land, and no reasonable prospect remains of a speedy reconciliation with Great Britain, the congress have resolved: " That no obedience being due to the act of parliament for altering the charter of the colony of Massachusetts-Bay, nor to a gover- nor or lieutenant-governor, who will not ob- serve the directions of, but endeavor to sub- vert that charter, the governor and lieutenant- governor of that colony are to be considered as absent, and their offices vacant. And as there is no council there, and inconveniencies arising from the suspension of the powers of govern- ment are intolerable, especially at a time when general Gage hath actually levied war, and is carrying on hostilities against his majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects of that colony: that, in order to conlorm as near as may be to the spirit and substance of the charter, it be recommended to the provincial convention to write letters to the inhabitants of the several places which are entitled to representation in assembly, requesting them to choose such representatives ; and that the assembly, when chosen, do elect counsellors ; and that such assembly and council exercise the powers of government, until a governor of his majesty's appointment will consent to govern the colony according to its charter." In pursuance of which advice, the good peo- ple of this colony have chosen a full and free representation of themselves, who, being con- vened in assembly, have elected a council ; who, as the executive branch of government, have constituted necessary officers through the colony. The present generation, therefore, may be congratulated on the acquisition of a form of government more immediately, in all its branches, under the influence and control of the people ; and therefore more free and happy than was enjoyed by their ancestors. But as a government so popular can be supported only by universal knowledge and virtue in the body of the people, it is the duty of all ranks to pro- mote the means of education, for the rising generation, as well as true religion, purity of manners, and integrity of life, among all orders and degrees. As an army- has become necessary for our defence, and in all free states the civil must provide for and control the military power, the major part of the council have appointed ma- gistrates and courts of justice in every county whose happiness is so connected with that of the people, that it is difficult to suppose they can abuse their trust. The business of it is to see those laws enforced which are necessary for the preser\'ation of peace, virtue and good order. And the great and general court expects and requires that all necessary support and assistance be given, and all proper obedi- ence yielded to them ; and will deem every MASSACHUSETTS. 127 person, who shall fail of his duty in this respect towards them, a disturber of the peace of this colony, and desen-ing of exemplary punish- ment. That piety and virtue, which alone can secure the freedom of any people, may be encouraged, and vice and immorality suppressed, the great and general court have thought fit to issue this proclamation, commanding and enjoining it upon the good people of this colony, that they lead sober, religious and peaceable lives, avoid- ing all blasphemies, contempt of the holy scriptures, and of the lord's day, and all other crimes and misdemeanors, all debauchery, pro- faneness, corruption, venality, all riotous and tumultuous proceedings, and all immoralities whatsoever ; and that they decently and rever- ently attend the public worship of God, at all times acknowledging with gratitude his merciful interposition in their behalf, devoutly confiding in him, as the God of armies, by whose favor and protection alone they may hope for success, in their present conflict. And all judges, justices, sheriffs, grand jurors, tything-men, and all other civil officers within this colony, are hereby strictly enjoined and commanded that they contribute all in their power, by their advice, exertions and examples, towards a general reformation of manners, and that they bring to condign pun- ishment every person who shall commit any of the crimes or misdemeanors aforesaid, or that shall be guilty of any immoralities whatsoever ; and that they use the utmost endeavors to have the resolves of the congress, and the good and wholesome laws of this colony, duly carried into execution. And as the ministers of the gospel, within this colony, have, during the late relaxation of the powers of civil government, exerted them- selves for our safety, it is hereby recommended to them, still to continue their virtuous labors for the good of the people, inculcating by their public ministry, and private example, the necessity of religion, morality, and good order. In council, January 19, 1776. Ordered, That the foregoing proclamation be read at the opening of every superior court of judicature, &c. and inferior court of common pleas, and court of general sessions for the peace within this colony, by their respective clerk; and at the annual town meetings in March, in each town. — And it is hereby recom- mended to the several ministers of the gospel, throughout this colony, to read the same in their respective assemblies on the lord's day next after their receiving it, immediately after divine semce. Sent down for concurrence. Perez Morton, Dep. Sec. In the house of representatives, January 23, 1776. — Read and concurred. William Cooper, speaker pro tem. consented to. William Sever, Walter Spooner, Caleb Gushing, John Winthrop, Thomas Gushing, Moses Gill, Michael Farley, Samuel Holten, Charles Chauncy, Joseph Palmer, John Whetcomb, Jedediah Fos- ter. Eldad Taylor, John Taylor, Ben- jamin White, James Prescot. By order of the General Court, Perez Morton, Dep. Sec. god save the people. DECLARATION OF RESISTANCE To the authority of Great Britain, passed by the assembly of massa- chusetts in 1776. "We the subscribers do each of us severally for ourselves profess, testify and declare, be- fore God and the world, that we verily believe that the war, resistance and opposition in which the United American Colonies are now engaged against the fleets and armies of Great Britain, is on the part of the said colonies, just and necessary ; and we do hereby severally promise, covenant and engage to and with every person of this colony, who has or shall subscribe this declaration, or another of the same tenor and words, that we will not, during the said war, directly or indirectly, in any ways aid, abet, or assist any of the naval or land forces of the king of Great Britain, or any employed by him, or supply them with any kind of provisions, militai-y or naval stores, or hold any correspondence with, or communicate any intelligence to any of the officers, soldiers or mariners belonging to the said army or na\'y, or enlist or procure any others to enlist into the land or sea service of Great Britain, or take up or bear arms against this or either of the United Colonies, or undertaking to pilot any of the vessels belonging to the said navy, or any other way aid or assist them : but on the contrary, according to our best power and abilities, will defend by arms the United American Colonies, and every part thereof, against everj' hostile attempt of the fleets and armies in the service of Great Britain, or any 128 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of them, according to the requirements and directions of the laws of this colony, that now or may hereafter be provided for the regulation of the militia thereof" STATEMENT Relative to the Evacuation of Boston, March 17, 1776. RECOLLECTIONS OF A BOSTONIAN. In the latter end of the year 1821 and early in 1822, a series of papers were published in the •' Boston Centinel," under the head of "Recollections of a Bostonian " — in which the public were presented with many curious facts in relation to the condition of, and pro- ceedings in, that town many years ago, from which we select the following as suited to the design of this work : The British army evacuated Boston on the forenoon of Sunday, the 17th March, 1776. On the afternoon of that day I landed (in com- pany with a surgeon who was ordered in by general Washington) at the bottom of the common, near the high bluff, which was talcen away a few years ago to make Charles-street. The first object that I observed on landing was a thirteen-inch iron mortar on the beach of extraordinary dimensions and weight, which the British had thrown down from a battery they had erected on the height above. I was told that another of the same size was sunk at the long-wharf, which was after^vards raised. One of them is now at the navy-yard in Charleston, and the other was a few years since on the grand battery at New- York, where it was car- ried in the same year. On crossing the common we found it very much disfigured with ditches and cellars, which had been dug by the British troops for their accommodation when in camp. To our great regret, we saw several large trees lying in the mall, which had been cut down that morning. We were informed that the tories were so ex- asperated at being obliged to leave the town, that they were determined to do all the mis- chief possible, and had commenced destroying that beautiful promenade ; but it being told to some of the selectmen, they went in haste to general Howe and represented the circum- stance, who kindly sent one of his aids to for- bid the further destruction of the trees, and to reprimand the tories for their conduct. Gen- eral Howe could not but feel some degree of grateful regard and sympathy for the people of Massachusetts, as they had erected a mon- ument in Westminster Abbey to the memory of his brother, whose urbane and gentlemanly deportment had gained the esteem and respect of the Massachusetts forces, and who was killed m abattle with the French and Indians in 1758. The mall was originally laid out with only two rows of trees, a third was added a few years before the war, which we found were all cut down for fuel, together with the entire fence which surrounded the common, as was also a large magnificent tree which stood on the town's land, near the school house, in West- street, of equal size with that which now stands in, the middle of the common, both of which I suppose to be aboriginal. On passing into the town, it presented an indescribable scene of desolation and gloom- iness, for notwithstanding the joyous occasion of having driven our enemies from our land, our minds were impressed with an awful sad- ness at the sight of the ruins of many houses which had been taken down for fuel — the dirti- ness of the streets — the wretched appearance of the very few inhabitants who remained du- ring the siege — the contrast between the Sun- day we then beheld, compared with those we formerly witnessed, when well dressed people, with cheerful countenances, were going to, and returning from church, on which occasion, Boston exhibits so beautiful a scene — but more especially when we entered the Old South church, and had ocular demonstration that it had been turned into a RIDING SCHOOL, for the use of general Burgoyne's regiment of cavalry, which formed a part of the garrison, but which had never ventured to pass the bar- riers of the town. The pulpit and all the pews were taken away and burnt for fuel, and many hundred loads of dirt and gravel were carted in, and spread upon the floor. The south door was closed, and a bar was fi.xed, over which the cavalry, were taught to leap their horses at full speed. A grog shop was erected in the gallery, where liquor was sold to the soldiery, and consequently produced scenes of riot and debauchery in that holy temple. All these circumstances conspired to fill the mind with sombre reflections. But amidst the sadness of the scene, there was a pleasing satisfaction in the hope that men capable of such atrocities, could not have the blessing of Heaven in their nefarious plan of subjugating our beloved country. The English soldiers were generally Episcopalians, and viewed this act with indif- ference, but the Scotch, who were mostly dis- senters, and much more moral and pious, looked upon it with horror, and not without some feel- ings of superstition. MASSACHUSETTS. 129 I was told that a ludicrous scene took place in the course of the preceding winter. A good old woman that frequently passed the church, was in the habit of stopping at the door, and with loud lamentations, (amidst the hootings of the soldiery), bewailed the desolation of the house of prayer. She denounced on them the vengeance of Heaven, and assured them that good old Dr. Sewall, the former parson of the church, would rise from his grave, and carry them off. — A Scotch sentinel was one night alarmed by an appearance of what he thought was an apparition of the doctor. He screamed violently, and alarmed the guard of grenadiers, who were always stationed at the Province- house, then occupied by general Howe. There was no pacifying him until some one asked how the doctor was dressed and he answered with a large wig and gown. One of the inhabi- tants who had been drawn there from curiosity assured him it could not have been doctor Sewall, because he never wore a wig, which restored the poor fellow to his senses. It was generally supposed to be a trick of one of the English soldiers, who wished to frighten a super- stitious Scotchman ; and for that purpose had dressed himself in the clerical habit of the Rev. Mr. Cooke, of the Menotomy, which he had plun- dered, on his retreat at the battle of Lexington. PROCLAMATION Of General Washington on taking pos- session OF THE town of BOSTON, MARCH 21, 1776. By his excellency, George Washington, Esq., general and commander in chief of the thir- teen united colonies. " Whereas the ministerial army has aban- doned the town of Boston, and the forces of the united colonies, under my command, are in possession of the same : I have therefore thought it necessary for the preservation of peace, good order and discipline, to publish the following orders, that no persons offending therein, may plead ignorance as an excuse for their misconduct. " All officers and soldiers are hereby ordered to live in the strictest amity with the inhabi- tants ; and no inhabitant, or other person, employed in his lawful business in the town, is to be molested in his person or property, on any pretence whatever. " If any officer or soldier shall presume to strike, imprison, or otherwise ill-treat any of the inhabitants, they may depend on being punished with the utmost severity ; and if any officer or soldier shall receive any insult from any of the inhabitants, he is to seek redress in a legal way, and no other. "Any non-commissioned officer or soldier or others under my command, who shall be guilty of robbing or plundering in the town, are to be immediately confined, and will be most rigidly punished. All officers are therefore ordered to be very vigilant in the discovery of such offen- ders, and report their names and crime to the commanding officer in the town as soon as may be. " The inhabitants and others, are called upon to make known to the quarter-master-general, or any of his deputies, all stores belonging to the ministerial army, that may be remaining or secreted in the town : any person or persons whatever, that shall be known to have concealed any of the said stores, or to appropriate them to his or their own use, will be considered as an enemy to America, and treated accordingly. " The select men and other magistrates of the town, are desired to return to the commander- in-chief, the names of all or any person or persons, they may suspect of being employed as spies upon the continental army, that they may be dealt with accordingly. " All officers of the continental army, are enjoined to assist the civil magistrates in the execution of their duty, and to promote peace and good order. They are to prevent, as much as possible, the soldiers from frequenting tippling-houses, and strolling from their posts. Particular notice will be taken of such officers as are inattentive and remiss in their duty ; and on the contrar)', such only as are active and vigilant will be entitled to future favor and promotion. Given under my hand, at head-quarters, in Cambridge, the 21st day of March, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six. George Washington." Boston, March 29. ADDRESS 0/ the Hen. Council and House of Representa- tives of Mass. to his Excellency George Washington, Esq.. General, and Com- mander-in-chief of the Forces of the United Colonies, March 29. 1776. May it please your Excellency — " When the liberties of America were attacked by the violent hand of oppression — when troops, hostile to the rights of humanity, invaded this colony, seized our capital, and 13° PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. spread havoc and destruction around it ; when our virtuous sons were murdered, and our houses destroyed by the troops of Britain, the inhabitants of this and the other American colonies, impelled by self-preservation and the love of freedom, forgetting their domestic con- cerns, determined resolutely and unitedly to oppose the sons of tyranny. Convinced of the vast importance of having a gentleman of great military accomplishments to discipline, lead, and conduct the forces of the colonies, it gave us the greatest satisfaction to hear that the honorable congress of the united colonies had made choice of a gentle- man thus qualified ; who, leaving the pleasure of domestic and rural life was ready to under- take the arduous task. And your nobly de- clining to accept the pecuniary emoluments an- nexed to this high office, fully evidenced to us that a warm regard to the sacred rights of humanity, and sincere love to your countr)-, solely influenced you in the acceptance of this important trust. From your acknowledged abilities as a soldier, and your virtues in public and private life, we had the most pleasing hopes ; but the fortitude and equanimity so conspicuous in your conduct ; the wisdom of your counsels ; the mild, yet strict government of the army ; your attention to the civil constitution of this colony ; the regard you have at all times shewn for the lives and health of those under your command ; the fatigues you have with cheer- fulness endured ; the regard you have shewn for the preservation of our metropolis, and the great address with which our military operations have been conducted, have exxeeded our most sanguine expectations, and demand the warmest returns of gratitude. The Supreme Ruler of the universe having smiled on our arms, and crowned your labors with remarkable success, we are now, without that effusion of blood we so much wished to avoid, again in the quiet possession of our capital ; the wisdom and prudence of those movements, which have obliged the enemy to abandon our metropolis, will ever be remem- bered by the inhabitants of this colony. May you still go on approved by Heaven, revered by all good men, and dreaded by those tyrants who claim their fellow men as their property. May the united colonies be defended from slavery by your victorious arms. May they still see their enemies flying before you : and (the deliverance of your country being effected) may you, in retirement, enjoy that peace and satisfaction of mind, which always attends the good and great : and may future generations in the peaceful enjoyment of that freedom, the exercise of which your sword shall establish, raise the richest and most lasting monuments to the name of a Wasking- toti." Gen'l Washington's Reply thereto. " Gentlemen — I return you my most sincere and hearty thanks for your polite address ; and feel myself called upon, by every principle of gratitude, to acknowledge the honor you have done me in this testimonial of your approbation of my appointment to the exalted station I now fill ; and what is more pleasing, of my conduct in discharging its important duties. When the councils of the British nation had formed a plan for enslaving America, and depriving her sons of their most sacred and invaluable privileges, against the clearest re- monstrances of the constitution, of justice and truth ; and to execute their schemes, had appealed to the sword, I esteemed it my duty to take a part in the contest, and more espe- cially, on account of my being called thereto by the unsolicited suffrages of the representa- tives of a free people ; wishing for no other reward than that arising from a conscientious discharge of the important trust, and that my services might contribute to the establishment of freedom and peace, upon a permanent foun- dation, and merit the applause of my country- men, and every virtuous citizen. Your professions of my attention to the civil constitution of this colony, whilst acting in the line of my department, also demands my grate- ful thanks. A regard to every provincial insti- tution, where not incompatible with the com- mon interest, I hold a principle of duty, and of policy, and shall ever form a part of my con- duct. Had I not learnt this before, the happy experience of the advantages resulting from a friendly intercourse with your honorable body, their ready and willing concurrence to aid and to counsel, whenever called upon in cases of difficulty and emergency, would have taught me the useful lesson. That the metropolis of your colony is now relieved from the cruel and oppressive invasions of those who were sent to erect the standard of lawless domination, and to trample on the rights of humanity, and is again open and free for its rightful possessors, must give pleasure to ever)' virtuous and sympathetic heart, and being effected without the blood of our soldiers and fellow-citizens, must be ascribed to the interposition of that Providence, which has manifestly appeared in our behalf through the MASSACHUSETTS. 131 whole of this important struggle, as well as to the measures pursued for bringing about the happy event. May that Being who is powerful to save, and in whose hands is the fate of nations, look down with an eye of tender pity and compas- sion upon the whole of the united colonies ; may he continue to smile upon their counsels and arms, and crown them with success, whilst employed in the cause of virtue and mankind. —May this distressed colony and its capital, and every part of this wide extending continent, through his divine favor, be restored to more than their former lustre and once happy state, and have peace, liberty, and safety secured upon a solid, permanent, and lasting founda- tion." George Washington. DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LAWS Conferred by Harvard College on George Washington. In Cambridge, in New England, to all faith- ful in Christ, to whom these presents shall come. Greeting. Boston, April 3, 1776. Whereas academical degrees were originally instituted for this purpose, that men, eminent for knowledge, wisdom and virtue, who have highly merited of the republic of letters, should be rewarded with the honor of these laurels, there is the greatest propriety in conferring such honor on that very illustrious gentleman, George Washington, esq., the accomplished general of the confederated colonies in America ; whose knowledge and patriotic ardor are manifest to all ; who, for his distin- guished virtues, both civil and militar>', in the first place being elected by the suffrages of the Virginians one of their delegates, exerted him- self with fidelity and singular wisdom in the celebrated congress in America, for the de- fence of liberty, when in the utmost danger of being forever lost, and for the salvation of his country, and then at the earnest request of that grand council of patriots, without hesita- tion, left all the pleasures of his delightful seat in Virginia, and the affairs of his own estate, that, through all the fatigues and dangers of camp, without accepting any reward, he might deliver New England from the unjust and cruel arms of Great Britain, and defend the other colonies ; and who, by the most signal smiles of Divine Providence on his military operations, drozv the fleet and troops of the enemy with disgraceful precipitation from the town of Boston, which for eleven months had been shut, fortified and defended by a garrison of above 7,000 regulars ; so that the inhabi- tants, who suffered a great variety of hardships and cruelties while under the power of their oppressors, now rejoice in their deliverance ; the neighboring towns are also freed from the tumults of arms, and our university has the agreeable prospect of being restored to its ancient seat. Know ye, therefore, that we, the president and fellows of Harvard College in Cambridge, (with the consent of the honored and reverend overseers of our academy) have constituted and created the aforesaid gentleman, George Washington, who merits the highest honor, doctor of laws, the law of nature and nations, and the civil law ; and have given and granted him at the same time all rights, privileges and honors to the said degree pertaining. In testimony whereof, we have affixed the common seal of our university to these letters, and subscribed them with our hand-writing, this third day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six. Samuel Langdon, S. T. D. Preses. Nathaniel Appleton, S. T. D. Johannes Winthrop, Mat. et. Phi. P. Andreas Elliot, S. T. D. (Hoi.) LL. D. Samuel Cooper, S. T. D. JOHANS Wadsworth, Log. et. Eth. Pre. INSTRUCTIONS Of the INHABITANTS OF MaLDEN, MASS. to THEIR Representative in Congress, May 27, 1776. Sir — A resolution of the hon. house of rep- resentatives, calling upon the several towns in this colony to express their minds with respect to the important question of American inde- pendence, is the occasion of our now instructing you. The time was, sir, when we loved the king and the people of Great Britain with an affection truly filial ; we felt ourselves interested in their glory ; we shared their joys and sor- rows : we cheerfully poured the fruit of all our labors into the lap of our mother-country, and without reluctance expended our blood and our treasure in their cause. These were our sentiments towards Great Britain while she continued to act the part of a parent state ; we felt ourselves happy in our connection with her, nor wished it to be dis- solved ; but our sentiments are altered, it is now the ardent wish of our souls that America may become a free and independent state. A sense of unprovoked injuries will arouse 132 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the resentment of the most peaceful. Such injuries these colonies have received from Bri- tain. Unjustifiable claims have been made by the king and his minions to tax us without our consent ; these claims have been prosecuted in a manner cruel and unjust to the highest de- gree. The frantic policy of administration hath induced them to send Heets and armies to America; that, by depriving us of our trade and cutting the throats of our brethren, they might awe us into submission, and erect a sys- tem of despotism in America, which should so far enlarge the influence of the crown as to enable it to rivet their shackles upon the people of Great Britain. This plan was brought to a crisis upon the ever memorable nineteenth of April. We re- member the fatal day ! the expiring groans of our countrymen yet vibrate on our ears ! and we now behold the flames of their peaceful dwellings ascending to heaven ! we hear their blood crying to us from the ground for ven- geance ! charging us, as we value the peace of their manes, to have no further connection with , who can unfeelingly hear of the slaughter of , and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul. The manner in which the war had been prosecuted hath confirmed us in these sentiments : piracy and murder, robbery and breach of faith, have been conspicuous in the conduct of the king's troops : defenceless towns have been attacked and destroyed : the ruins of Charlestown, which are daily in our view, daily reminds us of this ; the cries of the widow and the orphan demand our attention ; they de- mand that the hand of pity should wipe the tear from their eye, and that the sword of their country should avenge their wrongs. We long entertained hopes that the spirit of the British nation would once more induce them to assert their own and our rights, and bring to condign punishment the elevated villains who have trampled upon the sacred rights of men, and aflfronted the majesty of the people. We hoped in vain ; they have lost their love to freedom : they have lost their spirit of just resentment; we therefore renounce with disdain our con- nection with a kingdom of slaves ; we bid a final adieu to Britain. Could an accommodation be now effected, we have reason to think that it would be fatal to the liberties of America ; we should soon catch the cont.igion of venality and dissipation, which hath subjected Britons to lawless do- mination. Were we placed in the situation we were in 1763: were the powers of appointing to offices, and commanding the militia, in the hands of governors, our arts, trade and manu- factures would be cramped ; nay, more than this, the life of every man who has been active in the cause of his country would be endan- gered. For these reasons, as well as many others which might be produced, we are confirmed in the opinion, that the present age will be defi- cient in their duty to God, their posterity and themselves, if they do not establish an Ameri- can republic. This is the only form of govern- ment which we wish to see established ; for we can never be willingly subject to any other King than he who, being possessed of infinite wisdom, goodness and rectitude, is alone fit to possess unlimited power. We have freely spoken our sentiments upon this important subject, but we mean not to dictate ; we have unbounded confidence in the wisdom and uprightness of the continental con- gress : with pleasure we recollect that this affair is under their direction and we now instruct you, sir, to give them the strongest assurance that, if they should declare America to be a free and independent republic, your constitu- ents would support and defend the measure, to the last drop of their blood, and the last farthing of their treasure. Attest. Sam. Merrit, town-clerk. INSTRUCTIONS Of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, to their Representatives in Congress, 1776. Genthineti — Touching the internal police of this colony, it is essentially necessary, in order to preserve harmony among ourselves, that the constituent body be satisfied that they are fairly and fully represented. The right to legislate is originally due to every member of the community ; which right is always exer- cised in the infancy of a state, but, when the inhabitants are become numerous, it is not only inconvenient, but impracticable, for all to meet in one assembly ; and hence arose the neces- sity and practice of legislating by a few, freely chosen by the many. When this choice is free, and the representation equal, it is the people's fault if they are not happy : we there- fore instruct you to devise some means to obtain an equal representation of the people of this colony in the legislature : — but care should be taken that the assembly be not unwieldy ; for this would be an approach to the evil meant to be cured by representation. MASSACHUSETTS. 133 The largest bodies of men do not always despatch business with the greatest expedi- tion, nor conduct it in the wisest manner. It is essential to liberty, that the legislative, judicial, and executive powers of government be, as nearly as possible, independent of, and separate from each other ; for where they are united in the same persons, or number of persons, there would be wanting that mutual check which is the principal security against the making of arbitrary laws, and a wanton exercise of power in the execution of them. It is also of the highest importance, that every person in a judiciary department employ the greatest part of his time and attention in the duties of his office ; we therefore further in- struct you, to procure the enacting such law or laws, as shall make it incompatible for the same person to hold a seat in the legislative and executive departments of government, at one and the same time : that shall render the judges, in every judicatory through the colony, dependent, not on the uncertain tenure of caprice or pleasure, but on an unimpeachable deportment in the important duties of their station, for their continuance in office : and to prevent the multiplicity of offices in the same person, that such salaries be settled upon them as will place them above the necessity of stoop- ing to any indirect or collateral means for sub- sistence. We wish to avoid a profusion of the public moneys on the one hand, and the dan- ger of sacrificing our liberties to a spirit of parsimony on the other. Not doubting of your zeal and abilities in the common cause of our country, we leave your discretion to prompt such exertions, in promoting any military operations, as the exigencies of our public affairs may require : and in the same confi- dence of your fervor and attachments to the public weal, we readily submit all other matters of public moment, that may require your consideration, to your own wisdom and discretion. AN ADDRESS To THE " Independent Sons in Massa- ' CHUSETTS State," Boston, Nov. 14, 1776. " Our bless'd forefathers," is the grateful sound. From age to age, the world will echo round ! And every future tongue that speaks your name, Will brighten the hours with your growing fame. Our losses this year are small, when com- pared with the advantages we have gained, and it would be extreme folly, even in the weakest American, to suppose our cause did not con- tinue to rise. — The complete triumph of lib- erty undoubtedly draws nearer every hour. When we review the state of America, and that of our enemy, we behold eminent and growing advantages on the part of our coun- try. The valor and discipline of our troops are constantly improving, as every late action with the enemy testifies ; this circumstance, considered with that of our superior numbers, affords a bright prospect of success. It was always supposed, that the enemy would have the greatest advantage in the beginning of the war, and it must be acknowledged, (with grati- tude to Heaven) that they have done much less, and our success has been much greater, than might have been expected. At this pe- riod, we have so many experienced men of tried valor, such magazines of warlike stores, such a military system formed, such a disci- plined militia, (as no other nation can produce), and such a union and fervor of spirit in sup- port of the righteous cause of our country, as must damp the malevolent spirit of our ene- mies, and give vigor to every virtuous mind. When we survey our naval department, such are our preparations, such our amazing progress in fitting out armed vessels, and so wonderful our success in taking the ships, the persons, and the riches of the enemy, that even our antagonists are almost ready to exclaim, " God is on that side ! " Another happy circumstance in our favor, is the fruitful season and plentiful harvest with _ which Heaven hath blessed our country. In truth, so numerous are the favors of Providence, and so encouraging our prospect of success, that we have much greater cause for thanks- giving than for petitioning ; and it is unmanly, unchristian, and unworthy of any free mind, to discover the least degree of timidity. Our difficulties and sufferings, in supporting the great cause of liberty, have been little, if com- pared with what other nations have suffered in defence of their freedom. The Switzers fought sixty battles in defending their liberties, and finally, drove all the murdering tyrants out of their country, set up independent states, and have flourished in freedom to this day, in spite of all the tyrants in Europe. They are a strikingproofof the superior virtue and strength of a free people, for their whole country is not larger than the Massachusetts state, not half so fruitful, nor any ways comparable for happiness of situation, and commercial advantages. What then may not the United States of Amer- ica accomplish ? We may rationally suppose, upon a survey of the present state of all nations, that these United States will make 134 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. swifter progress in arts and arms, and in all that adorns and dignifies human society, than any people or nation ever yet have done. The tyrants of Britain, and the abject slaves whom they can hire, are all the enemies we have to encounter ; the rest of the world will be our friends. As we wish to injure no peo- ple, other nations will naturally be our friends, some from interest, and others, whose interest is no ways concerned, from motives of human- ity. As America is so very extensive, capable of supporting so many millions of inhabitants, more than she has at present ; and as the vir- tuous part of mankind love freedom, they will transplant themselves from the slavish domin- ions of Europe, to this land of liberty, whereby the industry, the virtue, and the wisdom of the world will centre in these free and independent states. Such being our field of hope, such our prospect of happiness, not only for ourselves, but for millions of others, by what name shall we call that folly which would abate your ardor, and discourage your efforts, to maintain the entire independence of America.' AN ADDRESS, By the State of Massachusetts Bay, January 26, 1777. In the house of representatives, Jan. 26, 1777. Ordered, That the following address be printed, and a copy thereof sent to each minister of the gospel within this state, to whom it is recommended to read the same the next Lord's day after he shall receive it, to his people, immediately after the religious ex- ercises of the day are over. And also that a copy thereof be sent to the commanding officer of each company of the militia while they are under arms, for the purpose of re- cruiting the army. TO THE PEOPLE OF MASSACHt'SETTS BAY. Friends and countrymen, — When a people, within reach of the highest temporal happiness human nature is capable of, are in danger of having it wrested from them by an enemy whose paths are marked with blood, and an insupportable load of miser)', which succeeding generations must bear through painful centuries of time, is offered instead of it, to rouse the brave, invite the generous, quicken the slow, and awaken all to a sense of their danger, is a measure as friendly as it is important. The danger of having your towns, your families, your fruitful fields, and all the riches and blessings derived from the industry and wisdom of your venerable ancestors, who may justly be ranked among the most virtuous and brave men that the world ever produced, rav- ished from you, and possessed by a banditti whom no laws can control, and whose aim is to trample upon all the rights of humanity, would be sufficient to give the coward courage, and animate to the greatest feats in arms the most supine and indolent. — Surely then, while America, the asylum of happiness and freedom, is infested with a foe, whose sole aim is to rifle her sons of every enjoyment that can render life desirable, you will be ready in arms to defend your country, your liberty, your wives, your children and possessions, from rapine, abuse and destruction. From this grand and noble purpose, so worthy of the virtuous and brave, and we humbly trust, so pleasing to Almighty God, you have had your delegates assembled in council for several years past. For this, in April, 1775, you arrayed yourselves in arms, defeated and put to flight that band of Britons, who, uninjured and unoffended, like robbers and murderers, dared to assault your peaceful mansions ; and for this, we trust, you will be at all times ready to spend your blood and treasure. In addressing you upon the important sub- ject of your own defence, should we attempt a narration of the causes of your danger ; the many petitions you have presented, praying but for peace, liberty and safety, and to avoid the necessity of shedding the blood of your fellow men, and the unexampled indignity and contempt with which those petitions were treated, it would be undeservedly to impeach you of inattention to your own safety. Let it suffice then to say, That when every other method taken by you was productive of nothing but insults ; and that flames in your houses, murders on your persons, and rob- beries upon your property, were returned in answer to your peaceable, humble and dutiful petitions : When the force of Britain, with that of her allies, was collected and drawn into exertion, to reduce you from ease and affluence to slavery and vassalage, the congress of the L'nited States, despairing otherwise to establish your safety upon principles which would render it durable, made that declaration by which you became independent of Great Britain, and in which character alone you can be secure and happy. But as the increasing power and opulence MASSACHUSETTS. 135 of the United States are now the dread and envy of those whose avaricious and ambitious minds had laid a plan for the monopoly and enjoyment of them, a large army is necessary for your defence ; and the congress have there- fore determined upon eighty-eight battalions, of which fifteen are to be raised by this state. — The militia who have been marched to aid the army under the conduct of that man whose fortitude, virtue and patience, is perhaps with- out example (and who hourly, without any reward but the approbation of his own mind) is risking his all in your cause, will soon be on their return ; the enemy, angry at the chastise- ment justly given them for their unprovoked cruelties to our brethren in the Jerseys, are watching an opportunity to return the blow. A farther draft from the militia, would so much burden the people of this state, that this court cannot think of it without pain and anxiety. We have therefore, being sensible that you need no other stimulus to your duty than having the line of it drawn for you, directed that a number of men, amounting to one seventh part of all the male persons, of sixteen and upwards, should be immediately engaged in the continental army, upon the encouragement given by government — this en- couragement we conceive to be greater than any ever yet given, even to the greatest mer- cenaries — surely then a people called to fight, not to support crowns and principalities, but for their own freedom and happiness, will readily engage. That the encouragement given might fully answer the designs of government and the expectation of the soldiery, this court have settled the price of every necessary and con- venient article of life produced in this country, and also the price of foreign goods in a just proportion to their prices in the place from which they are imported, considering the risk of importation. And nothing is now wanting to give value to the soldiers wages, and sta- bility to our currency, but the vigorous and punctual execution and observance of that act, which we hope to see speedily effected by the public virtue and zeal of this people in the cause of their country. But lest some of you should be deceived by the misrepresentations of designing men, we must remind you that all the pretensions to peace and reconciliation, so pompously dealt out in the insidious proclamations of the com- missioners of the king of Great Britain, amount to nothing more than an invitation to give up your country, and submit unconditionally to the government of the British pariiament. They tell you that their king is graciously disposed to revise all acts which he shall deem incom- patible with your safety. But your good sense will lead you to determine, that if he is a prince worthy to reign over a free people, and a friend to the rights of mankind, he would long ago have determined as to the justice of those acts, and must have seen them founded on des- potism, and replete with slavery ; but they do not tell you that their sovereign has the least intention to repeal any one of those acts ; surely then a revision of them can never restore your freedom, or in the least alleviate your burdens. But those commissioners, although they offer themselves as the ambassadors of peace, and invite you to what they call the mild and gentle government of Britain, mark their foot- steps with blood, rapine, and the most unex- ampled barbarities, distributing their dreadful and savage severity as well to the submissive as the obstinate, while neither rank, sex or age, exempts any from the effects of their brutal passions. Should America be overcome by, or submit to Britain, the needy and almost perishing tenant in Ireland, disarmed and having but little property in the production of his toil and labor, selling the bread for which his tender infants are suffering, to pay the haughty landlord's rent or insulting collector's tax, would be but a faint resemblance of your calamity. Society, where no man is bound by other laws than those to which he gives his own consent, is the greatest ornament, and tends most of all things to the felicity of human nature, and is a privilege which can never be given up by a people without their being exceedingly guilty before Him, who is the bestower of every good and perfect gift. We therefore, for the sake of that religion, for the enjoyment whereof your ancestors fled to this country, for the sake of your laws and future felicity, entreat and urge you to act vigorously and firmly in this critical situation of your country. And we doubt not but that your noble exertions, under the smiles of Heaven, will ensure you that success and freedom due to the wise man and the patriot. Above all we earnestly e-xhort you to con- tribute all within your power to the encourage- ment of those virtues, for which the Supreme Being has declared that he will bestow his blessings upon a nation, and to the discourage- ment of those vices for which he overturns kingdoms in his wrath ; and that at all proper times and seasons you seek to Him, by prayer and supphcation, for deliverance from the PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 136 calamities of war, duly considering that with- out his powerful aid, and gracious interposi- tion, all your endeavors must prove abortive and vain. Sent up for concurrence, Samuel Freeman, Speaker P. T. In council, January 28, 1777 — Read and concurred. John Avery, D. Sec'ry. A DECLARATION Addressed in the name of the King of France, to all the ancient French in North America, by the Count D Estaing, commander of the French Squadron at Boston, Mass., October 28, 1778. The undersigned, authorized by his majesty, and thence clothed with the noblest of titles, with that which effaces all others ; charged, in the name of the father of his country, and the beneficent protector of his subjects, to offer a support to those who were born to enjoy the blessings of his government — To all his countrymen in North America. You were bom French : you never could cease to be French. The late war, which was not declared but by the captivity of nearly all our seamen, and the principal advantages of which our common enemies entirely owed to the courage, the talents, and the numbers of the brave Americans, who are now fighting against them, has wrested from you that which is most dear to all men, even the name of your countrj'. To compel you to bear the arms of parricides against it, must be the com- pletion of misfortunes : With this you are now threatened : A new war may justly make you dread being obliged to submit to this most in- tolerable law of slavery. It has commenced like the last, by depredations upon the most valuable part of our trade. Too long already have a great number of unfortunate French- men been confined in American prisons. You hear their groans. The present war was de- clared by a message in March last from the king of Great Britain to both houses of par- liament ; a most authentic act of the British sovereignty, announcing to all orders of the state, that to trade (with America) though without excluding others from the same right, was to offend ; that frankly to avow such in- tention, was to defy this sovereignty ; that she would revenge it, and deferred this only to a more advantageous opportunity, when she might do it with more appearance of legality than in the last war. For she declared that she had a right, the will, and the ability to revenge ; and accordingly she demanded ot parliament the supplies. The calamities of war thus proclaimed, have been restrained and retarded as much as was possible, by a monarch whose pacific and disin- terested views now reclaim the marks of your former attachment, only for your own hap- piness. Constrained to repel force by force, and multiplied hostilities by reprisals which he has at last authorized, if necessity should carry his arms, or those of his allies, into a country always dear to him, you have not to fear either burnings or devastations. And if gratitude, if the view of a flag always revered by those who have followed it, should recall to the ban- ners of France, or of the United States, the Indians who loved us, and have been loaded with presents by him, whom they also call their Father ; never, no never shall they employ against you their too cruel methods of war. These they must renounce, or they will cease to be our friends. It is not by menaces that we shall endeavor to avoid combating with our countrymen ; nor shall we weaken this declaration by invectives against a great and a brave nation, which we know how to respect, and hope to vanquish. As a French gentleman, I need not mention to those among you who were born such as well as myself that there is but one augtist house in the universe, under which the French can be happy, and serve with pleasure ; since its head, and those w-ho are most nearly allied to him by blood, have been at all times, thro' a long line of nionarchs, and are at this day more than ever delighted with bearing that very title which Henry IV. regarded as the first of his own. I shall not excite your regrets for those qualifications, those marks of distinc- tion, those decorations, which, in our manner of thinking, are precious treasures, but from which, by our common misfortunes, the Amer- ican French, who have known so well how to deser\'e them, are now precluded. These, I am bold to hope, and to promise, their zeal will very soon procure to be diffused among them. They will merit them when they are to become the friends of our allies. I shall not ask the military companions of the Marquis of Levi ; those who shared his glor)-, who admired his talents and genius for war, who loved his cordiality and frankness, the principal characteristics of our nobility, whether there be other names in other nations among which they would be better pleased to place their own. Can the Canadians, who saw the brave MASSACHUSETTS. 137 Montcalm fall in their defence, can they be- come the enemies of his nephews? Can they fight against their former leaders, and arm themselves against their kinsmen ? At the bare mention of their names, the weapons would fall out of their hands. I shall not observe to the ministers of the altars, that their evangelic efforts will require the special protection of Providence, to prevent faith being diminished by example, by worldly interest, and by sovereigns whom force has imposed upon them, and whose political indul- gence will be lessened proportionably as those sovereigns shall have less to fear. I shall not observe, that it is necessary for religion that those who preach it should form a body in the state ; and that in Canada no other body would be more considered, or have more power to do good than that of the priests, tak- ing a part in the government ; since their re- spectable conduct has merited the confidence of the people. I shall not represent to that people, nor to all my countrymen in general, that a vast monarchy, having the same religion, the same manners, the same language, where they find kinsmen, old friends and brethren, must be an inexhaustible source of commerce and wealth, more easily acquired, and better secured, by their union, with powerful neighbors, than with strangers of another hemisphere, among whom every thing is different, and who, eal- ous and despotic sovereigns, would sooner or later treat them as a conquered people, and doubtless much worse than their late country- men, the Americans, who made them victori- ous. I shall not urge to a whole people that to join with the United States, is to secure their own happiness ; since a whole people, when they acquire the right of thinking and acting for themselves, must know their own interest. But 1 will declare, and I now formally declare in the name of his majesty, who has authorized and commanded me to do it, that all his former subjects in North America, who shall no more acknowledge the supremacy of Great Britain, may depend upon his protection and support. Done on board his majesty's ship the Langue- doc, in the harbor of Boston, the 28th day of October, in the year 1778. ESTAING. FlOREL DE Grandclos, secretary, appointed by the king to the squadron commanded by the Count D'Estaing. Printed on board the Languedoc, by F. P. Demauge, Printer to the king and the Squadron. LETTER FROM MAJOR JOSEPH HAW- LEY, Author of the declaration tha five must fight, ' ' addressed to the Senate of Massachusetts, October 28, 1780. The enclosed letter, from the venerable and patriotic major Hawley* has never been in print. Its publicadon at this time would not perhaps be irrelevant, and would certainly gratify some of your country friends. It was written soon after the adoption of the present constitution, and shews his opinion of that instrument. It is needless to add, that we here think every thing from the pen of that great man deserving of record. Hampshire. To the Hon. the senate of Massachusetts. May it please your honors : The intelligence given me by the writ of summons, under the hand of the president of the council, that I am chosen a senator by a majority of the voters of the county of Hampshire, affords me a singular pleasure, on two accounts : The one is, that an election to that high trust, by a majority of the unsolicited suffrages of the voters of the county, is a genuine proof of the good opinion of the people of my dear county ; the other is, the fair occasion that it gives me to bear a free and public testimony against one part of our glo- rious constitution : I style it glorious, although I humbly conceive it has several great blem- ishes, on account whereof it will, until cor- rected, be liable, in my poor opinion, to very weighty exception ; but still it remains glorious on account of the great quantity of excellent matter contained in it. That part of the con- stitution this event enables me not impertinently to except to, is the condition or term which the constitution holds every one to, who has the honor to be elected a member of the general court of Massachusetts, before he may (as is expressed in the constitution) proceed to execute the duties of his place. Be the person ever so immaculate and exem- plary a Christian ; although he has, in the proper place, that is, in the Christian church, made a most solemn, explicit, and public pro- fession of the Christian faith ; though he has an hundred times, and continues perhaps every month in the year, by participating in the church of the body and blood of Christ, practi- cally recognized and affirmed the sincerity of that profession ; yet, by the constitution, he is held, before he may be admitted to execute the • The author of the " Broken Hints," page 107. 138 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. duties ol his office, to make and subscribe a profession of the Christian faith, or declaration that he is a Christian. Did our father con- fessors imagine, that a man who had not so much fear of God in his heart as to restrain him from acting dishonestly and knavishly in the trust of a senator or representative, would hes- itate a moment to subscribe that declaration ? Ciii bono, then, is the declaration } This extra- ordinary, not to say absurd, condition, brings fresh to mind a passage in the life of the pious, learned, and prudent Mr. John Howe, one of the strongest pillars of the dissenting interest in the reign of Charles the 2d and James the 2d. The history is as follows : "That Mr. Howe, waiting upon a certain bishop, his lordship presently fell to expostu- lating with him about his non-conformity. Mr. Howe told him he could not have time, without greatly trespassing on his patience, to go through the objections he had to make to the terms of conformity. The bishop pressed him to name any one that he reckoned to be of weight. He thereupon instanced the point of re-ordination. Why pray sir, said the bishop, what hurt is there in being twice ordained .' Hurt, my lord, says Mr. Howe to him ; the thought is shocking — it hurts my understand- ing. It is an absurdity ; for nothing has two beginnings. I am sure, said he, I am a min- ister of Christ, and I am ready to debate that matter with your lordship, if you please : I cannot begin again to be a minister." Besides, this term of e.xecuting the duties of the place is against common right, and as I may say, the natural franchise of every member of the commonwealth who has not by some crime or delictum forfeited his natural rights and franchises. It, moreover, reduces the ninth article of the declaration of rights to a mere futility, and, in such a connection, it would be for the reputation of the declaration of rights if that same ninth article was wholly ex- punged. More than that, the said condition is plainly repugnant to the first great article of the said declaration : and I am ready to debate that matter with any Doctor who assisted in framing the constitution, either in convention or without doors. The said declaration of faith to be subscribed, which constitutes the said impolitic and unrighteous condition, will, I believe, ever sound in every good ear almost as uncouthly as the Sessions Justices' famous charge to the standing grand jury. Let us hear them successively : " I do declare, that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth ; and that I am seized and possessed in my own right of the property required by the constitution," &c. " Gentlemen of the grand jury : You are required by your oath to see to it, that the several towns in the county be provided according to law, with Pounds and School-masters, Whipping posts and ministers," Each containing an odd jumble of sacred and profane ; but, to me, the charge jingles best. By the constitution of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am, may it please your honors, one of its senators ; and I am strongly dis- posed, according to my poor abilities, to execute the duties of my office ; but, by the unconscionable, not to say dishonorable terms, established by the same constitution, I am barred from endeavoring to perform these duties. I have been a professed Christian nearly forty years, and, although I have been guilty of many things unworthy of that charac- ter, whereof I am ashamed, yet I am not conscious that I have been guilty of any thing wholly inconsistent with the truth of that profession. The laws under the first charter required of the subjects of that state, in order to their enjoying some privileges, that they should be members in full communion of some Christian church. But, it never was before required, in the Massachusetts-Bay, that a subject, in order to his enjoying or exercising any franchise or office, should make profession of the Christian religion before a temporal court. May it please your honors : We have all heard of a lieutenant governor of the Massachusetts Bay, and some of us have known him very well, who contended long and earnestly that he had a right to a seat in council with a voice. I imagine I can maintain a better argument than he did, that I have a right to a seat in the senate of Massachusetts without a voice ; but, at present, I shall not attempt to take it. I am, may it please your honors, with the greatest respect to the senate, your most obedient humble servant, Joseph Hawley. October 28, 1780. REMINISCENCES Of the " Olden time" Boston, Mass. There is in course of publication, in the Bos- ton Gazette, the long-hoarded literary treasures of an accurate obsen'er's common-place book, giving us an amusing view of the society and manners of Boston, rather less than a century MASSACHUSETTS. 139 ago — differing somewhat, it will be seen, from those of the present day. These sketches, one of the numbers of which will be found below, are appropriately headed. Reminiscences. Dress, er, has reduced us to the happy necessity of hemg free from his control in any. Whoever compares our present with our former constitution, will find abundant reason to rejoice in the exchange, and readily admit, that all the calamities, incident to this war, will be amply compensated by the many blessings flowing Irom this glorious revolution. A revo- lution which, in the whole course of its rise and progress, is distinguished by so many- marks of the Divine favor and interposition, that no doubt can remain of its being finally accomplished. It was begun, and has been supported, in a manner so singular, and I may say, miracu- lous, that when future ages shall read its his- tory, they will be tempted to consider great part of it as fabulous. What, among other things, can appear more unworthy of credit, than that in an enlightened age, in a civilized and Christian country, in a nation so celebrated for humanity, as well as love of liberty and justice, as the English once justly were, a prince should arise, who, by the influence of corruption alone, should be able to seduce them into a combination, to reduce three mill- ions of his most loyal and affectionate subjects, to absolute slavery, under pretence of a right, appertaining to God alone, of binding them in all cases whatever, not even excepting cases of conscience and religion ? What can appear more improbable, although true, than that this prince, and this people, should obstinately steel their hearts, and shut their ears, against the most humble petitions and affectionate remon- strances ; and unjustly determine, by violence and force, to execute designs which were re- probated by every principle of humanity, equity, gratitude and policy — -designs which would have been execrable, if intended against sava- ges and enemies, and yet formed against men descended from the same common ancestors with themselves ; men, who had literally con- tributed to their support, and chcerlully fought their battles, even in remote and baleful cli- mates.'' Will it not appear extraordinary, that thirteen colonies, the object of their wicked designs, divided by variety of governments and manners, should immediately become one peo- ple, and though without funds, without maga- zines, without disciplined troops, in the face of their enemies, unanimously determine to be free ; and, undaunted by the power of Britain, refer their cause to the justice of the Almighty, and resolve to repel force by force .'' Thereby presenting to the world an illustrious example of magnanimity and virtue scarcely to be par- alleled. Will it not be matter of doubt and wonder, that, notwithstanding these difficul- ties, they should raise armies, establish funds, carry on commerce, grow rich by the spoils of their enemies, and bid defiance to the armies of Britain, the mercenaries of Germany and the savages of the wilderness ? — But, however in- credible these things may in future appear, we know them to be true, and we should always remember, that the many remarkable and un- expected means and events, by which our wants have been supplied, and our enemies re- pelled or restrained, are such strong and striking proofs of the interposition of heaven, that our having been hitherto delivered from the threat- ened bondage of Britain, ought, like the eman- cipation of the Jews from Egyptian servitude, to be forever ascribed to its triw cause, and instead of swelling our breasts with arrogant ideas of our prowess and importance, kindle in them a flame of gratitude and piety, which may consume all remains of vice and irreligion. Blessed be God ! the time will now never arrive when the prince of a country, in another quarter of the globe, will command your obedi- ence and hold you in vassalage. His consent has ceased to be necessary to enable you to enact laws essential to your welfare ; nor will you, in future, be subject to the imperious sway of rulers, instructed to sacrifice your happiness, whenever it might be inconsistent with the ambitious views of their royal master. The Americans are the first people whom heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon, and choosing the forms of government under which they should live ; — all other constitutions have derived their existence from violence or accidental circumstances, and are therefore probably more distant from their perfection, which, though beyond our reach, may nevertheless be approached under the guidance of reason and experience. How far the people of this state have im- proved this opportunity, we are at no loss to determine. — Their constitution has given gen- eral satisfaction at home, and been not only approved, but applauded abroad. It would be a pleasing task to take a mmute view of it, to investigate its principles, and remark the con- nection and use of its several parts— but that would be a work of too great length to be proper on this occasion. I must therefore con- fine myself to general observations ; and among 1 82 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. those which naturally arise from a considera- tion of this subject, none are more obvious, than that the highest respect has been paid to those great and equal rights of human nature, which should forever remain inviolate in every society — and that such care has been taken in the disposition of the legislative, executive and judicial powers of government, as to promise permanence to the constitution, and give energy and impartiality to the distribution of justice. So that, while you possess wisdom to discern and virtue to appoint men of worth and abilities to fill the offices of the state, you will be happy at home and respectable abroad. — Your life, your liberties, your property, will be at the disposal only of your Creator and yourselves. You will know no power but such as you will create ; no authority unless derived from your grant ; no laws, but such as acquire all their obligations from your consent. Adequate security is also given to the rights of conscience and private judgment. They are, by nature, subject to no control but that of the Deity, and in that free situation they are now left. Every man is permitted to consider, to adore and to worship his Creator in the manner most agreeable to his conscience. No opinions are dictated ; no rules of faith prescribed ; no preference given to one sect to the prejudice of others. — The constitudon, however, has wisely declared, that the " liberty of conscience, there- by granted, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state." In a word, the convention, by whom that constitution was formed, were of opinion, that the gospel of Christ, like the ark of God, would not fall, though unsupported by the arm of flesh ; and happy would it be for mankind, if that opinion prevailed more generally. But let it be remembered, that whatever marks of wisdom, experience and patriotism there may be in your constitution, yet, hke the beautiful symmetry, the just proportions, and elegant forms of our first parents, before their maker breathed into them the breath of life, it IS yet to be animated, and till then, may indeed excite admiration, but will be of no use — from the people it must receive its spirit, and by ihem be quickened. Let virtue, honor, the love of liberty and of science be, and remain, the soul of this constitution, and it will become the source of great and extensive happiness to this and future generations. Vice, ignorance, and want of vigilance, will be the only enemies able to destroy it. Against these provide, and, of these, be forever jealous. Every member of the state, ought diligently to read and study the constitution of his country, and teach the rising generation to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated, and be the better prepared to defend and assert them. This, gentlemen, is the first court held under the authority of our constitution, and I hope its proceedings will be such, as to merit the appro- bation of the friends, and avoid giving cause of censure to the enemies of the present establish- ment. It is proper to observe, that no person in this state, however exalted or low his rank, however dignified or humble his station, but has a right to the protection of, and is amenable to the laws of the land ; and that if those laws be wisely made and duly executed, innocence will be defended, oppression punished, and vice restrained. Hence it becomes the common duty, and indeed the common interest, of every subject of the state, and particularly of those concerned in the distribution of justice, to unite in repressing the licentious, in supporting the laws, and thereby diffusing the blessings of peace, security, order and good government, through all degrees and ranks of men among us. I presume it will be unnecessary to remind you, that neither fear, favor, resentment, or other personal and partial considerations, should in- fluence your conduct. Calm, deliberate reason, candor, moderation, a dispassionate, and yet a determined resolution to do your duty, will, I am persuaded, be the principles by which you will be directed. You will be pleased to observe, that all offences committed in this county against the peace of the people of this state, from treason to trespass, are proper objects of your attention and enquiry. You will pay particular attention to the practice of counterfeiting the bills of credit, emitted by the general congress, or other of the American states, and of knowingly pass- ing such counterfeits. Practices no less crimi- nal in themselves, than injurious to the interest of that great cause, on the success of which the happiness of America so essentially depends. AN ADDRESS From the Legislature of the State of New York, to their Constituents, March 13, 1781. EXPLANATORY LETTER. Permit me to solicit to treat your readers and patrons with the publication of the follow- ing address. The journal of the assembly of NEW YORK. 183 the year 1 78 1, at their second meeting, was never printed ; it appears that the state printer for that year could not procure the necessarj- paper for the purpose. Three hundred copies of this address were printed in a pamphlet form for the whole state, and the same was ordered to be printed in the friendly news- papers. New York city being then in the pos- session of the enemy, this latter means of cir- culation must have been small. In the manu- script journal of 1781, above mentioned, is the original state address, from which I have made this exact copy. It appears from this journal, that previous to the publication of this interesting document, the great body of the people of this state, although they loved their countr)' and still wished and prayed for liberty, yet found themselves fatigued, distressed, em- barrassed, drained of property and deprived of the ser\'ices of their useful, hardy husbandmen — surrounded and daily encroached upon by the ravaging enemy, and pressed by a merciless savage foe. The record of their complaints and entreaties for relief, transmitted to the legislature from every part of the state, prove them to have been greatly disquieted, and anxious to put a speedy termination to taxes, im- presses, assessments, and levies of militia. By the history of the succeeding year, this admir- able address seems to have had the desired effect. The committee for drafting and pre- paring the same were Mr. L'Hommedieu, Mr. Tayler, and Mr. Benson, of the assembly, and Mr. Schulyer, Mr. Yates, and Mr. Piatt, of the senate. It was first reported in the assembly by Mr. Benson. By its publication in your state paper, you will deserve the thanks of the present genera- tion, and preserve to posterity an important item of the history of the memorable Ameri- can REVOLUTION. I have the honor to be, sir, your very humble servant, Aaron Clark. Albany, Nov. 3, 1819. ADDRESS. Albany, March 13, 1781. "Friends and fellow-citizens— While government is without corruption, the repre- sentatives of a free people cannot be inatten- tive to the opinions of their constituents : They will hear their complaints and examine into the causes of them ; if they proceed from errors in government, they will endeavor to correct such errors ; if they originate in evils which arise from their peculiar situation, they will explain the necessity which gives them birth — well satisfied that such evils will be borne with patience, by those virtuous citizens, who count temporary inconveniences as dust in the balance when weighed against their own freedom, and the happiness of posterity. The weight of taxes, the rigorous measures that have been used to restrain the disaffected, exertions oppressive to individuals, by which supplies have been obtained, the wants of the army, the calls upon the militia, and the de- struction of our frontiers, and the principal sources from which the present discontents are supposed to flow. At first view, it will a{>- pear that most of these complaints militate against each other, and that to diminish the causes of some evils, others must be increased : Thus, to procure supplies without force, money must be obtained and taxes rendered more burthensome ; to relieve the frontiers, great demands must be made upon the militia ; to conduct military' operations with success, vigor and energy must be given to government, and temporary restraint be imposed upon the liberty of the subject. Those who candidly admit these truths, will judge of the embarrassments which perplex the legislature — will make pro- per allowances for them, and by aiding and supporting government, enable their rulers to distinguish between the manly representations of freemen and real patriots, and the insidious murmurs of those grovelling souls, whom the flesh pots of Egypt would lure back to the land of bondage. But to enter more minutely into particulars : With respect to the weight and inequality of taxes, let the sincere and zealous friend of his country, for to such characters only we mean to address ourselves, look back to the begin- ning of this controversy, and test the justice of present complaints by past promises. Greater evils than any we have yet experienced, were apprehended when we entered into the present contest. Cowards shuddered and attempted to fly from them ; you set them at defiance ; and animated with the spirit of freedom in your public assemblies, at your private meet- ings, by your solemn acts, and in your familiar conversations, repeatedly pledged your lives and fortunes to prosecute the war with vigor. That the taxes are burthensome, will readily be admitted ; but on the other hand, we submit . to your candor, whether they are not far short of what you had reason to expect ; especially when you consider the real3.wA. not the nominal sum demanded ; and take into the account, that the war had been carried on for several 1 84 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. campaigns, at a considerable expense, before any taxes were collected, and we are persuaded your justice will not permit you to ascribe to the legislature, hardships arising from taxes which it was their duty to lay, in conformity to the resolutions of that august body, whom the common voice of America has rendered supreme in matters relatrve to the war. If congress, urged by their necessities, have unhappily called for more than you are in circumstances to grant — if they have not duly weighed the various events which have impoverished and distressed this state, it becomes us, without deranging the general system, faithfully to represent our situation, while we endeavor to comply with their requisitions. This we have done ; and have reason to hope for every relief which the present emergencies will permit them to afford. In this expectation we have also taken measures to suspend the operation of the law for raising a sum equal to one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars in specie. As the vast debt due to individuals of this state from the United States remains unpaid, and therefore you are destitute of a circulating medium : and also because the desolation on the frontiers in the last campaign, has com- pelled us to require you to raise an extraor- dinary, but necessary number of men for their security, we have given further time for the payment of the tax, which will be due on the first of April, and we propose in the mean time to digest some plan for a more just and equal distribution of that and the other bur- thens of the war. To this, your represen- tatives engage to turn their earnest attention. They lament that the wants of the army, and the negligence of states who have built too much upon our efforts, have so frequently rendered it necessary to disturb the common course of trade ; and in some measure to violate the rights of property : we trust, how- ever, that this necessity will justify us in the opinion of those who sincerely believe the relief of the troops a national object, and their wants a national grievance. We have stated to congress the difficulties into which we are involved, and flatter our- selves that they will take measures to procure from every state its just quota, and thereby render exertions beyond our proportion, un- necessary in future. And we presume so much on your attachment to the cause of freedom, as not to doubt that you will cheer- fully submit to every equitable mode which the legislature may devise to draw forth the re- sources of this state, and by that means prevent us from being exposed to the cen- sure of those whom we charge with neg- lect. We have already hinted, that we feel the inconvenience to which the non-payment of the continental debts, as well as those con- tracted by the state, has subjected many of you. To this subject we have again earnestly entreated the attention of congress, and pointed out a mode of redress. We have now under consideration, a plan for calling to account such persons as have been entrusted with public money, and thereby to restrain im- proper expenditures. We sincerely wish that the charge against public officers had been so particular as to direct us in our enquiries to the persons aimed at, and still hope that where abuses have crept into any department, the same zeal which dictated the complaint, will, by regular information to the prosecutor for the public, to a grand jury, composed of the body of each country, or to your representa- tives, in assembly, enable them to bring the offenders to justice. The extraordinary powers given to com- missioners for defeating conspiracies, may undoubtedly be justified by our peculiar situa- tion, and by the practice of all nations under similar circumstances. On this occasion, we are again impelled to call on your candor, and to ask, beset as we are by avowed enemies, and infested with concealed traitors, who with facility maintain criminal intercourse, scatter the seeds of disaffection, and take advantage of the credulity of the honest but misinformed — whether it is not absolutely necessary to be attentive to their motions — to compare in- telligence received from different quarters — to counteract the various machinations they are incessantly practising to subjugate us to British tyranny — that the legislature should delegate such powers as these commissioners are invested with. From a persuasion that you conceived their proceedings may, in some instances, have been improper, we do you the justice to believe, that hence your complaints have originated ; and we flatter ourselves that in a more serious consideration, you, as friends to your country, will be impressed with the necessity of such powers, and that they will be obnoxious to none but the disaffected. The proceedings of these commissioners will, how- ever, be submitted to the inspection of a com- mittee of both houses, in order to discover whether they have abused their authority. We have already taken measures for the defence of the frontiers, which, if successful, will greatly relieve the militia ; and we indulge ourselves in a hope that our endeavors will be NEW YORK. 185 warmly seconded by those, at least, whose zeal has justly led them to consider the de- struction of the frontiers as a national misfor- tune. We see with pain, many of the inhabitants of the state remonstrating against that as a grievance which, as a part of the original con- stitution, is so intimately interwoven therewith, as not to be rent from it without destroying the fabric, namely the share which the representa- tives of the southern part of the state have in legislation. We find ourselves constrained to declare, that we cannot consider this as a proper subject of complaint. A convention was chosen for the whole state, and consisted of deputies from every county, with unlimited powers to institute and establish a government which should conclude the -djhole. Whilst this great business was in agitation, the southern counties became under a restraint from the enemy and the convention made provision for affording to the inhabitants of those counties as much of the benefits of the constitution as their situation and circumstances would admit. We presume the convention were convinced, that as legisla- tion and representation is the leading principle in our constitution, it would, therefore, be highly unjust, if because our brethren were unfortu- nate and could not enjoy the whole of their inheritance, we should deprive them of that in which they could participate. To prevent this injustice, and influenced by motives of necessity and expediency, the convention passed the ordinance which we cannot, without violating the rights of the people, consider otherwise than as part of the constitution, from which we de- rive our powers, and therefore not to be altered or annulled by us. Independent of these con- clusions, which we have drawn from the strict principles of the consdtution, we find our con- duct supported by the example of the great council of the United States. Congress has allowed, and doth still permit the delegates from Georgia and South Carolina to sit, debate, and vote, although the former is entirely in posses- sion of the enemy, and the capital of the latter, with a great part of the state, experience the same misfortune. Indeed, should the delegates of those states, or the representatives of those counties be deprived of their seats, the former might of right, and agreeable to the law of nations, separate from the federal union, enter into compacts with other nations, and even unite with Great Britain — and the latter might on the same principles hold a similar conduct with respect to us. We forbear to enter into a further detail of reasoning on this subject, presuming that the least reflection will discover that, as in the one case the Jurisdiction of con- gress could not, of right, extend to Georgia and South Carolina, so in the other, our sover- eignty would be restricted in point of territory, and our act could not rightfully bind the in- habitants of the counties in the power of the enemy. Consequences so detrimental to both, we are persuaded, were not foreseen by those among our constituents who wish well to the cause of their country, other\\'ise we flatter our- selves that this matter would not have been suggested as a grievance. Thus, friends and fellow-citizens, impelled by the laudable principle that the public weal only ought to influence the conduct of its servants, have we admitted the justice of some of your complaints, promised our endeavors to lessen the cause of others, submitted to your candor our observations on those which we cannot deem grievous, pointed at the embarrassments which surround us, and the means we have pursued to remove them ; but while duty dic- tated this line of conduct on our part, it be- comes us, the temporary representatives of the majesty of the people, to prosecute this address in a style which freemen ought to use to their equals ; and we therefore cannot hesitate to assert, that it is incumbent on you candidly to distinguish between errors in the general sys- tem of the laws themselves, and the persons employed in the execution of them ; between those which care and attention in your legisla- ture and magistrates may remedy, those which your situation and circumstances render un- avoidable. Your representations have been useful in pointing out defects, but in your forti- tude, in a due obedience to the laws, and in a determination to support theauthority of govern- ment can relief only be obtained against partial burdens, and although we cannot suspect that you will be remiss in these great duties of the good citizens, yet it behoves us to advise you, that a criminal negligence has been lately too prevalent with some ; that it is your duty to interfere, especially whilst the British tyrant insults you with his unmeaning offers of peace and pardon, and whilst his infamous emissaries industriously attempt to excite the honest, but credulous friends of his countr>', to unwarrant- able commotions, and induce him to mix with well founded grievances, those that do not exist. We mention this to sound the alarm to you whose zeal and firmness have remained unshaken in every vicissitude of the present contest, that the weak and unwary may, by your example, be led to the bettei policy of removing the difficulties and embarrassments which lay between us and the great objects we 1 86 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. have in view, INDEPENDENCE, LIBERTY and PEACE, and not, by throwing fresh difficulties in the way, remove to a more remote period the completion of your wish. Listen, friends, fellow-citizens, and country- men, to the recommendations of that great and good man, whose virtues and patriotism, as the soldier and the citizen, have drawn down the admiration, not of America only, but all Europe ; whose well-earned fame will roll down the tide of time until it is absorbed in the abyss of eternity : listen to what he recom- mended to your army on a recent and an alarming occasion, and seriously apply it to yourselves and to us: " The general is deeply sensible of the sufferings of the army ; he leaves no expedient unused to relieve them, and he is persuaded that congress and the sev- eral states are doing everything in their power for the same purpose. But while we look to the public for the fulfilment of its engagements, we slwiild do it with proper allowance for the embarrassments of public affairs ; we began a contest for liberty and independetice, ill provided for with the means of war, relying on our pat- riotism to supply deficiencies ; we expected to encounter many wants and difficulties, and we should neither shrink from them when they happen, nor fly in the face of law and govern- ment to procure redress. There is no doubt the public will, in the event, do ample justice to the men fighting and suffering in their de- fence ; but it is our duty to bear present evils with fortittide, looking fonvard to the period when our country will have it more in its power to reward our services. History is full of examples of armies suffering, with patience, the extremities of distress which exceed those we have experienced, and those in the cause of am- bition and conquest, not in that of the rights of humanity, of their country, of their families, and of themselves. Shall we, who aspire to the dis- tinction of a patriot army, who are contending for everything precious in society, against everything hateful and degrading in slavery ; shall we, who call ourselves citizens, discover less constancy, and military virtue, than the mercenary instruments of ambition ? " These are the sentiments of a Washington, and although he had not us immediately in view, yet every sentence is replete with whole- some admonition to all orders of men in these states. The force and artifice of the enemy, have hitherto proved equally abortive. Britain's proud boasts of conquest are no more, and all Europe detests her cause. You are already within sight of the promised land, and, by the blessing of Heaven, and adequate efforts on your part, you may shortly hope, under your own vine and your own fig-tree, to spend the remainder of your days in tranquility and ease when the dangers you have passed, and the difficulties you sustain, will only seem to heigh- ten your enjoyments ; when you will look for- ward to the applauses of succeeding ages, and extend your happiness to the most remote pe- riod, by anticipating that which your exertions shall transmit to your posterity. But, friends, fellow citizens and countrymen, vain is your hope to experience these glorious rewards, for all your toils, and quaff the cup of bliss ; in vain has our hardy ancestor trav- ersed the trackless ocean to seek in the wilds of the new world a refuge from the oppres- sions of the old ; in vain for our sakes has he fled from that tyranny which, by taxing indus- try, transmits poverty as an inheritance from one generation to another ; in vain has he strove with the ruthless barbarian, and with the various difficulties incident on the emigration to countries untrodden by civilized man ; if, by internal discord, by a pusillanimous impatience under unavoidable burthens, by an immoderate attachment to perishable property, by an intem- perate jealousy of those servants whom each revolving year may displace from your confi- dence, by forgetting those fundamental princi- ples which induced America to separate from Britain, we play into the hands of a haughty nation, spurred on to perseverance in injury, by a despairing yet unrelenting tyrant, and his ra- pacious minions. Your representatives feel themselves incapa- ble of believing that any but the misguided, the weak and the unwary among our fellow- citizens, can be guilty of so foully staining the honor of the state, and wantonly becoming parricides of their own, and the peace and hap- piness of their posterity. — Let us then all, for our interest is the same, with one heart and one voice, mutually aid and support each other. Let us steadily, unanimously, and vig- orously, prosecute the great business of estab- lishing our independence. Thus shall we be free ourselves, and leave the blessings of free- dom to millions yet unborn. By order of the Senate, (Signed) Pierre Van Cortlandt, Pres't. By order of the Assembly, (Signed) Evert Bancker, Speaker. Albany, March I2,th, 1781 NEW YORK. 187 ADDRESS Of citizens of the city of New York TO General Washington, and Gover- nor Clinton, after the evacuation OF the City by the British Forces in 1783. A committee had been appointed by the citizens to wait upon General Washington and Governor Clinton and other American officers, and to express their joyful congratulation to them upon this occasion. A procession for this purpose formed in the Bowery, marched through a part of the city, and halted at a tavern, then known by the name of Cape's tavern, in Broadway, where the following ad- dresses were delivered. Mr. Thomas Tucker, late of this town, and, at that time, a reputable merchant in New York, a member of the com- mittee, was selected to perform the office on the part of the committee. TO HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASH- INGTON, ESQ. General and commander in chief of THE armies of THE UNITED STATES of America. The address of the citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, in behalf of themselves and their suffering breth- ren : Sir — At a moment when the army of ty- ranny is yielding up its fondest usurpations, we hope the salutations of long suffering exiles, but now happy freemen, will not be deemed an unhappy tribute. In this place, and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the ensigns of slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, with unusual transports of gratitude and joy. Permit us to welcome you to this city, long torn from us by the hard hand of oppression, but now, by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more the seat of peace and freedom We forbear to speak our gratitude or your praise. We should but echo the voice of applauding millions. But the citizens of New York are eminently indebted to your vir- tues ; and we, who have now the honor to ad- dress your excellency, have often been com- panions of your sufferings and witnesses of your exertions. Permit us, therefore, to ap- proach your e.xcellency with the dignity and sincerity of freemen, and to assure you that we shall preserve, with our latest breath, our grati- tude for your services, and veneration for your character ; and accept of our sincere and earnest wishes that you may long enjoy that calm domestic felicity, which you have so gen- erously sacrificed — that the cries of injured liberty may never more interrupt your repose — and that your happiness may be equal to your virtues. Signed, at the request of the meeting. Thomas Randall, Danl. Phoenix, Saml. Broome, Wm. Gilbert, Sen, Francis Van Dyck, Geo. Janeway, Ephraim Brashier, New York, Nov. 25, 1783. Thomas Tucker, Henry Kipp, Pat. Dennison, Wm. Gilbert, jun. Jeremiah Wool, Abrm. P. Lott. GEN. WASHINGTON'S REPLY To THE foregoing ADDRESS, NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 1783. Gentlemen — I thank you sincerely for your affectionate address, and entreat you to be persuaded that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your polite congratula- tions. Permit me, in return, to felicitate you on the happy repossession of your city. Great as your joy must be on this pleasing occasion, it can scarcely exceed that which I feel at seeing you, gentlemen, who, from the noblest motives, have suffered a voluntary exile of many years, return again in peace and triumph to enjoy the fruits of your virtuous conduct. The fortitude and perseverance which you and your suffering brethren have exhibited in the course of the war, have not only endeared you to your countrymen, but will be remem- bered with admiration and applause, to the latest posterity. May the tranquility of your city be perpetual —may the ruins soon be repaired, commerce flourish, science be fostered, and all the civil and social virtues be cherished in the same illustrious manner which formerly reflected so much credit on the inhabitants of New York. In fine, may every species of felicity attend you, gentlemen, and your worthy fellow-citi- zens. George Washington. \l PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. THE ADDRESS TO GOV. CLINTON With the Answer. to his excellency george clinton, esquire, governor of the state of New York, commander in chief of THE militia, and ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY OF THE SAME. The address of the citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, in behalf of them- selves and their suffering brethren : Sir — When we consider your faithful labors at the head of the government of this state, devoid, as we conceive every free people ought to be, of flattery, we think we should not be wanting in gratitude to your vigilant and assid- uous services in the civil line. The state, sir, is highly indebted to you in your military capacity ; a sense of your real merit will secure to you that reputation which a brave man opposing himself in defence of his country, will ever desen'e. We most sincerely congratulate you on your happy arrival at the capital of the state. Your excellency hath borne a part with us in the general distress, and was ever ready to alle- viate the calamities you could not effectually remove. Your example taught us to suffer with dignity. We beg leave to assure your excellency that, as prudent citizens and faithful subjects to the people of the state of New York, we will do every thing in our power to enable you to support order and good government in the community over which you have, by the suffrages of a free and discerning people, been elected to preside. Signed, at request of the meeting. Thomas Randall, Danl. Phcenix, Saml. Broome, Wm. Gilbert, sen. Francis Van Dyck, Geo. Janeway, Ephraim Brasher, JVew York, Nov. 25, 1783. Thomas Tucker, Henry Kipp, Pat. Dennison, Wm. Gilbert, jun. Jeremiah Wool, Abrm. P. Lott. His Excellency's Reply. Gentlemen — Accept my most sincere thanks for your very affectionate and respect- ful address. Citizens who, like you, to vindi- cate the sacred cause of freedom, quitted their native city, their fortunes and possessions, and sustained with manly fortitude, the rigors of a long and painful exile, superadded to the griev- ous calamities of a vengeful war, merit, in an eminent degree, the title of patriots and the esteem of mankind ; and your confidence and approbation are honors which cannot be re- ceived without the utmost sensibility or con- templated without gratitude and satisfaction. To your sufferings and to the invincible spirit with which they were surmounted, I have been witness, I have deeply lamented that I had not means to alleviate them equal to my inclina- tion. The assurances of your firm support in the administration of government, give me singu- lar pleasure. A reverence for the laws is peculiarly essential to public safety and pros- perity under our free constitution ; and should we suffer the authority of the magistrate to be violated for the sake of private vengeance, we should be unworthy of the numberless bless- ings which an indulgent Providence hath placed in our reach. I shall endeavor steadily to dis- charge my duty, and I flatter myself that this state will become no less distinguished for justice and public tranquility, in peace, than it has hitherto been marked, in war, for vigor, fortitude and perseverance. Gentlemen — Your kind congratulations on my arrival at this metropolis, after so long an absence, are highly acceptable, and I most cordially felicitate you on the joyful events which have restored us to the free and uncontrolable enjoyment of our rights. While we regard, with inviolable gratitude and affection all who have aided us by their counsel or their arms, let us not be unmindful of that Almighty Being, whose gracious Providence has been manifestly interposed for our deliverance and protection, and let us shew by our virtues that we deserve to partake of the freedom, sover- eignty and independence which are so happily established throughout these United States. George Clinton. New- York, ilth Nov. 1783. DR. TUSTEN, Southold, Long Island. Sketch of Revolutionary History. — At the late anniversary meeting of the Medical Society of Orange county, an address was delivered by Dr. Arnell, in which he introduced a biography of Dr. Tusten, a native of Southold, L. I., who was a distinguished practitioner in the early settlement of that county. In relation to the death of Dr. Tusten, his biographer gives the following interesting sketch of our revolutionary history: In June, 1779, colonel Brandt, who com- NEW YORK. 189 manded the six nations of Indians, left Niagara, vvitii about 300 warriors and a number of tories, who had joined that murderous crew, with an intention of destroying the settlements upon the Delaware river, which was then con- sidered as the frontier of our unsettled country. On the 20th of July, he appeared on the west of Minisink — he sent down a party which destroyed the settlement, burnt several houses, and plundered the inhabitants, returning with their ill-gotten booty to the main body, which lay then at Grassy Swamp Brook. An express was immediately dispatched to colonel Tusten, his superior officer. General Allison, being then confined in New York, having been taken prisoner at the battle of Fort Montgomery — the colonel received the news that evening — he instantly issued orders to the officers of the regiment to rendezvous at Minisink, where he would meet them. Having taken an affection- ate, and it proved a final, leave of his family, he collected what few he could, and was at the appointed place by morning. In the after part of that day, about 120 men were collected, when a council was held, to determine whether it would be best to pursue the Indians into the woods ; a majority of the officers were in favor of that measure ; colonel Tusten, who viewed things in a calm manner and judicious light, was opposed to that plan ; he gave, as his reasons for his opposition, that the men were not sufficiently supplied with ammunition for a battle — that there were probably a much greater number of Indians than had been seen — that they were piloted by tories and Indians well acquainted with the woods, and com- manded by Brandt, a well known warrior, who would never risk a battle unless he had superior advantages. To this was answered, that there was no danger of their numbers — that the Indians dare not fight — that they had several cattle and horses which they had plundered from the inhabitants which they must guard or leave upon the appearance of an enemy — that they might be pursued with deliberation until they came to the fording place of the Delaware river, which was near the entrance of Lacawac river into the Delaware, and finally, major Meeker mounted his horse and flourished his sword, requesting all those who were men of courage to follow him, and let the cowards stay behind. This last appeal was too much for American valor, and the men immediately turned out, determined to pursue and destroy the Indians or perish in the attempt. They marched that evening about seventeen miles, when they encamped for the night. In the morning they were overtaken by colonel Hathorn, of the Wanvick regiment, who, being the oldest colonel and highest officer in rank, took the command. He called a council and himself opposed the pursuit, but here it was urged that they had a pilot, captain Tyler, who was as well acquainted with the woods as any among their enemies, and who could bring them to a spot most eligible for an attack with perfect safety, and the same scene of bullying was acted by major Meeker, who is well calculated by the poet, "a fool devoid of rule," and the fatal line of march was again commenced. They had not proceeded far before Brandt discovered them — he ordered a few of his Indians to keep in sight and decoy them to the very spot where they intended to surprise him ; but before they reached the place captain Tyler was shot, which damped the spirits of our men. During this confusion a party of Indians hove in sight — colonel H. ordered that no man should fire until they had prepared for a general battle ; a large Indian however rode past on a horse which had been stolen from Minisink, and which one of our men knew ; the temptation was too great, and our hero fired his rifie and brought the Indian to the ground. The advanced Indians then fired and rushed towards our men, in order to divide them, and about thirty were separated from the main body, who could not afterwards be brought into action. In a few minutes Brandt appeared with his whole force, when the firing became general. A very confused and irregular fire was kept up from behind trees and rocks both by the Indians and our men. From the situation in which they were placed every one fought in his own way, and it was impossible for any one to command : colonel Tusten retired to a spot surrounded by rocks, where he directed the wounded to be conveyed to him, and he now became the surgeon and friend of the wounded. Early in the battle he had received a slight wound in the hand, though not sufficient to prevent his dressing the wounds of the soldiers. The battle lasted the whole day ; the Indians con- stantly endeavoring to divide and break the main body which had possession of the ground until sunset, when their ammunition was expended, and a general retreat was ordered — no regularity could be preserved, and every one was left to effect his escape in the best manner he could — some crossed the river, while others were shot in it ; some retreated through the woods, while others were destroyed in the attempt ; but now a scene presented itself which of all others was the most tr>ing. Dr. Tusten had seventeen with him, whose wounds igo PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. he had dressed, and whose lives might have been saved — the cries they kept up for mercy and protection when they heard the retreat ordered, beggared all description ; they were necessarily left to be sacrificed by savage bar- barity ; and whether Dr. Tusten stayed and perished with his wounded countr)'men, or attempted to make his retreat, is not known. This is the last time he was ever seen by any white man, though it is generally believed that he suffered by the same tomahawk which destroyed those that were with him. On this fatal day forty-four of our countrymen fell, some of whom might emphatically be called the pride and flower of Goshen. Among them was a Jones, a Little, a Duncan, a Wisner, a Vail, a Townsend, and a Knapp ; and there perished our friend and brother in profession. Dr. Tusten, a sacrifice for the independence and liberty of our country. REFERENCE To Churches of New York during the Revolution. T^e Churches. Extract from a sermon preached at New York, by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, Dec. II, 1783, the day appointed by congress as a public thanksgiving throughout the United States. " It is much to be lamented, that the troops of a nation who had been considered as one of the bulwarks of the reformation, should act as if they had waged war with the God whom Christians adore. They have, in the course of this war, utterly destroyed more than fifty pla- ces of worship in these states. Most of these were burnt, others they levelled with the ground, and in some places left not a vestige of their former situation ; while they have wan- tonly defaced, or rather destroyed others, by converting them into barracks, jails, hospitals, riding schools, etc. Boston, Newport, Phila- delphia and Charlestown, all furnished melan- choly instances of this prostitution and abuse of the house of God ; — and of nineteen places of public worship in this city, when the war began, there were but nine fit for use when the British troops left it. It is true. Trinity church, and the old Lutheran, were destroyed by the fire, that laid waste so great part of the city, a few nights after the enemy took possession of it ; the fire was occasioned by the carelessness of their people; and they prevented its more speedy extinguishment. But the ruinous sit- uation in which they left two of the Low Dutch Reformed churches, the three Presbyterian churches, the French Protestant church, the Anabaptist church, and the Friends new meet- ing house, was the effect of design, and strongly marks their enmity to those societies." THE MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH. Of this church, which, in the beginning of the war, was used by the British as a prison, and afterwards converted into a riding school, the venerable Dr. Livingston thus expresses himself, in a sermon, delivered July 4, 1790, when it was for the first time opened for public worship, after being repaired. " I dare not speak of the wanton cruelty of those who destroyed this temple, nor repeat the various indignities which have been per- petrated. It would be easy to mention facts which would chill your blood ! A recollection of the groans of dying prisoners, which pierced this ceiling, or the sacrilegious shouts and rough feats of horsemanship exhibited within these walls, might raise sentiments in your minds which would, perhaps, not harmonize with those religious affections, which I wish, at present, to promote, and always to cherish." NEW JERSEY. 191 NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATION OF MONEY In the Public Treasury by the people OF New Jersey. Newport, May 2», 1775. The people of New Jersey have taken pos- session of the treasury of that province, in which was the amount of between twenty and thirty thousand pounds ; which money is to be appropriated to the payment of the troops now raised in that province, for the defence of the liberties of America. VOTE OF CENSURE On Governor Wm. Franklin, by the Provincial Congress, of New Jersey. Burlington, June 14, 1776. Resolved, That in the opinion of this con- gress, the proclamation of William Franklin, esq. late governor of New Jersey, bearing date the thirtieth day of May last, in the name of the king of Great Britain, appointing a meeting of the general assembly, to be held on the twentieth of this instant, June, ought not to be obeyed. Resolved. That, in the opinion of this con- gress, the said William Franklin, esq. by such his declaration, has acted in direct contempt and violation of the resolve of the continental congress of the 1 5th day of May last. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this con- gress, all payments of money on account of salary or otherwise, to the said William Frank- lin, esq. as governor, ought from henceforth, to cease ; and that the treasurer or treasurers of this province, shall account for the monies in their hands to this congress, or to the future legislation of this colony. By order of the congress, Samuel Tucker, President. A true copy, William Patterson, Secretary. ADDRESS, To the inhabitants of New Jersey by THE Provincial Congress, June 15th, 1776. Countrymen and friends — This province has been requested by the continental cong^ress to send, without delay, from their militia, three thousand three hundred men to New-York, in consequence ot authentic information that the grand attack of our common enemy this sum- mer, which will probably prove the decisive campaign, is to be upon that city ; and that their force may be expected there in a few days. — Your representatives in this congress have, with all the despatch in their power, and with the utmost unanimity, prepared an ordin- ance for raising the number called for, as equally from the different parts of the pro- vince as possible. They have determined to raise the men by voluntary enlistment in the several counties, in full confidence that, in this war, they will be raised most speedily, as well as consist of persons of the greatest spirit and alacrity for the important service. Filled with the same zeal for the defence of their country, they apply to you by this short address — and, in the most earnest and affectionate manner entreat you not to sully the reputation ac- quired on all former occasions ; but to give a new proof to the public of your courage and intrepidity, as men, of your unalterable attach- ment to the liberties of America, and the sin- cerity of your unanimous resolutions from the beginning of this contest. Were there time to draw up a long discourse in this hour of dan- ger, the arguments that might be used are innumerable, and as some of them are of the most urgent, so (blessed be God) others are of the most encouraging and animating kind. The danger is not only certain, but immedi- ate and imminent. It does not admit of a moment's delay, for our unjust and implacable enemy is at hand. The place where the attack is expected is of the last importance ; not only a city of great e.xtent, the interest of whose numerous inhabitants must be exceedingly dear to us, but situated in the middle of the colonies, and where the success of the enemy would separate the provinces, and disunite their efforts by land, which are of necessity liable to interruption from the ene- my's fleet by sea. It is scarce worth while to add, that this province, by its vicinity, would then be exposed to the cruel depredations of the enemy, who happily, hitherto have been able to do us little or no mischief but by theft and rapine. It would seem to carry unjust 192 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. suspicion of you to say any more on our own private interest, as we hope every honest man is chiefly concerned for, and will strain every nerve in support of, the common cause of the united colonies. We cannot help putting you in mind how signally Almighty God has prospered us hith- erto, and crowned our virtuous efforts with success. The expulsion of the enemy from Boston, where they first took possession, and began their oppressive measures, was an event as disgraceful to them, as it was advantageous to the public cause, and honorable to that brave and resolute army by which it was accomplished. It will certainly be no small encouragement to those who shall now pro- ceed to the place of danger, that they shall join with many of the same soldiers, who have gained immortal honor by their past conduct, as well as serve imder that wise and able leader, whose prudence, firmness and attention to his great charge, have pro- cured him the most unlimited confidence, both of those who direct the public counsels, and of those who are in arms under his command. We must not forget the activity and success of the inhabitants of the southern colonies. They ran to arms in thousands the moment they heard of an attack, both in Virginia and North Carolina. God was pleased, in both cases, to reward their alacrity, for they ob- tained a complete victory over their ene- mies with so little loss of blood, as was not barely wonderful, but scarcely credible. At the battle of Moor-Creek Bridge, there were but few men killed and at Norfolk Great- Bridge we did not lose a single life. Time does not permit us to enlarge on the past events of this war, in which the kindness of Providence is so clearly to be seen. We therefore only further observe, that, by the preparations in Britain for this campaign, and by all the intelligence received from Europe, it is plain that not honor and advantage only, but absolute necessity requires us to e.xert our utmost efforts, for our all is at stake. Every one now is obliged to confess what many saw long .igo, that entire and unconditional sub- mission is the point to which our enemies are determined to bring us, if in their power ; so that nothing remains for us but either the abject slavery of tributary states, or to main- tain our rights and liberties by force of arms, and hand down the fair inheritance to our posterity, by a brave and determined defence. We desire and expect, that, in such a situa- tion of things, all particular difference of small moment, arising from whatever cause, whether religious denominations, rivalship of different classes of men, scarcity of some articles of commerce, or any other, may be entirely laid aside. The present danger requires the most perfect union. Let every enemy perceive, that the representatives of the colonies, as soon as they determine upon any measure, are able to bring out the whole strength of this vast country to carry it into execution. That you may be under no apprehension either of inequality in the burden, or that our own coasts will be left unguarded by the des- tination of this brigade, we have thought it best to inform you, that the continental con- gress have amply provided for the defence of this province, and have made such arrange- ment of the continental army for the ensuing campaign, as lays an equal burden on the inhabitants of the different colonies ; in par- ticular, that a flying camp of ten thousand men is now forming for the protection of the mid- dle colonies, which, we are credibly informed, is to have its chief station in this province. We add no more, but that we trust and hope, that, while every province is making the most spirited efforts. New Jersey in its place and duty will be second to none. Signed in name, and by appointment of con- gress, Burlington, June 15, 1776. Samuel Tucker, President. A true copy, Wm. P.\tterson, Secretary. SPEECH Of his excellency William Livingston, Governor of the State of New Jersey TO the Legislature of that state, Haddonfield, N. J. Feb. 25, 1777. Gentlemen — Having already laid before the assembly, by messages, the several mat- ters that have occurred to me, as more particu- larly demanding their attention during the present session, it may seem less necessary to address you in the more ceremonious form of a speech. But conceiving it my duty to the state, to deliver my sentiments on the present situation of affairs, and the eventful contest between Great Britain and America, which could not, with any propriety, be conveyed in occasional messages, you will excuse my giv- ing you the trouble of attending for that purpose. After deploring with you, the desolation spread through this state by an unrelenting enemy, who have indeed marked their progress NEW JERSEY. 193 with a devastation unknown to civilized na- tions, and evincive of ttie most implacable vengeance — I heartily congratulate you upon that subsequent series of success wherewith it has pleased the Almighty to crown the Ameri- can arms ; and particularly on the important enterprise against the enemy at Trenton — and the signal victor)' obtained over them at Prince- ton, by the gallant troops under the command of his excellency general Washington. Considering the contemptible figure they make at present, and the disgust they have given to many of their own confederates among us, by their more than Gothic rava- ges — (for thus doth the Great Disposer of events often deduce good out of evil) — their irruption into our dominion will probably re- dound to the public benefit. It has certainly enabled us the more effectually to distinguish our friends from our enemies. It has winnowed the chaff from the grain. It has discriminated the temporizing politician, who, at the first ap- pearance of danger, was determined to secure his idol, property, at the hazard of the general weal, from the persevering patriot — who, hav- ing embarked his all in the common cause, chooses rather to risk — rather to lose that all. for the preservation of the more estimable treasure, liberty, than to possess it — (enjoy it he certainly could not) — upon the ignominious terms of tamely resigning his country and pos- terity to perpetual servitude. It has, in a word, opened the eyes of those who were made to believe, that their impious merit, in abetting our persecutors, would exempt them from being involved in the general calamity. But as the rapacity of the enemy was boundless — their havoc vs'as indiscriminate, and their barbarity unparalleled. They have plundered friends and foes. Effects capable of division, they have divided. Such as were not, they have destroyed. They have warred upon decrepit age — warred upon defenceless youth. They have committed hostilities against the professors of literature, and the ministers of religion — against public records, and private monuments, and books of improvement, and papers of curiosity, and against the arts and sciences. They have butchered the wounded, asking for quarter ; mangled the dying, weltering in their blood ; refused to the dead the rites of sepulture ; suf- fered prisoners to perish for want of sustenance ; violated the chastity of women ; disfigured pri- vate dwellings, of taste and elegance ; and, in the rage of impiety and barbarism, profaned and prostrated edifices dedicated to Almighty God. And yet there are among us, who, either 13 from ambitious or lucrative motives — or intimi- dated by the terror of their arms — or from a partial fondness for the British constitution — or deluded by insidious propositions — are secretly abetting, or openly aiding their machinations, to deprive us of that liberty, without which man is a beast, and government a curse. Besides the inexpressible baseness of wish- ing to rise on the ruins of our countr)' — or to acquire riches at the expense of the liberties and fortunes of millions of our fellow-citizens — how soon would these delusive dreams, upon the conquest of America, end in disappoint- ment ? For where is the fund to recompense those retainers to the British arms .' Was every estate in America to be confiscated, and converted into cash, the product would not satiate the avidity of their national dependents ; nor lurnish an adequate repast for the keen appetites of their own ministerial beneficiaries. Instead of gratuities and promotion, these un- happy accomplices in their tyranny, would meet with supercilious looks and cold disdain ; and, after tedious attendance, be finally told by their haughty masters, that they indeed approved the treason, but despised the traitor. Insulted, in fine, by their pretended protectors, but real betrayers — and goaded with the stings of their own consciences — they would remain the frightful monuments of human contempt and divine indignation, and linger out the rest of their days in self-condemnation and remorse — and in weeping over the ruins of their country, which themselves had been in- strumental in reducing to desolation and bondage. Others there are, who, terrified by the power of Britain, have persuaded themselves that she is not only formidable, but irresistible. That her power is great, is beyond question ; that it is not to be despised, is the dictate of common prudence. But then we ought also to consider her, as weak in council, and ingulfed in debt — reduced in her trade — reduced in her revenue — immersed in pleasure — enervated with luxury- — and, in dissipation and venality, sur- passing all Europe. We ought to consider her as hated by a potent rival, her natural enemy and particularly exasperated by her imperious conduct in the last war, as well as her insolent' manner of commencing it ; and thence inflamed with resentment, and only watching a favorable ■ juncture for open hostilities. We ought to consider the amazing expense and difficulty of transporting troops and provisions above three thousand miles, with the impossibility of re- cruiting their army at a less distance, save only with such recreants, whose conscious guilt' 194 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. must at the first approach of danger, appal the stoutest heart. Those insuperable obstacles are known and acknowledged by every virtuous and impartial man in the nation. Even the author of this horrid war is incapable of conceal- ing his own confusion and distress. Too great to be wholly suppressed, it frequently discovers itself in the course of his speech — a speech ter- rible in word, and fraught with contradiction —breathing threatenings, and betraying terror — a motley mixture of magnanimity and consterna- tion — of grandeur and abasement. — With troops invincible he dreaded a defeat, and wants re- inforcements. Victorious in America, and triumphant on the ocean, he is an humble de- pendent on a petty prince ; and apprehends an attack upon his own metropolis ; and, with full confidence in the friendship and alliance of France, he trembles upon his throne, at her secret designs and open preparations. With all this, we ought to contrast the numerous and hardy sons of America, inured to toil — seasoned alike to heat and cold — hale — robust — patient of fatigue — and, from their ardent love of liberty, ready to face danger and death — the immense e.\tent of continent, which our infatuated enemies have undertaken to subjugate — the remarkable unanimity of its inhabitants, notwithstanding the exception of a few apostates and deserters — their unshaken resolution to maintain their freedom, or perish in the attempt — the fertility of our soil in all kinds of provisions necessary for the support of war — our inexhaustible internal resources for military stores and naval armaments — our com- parative economy in public expenses — and the millions we save by having reprobated the farther exchange of our valuable staples for the worthless baubles and finery of English manu- facture. Add to this, that in a cause so just and righteous on our part, we have the highest reason to expect the blessing of Heaven upon our glorious conflict. For who can doubt the interposition of the supremely just, in favor of a people forced to recur to arms in defence of every thing dear and precious, against a nation deaf to our complaints — rejoicing in our misery — wantonly aggravating our oppressions — determined to divide our substance — and by fire and sword to compel us into submission ? Respecting the constitution of Great Britain, bating certain royal prerogatives, of dangerous tendency, it has been applauded by the best judges ; and displays, in its original structure, illustrious proofs of wisdom and the knowledge of human nature. But what avails the best constitution, with the worst administration ? For what is their present government— and what has it been for years past, but a pensioned confederacy against reason, and virtue, and honor, and patriotism, and the rights of man? What were their leaders, but a set of political craftsmen, flagitiously conspiring to erect the babel, despotism, upon the ruins of the ancient and beautiful fabric of law — a shameless cabal, notoriously employed in deceiving the prince, corrupting the parliament, debasing the people, depressing the most virtuous, and exalting the most profligate — in short, an insatiable junto of public spoilers, lavishing the national wealth and, by peculation and plunder, accumulating a debt already enormous.' And what was the majority of their parliament, formerly the most august assembly in the world, but venal pen- sioners to the crown — a perfect mockery of all popular representation — and at the absolute devotion of every minister ? What were the characteristics of their administration of the provinces ? The substitution of regal instruc- tions in the room of law ; the multiplication of officers to strengthen the court interest ; per- petually extending the prerogatives of the king, and retrenching the rights of the subject, ad- vancing to the most eminent stations, men without education, and of the most dissolute manners ; employing, with the people's money, a band of emissaries to misrepresent and traduce the people ; and, to crown the system of mis- rule, sporting with our persons and estates by filling the highest seats of justice, with bank- rupts, bullies, and blockheads. From such a nation (though all this we bore, and should perhaps have borne for another century-, had they not avowedly claimed the unconditional disposal of life and property) it is evidently our duty to be detached. To remain happy or safe in our connection with her, became thenceforth utterly impossible. She is moreover precipitating her own fall, or the age of miracles is returned — and Britain a phenomenon in the political world, without a parallel. The proclamations to ensnare the timid and credulous, are beyond expression disingenuous and tantalizing. In a gilded pill they conceal real poison : they add insult to injurj-. After repeated intimations of commissioners to treat with America, we are presented, instead of the peaceful olive-branch, with the devouring sword : instead of being visited by plenipotentiaries to bring matters to an accommodation, we are invaded by an army, in their opinion, able to subdue us — and upon discovering their error, the terms propounded amount to this, " If you will submit without resistance, we are content to take your property, and spare your lives : and NEW JERSEY. 195 then (the consummation of arrogance !) we will graciously pardon you, for having hitherto defended both." Considering then their bewildered councils, their blundering ministry, their want of men and money, their impaired credit, and declining commerce, their lost revenues, and starving islands, the corruption of their parliament, with the effeminacy of their nation — and the success of their enterprise is against all proba- bility. Considering farther, the horrid enormity of their waging war against their own brethren, expostulating for an audience, complaining of injuries, and supplicating for redress, and wag- ing it with a ferocity and vengeance unknown to modern ages, and contrary to all laws, human and divine ; and we can neither ques- tion the justice of our opposition, nor the assistance of Heaven to crown it with victory. Let us not, however, presumptuously rely on the interposition of Providence, without exerting those efforts which it is our duty to exert, and which our bountiful Creator has enabled us to exert. Let us do our part to open the next campaign with redoubled vigor ; and until the United States have humbled the pride of Britain, and obtained an honorable peace, cheerfully furnish our proportion for continuing the war — a war, founded on our side on the immutable obligation of self-defence and in support of freedom, of virtue, and every- thing tending to ennoble our nature, and render a people happy — on their part, prompted by boundless avarice, and a thirst for absolute sway, and built on a claim repugnant to every principle of reason and equity — a claim subver- sive of all liberty, natural, civil, moral, and religious ; incompatible with human happiness, and usurping the attributes of deity, degrading man, and blaspheming God. Let us all, therefore, of every rank and degree, remember our plighted faith and honor, to maintain the cause with our lives and for- tunes. Let us inflexibly persevere in prosecut- ing to a happy period, what has been so glori- ously begun, and hitherto so prosperously con- ducted. And let those in more distinguished stations use all their influence and authority, to rouse the supine ; to animate the irreso- lute ; to confirm the wavering; and to draw from his lurking hole, the skulking neutral, who, leaving to others the heat and burden of the day, means in the final result to reap the fruits of that victory, for which he will not con- tend. Let us be peculiarly assiduous in bring- ing to condign punishment, those detestable parricides who have been openly active against their native country. And may we, in all our deliberations and proceedings, be influenced and directed by the Great Arbiter of the fate of nations, by whom empires rise and fall, and who will not always suffer the sceptre of the wicked to rest on the lot of the righteous, but in due time avenge an injured people on their unfeeling oppressor, and his bloody instru- ments. Haddonfield, Feb. 25, 1777. INSTRUCTIONS From the Legislature of New Jersey TO ITS delegates in Congress, Decem- ber 4. 1777- The Council and Assembly of the State of New- fersey, in j oint meeting . To the Hon. John Witherspoon. Abraham Clark, Jonathan Elmer, Nathaniel Scudder and Elias Boudinot, Esquires, and each and every of you : We have called you to the important and interesting service of representing this state in the congress of the United States of North America. A higher proof cannot be given of the confidence we repose in your abilities and integrity ; and we rest assured your best en- deavors will, at all times, be exerted to promote the freedom, independence, and happiness of the whole union, particularly to that part to which you stand in more immediate relation. Numerous and diversified as the objects of your attention will be, we attempt not to point out either the line or the extent of your mission. Keep in constant view the cause of your dele- gation, and let all your conduct be directed to the general good and the prosperity of your country. We cannot, however, omit the fol- lowing particulars, suggested by the present posture of affairs, and to which we require you carefully to attend. I. We hope you will habitually bear in mind that the success of the great cause in which the United States are engaged, depends upon the favor and blessing of Almighty God. and, therefore, you will neglect nothing which is competent to the assembly of the states, for promoting piety and good morals among the people at large. But, especially, we desire that you may give attention to this circumstance in the government of the army, taking care that such of the articles of war as forbid pro- faneness, riot and debauchery, be observed and enforced with all due strictness and severity. This, we apprehend, is absolutely necessary for the encouragement and maintenance of 196 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. good discipline, and will be a means of recruit- ing the army with men of credit and principle — an object ardently to be wished, but not to be expected, if the warmest friends of thcT coun- try should be deterred from sending their sons and connections into the service, lest they should be tainted with impious and immoral notions, and contract vicious habits. 2. We have no doubt that, as guardians of the state of New-Jersey, you will be particu- larly attentive to its interests ; but we also ex- pect you will be watchful to guard against every thing which will be hurtful to the general union, or injurious to the common interests of the United States. Extinguish, by all means in your power, the least appearance of jealousy in its earliest rise. Discountenance all local and partial reflections in every instance, and reprove, by your example, and suppress, as far as your authority extends, party feuds and factions, be the offenders who they may. 3. Let the wants of the soldiery be amply supplied and due provision made for their health and comfort ; and, as we think this can be done, so we wish it always may, in such manner as to guard the civil rights of the people against military encroachment, and the arbi- trary oppression of officers of the army, or of persons employed in the commissary's, quar- ter-master's or hospital departments. We contemplate w'ith concern, the slightest appear- ance of such an evil, and wish you to take proper pains to prevent it. This state is for- wardly disposed to use every exertion in behalf of their troops, and, as far as can reasonably be expected, of the army in general ; but we desire, when a requisition for this effect is nec- essary, it may be seasonably made, without waiting till the very hour of necessity, when it is impossible to take due and legal means of complying with it so as to answer any good purpose. 4. We desire you may be cautious of mul- tiplying offices, or the number of the officers in the several continental departments, and there- by unnecessarily increasing the public expense. Especially, you will use your utmost influence that the departments be filled with men of probity, and discretion, well qualified in point of capacity, and of unsuspected attachment to the liberties of America. We need not urge the reasons for calling your attention to this object, they are daily before your eyes. 5. We recommend the immediate completing of the establishment for wounded and disabled soldiers and seamen, by extending it to the militia in the continental ser\'iee, and making some provision for the widows and children of those who fall in battle, or die in the service, whether in the regular or militia troops. The necessity of a law, in this as well as the several states in the union, grounded upon such estab- lishment, requires that it be attended to as speedily as possible. 6. You are to take the earliest opportunity of having some effectual mode adopted for nego- ciating the exchange of citizens and civil pris- oners, no adequate provisions being, as we conceive, made for this end in the cartel now subsisting. Numbers of civil officers, inhabi- tants and subjects of this state, in captivity, and, we doubt not, the case is similar in other states, where the operations of war have ex- tended, not being taken in arms, and, therefore, not within the description of prisoners of war, are languishing in jails and chains, under the power of the enemy, without the means of hope or relief As their sufferings are in conse- quence of their zeal and activity in the common cause, they are entitled to the most vigorous exertions of their country in their behalf. 7. The great irregularities and abuses which have been, and continue to be, committed in this state, and, probably, in others where the army hath been, or now is, by the impressing horses, teams and carriages, and taking pro- visions, forage and fuel for the troops on march or in camp, and in delaying, neglecting, or totally refusing, upon the application of the inhabitants, with their receipts or certificates, to those whose duty it is to make satisfaction, have given rise to such universal uneasiness and complaint, that it cannot have escaped your notice. The ill consequences of such a grievance, not only to individuals, but to the cause in general, are so obvious, we need only remind you of it, and desire you would use your endeavors to procure a speedy remedy. 8. We wish you to consider whether it may not be advisable, and even necessary, that con- gress digest and recommend to the several states, some general plan for a treason law, lest inconveniences and difficulties should arise from such laws being drawn in different forms and settled on different principles, either as to the crimes or penalty, in the different states ; and particularly that treason against the union may be properly described, and the punishment thereof suitably defined. Such a general foun- dation being once laid, the law can be varied and accommodated, if necessary, to the local and special circumstances of each state, without substantially departing from it. 9. That your attendance on the duties of your appointment may be the more easy and con- venient, and that you may have leisure and NEW JERSEY. 197 opportunity occasionally to attend to your do- mestic concerns, from which, otherwise, you must have been totally abstracted, we have made the representation to consist of five, some three to be constantly present in congress, un- less when precluded by unavoidable accident. And that the state may not be put to unneces- sary expense, not more than three are to attend at the same time. By order of the joint-meeting. John Stevens, Chairman. Princeton, December \, 1777. PROPOSALS FOR AN EXCHANGE Of General Burgoyne, after his sur- render TO General Gates, at Sara- toga, December 8, 1777. Ascribed to his Excellency William Living- ston, Governor of the State of New Jersey.* Should the report of General Burgoyne's having infringed the capitulation, between Major General Gates and himself, prove to be true, our superiors will doubtless take proper care to prevent his reaping any benefit from it ; and should he be detained as a prisoner for his infraction of any of the articles, I would hum- bly propose to exchange him in such manner, as will at the same time flatter his vanity and redound to the greatest emolument of America. To evince the reasonableness of my proposal, I would observe, that by the same parity of reason, that a general is exchanged for a gene- ral, a colonel for a colonel, and so on, with re- spect to other officers, mutually of equal rank, we ought to have for one and the same gentle- man, who shall happen to hold both those offices, both a general and a colonel. This will appear evident from the consideration that those exchanges are never regulated by viewing the persons exchanged in the light of men, but as officers ; since otherwise, a colonel might as well be exchanged for a sergeant as for an officer of his own rank a sergeant be- ing, undoubtedly, equally a man, and, as the case sometimes happens, more of a }nan too. One prisoner, therefore, having twenty difTer- * The turgid, bombastic proclamation (for which see American Museum, vol II. page 495) which gave rise to this elegant and poignant satire, was prefaced in the fol- lowing manner : " Proclamation by John Burgoyne, es- quire, lieutenant general ot his majesty's armies in America,colonel of the queen's regiment of light dragoons, governor of Fort "W'illiam, in North Britain, one of the re- presentatives of the commons of Great Britain, and com- manding an army and fleet on an expedition from Canada, etc etc. etc."— C. ent offices, ought to redeem from captivity twenty prisoners aggregately holding the same offices ; or such greater or less number as shall, with respect to rank, be equal to his twenty offices. This being admitted, I think General Burgoyne is the most profitable pris- oner we could have taken, having more offices, or (what amounts to the same thing in Old England) more titles, than any gentleman on this side the Ganges. And as his impetuous excellency certainly meant to avail himself of his titles, by their pompous display in his pro- clamation, had he proved conqueror, it is but reasonable that we should avail ourselves of them now he is conquered ; and, till I meet with a better project for that purpose, I per- suade myself that the following proposal will appropriate them to a much better use, than they were ever applied to before. The exchange I propose is as follows : I. For John Burgoyne, esquire. Some worthy justice of the peace, magnani- mously stolen out of his bed, or taken from his farm by a band of ruffians in the uniform of British soldiers, and now probably perishing with hunger and cold in a loathsome jail in New York. II. For John Burgoyne, lieutenant general of his majesty's artnies in America. Two majors general. III. For John Burgoyne, co^wt'/ ^ the queen's regiment of light dragoons. As the British troops naturally prize every thing in proportion as it partakes of royalty, and under value whatever originates from a republican government, I suppose a colonel of her majesty's own regiment will procure at least three continental colonels of the horse. IV. For John Burgoyne, governor of fori William in North Britain. Here I would demand one governor of one of the United States, as his multitulary excel- cellency is governor of a fort ; and two more, as XhaXfort is 'm North Britain, which his Bri- tannic majesty may be presumed to value in that proportion ; but considering that the said fort is called William, which may excite in his majesty's mind the rebellious idea of liberty, I deduct one upon that account, and rather than puzzle the cartel with any perplexity, I am content with two go'dernors. V. For John Burgoyne, one of the representa- tives of Great Britain. The first member of congress who may fall into the enemy's hands. VI. For John Burgoyne, commander of a fleet employed in an expedition from Canada. The admiral of our navy. 198 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. VII. For John Burgoyne, commander of an army employed in an expedition from Canada. One commander-in-chief in any of our de- partments. VIII. For John Burgoyne, etc., etc., etc. Some connoisseurs in hieroglyphics imagine that these three et ceteras are emblematical of three certain occult qualities in the general, which he never intends to exhibit in more legi- ble characters, viz., prudence, modesty, and humanity. Others suppose that they stand for king of America ; and that, had he proved successful, he would have fallen upon general Howe, and afterward have set upon for him- self. Be this as it may, (which it however behoves a certain gentleman on the other side of the water seriously to consider) I insist upon it, that as all dark and cabalistical char- acters are suspicious, these incognoscible enig- mas may portend much more than is generally apprehended. At all events, general Burgoyne has availed himself of their importance, and I doubt not they excited as much terror in his proclamation, as any of his more luminous titles. As his person, therefore, is by the cap- ture, become the property of the congress, all his titles, (which some suppose to constitute his very essence) whether more splendid or opaque, latent or invisible, are become, ipso facto the lawful goods and chattels of the conti- nent, and ought not to be restored without a con- sideration equivalent. If we should happen to over-rate them, it is his own fault, it being in his power to ascertain their intrinsic value ; and it is a rule in law, that when a man is pos- sessed of evidence to disprove what is alleged against him. and refuses to produce it, the presumption raised against him, is to be taken for granted. Certain it is, that these three et ceteras must stand for three somethings, and as these three somethings must, at least, be equal to three somethings without rank or title, I had some thoughts of setting them down for three privates ; but then as they are three somethings in general Burgoyne, which must be of twice the value of three any things, in any three privates, I shall only double them, and demand in exchange for these three prob- lematical, enigmatical, hieroglyphical, mystic, necromantic, cabalistical and portentous et ceteras, six privates. So that, according to my plan, we ought to detain this ideal conqueror of the North, now a real prisoner in the East, till we have got in exchange for him, one esquire, two major gen- erals, three colonels of light horse, two govern- ors, one member of congress, the admiral of our navy, one commander in chief in a sepa- rate department, and six privates ; which is probably more than this extraordinary hero would fetch in any part of Great Britain, were he exposed at public auction for a day and a year. All which is nevertheless, humbly sub- mitted to the consideration of the honorable the congress, and his e.xcellency general Wash- ington. Prineetown, December 8, 1777. CORRESPONDENCE Between Col. Charles Mawhood, com- manding British forces, and Col. Elijah Hand, commanding American Militia, Salem, New Jersey, March, 1778. The following correspondence, which passed between the commanding officers of the British troops and American militia, at this place, in the time that " tried men's souls," in the revo- lutionary struggle, was handed us by a venera- ble old man ; who bore the fatigues and pri- vation of a soldier in those days. It was presented for publication, for the purpose of reviving and keeping alive our gratitude to those who so nobly contended for liberty, and adoration to the supreme Ruler of the universe, for causing the seemingly just, though apparently weaker power, to prevail. The proposal of the British commander is cruel and insulting : the answer mgenious and bold. They are as follows : Letter from Col. Mawhood. " Colonel Mawhood, commanding a detach- ment of the British army at Salem, induced by motives of humanity, proposes to the militia at Quinton's Bridge and the neighborhood, as well officers as private men, to lay down their arms and depart, each man to his own home ; on that condition he solemnly promises to re- embark his troops without delay, doing no fur- ther damage to the country, and he will cause his commissaries to pay for the cattle, hay and corn, that have been taken, in sterling money. " If, on the contrary, the militia should be deluded and blind to their true interest and happiness, he will put the arms which he has brought with him, into the hands of the in- habitants well affected, called tories, and will attack all such of the militia as remain in arms ; burn and destroy their houses and other property, and reduce them, their un- fortunate wives and children to beggary and NEW JERSEY. 199 distress.— And to convince them that these are not vain threats, he has subjoined a list of the names of such as will be the first objects to feel the vengeance of the British nation. "Given under my hand at head-quarters, Salem, 2i5t day of March, 1778. Cs. Mawhood, Col." Answer of Col. Hand. " Sir — I have been favored with what you say humanity has induced you to propose. It would have given me much pleasure to have found that humanity had been the line of conduct to our troops since you have come to Salem. Not only denying quarters, but butchering our men who surrendered them- selves prisoners in the skirmish at Quinton's Bridge last Thursday: and bayoneting yes- terday morning, at Hancock's Bridge, in the most cruel manner, in cold blood, men who were taken by surprise, in a situation in which they neither could nor did attempt to make any resistance ; and some of whom were not fighting men, are instances too shocking for me to relate, and I hope for you to hear. The brave are ever generous and humane ! After expressing your sentiments of humanity, you proceed to make a request which I think you would despise us if we complied with. Your proposal that we should lay down our arms, we absolutely reject. We have taken them up to maintain rights which are dearer to us than our lives, and will not lay them down, till either success has crowned our cause with victory, or like many ancient worthies contending for liberty, we meet with an honorable death. — You mention, that if we reject your proposal, you will put arms into the hands of the tones against us. We have no objections to the measure, for it would be a very good one to fill our arsenals with arms. Your threat to wantonly burn and destroy our houses and other property, and reduce wives and children to beggary and distress, is a sen- timent which my humanity almost forbids me only to recite ! and induces me to imagine that I am reading the cruel order of a barbarous Attila, and not of a gentleman, brave, gene- rous and polished with a genteel European education. — To wantonly destroy will injure your cause more than ours. It will increase your enemies and our army. To destine to destruction the property of our most distin- guished men, as you have done in your pro- posal, is, in my opinion, unworthy a generous foe, and more like a rancorous feud between two contending barons, than a war carried on by one of the greatest powers on earth against a people nobly struggling for liberty. A line of honor would mark out that these men should share the fate of their country. If your arms should be crowned with victory, which God forbid, they and their property will be entirely at the disposal of your power, will only make them desperate, and, as I said before, increase your foes and our army ; and retaliation upon tories and their property is not entirely out of our power. Be assured that these are the humble sentiments and determined resolution not only of myself, but of all the officers and privates under me. " My prayer is, sir, that this answer may reach you in good health and happiness. " Given at head-quarters, at Quinton's Bridge, March 22d, 1778. Elijah Hand, Colonel. "To Cs. Mawhood, Colonel." REMARKS ON LIBERTY OF CON- SCIENCE. Ascribed to his excellency William Livingston, Governor of New Jer- sey, 1778. If, in our own estimate of things, we ought to be regulated by the importance, doubtless every encroachment upon religion, of all things the most important, ought to be considered as the greatest imposition ; and the unmolested exercise of it, a proportionable blessing. By religion, I mean an inward habitual rev- erence for, and devotedness to the Deity, with such external homage, cither public or private, as the worshipper believes most acceptable to hitn. According to this definition, it is impos- sible for human laws to regulate religion with- out destroying it ; for they cannot compel inward religious reverence, that being alto- gether mental and of a spiritual nature ; nor can they enforce outward religious homage, because all such hom.age is either a man's own choice, and then it is not compelled, or it is repugnant to it, and then it cannot be religious. The laws of England, indeed, do not peremp- torily inhibit a man from worshipping God, according to the dictates of his own conscience, nor positively constrain him to violate it, by conforming to the religion of the state : But they punish him for doing the former, or what amounts to the same thing, for omitting the latter, and consequently punish him for his reli- gion. For what are the civil disqualifications and the privation of certain privileges he there- 200 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. by incurs, but so many punishments ? And wlnat else is the punishment for not embracing the religion of others, but the punishment for practising one's own ? With how little pro- priety a nation can boast of its freedom under such restraints on religious liberty, requires no great sagacity to determine. They affect, 'tis true, to abhor the imputation of tolerance, and applaud themselves for their pretended tolera- tion and lenity. As contra-distinguished, in- deed, from actual prohibition, a permission may doubtless be called a toleration ; for as a man is permitted to enjoy his religion under whatever penalties or forfeitures, he is certainly tolerated to enjoy it. But as far as he pays for such enjoyment, by suffering those penalties and forfeitures, he as certainly does not enjoy it freely. On the contrary, he is persecuted in the proportion that his privilege is so regulated and qualified. I call it persecution, because it is harassing mankind for their principles ; and I deny that such punishments derive any sanc- tion from law, because the co/isa'enccs of men are not the objects of hionan legislation. And to trace this stupendous insult on the dignity of reason to any other source than the one from which I induced it in the preceding essay, I mean the abominable combination of king- craft and priest-craft, (in everlasting indissolu- ble league to extirpate liberty, and erect on its ruins boundless and universal despotism,) would I believe puzzle the -most assiduous enquirer. For what business, in the name of common sense, has the magistrate (distinctly and singly appointed for our political and tem- poral happiness) with our religion, which is to secure our happiness spiritual and eternal.' And indeed among all the absurdities charge- able upon human nature, it never yet entered into the thoughts of any one to confer such authority upon another. The institution of civil society I have pointed out as originat- ing from the unbridled rapaciousness of indi- viduals, and as a necessary curb to prevent that violence and other inconveniences to which men in a state of nature were exposed. But whoever fancied it a violence offered to himself, that another should enjoy his own opinion ? Or who, in a state of nature, ever deemed it an inconvenience that every man should choose his own religion ? Did the free denizens of the world, before the monstrous birth of priest-craft, aiding by and aided by the secu- lar arm, ever worry one another for not prac- tising ridiculous rites, or for disbelieving things incredible } Did men in their aboriginal con- dition ever suffer persecution for conscience sake.' The most frantic enthusiast will not pretend it. Why then should the members of society be supposed, on their entering into it, to have had in contemplation the reforming an abuse which never existed.' Or why are they pretended to have invested the magistrate with authority to sway and direct their religious sentiment .' In reality, such delegation of power, had it ever been made, would be a mere nullity, and the compact by which it was ceded, altogether nugator)', the rights of con- science being immutably personal and absolutely inalienable, nor can the state or community as such have any concern in the matter. For in what manner doth it affect society, which is evidently and solely instituted to prevent per- sonal assault, the violation of property and the defamation of character; and hath not (these remaining inviolate) any interest in the actions of men — how doth it, I say, affect society what principles we entertain in our own minds, or in what outward form we think it best to pay our adoration to God? But to set the absurd- ity of the magistrate's authority to interfere in matters of religion, in the strongest light, I would fain know what religion it is that he has authority to establish ? Has he a right to establish only the true religion, or is any reli- gion true because he does not establish it .' If the former, his trouble is as vain as it is arro- gant, because the true religion being not of this world, wants not the princes of this world to support it ; but has in fact either languished or been adult crated wherever they meddledwith it. If the supreme magistrate, as such, has authority to establish any religion he thinks to be true, and the religion so established is therefore right and ought to be embraced, it follows, since all supreme magistrates have the same authority, that all established religions are equally right, and ought to be embraced. The emperor of China, therefore, having, as supreme magistrate in his empire, the same right to establish the precepts of Confucius, and the Sultan in his, the imposture of Mahomet, as hath the king of Great Britain the doctrine of Christ in his dominion, it results from these principles, that the religions of Confucius and Mahomet are equally true with the doctrine of our blessed Saviour and his Apostles, and equally obligatory upon the respective subjects of China and Turkey, as Christianity is on those within the British realm ; a position which, I presume, the most zealous advocate for ecclesiastical domination would think it blasphemy to avow. The English ecclesiastical government, therefore, is, and all the RELIGIOUS ESTAB- LISHMENTS IN THE ViO'S.'LVi are manifest viola- tions of the right of private judgment in mat- PENNSYLVANIA. 20 1 /CIS of religion. They are impudent outrages on common sense, in arrogating apowerofcon- troling the devotional operations of the mind and external acts of divine homage not cogniz- able by any human tribunal, and for which we are accountable only to the Great Searcher of hearts, whose prerogative it is to judge them. In contrast with this spiritual tyranny, how beautiful appears our Catholic constitution in disclaiming all jurisdiclion over the souls of men, and securing, by a law never to be re- pealed, the voluntary, unchecked moral suasion of every individual, and his own self-directed intercourse with the father of spirits, either by devout retirement or public worship of his own election ! How amiable the plan of entrench- ing, with the sanction of an ordinance, immut- able and irrevocable, the sacred rights of con- science, and renouncing all discrimination be- tween men on account of their sentiments about the various modes of church government, or the different articles of their faith ! " PENNSYLVANIA. ACTION Of the citizens of Philadelphia, in opposition to the importation of Tea. Philadelphia, January 3, 1774. The unanimity, spirit and zeal which have heretofore animated all the colonies, from Bos- ton to South Carolina, have been so eminently displayed in the opposition to the pernicious project of the East India company, in sending tea to America, while it remains subject to a duty, and the Americans at the same time con- fined by the strongest prohibitory laws to import it only from Great Britain, that a par- ticular account of the transactions of this city cannot but be acceptable to all our readers, and every other friend of American liberty. Upon the first advice of this measure, a general dissatisfaction was expressed, that, at a time when we were struggling with this oppressive act, and an agreement not to import tea while subject to the duty, our fellow sub- jects in England should form a measure so directly tending to enforce that act, and again embroil us with our parent state. When it was also considered, that the proposed mode of disposing of the tea, tended to a mono- poly, ever odious in a free country, a universal disapprobation shewed itself throughout the city. A public meeting of the inhabitants was held at the state house on the i8th October, at which great numbers attended, and the sense of the city was expressed in the fol- lowing resolves — 1. That the disposal of their own property is the inherent rights of freemen ; that there can be no property in that which another can, of right, take from us without our consent ; that the claim of parliament to tax America is, in other words, a claim of right to levy contribu- tions on us at pleasure. 2. That the duty imposed by parliament upon tea landed in America, is a tax on the .'^.meri- cans, or levying contributions on them without their consent. 3. That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the Americans, namely, for the support of government, administration of jus- tice, and defence of his majesty's dominions in America, has a direct tendency to render assemblies useless, and to introduce arbitrary government and slavery. 4. That a virtuous and steady opposition to this ministerial plan of governing America, is absolutely necessary to preserve even the sha- dow of liberty, and is a duty which every free- man in America owes to his country, to himself and to his posterity. 5. That the resolution lately entered into by the East India company to send out their tea to America, subject to the payment of duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce this ministerial plan, and a violent attack upon the liberties of America. 6. That it is the duty of every American to oppose this attempt. 7. That whoever shall, directly or indirectly, countenance this attempt, or in any wise aid or abet in unloading, receiving or vending the tea sent, or to be sent out by the East India company, while it remains subject to the pay- ment of duty here, is an enemy to his country. 8. That a committee be immediately chosen to wait on those gentlemen who, it is reported, are appointed by the East India company to receive and sell the said tea, and request them from a regard to their own character, and the 202 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. peace and good order of the city and province, immediately to resign their appointment. In consequence of this appointment, the committee waited upon the gentlemen in this city, who had been appointed consignees of the expected cargo. They represented to them the detestation and abhorrence in which this measure was held by their fellow-citizens, the danger and difficulties which must attend the execution of so odious a trust, and expressed the united desires of the city, that they would renounce the commission, and engage not to intermeddle with the ship or cargo in any shape whatever. Some of the commissioners resigned, in a manner that gave general satis- faction, others in such equivocal terms as required further explanation. However in a few days the resignation was complete. In this situation things remained for a few days. In the meantime, the general spirit and indig- nation rose to such a height, that it was thought proper to call another general meeting of the principal citizens to consider and resolve upon such farther steps as might give weight, and insure success to the unanimous opposition now formed. Accordingly a meeting was held, for the above purpose, at which a great num- ber of respectable inhabitants attended, and it appeared to be the unanimous opinion that the entry of the ship at the custom-house, or the landing any part of her cargo, would be at- tended with great danger and difficulty, and would directly tend to destroy that peace and good order which ought to be preserved. An addition of twelve other gentlemen was then made to the former committee, and the gen- eral meeting adjourned till the arrival of the tea ship. Information being given of that, the price of tea was suddenly advanced, though it was owing to a general scarcity of that article ; yet all the possessors of tea, in order to give strength to the opposition, readily agreed to reduce the price, and sell what remained in their hands at a reasonable rate. Nothing now remained, but to keep up a proper correspon- dence and connection with the other colonies, and to take all prudent and proper precautions on the arrival of the tea ship. It is not easy to describe the anxiety and suspense of the city in this interval. Sundr)' reports of her arrival were received, which proved premature. — But on Saturday evening the 25th ult. an express came up from Chester, to inform the town that the tea ship, com- manded by captain Ayres, with her detested cargo, was arrived there, having followed another ship up the river so far. The com.mittee met early the next morning, and being apprized of the arrival of Mr. Gilbert Barclay, the other consignee, who came passen- ger in the ship, they immediately went in a body to request his renunciation of the com- mission. Mr. Barclay politely attended the committee, at the first request ; and being made acquainted with the sentiments of the city, and the danger to which the public liber- ties of America were exposed by this measure, he, after expressing the particular hardship of his situation, also resigned the commission, in a manner which affected every one present. The committee then appointed three of their members to go to Chester, and two others to Gloucester Point, in order to have the earliest opportunity of meeting captain Ayres, and representing to him the sense of the public, respecting his voyage and cargo. The gentle- men who had set out for Chester, receiving intelligence that the vessel had weighed anchor about 12 o'clock, and proceeded to town, returned. About 2 o'clock she appeared in sight of Gloucester Point, where a number of inhabitants from the town had assembled with the gentlemen from the committee. As she passed along, she was hailed, and the captain requested not to proceed further, but to come on shore. This the captain complied with, and was handed through a lane made by the people, to the gentlemen appointed to confer with him. They represented to him the general senti- ments, together with the danger and difficulties that would attend his refusal to comply with the wishes of the inhabitants ; and finally desired him to proceed with them to town, where he would be more fully informed of the temper and resolution of the people. He was accordingly accompanied to town by a number of persons, where he was soon convinced of the truth and propriety of the representations which had been made to him — and agreed that, upon the desire of the inhabitants being publicly expressed, he would conduct himself accordingly. Some small rudeness being offered to the captain afterwards in the street, by some boys, several gentlemen interposed, and suppressed it before he received the least injury. Upon an hour's notice on Monday morning, a public meeting was called, and the state-house not being sufficient to hold the numbers assembled, they adjourned into the square. This meeting is allowed by all to be the most respectable, both in the numbers and rank of those who attended it, that has been known in this city. After a short introduction, the following resolutions were not only agreed to, but the public approbation testified in the warmest manner : PENNSYLVANIA. 203 1. Resolved, That the tea, on board the ship Polly, captain Ayres, shall not be landed. 2. That captain Ayres shall neither enter nor report his vessel at the custom-house. 3. That captain Ayres shall carry back the tea immediately. 4. That captain Ayres shall immediately send a pilot on board his vessel, with orders to take charge of her, and proceed to Reedy island next high water. 5. That the captain shall be allowed to stay in town till to-morrow, to provide necessaries for his voyage. 6. That he shall then be obliged to leave the town and proceed to his vessel, and make the best of his way out of our river and bay. 7. That a committee of four gentlemen be appointed to see these resolves carried into execution. The assembly were then informed of the spirit and resolution of New York, Charleston, South Carolina, and the conduct of the people of Boston, whereupon it was unanimously resolved : That this assembly highly approve of the conduct and spirit of the people of New York, Charleston, and Boston, and return their hearty thanks to the people of Boston for their resolu- tion in destroying the tea, rather than suffering it to be landed. The whole business was conducted with a decorum and order worthy the importance of the cause. Captain Ayres being present at this meeting, solemnly and publicly engaged, that he would literally comply with the sense of the city, as expressed in the above resolu- tions. A proper supply of necessaries and fresh provisions being then procured, in about two hours the tea ship weighed anchor from Glou- cester Point, where she lay within sight of the town, and has proceeded, with her whole cargo, on her return to the East India company. The public think the conduct of those gentle- men, whose goods are returned on board the tea ship, ought not to pass unnoticed, as they have, upon this occasion, generously sacrificed their private interest to the public good. Thus this important affair, in which there has been so glorious an exertion of public virtue and spirit, has been brought to a happy issue ; by which the force of a law so obstinately per- sisted in, to the prejudice of the national com- merce, for the sake of the principle on which it is founded, (a right of taxing the Americans without their consent) has been effectually broken — and the foundations of American liberty more deeply laid than ever. PROCEEDINGS Of Freeholders and freemen of the city and county of philadelphia, HELD ON Saturday June i8th, 1774, on THE Boston Port-bill. Philadelphia, Saturday, June i8, 1774. I. Resolved, That the act of parliament, for shutting up the port of Boston, is unconstitu- tional ; oppressive to the inhabitants of that town ; dangerous to the liberties of the British colonies ; and that therefore, we consider our brethren, at Boston, as suffering in the com- mon cause of America. II. That a congress of deputies from the several colonies, in North America, is the most probable and proper mode of procuring relief for our suffering brethren, obtaining redress of American grievances, securing our rights and liberties, and re-establishing peace and har- mony between Great Britain and these colonies on a constitutional foundation. III. That a large and respectable committee be immediately appointed for the city and county of Philadelphia, to correspond with their sister colonies and with the several counties in this province, in order that all may unite in promoting and endeavoring to attain the great and valuable ends, mentioned in the foregoing resolution. IV. That the committee nominated by this meeting shall consult together, and on mature deliberation determine, what is the most proper mode of collecting the sense of this province, and appointing deputies for the same, to attend a general congress: and having determined thereupon, shall take such measures, as by them shall be judged most expedient, for pro- curing this province to be represented at the said congress, in the best manner that can be devised for promoting the public welfare. V. That the commitee be instructed immedi- ately to set on foot a subscription for the relief of such poor inhabitants of the town of Boston, as may be deprived of the means ot subsistence by the operation of the act ot par- liament, commonly styled \.\ie Boslon port-bill. The money arising from such subscription to be laid out as the committee shall think will best answer the ends proposed. VI. That the committee consist of forty- three persons, viz. John Dickinson, Edward Pennington, John Nixon, Thomas Willing, George Clymer, Samuel Howell, Joseph Reade, John Roberts, (miller) Thomas Wharton, jun. Charles Thomson, Jacob Barge, Thomas Bar- clay, William Rush, Robert Smith, (carpenter,) 204 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Thomas Fitzimons, George Roberts, Samuel Ervin, Thomas Mifflin, John Cox, George Gray, Robert Morris, Samuel Miles, John M. Nesbit, Peter Chevalier, William Moulder, Joseph Moulder, Anthony Morris, jun. John Allen, Jeremiah Warder, jun. rev. D. William Smith, Paul Engle, Thomas Penrose, James Mease, Benjamin Marshall, Reuben Haines, John Bay- ard, Jonathan B. Smith, Thomas Wharton, Isaac Howell, Michael Hillegas, Adam Hub- ley, George Schlosser, and Christopher Lud- wick. Thomas Willing, yohn Dickinson, esquires, chairmen. AN ADDRESS To THE Assembly by the People, 1774. Philadelphia, July 33, 1774. The committee chosen by the seiicral counties in Pennsylvania, having brought in a draught of instructions, the same were debated and amended, and being agreed to, were ordered to be signed by the chairman. The commit- tee in a body then waited on the assembly, and presented the same. Gentlemen — The dissensions between Great Britain and her colonies on this contin- ent, commencing about ten years ago, since continually increasing, and at length grown to such an excess as to involve the latter in deep distress and danger, have excited the good people of this province to take into their serious consideration, the present situation of public affairs. The inhabitants of the several counties quali- fied to vote at elections, being assembled on due notice, have appointed us their deputies ; and in consequence thereof, we being in pro- vincial committee met, esteem it our indispen- sable duty, in pursuance of the trust reposed in us, to give you such instructions as, at this im- portant period, appear to us to be proper. We, speaking in their names and our own, acknowledge ourselves liege subjects of his majesty king George the third, to whom " we will be faithful and bear true allegiance." Our judgments and affections attach us, with inviolable loyalty, to his majesty's person, family and government. We acknowledge the prerogatives of the so- vereign, among which are included the great powers of making peace and war, treaties, leagues and alliances binding us — of appoint- ing all officers, except in cases where other provision is made, by grants from the crown, or laws approved by the crown— of confirming or annulling every act of our assembly within the allowed time— and of hearing and deter- mining finally, in council, appeals from our courts of justice. " The prerogatives are lim- ited," * as a learned judge observes, '' by bounds so certain and notorious, that it is im- possible to exceed them, without the consent of the people on the one hand, or without, on the other, a violation of that original contract, which, in all states impliedly, and in ours most expressly, subsists between the prince and sub- ject: — For these prerogatives are vested in the crown for the support of society, and do not intrench any further on our natural liberties, than is expedient for the maintenance of our civil." But it is our misfortune, that we are com- pelled loudly to call your attention to the con- sideration of another power, totally different in kind, limited as it is alleged, by no " bounds," andt " wearing a most dreadful aspect " with regard to America. We mean the power claimed by parliament, of right, to bind the people of these colonies by statutes, " in ALL cases whatsoever." — A power, as we are not, and, from local circumstances, can not be represented there, utterly subversive of our natural and civil liberties — past events and reasons convincing us, that there never existed, and never can exist, a state thus subordinate to another, and yet retaining the slightest portion of freedom or happiness. The import of the words above quoted needs no descant ; for the wit of man, as we appre- hend, cannot possibly form a more clear, con- cise, and comprehensive definition and sentence of slavery, than these expressions contain. This power, claimed by Great Britain, and the late attempts to exercise it over these colo- nies, present to our view two events, one of which must inroitably take place, if she shall continue to insist on her pretensions. Either, the colonists will sink from the rank of free- men into the class of slaves, overwhelmed with all the miseries and vices, proved by the history of mankind to be inseparably annexed to that deplorable condition — or, if they have sense and virtue enough to exert themselves in striv- ing to avoid this perdition, they must be in- volved in an opposition, dreadful even in con- templation. Honor, justice, and humanity call upon us to hold, and to transmit to our posterity, that liberty which we received from our ancestors. * Blackstone, 237. + Ibid., 270. PENNSYLVANIA. 205 It is not our duty to leave wealth to our chil- dren ; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No infamy, iniquity, or cruelty, can exceed our own, if we, born and educated in a country of freedom, entitled to its blessings, and knowing their value, pusillanimously de- serting the post assigned us by Divine Provi- dence, surrender succeeding generations to a condition of wretchedness, from which no hu- man efforts, in all probability, will be sufficient to extricate them ; the experience of all states mournfully demonstrating to us, that when arbitrary power has been established over them, even the wisest and bravest nations, that ever flourished, have, in a few years, de- generated into abject and wretched vassals. So alarming are the measures already taken for lading the foundation of a despotic author- ity of Great Britain over us, and with such art- ful and incessant vigilance is the plan prosecu- ted, that unless the present generation can in- terrupt the work, -while it is going foriuard, can it be imagined, that our children, debilita- ted by our impnjdence and supineness, will be able to overthrow it luhcn completed? populous and powerful as these colonies may grow, they will still find arbitrary domination not only strengthening with their strength, but exceed- ing, in the swiftness of its progression, as it ever has done, all the artless advantages that can accrue to the governed. These advance with a regularity, which the Divine Author of our existence has impressed on the laudable pursuits of his creatures : but despotism, un- checked and unbounded by any laws — never satisfied with what has been done, while any thing remains to be done, for the accomplish- ment of its purposes — confiding, and capable of confiding only, in the annihilation of all op- position—holds its course with such unabating and destructive rapidity, that the world has become its prey, and at this day. Great Britain and her dominions excepted, there is scarce a spot on the globe inhabited by civilized nations, where the vestiges of freedom are to be obsen-ed. To us, therefore, it appears, at this alarming period, our duty to God, to our country, to our- selves, and to our posterity, to exert our utmost abilities, in promoting and establishing har- mony between Great Britain and these colo- nies, ON .K CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION. For attaining this great and desirable end, we request you as soon as you meet, to ap- point a proper number of persons to attend a congress of deputies from the several colonies, appointed, or to be appointed, by the represen- tatives of the people of the colonies respectively, in assembly or convention, or by delegates chosen by the counties generally in the respec- tive colonies, and met in provincial committee, at such time and place as shall be generally agreed on : and that the deputies from this province may be induced and encouraged to concur in such measures, as may be devised for the common welfare, we think it proper, particularly to inform you how far, we appre- hend, they will be supported in their conduct by their constituents. The assumed parliamentar)' power of inter- nal legislation, and the power of regulating trade, as of late exercised, and designed to be exercised, we are thoroughly convinced, will prove unfailing and plentiful sources of dissen- sions to our mother country and these colonies, unless some expedients can be adopted to render her secure of receiving from us every emolument that can, in justice and reason, be expected, and as secure in our lives, liberties, properties, and an equitable share of commerce. Mournfully revolving in our minds the calam- ities that, arising from these dissensions, will most probably fall on us or our children, we will now lay before you the particular points we request of you to procure, if possible, to be finally decided ; and the measures that appear to us most likely to produce such a desirable period of our distresses and dangers. We therefore desire of you — • First. That the deputies you appoint may be instructed by you strenuously to exert themselves at the ensuing congress, to obtain a renunciation, on the part of Great Britain, of all powers under the statute of the 35th of Henry the eighth, chapter the 2d — of all powers of internal legislation — of imposing taxes or duties, internal or external — and of regulating trade, except with respect to any new articles of commerce, which the colonies may hereafter raise, as silk, wine, etc., reserving a right to carr)' these from one colony to another — a re- peal of all statutes for quartering troops in the colonies, or subjecting them to any expense on account of such troops — of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in the colonies, that were passed at the accession of his present majesty or before this time : which ever period shall be judged most advisable — of the statutes giving the courts of admiralty in the colonies greater power than courts of admiralty have in England — of the statutes of the 5th of George the second, chapter the 22d, and of the 23d, of George the second, chapter the 29lh^of the statute for shutting up the port of Boston — and of every other statute particularly Affecting the province of Massachusetts-Bay, passed in the last session of parliament. 206 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. In case of obtaining these terms, it is our opinion, that it will be reasonable for the colo- nies to engage their obedience to the acts of parliament, commonly called the acts of navi- gation, and to every other act of parliament declared to have force, at this time, in these colonies, other than those above mentioned, and to confirm such statutes by acts of the several assemblies. It is also our opinion, that, taking example from our mother country, in abolishing the " courts of wards and liveries, tenures in capite, and by knights service and purveyance," it will be reasonable for the colo- nies, in case of obtaining the terms before mentioned, to settle a certain annual revenue on his majesty, his heirs and successors, sub- ject to the control of parliament, and to sat- isfy all damages done to the East-India com- pany. This our idea of settling a revenue, arises from a sense of duty to our sovereign and es- teem for our mother country. We know and have felt the benefits of subordinate connection with her. We neither are so stupid as to be ignorant of them, nor so unjust as to deny them. We have also experienced the pleasures of gratitude and love, as well as advantages from that connection. The impressions are not yet erased. We consider her circumstan- ces with tender concern. We have not been wanting, when constitutionally called upon, to assist her to the utmost of our abilities ; inso- much that she has judged it reasonable to make us recompenses for our overstrained exertions : and we now think we ought to con- tribute more than we do, to the alleviation of her burthens. Whatever may be said of these proposals on either side of the Atlantic, this is not a time, either for timidity or rashness. We perfectly know that, the great cause now agitated, is to be conducted to a happy conclusion, only by that well tempered composition of councils, with firmness, prudence, loyalty to our sover- eign, respect to our parent state, and affection to our native country, united, must form. By such a compact. Great Britain will secure every benefit, that the parliamentary wisdom of ages has thought proper to attach to her. From her alone we shall still continue to re- ceive manufactures. To her alone we shall continue to carry the vast nndtitude of enu- merated articles oi commerce, the exportation of which her policy has thought fit to confine to herself. With such parts of the world only, as she has appointed us to deal, we shall con- tinue to deal, and such commodities only, as she has permitted us to bring from them, we shall continue to bring. The executive and co7itroling power of the crown will retain their present full force and operation. We shall contentedly labor for her as affectionate/r/(?«^j, in time of tranquility : and cheerfully spend for her, as dutiful children, our treasure and our blood, in time of war. She will receive a cer- tain income from us, without the trouble or expense of collecting it — without being con- stantly disturbed by complaints of grievances which she cannot justify and will not redress. In case of war, or in any emergency of distress to her, we shall also be ready and willing to contribute all aids within our power : and we solemnly declare, that on such occasions, if we or our posterity shall refuse, neglect or decline thus to contribute, it will be a mean and mani- fest violation of a plain duty, and a weak and wicked desertion of the true interests of this province, which ever have been and must be bound up in the prosperity of our mother coun- try. Our union, founded on mutual compacts and mutual benefits, will be indissoluble, at least more firm, than an union perpetually dis- turbed by disputed right and retorted injuries. Secondly. If all the terms above mentioned cannot be obtained, it is our opinion, that the measures adopted by the congress for our relief should never be relinquished or inter- mitted, until those relating to the troops — internal legislation — imposition of taxes or duties hereafter — the 35th of Henry the 8th, chapter the 2d — the extension of admiralty courts, — the ports of Boston, and the provmce of Massachusetts Bay, are obtained. — Every modification or qualification of these points, in our judgment, shall be inadmissible. To obtain them, we think it may be prudent to settle a revenue as above mentioned, and to satisfy the East India company. Thirdly. If neither of these plans should be agreed to, in congress, but some other of a similar nature shall be framed, though on the terms of a revenue and satisfaction to the East India company, and though it shall be agreed by the congress to admit no modification or qualification in the terms they shall insist on, we desire your deputies may be instructed to concur with the other deputies in it ; and we will accede to, and carry it into execution as far as we can. Fourthly. As to the regulation of trade — we are of opinion, that by making some few amend- ments, the commerce of the colonies might be settled on a firm establishment, advantageous to Great Britain and them, requiring and sub- ject to no future alterations, without mutual consent. We desire to have this point con- PENNSYLVANIA. 207 sidered by the congress ; and such measures taken, as they may judge proper. In order to obtain redress of our common grievances, we observe a general inclination among the colonies of entering into agreements of non-importation and non-exportation. We are fully convinced, that such agreements would withhold very large supplies from Great Britain, and no words can describe our contempt and abhorrence of those colonies, if any such there are, who, from a sordid and ill-judged attach- ment to their own immediate profit, would pursue that, to the injury of their country, in this great struggle for all the blessings of liberty. It would appear to us a most wasteful frugality, that would lose every important possession by too strict an attention to small things, and lose also even these at the last. For our part, we will cheerfully make any sacrifice, when necessary, to preser\'e the free- dom of our country. But other considerations have weight with us. We wish every mark of respect to be paid to his majesty's administra- tion. We have been taught from our youth to entertain tender and brotherly affections for our fellow subjects at home. The interruption of our commerce must distress great numbers of them. This we earnestly desire to avoid. We therefore request, that the deputies you shall appoint may be instructed to exert themselves, at the congress, to induce the members of it to consent to make a full and precise statement of grievances, and a decent yet firm claim of redress, and to wait the event before any other step is taken. It is our opinion, that persons should be appointed and sent home to present this state and claim, at the court of Great Britain. If the congress shall choose to form agree- ments of non-importation and non-exportation immediately, we desire the deputies from this province will endeavor to have them so formed as to be binding upon all, and that they may be PERMANENT, should the public interest require it. They cannot be efficacious, unless they can be permanent, and it appears to us, that there will be a danger of their being infringed, if they are not formed with great caution and deliberation. We have determined in the present situation of public affairs to con- sent to a stoppage of our commerce with Great Britain only ; but in case any proceed- ings of parliament, of which notice shall be received on this continent, before or at the congress, shall render it necessary, in the opinion of the congress, to further steps, the inhabitants of this province will adopt such steps, and do all in their power to carry them into execution. This extensive power we commit to the con- gress, for the sake of preserving that unanimity of counsel and conduct, that alone can work out the salvation of these colonies, with a strong hope and trust, that they will not draw this province into any measure judged by us, who must be better acquainted with its state than strangers, highly inexpedient. Of this kind, we know any other stoppage of trade, but of that with Great Britain, will be. Even this step we should be extremely afflicted to see taken by the congress, before the other mode above pointed out is tried. But should it be taken, we apprehend that a plan of restrictions may be so framed, agreeably to the respective circumstances of the several colonies, as to render Great Britain sensible of the imprudence of her counsels, and yet leave them a necessary commerce. And here it may not be improper to take notice, that if redress of our grievances cannot be wholly obtained, the extent or con- tinuance of our restrictions may, in some sort, be proportioned to the rights we are contend- ing for, and the degree of relief afforded us. This mode will render our opposilion 2& per- petual as our oppression, and will be A con- tinual CLAIM and assertion OF OUR RIGHTS. We cannot express the anxiety, with which we wish the consideration of these points to be recommended to you. We are persuaded, that if these colonies fail of unani- mity, or prudence in forming their resolutions, or of fidelity in observing them, the opposition by non-importation and non-exportation agree- ments will be ineffectual ; and then we shall have only the alternative of a more dangerous contention, or of a tame submission. Upon the whole, we shall repose the highest confidence in the wisdom and integrity of the ensuing congress : and though we have, for the satisfaction of the good people of this province, who have chosen us for this express purpose, offered you such instructions, as have appeared expedient to us, yet it is not our meaning, that by these or by any you may think proper to give them, the deputies appointed by you should be restrained from agreeing to any measure that shall be approved by a majority of the deputies in congress. We should be glad the deputies chosen by you could, by their influ- ence, procure our opinions hereby communi- cated to you, to be as nearly adhered to, as may be possible : but to avoid difficulties, we desire that they may be instructed by you, to agree to any measure that shall be approved by the congress, in the manner before mentioned ; the inhabitants of this province having resolved to adopt and carry them into execution. Lastly — 208 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. we desire the deputies from this province, may endeavor to procure an adjournment of the congress, to such a day as they shall judge proper, and the appointment of a standing com- mittee. Agreed, that John Dickinson, Joseph Reade, and Charles Thomson, be a committee to write to the neighboring colonies, and communicate to them these resolves and instructions. Agreed, that the committee for the city and county of Philadelphia, or any fifteen of them, be a committee of correspondence for the gen- eral committee of this province. Extract from the minutes, Charles Thomson, Secretary. ACTION Taken by citizens of Philadelphia to establish manufactories of woolen, cotton, and linen. Philadelphia, March 27, 1775. A speech delivered in Carpenter's hall, March \i>th, before the subscribers towards a fund for establishing manufactories of woolen, cotton and linen, in the city of Phil- adelphia. — Published at the request of the company. Gentlemen — When I reflect upon the ex- tent of the subject before me, and consider the small share of knowledge I possess of it, I con- fess I rise with timidity to speak in this assem- bly ; and it is only because the requests of fellow-citizens in every laudable undertaking should always operate with the force of com- mands, that I have prevailed upon myself to execute the task you have assigned me. My business, upon this occasion, is to lay before you a few thoughts upon the NECES- SITY, possibility and advantages of es- tablishing woolen, cotton, and linen manufac- tories among us. The necessity of establishing these manu- factories is obvious from the association of the congress, which puts a stop to the importation of British goods, of which woolens, cottons, and linens, always made a considerable part. So large has been the demand for these articles, and so very necessary are they in this country, that it is impossible for us to clothe ourselves without substituting some others in their room. I am far from thinking that the non-importa- tion agreement will be so transitory a thing, as some have supposed. The appearance of a change of measures in England respecting the colonies, does not flow from a conviction of their injustice. The same arbitrary ministers continue in office, and the same arbitrary favo- rites continue to abuse the confidence of our sovereign. Sudden conversion should be trusted with caution, especially, when they have been brought about by interest or fear. I shall think the liberties of America estabHshed at an easy price by a two or three years' non- importation agreement. By union and perse- verance in this mode of opposition to Great Britain, we shall afford a new phenomenon in the history of mankind, and furnish posterity with an example to teach them that peace, with all the rights of humanity and justice, may be maintained by the exertion of economical, as well as military virtues. We shall more- over, demonstrate the falsehood of those sys- tems of government, which exclude patriotism from the list of virtues ; and show, that we act most surely for ourselves, when we act most disinterestedly for the public. The possibility of establishing woolen, cotton and linen manufactories among us is plain, from the success which hath attended several attempts that have been made for that purpose. A great part of the inhabitants of several of the counties in this province, clothe themselves entirely with woolens and linens manufactured in their own families. Our wool is equal in quality to the wool of several Euro- pean countries, and if the same pains were bestowed in the culture of our sheep, which are used in England and Spain, I have no doubt but in a few years our wool would equal the wool of Segovia itself Nor will there be a deficiency in the quantity of wool which will be necessary for us, if we continue to adhere to the association of the congress, as strictly as we have done. If the city of Philadelphia con- sumes 20,000 sheep less this year, than it did last, how many 20,000 sheep may we suppose will be saved throughout the whole province. According to the ordinary increase in the breed of sheep, and allowing for the additional quan- tity of wool, which a little care of them will produce, I think I could make it appear that in five years there will be wool enough raised in the province to clothe the whole of its inhab- itants. Cotton may be imported upon such terms from the West Indies and southern colo- nies, as to enable us to manufacture thicksets, calicoes, etc., at a much cheaper rate than they can be imported from Britain. Considering how much these stuffs are worn by those classes of people who constitute the majority of the inhabitants of our country, the encouragement of the cotton manufactory appears to be an PENNSYLVANIA. 209 object of the utmost consequence. I cannot help suggesting in this place, although it may appear foreign to our subject, that the trade to the West Indies and southern colonies for cotton, would create such a commercial union, with the middle and northern colonies, as would tend greatly to strengthen that political union which now subsists between them. I need say nothing of the facility of cultivating fla.\, nor of the excellent quality of the linens which have been already manufactured among us. I shall only add, that this manufacture may be carried on without lessening the value of the trade which arises from the exportation of our flax-seed to Ireland. I cannot help laying a good deal of stress upon the public spirit of my countrymen, which removes the success of these manufactories beyond a bare possibility, and seems to render it in some measure certain. The resolves of the congress have been executed with a fidelity hardly known to laws in any country, and that too without the assistance of fire and sword, or even of the civil magistrate, and in some places, in direct opposition to them all. It gives me the utmost pleasure to mention here, that our province is among the foremost of the colonies in the peaceable mode of opposition recommended by the congress. When I reflect upon the temper we have discovered in the present controversy, and compare it with the habitual spirit of industry and economy for which we are celebrated among strangers, I know not how to estimate our virtue high enough. I am sure no objects will appear too difficult, nor no undertakings too expensive for us in the present struggle. The sum of money which has been already subscribed for the purpose of these manufactories, is a proof that I am not too sanguine in my expectations from this province. I come now to point out the advantages we shall derive from establishing the woolen, cotton and linen manufactories among us. The first advantage I shall mention is, we shall save a large sum of money annually in our province. The province of Pennsylvania is supposed to contain 400.000 inhabitants. Let us suppose, that only 50,000 of these are clothed with the woolens, cottons and linens of Great Britain, and that the price of clothing each of these persons, upon an average, amounts to ^5 sterling a year. If this com- putation be just, then the sum annually saved in our province by the manufactory of our clothes will amount to ^250,000 sterling. Secondly, Manufactories, next to agriculture, are the basis of the riches of every country. 14 Cardinal Ximenes is remembered at this day in Spain more for the improvement he made in the breed of sheep, by importing a number of rams from Barbary, than for any other services he rendered his country. King Ed- ward the IV. and queen Elizabeth, of Eng- land, are mentioned with gratitude by his- torians for passing acts of parliament to import a number of sheep from Spain ; and to this mixture of Spanish with English sheep, the wool of the latter owes its peculiar ex- cellence and reputation, all over the world. Louis the XIV. king of France, knew the importance of a woolen manufactory in his kingdom, and in order to encourage it, al- lowed several exclusive privileges to the com- pany of woolen traders in Paris. The effects of this royal patronage of this manufactory have been too sensibly felt by the English, who have, within these thirty or forty years had the mortification of seeing the trade up the Levant, for woolen cloths, in some mea- sure monopolized by the French. It is re- markable that the riches, and naval power of France have increased in proportion to this very lucrative trade. Thirdly, By establishing these manufactories among us, we shall em- ploy a number of poor people in our city, and that too in a way most agreeable to them- selves, and least expensive to the company ; for, according to our plan, the principal part of the business will be carried on in their own houses. Travellers through Spain inform us, that in the town of Segovia, which contains 60,000 inhabitants, there is not a single beggar to be seen. This is attributed entirely to the woolen manufactory which is carried on in the most extensive manner in that place, affording constant employment to the v/hole of their poor people. Fourthly, By establishing the woolen, cotton and linen manufactories in this country, we shall invite manufacturers from every part of Europe, particularly from Britain and Ireland, to come and settle among us. To men who want money to purchase lands, and who. from habits of manufacturing, are disinclined to agriculture, the prospect of meeting with employment as soon as they arrive in this country', in a way they have been accustomed to, would lessen the diffi- culties of emigration, and encourage thou- sands to come and settle in America. If they increased our riches by increasing the value of our property, and if they added to our strength by adding to our numbers only, they would be a great acquisition to us. But there are higher motives which should lead us to invite strangers to settle in this 2IO PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION country. Poverty, with its other evils, has joined with it in every part of Europe, all the miseries of slavery. America is now the only asylum for liberty in the whole world. The present contest with Great Britain was perhaps intended by the Supreme Being, among other wise and benevolent purposes, to show the world this asylum, which, from its remote and unconnected situation with the rest of the globe, might have remained a secret for ages. By establishing manufac- tories, we stretch forth a hand from the ark to invite the timid manufacturers to come in. It might afford us pleasure to trace the new sources of happiness which would immedi- ately open to our fellow creatures from their settlement in this country-. Manufactories have been accused of being unfriendly to population. I believe the charge should fall upon slavery. By bringing manufacturers into this land of liberty and plenty, we recover them from the torpid state in which they existed in their own country, and place them in circumstances which enable them to be- come husbands and fathers, and thus we add to the general tide of human happiness. Fifthly, The establishment of manufactories in this country, by lessening our imports from Great Britain, will deprive European luxuries and vices of those vehicles in which they have been transported to America. The wisdom of the congress cannot be too much admired in putting a check to them both. They have in effect said to them — " Thus far shall ye go, and no further." — Sixthly, By establishing manufactories among us, we erect an addi- tional barrier against the encroachments of tyranny. A people, who are entirely depen- dent upon foreigners for food or clothes, must always be subject to them. I need not detain you in setting forth the misery of holding prop- erty, liberty and life upon the precarious will of our fellow subjects in Britain. I beg leave to add a thought in this place which has been but little attended to by the writers upon this subject, and that, is that poverty, confinement and death are trifling evils, when compared with that total depravity of heart which is connected with slavery. By becoming slaves, we shall lose every principle of virtue. VVe shall transfer unlimited obedience from our Maker, to a corrupted majority in the British house of commons, and shall esteem their crimes, the certificates of their divine commis- sion to govern us. We shall cease to look with horror upon the prostitution of our wives and daughters, by those civil and military harpies, who now hover around the liberties of our country. We shall cheerfully lay them both at their feet. We shall hug our chains. We shall cease to be men. We shall be slaves. I shall now consider the objections which have been made to the establishment of manu- factories in this country. The first, and most common objection to manufactories in this country is, that they will draw off our attention from agriculture. This objection derives great weight from being made originally by the duke of Sully, against the establishment of manufactories in France. But the history of that country shows us, that it is more founded in speculation than fact. France has become opulent and powerful in proportion as manufactories have flourished in her, and if agriculture has not kept pace with her manu- factories, it is owing entirely to that ill-judged policy which forbade the exportation of grain. I believe it will be found, upon inquiry, that a greater number of hands have been taken from the plough, and employed in importing, retail- ing and transporting British woolens, cottons and linens, than would be sufficient to manu- facture as much of them, as would clothe all the inhabitants of the province. There is an endless variety in the geniuses of men, and it would be to preclude the e.xertion of the facul- ties of the mind, to confine them entirely to the simple arts of agriculture. Besides, if these manufactories were conducted as they ought to be, two thirds of the labor of them will be carried on by those members of society who cannot be employed in agriculture, namely, by women and children. A second objection is, that we cannot manu- facture cloths so cheap here, as they can be imported from Britain. It has been the mis- fortune of most of the manufactories which have been set up in this country, to afford labor to journeymen, only for six or nine months in the year, by which means their wages have necessarily been so high as to support them in the intervals of their labor. It will be found, upon inquiry that those manufactories which occupy journeymen the whole year, are carried on at as cheap a rate as they are in Britain. The expense of manufacturing cloth will be lessened from the great share women and children will have in them ; and I have the pleasure of in- forming you that the machine lately brought into this city for lessening the expense of time and hands in spinning, is likely to meet with encouragement from the legislature of our province. In a word, the experiments which have been already made among us, convince us that woolens and linens of all kinds, may be made and bought as cheap as those imported PENNSYLVANIA. 211 from Britain, and I believe every one, who has tried the former, will acknowledge that they wear twice as well as the latter. A third objection to manufactories is, that they destroy health, and are hurtful to popula- tion. The same may be said of navigation, and many other arts which are essential to the happiness and glory of a state. I believe that many of the diseases to which the manufac- turers in Britain are subject, are brought on, not so much by the nature of their employment, but by their unwholesome diet, damp houses, and other bad accommodations, each of which may be prevented in America. A fourth objection to establishing manufac- tories in this country is a political one. The liberties of America have been twice, and we hope will be a third time preserved by a non- importation of British manufactures. By manufacturing our own cloths we deprive our- selves of the only weapon by which W'e can hereafter effectually oppose Great Britain. Before we answer this objection, it becomes us to acknowledge the obligations we owe to our merchants for consenting, so cheerfully, to a suspension to their trade with Britain. From the benefits we have derived from their virtue, it would be unjust to insinuate that ever there will be the least danger of trusting the defence of our liberties to them ; but I would wish to g^ard against placing one body of men only upon that forlorn hope to which a non-importa- tion agreement must always expose them. For this purpose, I would fill their stores with the manufactures of American looms, and thus establish their trade upon a foundation that cannot be shaken. Here then we derive an answer to the last objection that was men- tioned ; for, in proportion as manufactories flourish in America, they must decline in Bri- tain, and it is well known that nothing but her manufactories have rendered her formidable in all our contests with her. These are the foundations of all her riches and power. These have made her merchants nobles, and her nobles princes. These carried her so triumph- antly through the late expensive war, and these are the support of a power more dangerous to the liberties of America, than her fleets and armies, I mean the power of corruption. I am not one of those vindictive patriots who exult in the prospect of the decay of the manufactories of Britain. I can forgive her late attempts to enslave us, in the memory of our once mutual freedom and happiness. And should her liberty — her arts — her fleets and armies and her empire, ever be interred in Britain, I hope they will all rise in British garments only in America. I ENTHUSIASM Of the people of Penn. in support of THE Revolution. Philadelphia, June 9, 1775. The following paragraphs are taken from the Pennsylvania Mercury : The ladies in Bristol township have evidenced a laudable regard to the interest of their coun- try. At their own expense, they have furnished the regiment of that county with a suit of colors and drums, and are now making a col- lection to supply muskets to such of the men as are not able to supply themselves. We hear the lady, who was appointed to present the colors to the regiment, gave in charge to the soldiers, never to desert the colors of the ladies, if they ever wish that the ladies should list under their banners. The spirit of opposition to the arbitrary and tyrannical acts of the ministry and parliament of Britain, hath diff'used itself so universally throughout this province, that the people, even to its most extended frontiers, are inde- fatigable in training themselves to military dis- cipline. The aged, as well as the young, daily march out under the banners of liberty and dis- cover a determined resolution to maintain her cause even until death. In the town of Read- ing, in Berks county, there had been some time past three companies formed, and very forward in their exercise ; since, however, we are well informed, a fourth company have asso- ciated under the name of the Old Man's com- pany. It consists of about eighty Germans, of the age of forty and upwards. Many of them have been in the military service in Germany. The person who, at their first assembling, led them to the field, is 97 years of age, has been 40 years in the regular service, and in 17 pitched battles, and the drummer is 84. In lieu of a cockade, they wear in their hats a black crape, as expressive of their sorrow for the mournful events which have occasioned them, at their late time of life, to take arms against our brethren, in order to preserve that liberty which they left their native country to enjoy. Extract OF A letter from Philadelphia, DATED July io, 1775, from a Gentleman OF consideration and fortune, " Travel through whatever part of this coun- try you will, you will see the inhabitants train- ing, making firelocks, casting mortars, shells and shot, and making saltpetre, in order to keep the gunpowder mills at work during the 212 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. next autumn and winter. Nothing, indeed, is attended to but preparing to make a defence tiiat will astonish the whole world, and hurl destruction on those who, to preserve them- selves in office, have advised measures so fatal both to Britain and America. At least two hundred thousand men are now in arms, and well trained, ready to march whenever wanted for the support of American freedom and pro- perty. In short, a spirit of enthusiasm for war is gone forth, that has driven away the fear of death ; and magazines of provisions and ammu- nition, by order of the states general of Ameri- ca, (or the twelve United Co/oiu'es) are directed to be made in all proper places, against the next campaign." Patriotic Sentiments of an American Woman in advocacy of the Revolution. Frottt a Pkiladelphia paper dated June, 17S0. On the commencement of actual war, the women of America manifested a firm resolu- tion to contribute as much as could depend on them, to the deliverance of their country. Animated by the purest patriotism, they are Sensible of sorrow at this day, in not offering more than barren wishes for the success of so glorious a revolution. They aspire to render themselves more really useful ; and this senti- ment is universal from the north to the south of the thirteen United States. Our ambition is kindled by the fame of those heroines of antiquity, who have rendered tlieir sex illustri- ous, and have proved to the universe, that, if the weakness of our constitution, if opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to glory by the same paths as the men, we should at least equal, and sometimes surpass them in our love for the public good. I glory in all that which my sex has done great and com- mendable. I call to mind with enthusiasm and with admiration, all those acts of courage, of constancy and patriotism, which history has transmitted to us : The people favored by heaven, preserved from destruction by the virtue, the zeal and the resolution of Deborah, of Judith, of Esther ! The fortitude of the mother of the Maccabees, in giving up her sons to die before her eyes : Rome saved from the fury of a victorious enemy by the efforts of Volumnia, and other Roman ladies: So many famous sieges, where the women have been seen forgetting the weakness of their sex, building new walls, digging trenches with their feeble hands, furnishing arms to their defend- ers, they themselves darting the missile weap- ons on the enemy, resigning the ornaments of their apparel, and their fortune, to fill the pub- lic treasury, and to hasten the deliverance of their country : burying themselves under its ruins : throwing themselves into the flames rather than submit to the disgrace of humilia- tion before a proud enemy. Born for liberty, disdaining to bear the irons of a tyrannic government, we associate our- selves to the grandeur of those sovereigns, cherished and revered, who have held with so much splendor the sceptre of the greatest states. The Matildas, the Elizabeths, the Maries, the Catherines, who have extended the empire of liberty, and, contented to reign by sweetness and justice, have broken the chains of slavery, forged by tyrants in the times of ignorance and barbarity. The Spanish wo- men, do they not make, at this moment, the most patriotic sacrifices, to increase the means of victory in the hands of their sovereign } He is a friend to the French nation. They are our allies. We call to mind, doubly interested, that it was a French maid who kindled up amongst her fellow citizens, the flame of pat- riotism buried under long misfortunes : It was the maid of Orleans who drove from the king- dom of France the ancestors of those same British, whose odious yoke we have just shaken off, and whom it is necessary that we drive from this continent. But I must limit myself to the recollection o( this small number of achievements. Who knows if persons disposed to censure, and sometimes too severely with regard to us, may not disapprove our appearing acquainted even with the actions of which our sex boasts .' We are at least certain, that he cannot be a good citizen who will not applaud our efforts for the relief of the armies which defend our lives, our possessions, our liberty ? The situa- tion of our soldiery has been represented to me ; the evils inseparable from war, and the firm and generous spirit which has enabled them to support these. But it has been said, that they may apprehend, that, in the course of a long war, the view of their distresses may be lost, and their services forgotten. Forgotten ! never; I can answer in the name of all my sex. Brave Americans, your disinterestedness, your courage, and your constancy will always be dear to America, as long as she shall preserve her virtue. We know that, at a distance from the theatre ofwar, if we enjoy any tranquilrty, it is the fruit of your watchings, your labors, your dan- gers. If I live happy in the midst of my family, if my husband cultivates his field, and reaps his harvest in peace ; if, surrounded with my children, I myself nourish the youngest, and PENNSYLVANIA. 213 press it to my bosom, without being afraid of seeing myself separated from it, by a ferocious enemy ; if the house in which we dwell ; if our barns, our orchards are safe at the present time from the hands of those incendiaries, it is to you that we owe it. And shall we hesitate to evidence to you our gratitude.' Shall we hesitate to wear a clothing more simple ; hair- dresses less elegant, while, at the price of this small privation, we shall deserve your benedic- tions. Who amongst us, will not renounce, with the highest pleasure, those vain orna- ments, when she shall consider that the valiant defenders of America will be able to draw some advantage from the money which she may have laid out in these ; that they will be better defended from the rigors of the seasons ; that, after their painful toils, they will receive some extraordinary and une.xpected relief; that these presents will perhaps be valued by them at a greater price, when they will have it in their power to say : This is the offering of the ladies. The time is arrived to display the same sentiments which animated us at the be- ginning of the revolution, when we renounced the use of teas, however agreeable to our taste, rather than receive them from our persecutors : when we made it appear to them that we placed former necessaries in the rank of super- fluities, when our liberty was interested ; when our republican and laborious hands spun the flax, prepared the linen intended for the use of our soldiers ; when exiles and fugitives we supported with courage all the evils which are the concomitants of war. Let us not lose a moment ; let us be engaged to offer the hom- age of our gratitude at the altar of military valor, and you, our brave deliverers, while mercenary slaves combat to cause you to share with them, the irons with which they are loaded, receive with a free hand our offering, the purest which can be presented to your virtue By an AMERICAN Woman. A SERMON On the present situation of American AFFAIRS. Preached in CHRIST CHURCH, June 23, 1775, al the request of the officers of the third battalion of the city of Philadelphia, and district of Southwark, by Willia.m Smith, D. D. Provost of the college in that city. The Lord God of Gods— the Lord God of Gods— He knoweth, and Israel he shall know, if it be in rebellion, or in transgression against the Lord — save us not in this day. — Joshua., ixii. 22. These words, my brethren, will lead us into a train of reflections, wholly suitable to the design of our present meeting ; and I must beg your indulgence till I explain, as briefly as pos- sible, the solemn occasion on which they were first delivered, hoping the application I may afterwards make of them, may fully reward your attention. The two tribes of Reuben and of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, had chosen their inheritance, on the eastern side of Jordan, opposite to the other tribes of Israel. And although they knew that this situation would deprive them of some privileges which remained with their brethren on the other side, and par- ticularly that great privilege of having the place of the altar and tabernacle of God among them ; yet, as the land of Canaan was judged too small for all the twelve tribes, they were contented with the possession they had chosen. And thus they spoke to Moses : " It is a land of cattle, and thy servants have much cattle. Wherefore, if we have found grace in thy sight let this land be given to us for a possession, and we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones ; and we ourselves will go ready armed before our brethren, the children of Israel — and will not return into our houses, until they have inherited every man his inheritance." " And Moses said unto them — If you will do this thing, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him ; and the land (of Canaan) be subdued (for your brethren) ; then afterwards ye shall return, and this land (of Gilead) shall be your possession before the Lord."* This, then, was the great original contract, under which these two tribes and a half were allowed to separate from the rest, and to dwell on the other side of Jordan. They were to assist their brethren in their necessary wars, and to continue under one government with them — even that of the great Jehovah himself — erecting no separate altar but coming to per- form their sacrifices at that one altar of Shiloh, where the Lord had vouchsafed to promise his special presence. Though this subjected them to inconven- iences, yet as uniformity of worship and the nature of their theocracy required it, they adhered faithfully to their contract. In the fear of God, they bov\'ed themselves at his altar, although not placed in their own land ; and, in love to their brethren, they sup- ported them in their wars, " till there stood not a man of all their enemies before them ; " and ♦ Numb. 32. 214 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. at last, Joshua, their great leader, having no farther need of their assistance, gave them this noble testimony — That they had, in all things obeyed his voice as their general, and faithfully performed all they had promised to Moses the servant of God. Wherefore he blessed them, and dismissed them to return to their own land " with much riches, and with cattle, and with silver, and with gold, and with much raiment." No sooner, therefore, had they entered their own country, than, in the fulness of gratitude, on the banks of Jordan, at the common passage over against Canaan, they built an high or great altar that it might remain an eternal monument of their being of one stock, and entitled to the same civil and religious priv- ileges, with their brethren of the other tribes. But this their work of piety and love was directly misconstrued. The cry was immedi- ately raised against them. The zealots of that day scrupled not to declare them rebels against the living God, violators of his sacred laws and theocracy, in setting up an altar against his holy altar, and therefore the whole congrega- tions of the brother tribes, that dwelt in Canaan, gathered themselves together, to go up to war against their own flesh and blood, in a blind transport of unrighteous zeal, purposing to extirpate them from the face of the earth, as enemies to God and the commonwealth of Israel ! In that awful and important moment (and, oh ! my God that the example could be copied among the brother tribes of our Israel, in the parent land) I say, in that awful and important moment, some milder and more benevolent men there were, whose zeal did not so far transport them, but that, before they unsheathed the sword to plunge it with unhallowed hand into the bowels of their brethren, they thought it justice first to enquire into the charge against them. And, for the glory of Israel this peaceable and prudent counsel prevailed. A most solemn embassy was prepared, at the head of which was a man of sacred charac- ter, and venerable authority, breathing the dictates of religion and humanity ; Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the high priest, accompanied with ten other chiefs or princes, one from each of the nine tribes as well as from the remaining half tribe of Manasseh. Great was the astonishment of the Gilead- ites* on receiving this embassy, and hearing the charge against them. But the power of * The two tribes and a half are here briefly and generally denominated Gileadites, from the name of the land they tiad chosen. conscious innocence is above all fear, and the language of an upright heart superior to all eloquence. By a solemn appeal to Heaven for the rectitude of their intentions, unpremeditated and vehement, in the words of my text, they disarmed their brethren of every suspicion. "The Lord God of Gods," say they (in the fervency of truth, repeating the invocation) '■ the Lord God of Gods " — He that made the Heavens and the earth, who searcheth the hearts, and is acquainted with the most secret thoughts of all men — " He knoweth, and all Israel shall know." by our unshaken constancy^ in the religion of our fathers — that this charge against us is utterly false. Then turning from their brethren, with un- speakable dignity of soul and clearness of conscience, they address the Almighty Jehovah himself — Oh thou sovereign Ruler of the universe — our God and our Fathers' God — " if it be in rebellion or in transgression against thee," that we have raised this monument of our zeal for the commonwealth of Israel — " save us not this day ! " If the most distant thought has entered our hearts of erecting an independent altar ; if we have sought, in one instance, to derogate from the glory of that sacred altar which thou hast placed among our brethren beyond Jordan, as the common bond of union and worship among all the tribes of Israel — let not this day's sun descend upon us, till thou har.t made us a monument of thine avenging justice, in the sight of the surrounding world ! After this astonishing appeal to the great God of Heaven and earth, they proceed to rea- son with their brethren ; and tell them that, so far from intending a separation, either in gov- ernment or in religion, this altar was built with a direct contrary purpose — " That it might be a WITNESS between us and you, and our genera- tions after us, that your children may not say to our children, in time to come, ye have no part in the Lord." We were afraid lest, in some future age, when our posterity may cross Jordan to offer sacritices in the place appointed, your posterity may thrust them from the altar, and tell them that because they live not in the land where the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, they are none of his people, nor entitled to the Jew- ish privileges. But while this altar stands, they shall always have an answer ready. They will be able to say—" Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made." If our fathers had not been of the seed of Israel, they would not have fondly copied your customs and models. You would not have beheld in Gilead PENNSVLVANIA. 215 an altar, in all things an imitation of the true altar of God, which is in Shiloh, except only that ours is an high "or great altar to see" from far. And this may convince you that it was not intended as an altar of sacrifice (for then it would have been but three cubits in height, as our law directs) but as a monumen- tal altar, to instruct our generations forever, that they are of the same pedigree with your- selves, and entitled to the same civil and relig- ious privileges. This noble defence brought an immediate re- conciliation among the discordant tribes. " The words, (when reported) pleased the children of Israel — they blessed God together " for prevent- ing the effusion of kindred blood, " and did not go up to destroy the land where their brethren, the children of Reuben* and Gad dwelt." The whole history of the bible cannot fur- nish a passage more instructive than this, to the members of a great empire, whose dreadful misfortune it is to have the evil demon of civil or religious discord gone forth among them. And would to God, that the application I am now to make of it could be delivered in accents louder than thunder, till they have pierced the ear of every Briton ; and especially their ears who have meditated war and destruction against their brother-tribes of Reuben and Gad, in this our American Gilead. And let me add — would to God too that we, who this day consider ourselves in the place of those tribes, may, like them, be still able to lay our hands on our hearts in a solemn appeal to the God of Gods, for the rectitude of our intentions towards the whole commonwealth of our BRIT- ISH Israel. For, called to this sacred place, on this great occasion, I know it is your wish that I should stand superior to all partial mo- tives, and be found alike unbiased by favor or by fear. And happy it is that the parallel, now to be drawn, requires not the least sacrifice either of truth or virtue ? Like the tribes of Reuben and Gad, we have chosen our inheritance, in a land separated from that of our fathers and brethren, not indeed by a small river, but an immense ocean. This inheritance we likewise hold by a plain original contract, entitling us to all the natural and improvable advantages of our situation, and to a community of privileges with our brethren, in every civil and religious respect, except in this, that the throne or seat of empire, that great altar at w'hich the men of this world bow, was to remain among them. • Though for brevity, the sacred text, in this and other places, only mentions Reuben and Gad, yet the half tribe of Manasseh is also supposed to be included. Regardless of this local inconvenience, un- cankered by jealousy, undepressed by fear, and cemented by mutual love and mutual benefits, we trod the path of glory with our brethren for an hundred years and more — enjoying a length of felicity scarce ever experienced by any other people. — Mindful of the hands that protected us in our youth, and submitting to every just reg- ulation for appropriating to them the benefit of our trade — our wealth was poured in upon them from ten thousand channels, widening as they flowed, and making their poor to sing, and industry to smile, through every corner of their land. And as often as dangers threatened, and the voice of the British Israel called our brethren to the field, we left them not alone, but shared their toils and fought by their side, " till there stood not a man of all their enemies before them," — Nay, tliey themselves testified on our behalf, that in all things we not only did our part, but more than our part for the com- mon good, and they dismissed us home loaded with silver and with gold,* in recompense for our extraordinary services. So far you see the parallel holds good. But what high altars have we built to alarm our Brit- ish Israel ; and why have the congregations of our British Israel, and why have the congrega- tions of our brethren gathered themselves to- gether against us .' why do their embattled hosts already cover our plains.' will they not e.xamine our case, and listen to our plea } " The Lord God of Gods — he knows," and the whole surrounding world shall yet know, that whatever American altars we have built, far from intending to dishonor, have been raised with an expressed view to perpetuate the name and glory of that sacred altar, and seat of empire and liberty, which we left behind us, and wish to remain eternal among our brethren in the parent land. Esteeming our relation to them our greatest felicity ; adoring the providence that gave us the same progenitors : glorying in this, that when the new world was to be portioned out among the kingdoms of the old, the most important part of this continent fell to the sons of a protestant and free nation ; desirous of w-orshipping forever at the same altar with them ; fond of their manners even to excess ; enthusiasts to that sacred plan of civil and re- ligious happiness, for the preservation of which they have sacrificed from age to age, maintain- ing, and always ready to maintain, at the risk of every thing that is dear to us, the most * The parliamentary reimbursements for our exertions in the late war, similar to what Joshua gave the two trit>es and a half on the close of his wars. 2l6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. unshaken fidelity to our common sovereign, as the great centre of our union, and guardian of our mutual rights— I say, with these principles and these views, we thought it our duty, to build up American altars, or constitutions, as nearly as we could, upon the great British model. Having never sold our birth-right, we con- sidered ourselves entitled to the privileges of our father's house — "to enjoy peace, liberty and safety," to be governed, like our brethren, by our own laws, in all matters properly affect- ing ourselves, and to offer up our own sacrifices at the altar of British empire ; contending that a forced devotion is idolatry, and that no power on earth has a right to come in between us and a gracious sovereign, to measure forth our loyalty, or to grant our property, without our consent. These are the principles we inherited from Bntons themselves. Could we depart from them, we should be deemed bastards and not sons, aliens, and not brethren. The altars therefore, which we have built, are not* high or rival altars to create jealousy, but humble monuments of our union and love, intended to bring millions, yet unborn, from every corner of this vast continent, to bend at the great parent altar of British liberty ; venerat- ing the country from which they sprung, and pouring their gifts into their lap when their countless thousands shall far exceed hers. It was our wish that there should be an eternal "witness between our brethren and us," that if, at any future period, amid the shifting scenes of human interests and human affections, their children should say to our children — " Ye have no portion " in the birth- right of Britons, and to seek to push them from the common shrine of freedom, when they come to pay their hom.ige there, they might always have an answer ready — " Behold the pattern of the altar which our fathers built." Behold your own religious and civil institutions, and then examine the frames of government and systems of laws raised by our fathers in every part of America? Could these have been such exact copies of your own, if they had not in- herited the same spirit, and sprung from the same stock, with yourselves. Thus far you see the parallel yet holds good, and I think cannot be called a perversion of my text, if you will allow that the Supreme * In this respect, our plea is even stronger than that of the two tribes and a half. For, till an e.xplanation was given, the height of their altar, like those of the heathen, who loved to sacrifice on lofty places, might create a suspicion of their "lapsing into idolatry ; either intending to worship other Gods, or the God of Israel in an unlawful place and manner."— Bp. Patrick. Power of an empire, whether theocratical, mo- narchical, or whosoever distributed, may be represented under the figure of one common altar, at which the just devotion of all the sub- jects is to be paid. But it is said that we have of late departed from our former line of duty, and refused our homage at the great altar of British empire. And to this it has been replied, that the very refusal is the strongest evidence of our venera- tion for the altar itself. Nay, it is contended by those charged with this breach of devotion, that when, in the shape of unconstitutional ex- actions, violated rights and mutilated charters, they were called to worship idols, instead of the true divinity, it was in a transport of holy jealousy, that they dashed them to pieces, or whelmed them to the bottom of the ocean. This is, in brief, the state of the argument on each side. And hence, at this dreadful mo- ment, ancient friends and brethren stand pre- pared for events of the most tragic nature. Here the weight of my subject almost over- comes me ; but think not that I am going to damp that noble ardor which at this instant glows in every bosom present. Nevertheless, as from an early acquaintance with many of you, I know that your principles are pure, and your humanity only equalled by your transcend- ent love of your country, I am sure you will in- dulge the passing tear, which a preacher of the gospel of love must now shed over the scenes that lie before us — great and deep distress about to pervade every corner of our land ! millions to be called from the peaceful labors by " the sound of the trumpet, and the alarm of war! Garments rolled in blood," and even vic- tory itself only yielding an occasion to weep over friends and relatives slain ! These are melancholy prospects and therefore you will feel with me the difficulties I now labor under — forsaken by my text, and left to lament alone that, in the parent land, no Phineh.as has pre- vailed ; no embassy * of great or good men has been raised, to stay the sword of destruc- tion, to examine into the truth of our case, and save the effusion of kindred blood. I am left to lament that, in this sad instance, Jewish tenderness has put Christian benevolence to shame. " Our brethren, the house of our fathers, even * It is acknowledged with gratitude that many great and exalted characters have plead the cause of America ; and, previous to all coercive measures, advised an enquiry or hearing, similar to that for which Phinehas was ap- pointed. W'hat is here lamented, and will be long lamented is that this council could not take place. If brethren could come together in such a temper as this, the issue could not fail to be for their mutual glory and mutual happiness. PENNSYLVANIA. 217 they have called a multitude against us. Had an enemy thus reproached us, then perhaps we might have borne it. But it was you, men our equals, our guides, our acquaintance, with whom we took sweet council and walked to- gether into the house of God." Or had it been for any essential benefit to the commonwealth at large, we would have laid our hands on our mouths, and bowed obedience with our usual silence. But, for dignity and supremacy ! What are they when set in opposition to common utility, common justice, and the whole faith and spirit of the constitution ! True dignity is to govern freemen, not slaves, and true supremacy is to e.\cel in doing good. It is time, and indeed more than time, for a great and enlightened people to make names bend to things, and ideal honor to practical safety? — Precedents and indefinite claims are surely things too nugatory to convulse a mighty empire. Is there no wisdom, no great and liberal plan of policy to re-unite its members, as the sole bulwark of liberty and protestanism, rather than by their deadly strife to increase the importance of those states that are foes to freedom, truth and humanity ? To devise such a plan, and to behold British colonies spread- ing over this immense continent, rejoicing- in the common rights of freemen, and imitating the parent state in every excellence — is more glory than to hold lawless dominion over all the nations on the face of the earth. But I will weary you no longer with fruitless lamentations concerning things that might be done. The question now is — since they are not done, must we tamely surrender any part of our birth-right, or of that great charter of privileges, which we not only claim by inheri- tance, but by the express terms of our coloniza- tion .' I say, God forbid ! For here, in par- ticular, I wish to speak so plain that neither my own principles, nor those of the church to which I belong, be misunderstood. Although, in the beginning of this great contest, we thought it not our duty to be for- ward in widening the breach, or spreading dis- content ; although it be our fervent desire to heal the wounds of the public, and to shew by our temper that we seek not to distress, but to give the parent state an opportunity of saving themselves and saving us before it be too late, nevertheless, as we know that our civil and religious rights are linked together in one in- dissoluble bond, we neither have, nor seek to have, any interest separate from that of our country, nor can we advise a desertion of its cause. Religion and liberty must flourish or fall together in America. We pray that both may be perpetual. A continued submission to violence is no tenet of our church. When her brightest lu- minaries, near a century past, were called to propagate the court doctrine of a dispensing power, above law — did they treacherously cry — " Peace, peace," when there was no peace.' Did they not magnanimously set their foot upon the line of the constitution, and tell majesty to its face that " they could not betray the public liberty," and that the monarch's only safety consisted " in governing according to the laws .' " Did not their example, and consequent suffer- ings, kindle a flame that illuminated the land, and introduced that noble system of public and personal liberty, secured by the revolution .' Since that period, have not the avowed princi- ples of our greatest divines been against raising the church above the state ; jealous of the na- tional rights, resolute for the protestant suc- cession, favorable to the reformed religion, and desirous to maintain the faith of toleration ? If exceptions h.ave happened, let no society of Christians stand answerable for the deviations, or corruptions, of individuals. The doctrine of absolute non-resistance has been fully exploded among every virtuous peo- ple. The free-born soul revolts against it, and must have been long debased, and have drank in the last dregs of corruption, before it can brook the idea " that a whole people injured may, ' in no case,' recognize their trampled majesty." But to draw the line, and say where submission ends and resistance begins, is not the province of the minister of Christ, who has given no * rule in this matter, but left it to the feelings and consciences of the injured. For, when pressures and sufferings come, when the weight of power grows intolerable, a peo- ple will fly to the constitution for shelter ; and, if able, will resume that power vvhich they never surrendered, except so far as it might be exercised for the common safety. Pulpit-casu- ♦ The author, in a sermon first published twenty years ago, on r Pet. ii. 17, delivered his sentiments fully on this point — in the following words, viz. — " It w^ould be absurd to argue as some have done, that the Apostle here meant to enjoin a continued suhntission to violence — The love of mankind, and the fear of God, those very principles from which we trace the divine original of just government, will lead us. by all probable means, to resist every attempt to enslave the free-born soul, and oppose the righteous will of God by defeating the happiness of men. Resistance, however, is to be a last resource, and none but the major- ity of a whole people, can determine in what cases it is necessary. In the scriptures, therefore, obedience is rightly inculcated in general terms. For a people may sometimes imagine grievances they do not feel, but will never miss to feel and complain of them where they really are, unless their minds have been gradually prepared for slavery by absurd tenets." 2l8 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. istry is too feeble to direct or control here. God, in his own government of the world, never violates freedom ; and his scriptures themselves would be disregarded, or considered as per- verted, if brought to belie his voice, speaking in the hearts of men. The application of these principles, my breth- ren, is now easy and must be left to your own consciences and feelings. You are now en- gaged in one of the grandest struggles, to which freemen can be called. You are contending for what you conceive to be your constitutional rights, and for a final settlement of the terms upon which this country may be perpetually united to the parent state. Look back, therefore, with reverence look back, to the times of ancient virtue and renown. Look back to the mighty purposes, which your fathers had in view, when they traversed a vast ocean, and planted this land. Recall to your minds their labors, their toils, their persever- ance, and let a divine spirit animate you in all your actions. Look forward also to distant posterity. Fig- ure to yourselves millions and millions to spring from your loins, who may be born freemen or slaves, as Heaven shall now approve or reject our councils. Think that on you it may de- pend, whether this great countr)-, in ages hence, shall be filled and adorned with a virtuous and enlightened people, enjoying liberty and all its concomitant blessings, together with the re- ligion of Jesus, as it flows uncorrupted from his holy oracles, or covered with a race of men more contemptible than the savages that roam the wilderness, because they once knew the things which belong to their happiness and peace, but suffered them to be hid from their eyes. And while you thus look b.ack to the past, and forward to the future, fail not, I beseech you, to look up to " the God of Gods — the rock of your salvation." As the clay in the potter's hands, so are the nations of the earth in the hands of him, the everlasting Jehovah ! — he lifteth up, and he casteth down — He resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble — He will keep the feet of his saints — the wicked shall be silent in darkness, and by strength shall no man prevail. The bright prospects of the gospel ; a thorough veneration of the Saviour of the world ; a con- scientious obedience to his divinest laws ; faith in his promises, and the stedfast hope of im- mortal life through him, these only can support a man in all times of adversity as well as pros- perity. You might more easily " strike fire out of ice," than stability or magnanimity out of crimes. But the good man, he who is at peace with the God of all peace, will know no fear but that of offending him, whose hand can cover the righteous " so that he needs not fear the arrow that fleeth by day, nor the destruction that wasteth at noon-day ; for a thousand shall fall beside him, and ten thousand at his right hand, but it shall not come nigh to him ; for he shall give his angels charge over him to keep him in all his ways." On the omnipotent God, therefore, through his blessed Son, let your strong confidence be placed ; but do not vainly expect that every day will be to you a day of prosperity or triumph. The ways of Providence lie through mazes, too intricate for human penetration. Mercies may often be held forth to us in the shape of suffer- ings ; and the ncissitudes of our fortune, in building up the American fabric of happiness and glory, may be various and chequered. But let not this discourage you. Yea, rather let it animate you with a \\o\y fervor — a divine enthusiasm — ever persuading yourselves that the cause of virtue SinA freedom is the CAUSE of God upon earth ; and that the whole theatre of human nature does not exhibit a more august spectacle than a number of freemen, in depend- ence upon Heaven, mutually binding themselves to encounter every difficulty and danger in support of their native and constitutional rights and for transmitting them holy andunviolated to their posterity. It was this principle that inspired the heroes of ancient times ; that raised their names to the summit of renown, and filled all succeeding ages with their unspotted praise. It is this principle too that must animate your conduct, if you wish your names to reach future genera- tions, conspicuous in the roll of glory ; and so far as this principle leads you, be prepared to follow — whether to life or to death. While you profess yourselves contending for liberty, let it be with the temper and dignity of freemen, undaunted and firm, but without wrath or vengeance, so far as grace may be obtained to resist the weakness of nature. Consider it as a happy circumstance, if such a struggle must have happened, that God hath been pleased to postpone it to a period, when our country is adorned with men of enlightened zeal, when the arts and sciences are planted among us to secure a succession of such men, when our morals are not far tainted by luxury, pro- fusion or dissipation; when the principles that withstood oppression, in the brightest era of the English history, are ours as it were by peculiar inheritance ; and when we stand upon our own ground, with all that is dear around us, animat- PENNSYLVANIA. 219 ing us to every patriotic exertion. Under such circumstances and upon such principles, what wonders, what achievements of true glorj", have not been performed ? for my part I have long been possessed with a strong and even enthusiastic persuasion that Heaven has great and gracious purposes to- wards this continent, which no human power or human device shall be able finally to frustrate. Illiberal or mistaken plans of policy may dis- tress us for a while, and perhaps sorely check our growth ; but if we maintain our own virtue ; if we cultivate the spirit of liberty among our children ; if we guard against the snares of luxur>', venality and corruption, the GENIUS of America will still rise triumphant, and that with a power at last too mighty for opposition. This country will be free — nay, for ages to come a chosen seat of freedom, arts, and heavenly knowledge ; which are now either drooping or dead in most countries of the old world. To conclude, since the strength of all public bodies, under God, consists in their union, bear with each other's infirmities, and even varieties of sentiments, in things not essential to the main point. The tempers of men are cast in various moulds. Some are quick and feel- ingly alive in all their mental operation, espe- cially those which relate to their countr)'s weal, and are therefore ready to burst forth into flame upon every alarm. Others again, with intentions alike pure, and a clear unquenchable love of their country, too steadfast to be damped by the mists of prejudice, or worked up into conflagration by the rude blasts of passion, think it their duty to weigh consequences, and to deliberate fully upon the probable means of obtaining public ends. Both those kinds of men should bear with each other ; for both are friends to their country. One thing further let me add, that, without order and just siibordinatioti, there can be no union in public bodies. However much you may be equals on other occasions, yet all this must cease in an united and associated capacity ; and every individual is bound to keep the place and duty assigned him, by ties far more power- ful over a man of virtue and honor, than all the other ties which human policy can contrive. It had been better never to have lifted a voice in your country' "s cause, than to betray it by want of union ; or to leave worthy men, who have embarked their all for the common good, to suffer, or stand unassisted. Lastly, by every method in your power, and in every possible case, support the laws of your country. In a contest for liberty, think what a crime it would be, to suffer ox^t freeman to be insulted, or wantonly injured in his liberty, so far as by your means it may be prevented. Thus animated and thus acting — We may then SING with the prophet — " Fear not, O land ! be glad and rejoice, fur the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring — The tree beareth her fruit — the fig-tree and the vine yield their fruit." Thus animated and thus acting — we may likewise PRAY with the prophet — "O Lord be gracious unto us — we have waited for thee. Be thou our arm every morn- ing, our salvation also in time of trouble. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God — O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour there- of in time of need — thou art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name — leave us NOT. Give us one heart and one way. that we may fear thee forever, for the good of ourselves and our children after us — We looked for peace but no good came ; and for a time of health, but behold we are in trouble — Yet will we trust in the Lord forever ; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength — He will yet bind up the broken hearted, and comfort those that mourn." — Even so, oh ! our God, do thou comfort and reheve them, that so the bones which thou hast broken may yet rejoice. Inspire us with a high and commanding sense of the value of our constitutional rights : may a spirit of wisdom and virtue be poured down upon us all ; and may our representatives, those who are delegated to devise zxvii appointed to execute public measures, be directed to such, as thou in thy sovereign goodness shall be pleased to render effectual for the salvation of a great empire, and re-uniting all its members in one sacred bond of harmony and public hap- piness ! Grant this, oh father, for thy son Jesus Christ's sake ; to whom, with thee and the holy Spirit, one God, be glory, honor and power now and forever ! AMEN. ACT OF THE ASSEMBLY Respecting persons scrupulous of bear- ing arms. In the assembly of Pennsylvania, 'June 29, 1775. — The house taking into consideration, that many of the good people of this province are conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, do hereby earnestly recommend to the associ- ators for the defence of their country, and others. 220 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. that they bear a tender and brotherly regard towards this class of their fellow subjects and countrymen ; and to these conscientious people it is also recommended, that they cheerfully assist, in proportion to their abilities, such per- sons as cannot spend both time and substance in the service of their country without great injury to themselves and families. MEMENTO TO AMERICANS. Philadelphia, March, 1776. "Remember the stamp act, by which im- mense sums were to be yearly extorted from you. Remember the declaratory act, by which a power was assumed of binding you, in all cases whatsoever, without your consent. Remember the broken promise of the minis- try,* never again to attempt a tax on America. Remember the duty act. Remember the massacre at Boston, by Brit- ish soldiers. Remember the ruin of that once flourishing city by their means. Remember the massacre at Lexington. Remember the burning of Charlestown. Remember general Gage's infamous breach of faith with the people of Boston. Remember the cannonading, bombarding, and burning of Falmouth. Remember the shrieks and cries of the wom- en and children. Remember the cannonading of Stonington and Bristol. Remember the burning of Jamestown, Rhode Island. Remember the frequent insults of Newport. Remember the broken charters. Remember the cannonade of Hampton. Remember the act for screening and encour- aging your murderers. Remember the cannonade of New-York. Remember the altering your established jury laws. Remember the hiring foreign troops against you. Remember the rejection of lord Chatham's, Mr. Hartley's and Mr. Burke's plans of concili- ation. Remember the treatment of Franklin and Temple. Remember the rejection of all your numer- ous humble petitions. Remember the contempt with which they spoke of you in both houses. ♦ In lord Hillsborough's circular letter. Remember the cowardly endeavor to prevent foreign nations supplying you with arms and ammunition, when they themselves knew they intended coming to cut your throats. Remember their hiring savages to murder your farmers with their families. Remember the bribing negro slaves to assassinate their masters. Remember the burning of Norfolk.* Remember their obliging you to pay treble duties, when you came to trade with the countries you helped them to conquer.f Remember their depriving you of all share in the fisheries, you equally with them spent your blood and treasure to acquire. Remember their old restrictions on your woolen manufactories, your hat-making, your iron and steel forges and furnaces. Remember their arbitrary admiralty courts. Remember the inhuman treatment of the brave colonel Allen, and the irons he was sent in to England. Remember the long, habitual, base venality of British parliaments. Remember the corrupt, putrified state of that nation, and the virtuous, sound, healthy state of your own young constitution. Remember the tyranny of Mezentius, who bound living men, face to face, with dead ones, and the effect of it.f Remember the obstinacy and unforgiving spirit of the , evident in the treatment of his own b s. Remember that an honorable death is pre- ferable to an ignominious life ; and never for- get what you owe to yourselves, your families, and your posterity. SPEECH Of an honest, sensible, and spirited FARMER OF Philadelphia county, ad- dressed TO AN ASSEMBLY OF HIS NEIGH- BORS, ON HIS ENGAGING IN THE CON- TINENTAL SERVICE, May, 1776. My FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN — I have observed that some of you are a little surprised that I, with so many inducements as I have to remain at home, should have resolved to quit my family, and my farm for the fatigues and * This and all thebeforementioned, were open, defence- less towns, which, by the laws of war, should always be spared. + Act of parliament, 14 George III, laying a duty of three pence per gallon on all spirits imported into Canada from Britain ; and nine-pence, if from any of the Noith American colonies. X The corruption of the one poisoned the other. PENNSYLVANIA. 221 dangers oi' war. I mean you should be per- fectly satisfied as to my motives. I am an American : and am determined to be free. I was bom free : and have never forfeited my birth-right ; nor will I ever, like the infatuated son of Isaac, sell it for a mess of pottage. I will part with my life sooner than my liberty, for I prefer an honorable death to the miserable and despicable existence of a slave. The who would rob me of my property, because he thinlcs he has use for it, and is able to take it from me, would as soon, for the same reason, rob me of my life, if it stood in his way ; but it is God Almighty who gave me my life, and my property, as a necessary means among others of preserving and enjoying it ; and it is he only that hath an absolute and unlimited right and power to take either or both away. Being the Creator, the Supporter, the perfect ruler and judge of all the earth, he only can do no wrong : should therefore any creature whatsoever, or number of them, dare to usurp this sole prerogative of Heaven over me, I could neither answer it to my Maker, nor my conscience, nor my honor, if I did not resist, though it were to the last drop of my blood. It is in the free enjoyment of those blessings, uncontrolled by any human powers, (except so far as the voice of the society in general, of which we are members, may have resigned a part for the preservation of the whole), that that civil liberty substantially consisteth. Let no one therefore wcnder if, of all earthly bene- fits my Creator hath bestowed on me, I do most esteem my liberty. Anarchy, indeed, I depre- cate, but tyranny infinitely more. The reason is obvious ; the former, like a common surfeit, occasioned by an irregular and intemperate in- dulgence of the bodily appetites, if but a little helped by simple medicine, will almost always, as I may say, cure itself: whereas the latter, like a de^'ouring cancer, the longer it is let alone, without the application of violent caus- tics, the faster and deeper it will root itself into the frame, until it gnaws out the very life of the body. Government is neither of these : it is an ordinance of Heaven to restrain the usurpations of wicked men, to secure us the enjoyments of our natural rights, and to promote the highest political interests and happiness of society. The claims therefore of the British parliament of a power to bind us in all cases whatsoever ; to give away our property, in what measure and for what purposes they please, and to dis- pose of our lives as they think proper, when we have no voice in the legislation nor consti- tutional power allowed us to check their most violent proceedings, are not of the nature of government, but in the true and strict sense of the word tyranny. Of the tendency and operation of this dia- bolical system, our country hath already had too deep and affecting experience not to be sensible of them ; and it requires not the spirit of supernatural prophecy to foretell the end of them, should they not be seasonably controled ; controled, did I say .' blest be the spirit of American liberty, wisdom and valor ! they have been controled ; but, my friends, it is evident we can never have safety, liberty, and peace, until, by an unremitting and vigo- rous application of the axe, now laid to the root of the tree, we have totally overturned, in these colonies, the power that would de- molish us. Not to speak of the unwearied art and assiduity of the these twelve years past, to fasten on us the shackles of slavery, let me only remind you of the base and cruel mea- sures to subjugate us, since we have been obliged to take up arms in our defence : what stone have they left unturned ? what device to ruin us, though never so mean, barbarous and bloody, such as no heart, but that of a devil and a tyrant, can refrain shuddering at, have they not pursued .' have not several of the powers of Europe been meanly courted and bribed not to supply us with means of resis- tance ? hath not the most barbarous nation in it been applied to, to assist them with at least 20,000 savages to complete their intended mas- sacre? have they not attempted to spirit up the Indian savages to ravage our frontiers, and murder, after their inhuman manner, our de- fenceless wives and children ? have not our negro slaves been enticed to rebel against their masters, and arms put into their hands to murder them .' have not the king of England's own slaves, the Hanoverians, been employed ? and were not the poor Canadians made slaves, that they might be made fit instruments, with other slaves and savages, to make slaves and more wretched beings than savages of us .' Now, what kind of reconciliation can be rea- sonably expected with a so basely, so cruelly, so industriously, and obstinately bent on our destruction ? in short, we have no al- ternative left us, but to fight or die ; if there be any medium, it is slavery: and ever cursed be the man who will submit to it ! I will not. But who \yould ever have imagined, that a people who, a few years ago, assisted their brethren of Great Britain, with their blood and treasure, to humble the power of France and Spain, and who, from their first existence as a people, have, by their trade and industry', been 222 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. enriching and exalting them above all the na- tions of the world ; who, I say, would have imagined that this very people should, by these their very brethren, be now reduced to so dreadful an alternative : yet, hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth, and bear witness, this is the return we have received for all our love, loyalty, industry, treasure and blood ! Had we begun this quarrel, had we de- manded some new privileges, unknown to the constitution, or some commercial licenses, incompatible with the general interest of the empire, had we presumed to legislate for Great Britain, or plotted with the Bourbon family, to reinstate the execrable race of the Stuarts, and fled to arms unprovoked to ac- complish these designs, there would then be some plausible apology for the severest hostile treatment we have received. But what have we done.' when alarmed, ere we had yet rested from the toils of the last war, by new unconstitutional demands of revenue, we as- serted our rights and petitioned for justice. Was this a crime ? as unconstitutional statutes of different forms were repeatedly enacted, we repeated our petitions for redress ; was this a crime ? we suffered ourselves to be insulted by the introduction of an armed force to dragoon us into obedience ; we suffered them to take possession of our towns and fortifications, still waiting with decent and anxious expectation from the wonted justice, humanity, and gener- osity of Britons : was this a crime .' disposed to try every pacific measure which might prob- ably procure our relief, we agreed to withhold our commerce from them, in hopes that, feel- ing the effects of their injustice, they might see how ruinous their proceedings were to their own interests, and return in time to wisdom and peace : was this a crime .'' nor did we once lift the sword even in our defence, until pro- voked to it by a wanton commencement of hostilities on their part : what then have we done to merit such cruel proceedings ? my friends, I am firmly persuaded, that no truth will appear in future historj-, with more glaring evidence, than that the whole mass of guilt contracted by this unnatural war lieth at the door of ; and so that, not only all future generations of men, but the Great Judge of all the earth, will finally condemn their measures as a scene of tyranny and murder. I therefore conceive myself as hav- ing taken up arms in defence of innocence, justice, truth, honesty, honor, liberty, property, and life ; and in opposition to guilt, injustice, falsehood, dishonesty, ignominy, slavery, pov- erty, and death ; not that I have any fondness for the bloody profession ; not that I delight in the carnage of my species ; or sigh for an occasion of proving my courage : Heaven and you are my witnesses, that my voice was some time, perhaps too long, and with too much earnestness, against any military preparations ; but the times are altered ; 'tis a dreadful ne- cessity that calls me, and calls everj' man who can be spared from his other occupations. I will not however fight as one who beateth the air. I speak plainly ; I consider this year as the grand and final period of British admin- istration in this American world ; I see no probability of their proffering such terms as we can accept of consistently with our safety, honor, and peace ; nay, should they grant all that our public councils have heretofore claimed, we should still be in a most danger- ous situation, liable to renewed encroachments and renewed hostilities. What else can be supposed from such a situation, and from the views, temper, and prejudices that must, and will, prevail in the British court and par- liament : besides who in that case will reim- burse our losses ; or how shall our public debts be paid .' I do solemnly declare, and that with respect to the best reconciliation that can reasonably be expected, with so corrupt, treacherous, and tyrannical an administration, that if I thought we should again revert to a dependence on Britain, I should, from this day, lay down my sword, and weep that I was born in America. But far other prospects are be- fore us : glory, empire, liberty and peace, are, I am persuaded, unless we are lost to our- selves, very near at hand. And, on every consideration of the present state and progress of our public affairs, compared with the spirit of Britain, and the spirit, the interest, and the internal advantages of America, methinks, I hear a voice, as if an angel from Heaven should proclaim, " come out from among them, and be ye separate from them. Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and ye receive not of her plagues." [The preceding is copied from Almon's Remembrancer ; we do not presume to supply the blanks. Words were used — no doubt, which the editor of that work thought it dangerous to publish. The address appears to have been delivered in about May, 1776. It may be worthy of remark here, that the declaration of independence is published in the same work, with many such blanks.] PENNSYLVANIA. 223 DECLARATION Of the deputies of Pennsylvania, met IN PROVINCIAL conference, AT PHILA- DELPHIA, June 24, 1776. Whereas George the third, king of Great Britain, etc., in violation of the principles of the British constitution, and of the laws of justice and humanity, hath by an accumulation of op- pressions, unparalleled in history, excluded the inhabitants of this, with the other American colonies, from his protection ; and whereas he hath paid no regard to any of our numerous and dutiful petitions for redress of our compli- cated grievances, but hath lately purchased foreign troops to assist in enslaving us, and hath e.xcited the savages of this country to carry on a war against us, as also the negroes, to embrue their hands in the blood of their masters, in a manner unpractised by civilized nations ; and moreover hath lately insulted our calamities by declaring, that he will shew us no mercy, until he has subdued us ; and whereas, the obligations of allegiance (being reciprocal between a king and his subjects) are now dissolved, on the side of the colonists, by the despotism and declaration of the said king, insomuch that it appears that loyalty to him is treason against the good people of this country; and whereas not only the parliament, but there is reason to believe, too many of the people of Great Britain, have concurred in the aforesaid arbitrary and unjust proceedings against us ; and whereas the public virtue of this colony (so essential to its liberty and hap- piness) must be endangered by a future politi- cal union with, or dependence upon a crown and nation, so lost to justice, patriotism, and magnanimity : IV^, the deputies of the people of Pennsylvania, assembled in full provincial conference, for forming a plan for executing the resolve of congress of the 15th of May last, for suppressing all authority in this province, derived from the crown of Great Britain, and for establishing a government upon the author- ity of the people only do, in this public manner, in behalf of ourselves, and with the approba- tion, consent, and authority of our constitu- ents, unanimously declare our willingness to concur in a vote of the congress, declaring the United Colonies yVc^? and independent states; provided, the forming the government and the regulation of the internal police of this colony, be always reserved to the people of the said colony. And we do further call upon the nations of Europe, and appeal to the Great Arbiter and governor of the empires of the world, to witness for us, that this declaration did not originate in ambition, or in an impa- tience of lawful authority, but that we were driven to it in obedience to the first principles of nature, by the oppressions and cruelties of the aforesaid king and parliament of Great Britain, as the only possible measure that was left us to preserve and establish our liberties, and to transmit them inviolate to posterity. Signed, by order of the conference, Thomas M'Kean, President. PATRIOTIC ADDRESS Of the Deputies of Pennsylvania, una- nimously adopted June 25, 1776. Address to the people of Pennsylvania : " The only design of our meeting together was, to put an end to our own power, in the province, by fixing upon a plan for calling a convention, to form a government under the authority of the people. But the sudden and unexpected separation of the last assembly has compelled us to undertake the execution of a resolve of congress, for calling forth 4500 of the militia of the province, to join the militia of the neighboring colonies, to form a camp for our immediate protection. We presume only to recommend what we have formed to you ; trusting that, in such a case of consequence, your love of virtue and zeal for liberty, will supply the want of authority delegated to us expressly for that purpose. " We need not remind you, that you are now furnished with new motives to animate and support your courage. You are not about to contend against power, in order to displace one set of villains to make room for another ; your arms will not be enervated in the day of battle with the reflection that you are to risk your lives, or shed your blood for a British tyrant ; or that your posterity will have your work to do over again You are about to contend ior permanent freedom, to be supported by a government, which will be derived from your- selves, and which will have for its object not the emolument of one man, or one class of men, but the safety, liberty, and happiness of every individual in the community. " We call upon you, therefore, by the respect and obedience which is due to the United Col- onies, to concur in this important measure. The present campaign will probably decide the fate of America. It is now in your power to immortalize your names by mingling your 224 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. achievements with the events of the year 1776 — a year which, we hope, will be sacred in the annals of history, to the end of time for estab- lishing upon a lasting foundation, the liberties of one quarter of the globe. " Remember the honor of our colony is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have ac- quired by your former exertions of strength and virtue will be tarnished ; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us. and blush to own themselves natives or in- habitants of Pennsylvania. " But there are other motives before you — your houses — your fields — the legacies of your ancestors, or the dear bought fruits of yourown industry, and your liberty, now urge you to the field : these cannot plead with you in vain, or we might point out to you further, your wives, your children, your aged fathers and mothers, who now look up to you for protec- tion, and hope for salvation, in this day of ca- lamity, from the instrumentality of your swords. " Remember the «(7Wi' of Pennsylvania — think of your ancestors and posterity." PROCEEDINGS Of the Convention of Pennsylv.\nia on the monopoly of salt. In convention for the state of Pennsylvania, Saturday, August 24, 1776. Whereas, it appears to this convention, upon due enquiry and information of the circumstan- ces, that the salt now in this city, has been imported at low prices, and under moderate insurance. And whereas, divers persons, in contempt of the just and wholesome regulations of the committee, etc., of Philadelphia, under directions of congress, have continued to dis- pose of their salt at most exorbitant prices, to the great grievance and distress of their fellow subjects of this state : it is therefore resolved. That the said regulations be hereby confirmed, and all persons whatever, are hereby strictly enjoined to pay due obedience thereto. And the said committees are authorized and di- rected to seize, and take into their possession the salt belonging to such persons as have refused, or shall refuse, conformity to the regulations so established : or shall altogether withhold, or refuse to sell their salt during the continuance of such regulations, allowing to the said per- sons, upon the sale thereof, the fixed and set- tled prices, first deducting the expenses incurred upon the sale. And whereas, it is but reasonable that every part of this extensive state should be accom- modated, as nearly as may be, with their proportion of this article, so justly esteemed a necessary of life: Be it resolved. That the committee of Phila- delphia are hereby farther directed to distribute the salt, that may, as aforesaid, come into their possession, in equal quantities in the several counties, having regard to the reputed num- ber of the inhabitants contained in the said counties. Extract from the minutes, John Morris, Jun. Sec. TREASON. An ordinance of the state of Pennsylvania, declaring what shall be treason, and for punishing the same, and other crimes and practices against the state. Whereas, government ought at all times, to take the most effectual measures for the safety and security of the state. Be it therefore ordained and declared, and it is hereby ordained and declared by the representatives of the free- men of the state of Pennsylvania, in general convention met. That all and every person and persons, (except prisoners of war) now inhabiting or residing within the limits of the state of Pennsylvania, or that shall voluntarily come into the same hereafter, to inhabit or sojourn, do, and shall owe and pay allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania. And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesaid, That all and every such person and persons, so owing allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania, who from and after the publica- tion hereof, shall le\-y war against the state. or be adherent to the king of Great Britain, or others or to the enemies of the United States of America, by giving him or them aid or assistance within the limits of this state, or elsewhere, and shall be thereof duly convicted in any court of oyer and terminer hereafter to be erected, according to law, shall be adjudged guilty of high treason, and forfeit his lands, tenements, goods and chattels, to the use of the state, and be imprisoned any term not exceeding the duration of the present war with Great Britain, at the discretion of the judge or judges. And be it farther ordained and declared, by PENNSYLVANIA. 225 the authority aforesaid. That any person or persons (except as before excepted) residing, inhabiting, or sojourning in this state, who shall hereafter know of such treason, and conceal the same, or that shall receive or assist such traitor, knowing him to be such, and shall be thereof duly convicted, as aforesaid, shall be adjudged guilty of misprision of treason, and suffer the forfeiture of one third of his goods and chat- tels, lands and tenements, to the use of the state, and be imprisoned any term not exceed- ing the duration of the present war with Great Britain, at the discretion of the judge or judges. And be it further ordained and declared. That in all convictions for high treason, the judge or judges, before whom the trial is had, may, out of the estate forfeited by virtue of this act, make such provision for the wife or children, if any, of the criminal, as he or they, in his or their discretion may deem necessary. And be it farther ordained and declared. That this ordinance shall be in force, till the end of the first session of the first assembly that shall meet under the new constitution of this state ; and no longer. Passed in convention, September 5, 1776, and signed by their order. B. Franklin, President. Attest, John Morris. REMONSTRANCE Of certain citizens of Philadelphia, arrested. and confined in the free Mason Lodge IN THE CITY, Sept. 4, 1777. to the president and council of Pennsylvania. The remonstrance of the subscribers, free- men, and inhabitants of the city of Phila- delphia, now confined in the Free Mason's Lodge. Sheweth — That the subscribers have been, by virtue of a warrant, signed in council by George Bryan, vice president, arrested in our houses, and on our lawful occasions, and con- ducted to this place, where we have been kept in close confinement, under a strong military guard, two or more days — that although divers of us demanded of the messengers, who arrested us, and insisted on having copies of the said warrant, yet we were not able to pro- cure the same, till this present time, but have remained here unaccused and unheard. We now take the earliest opportunity of laying our grievances before your body, from whom we 15 apprehend they proceed, and of claiming to our- selves the liberties and privileges to which we are entitled by the fundamental rules of justice by our birthright and inheritance, the laws of the land ; and by the express provision of the present constitution, under which your board derive their power. We apprehend, that no man can lawfully be deprived of his liberty, without a warrant from some persons having competent authority, specifying an offence against the laws of the land, supported by oath or affirmation of the accuser, and limiting the time of his imprison- ment, until he is heard, or legally discharged, unless the party be found in the actual perpe- tration of a crime. Natural justice, equally with law, declares that the party accused should know what he is to answer to, and have an opportunity of shewing his innocence — These principles are strongly enforced in the ninth and tenth sections of the declaration of rights, which form a fundamental and inviolable part of the constitution, from which you derive your power, wherein it is declared : I.X. "That, in all prosecutions for criminal offences, a man hath a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and a speedy public trial by an impar- tial jury of the county ; without the unanimous consent of which jury, he cannot be found guilty. — Nor can he be compelled to give evi- dence against himself; nor can any man be justly deprived of his liberty, except by the laws of the land, or the judgment of his peers." X. " That the people have a right to hold themselves, their houses, papers and posses- sions, free from search or seizure, and there- fore warrants without oaths or affirmations first made, affording a sufficient foundation for them, and whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search suspected places, or to seize any person or persons, his or their property not particularly described, are contrary to that right, and ought not to be granted. How far these principles have been adhered to, in the course of this business, we shall go on to shew. Upon the examination of the said warrant, we find it is, in all respects, inadequate to these descriptions, altogether unprecedented in this or any free countr}', both in its substance and the latitude given to the messengers who were to execute it, and wholly subversive of the very constitution you profess to support. The only charge on which it is founded, is a 226 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. recommendation of congress to apprehend and secure all persons who, in their general con- duct and conversation, have evidenced a dis- position inimical to the cause of America, and particularly naming some of us — but not sug- gesting the least offence to have been commit- ted by us. It authorizes the messengers to search all papers belonging to us, upon a bare possibility, that something political may be found, but without the least ground for a suspicion of the kind. It requires papers, relative to the sufferings of the people called Quakers, to be seized, without limiting the search to any house, or number of houses ; under color of which, every house in this city, might be broken open. To the persons whom the congress have thought proper to select, the warrant adds a number of the inhabitants of the city, of whom some of us are part ; without the least insinua- tion, that they are within the description given by the congress, in their recommendation. It directs all these matters to be e.\ecuted (though of the highest importance to the liber- ties of the people) at the discretion of a set of men, who are under no qualification for the due execution of the office, and are unaccus- tomed to the forms of executing civil process ; from whence, probably, have proceeded the excesses and irregularities committed by some of them, in divers instances, by refusing to give copies of the process to the parties arrested, by denying to some of us, a reasonable time to con- sider of answers, and prepare for confinement. In the absence of others, by breaking our desks, and other private repositories — and by ran- sacking and carrying off domestic papers, printed books, and other matters not within the terms of the warrant. It limits no time for the duration of our im- prisonment, nor points at any hearing, which is an absolute requisite to make a legal warrant ; but confounds in one warrant, the power to apprehend, and the authority to commit, with- out interposing a judicial officer between the parties and the messenger. Upon the whole, we conceive this warrant, and the proceedings thereupon, to be far more dangerous in its tendency, and a more flagrant violation of every right which is dear to free- men, than any that can be found in the records of the English constitution. But when we consider the use to which this general warrant has been applied, and the persons upon whom it has been executed, (who challenge the world to charge them with of- fence) il becomes of too great magnitude to be considered as the cause of a few. — It is the cause of every inhabitant, and may, if permitted to pass into a precedent, establish a system of arbitrary power unknown but in the inquisition, or the despotic courts of the East. What adds further to this alarming stretch of power is, that we are informed the vice pre- sident of the council, has declared to one of the magistrates of the city, who called on him to enquire into the cause of our confinement, that we were to be sent to Virginia UNHEARD. Scarcely could we believe such a declaration could have been made by a person who fills the second place in the government, till we were this day confirmed in the melancholy truth by three of the subscribers, whom you absolutely refused to hear in person, or by counsel, — We would remind you of the com- plaints urged by numbers of yourselves against the parliament of Great Britain, for condemn- ing the town of Boston UNHEARD, and we call upon you to reconcile your present conduct with your THEN professions, or your repeated declarations in favor of general liberty. In the name, therefore, of the whole body of the freemen of Pennsylvania, whose liberties are radically struck at in this arbitrary impris- onment of us ; their unoffending {fi^^ow-cwXiax^ — we demand an audience, that so our inno- cence may appear, and persecution give place to justice. — But if, regardless of every sacred obligation by which men are bound to each other in society, and of that constitution by which you profess to govern, which you have so loudly magnified for the free spirit it breathes, you are still determined to proceed, be the ap- peal to the Righteous Judge of all the earth for the integrity of our hearts, and the unparal- leled tyranny of your measures James Pemberton, Thomas Wharton, Thos. Coombe, Edward Pennington, Henry Drinker, Phineas Bond, Thomas Gilpin, John Pember- ton, Thomas Pike, Owen Jones, jun., Thomas Affleck. Charles Jervis, William Smith, broker, William Drewet Smith, Thomas Fisher, Miers Fisher, Charles Eddy, Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, Samuel Pleasants. Mason's Lodge, Philadelphia, Sept. 4, 1777. N. B. The three last subscribers were first attended by some of those, who executed the general warrant ; but after their remonstrance to the president and council, were arrested by Lewis Nicola, and conducted to the Lodge, by a special order to him. The foregoing remonstrance was delivered to Thomas Wharton, jun. president, etc., last evening, who promised to lay it before council, PENNSYLVANIA. 227 and send an answer to one of the gentlemen, who deUvered it to him this morning ; but no answer has yet been received. September 5th, half past two o'clock, P. M. INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE Of Brig. Gen. Lacey with Gen. Wash- ington AND OTHERS, I778. A much valued friend placed in the hands of the editor a large volume of papers, contain- ing the correspondence of brig. gen. Lacey, of Pennsylvania, who commanded the militia stationed on the east side of the Schuylkill, to watch the motions of the enemy and prevent his obtaining supplies, during the period at which he occupied Philadelphia. This volume contains a great deal of curious matter — though not much of it seems to come within the prospectus of this work. Such articles follow as may serve to shew the spirit and necessities of the times. Gen. Washington to Gen. Lacey — dated at Valley Forge, Jan. 23, 1778. [E.xtract.] " 1 am well informed that many persons, under pretence of furnishing the inhabitants of Ger- mantown, and near the enemy's lines, afford immense supplies to the Philadelphia markets — a conduct highly prejudicial to us and con- trary to every order. It is therefore become proper to make an example of some guilty one, that the rest may expect a like fate, should they persist. This I am determined to put in exe- cution ; and request you, when a suitable ob- ject falls into your hands, that you will send him herewith the witnesses ; or let me know his name — when you shall have power to try, and if proved guilty, to execute. This you will be pleased to make known to the people, that they may again have warning." From l/u'SAMKdaledFei. 8, 1778. [Extract.] " The communication between the city and country, in spite of every thing hitherto done, Still continuing, and threatening the most per- nicious consequences, I am induced to beg you will exert every possible expedient to put a stop to it. In order to this, to excite the zeal of the militia under your command, and make them more active in their duty, I would have you let every thing taken from persons going into and coming out of the city, redound to the benefit of the parties who take them. At the same time, it will be necessary to use great precaution to prevent an abuse of this privilege ; since it may otherwise be made a pretext for plundering the innocent inhabitants. One method to prevent this will be, to let no forfeiture take place but under the eye and with the concurrence of some commissioned officer. Any horses captured in this manner, fit for the public service, either as light or draught horses, must be sent to camp to the quarter- master general, who will be directed to pay the value of them to the captors." Gen. Lacey /o the Council of Pennsyl- vania — dated Warwick, Bucks, Feb 15,1778. [Extracts.] " My force is reduced almost to a cypher. Only sixty remain fit for duty in camp. With this number, you must of course suppose that we are in no wise capable of guarding so extensive a country as this, nor even safe in our camp." [Gen. Lacey's force continually fluctuated — sometimes it amounted to several hundred ; at other times it was wholly in- efficient, and hardly exceeded fifty in all. At one moment he had several times more men than arms ; at another, many times more arms than men. The militia were called out for short tours, and his command was a most per- plexing one. The officers and men hardly knew each other before they separated.] On the 2\st of Feb. 177S, Gen. WASHING- TON orders the destruction or revurz'al of cer- tain quantities of hay, in place accessible to the enemy. Gen. Washington to Gen. Lacey, dated at Valley Forge, March 2, 1778. [Extracts.] " I don't well know what to do with the great numbers of people taken going to Philadelphia. I have punished several severely, fined others heavily, and some are sentenced to be im- prisoned during the war." He then expresses a wish that the state will take charge of them, punish them as criminals, or hold them to exchange " for those inhabitants lately taken from their families." But in a postscript adds, " If either or any of the persons now in your custody are such that you think are proper to make examples of, and you have sufficient evidence to convict them, send them over to me, with the witnesses, and 1 will have them immediately tried by a court martial." Gen. Lacey to the Council, dated Camp, near White Marsh, March 11, 1778. [Extracts.] " As soon as I approach within eight or ten miles of the enemy's lines, the inhabitants, hav- ing their horses concealed in bye places, mount them, and taking their way through the fields and private paths, repair directly to the city, with the intelligence that the rebels are in the neighborhood. Not one word of intelligence can we procure from them, — not even the direction of the roads. There are large sums of counterfeit money 228 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. circulating in the lower part of Bucks and Philadelphia counties, which are brought out of the city by the market people." A letter from Gen. Wayne to Gen. Lacey by order of Gen. Washington, notifies Gen. L. that he is directed " to collect and drive in all the cattle, horses and wagons, in the coun- ties of Bucks and Philadelphia, likely to fall into the hands of the enemy, — especially the property oi ton'es." Gen. hPLCES's orders to /its scouting parties, Mixrch 9, 1778. [Extract.] " If your parties should meet with any people going to market, or any persons whatever going to the city, and they endeavor to make their escape, you will order your men to fire upon the villains. You will leave such on the roads — their bodies and their marketing lying together. This I wish you to execute on the first offenders you meet, that they may be a warning to others." Gen. Washington to Gen. Lacey, dated at Valley Forge, zoih March, 1778 — "Sunday next being the time on which the quakers hold one of their general meetings, a number of that society will probably be attempting to go into Philadelphia. This is an intercourse that we should by all means endeavor to interrupt, as the plans settled at these meetings are of the most pernicious tendency,* I would therefore have you dispose of your parties in such a man- ner as will most probably fall in with these people, and if they should, and any of them should be mounted upon horses fit for draft or the service of light dragoons, I desire they may be taken from them, and sent over to the quar- ter-master general. Any such are not to be con- sidered as the property of the parties who may seize them, as in other cases. Communicate the above orders to any of the officers who *I was in much doubt whether I ought to publish 01 suppress this letter— but, on reflection, have thought it best to insert it. It must be admitted, that a great majority of the quakers in Pennsylvania, were " well inclined " to the British, and some of them went greatlengths out of the rules of their i)rofessioa to aid and comfort the enemy of their country ; others, by adhering to those rules and re- fusing to take any part in the contest, even by the payment of taxes, were improperly suspected of disatfection, when in fact they were only neutral, refusing to have anything to do with the war : a few, however, laid aside their testi- mony against fighting, and contended gallantly for free- dom. Persons of this religious persuasion in some other states, were sincerely attached to the cause of independ- ence, and did all that consistently they could do to assist the whigs. A stoppage of the intercourse with Philadel- phia, at the time, was indubitably necessary and proper ; but gen. Washington was misinformed, I apprehend, when he spoke of the " plans" settled at the meetings of the quakers— whatever they might have done as individ- uals, their ^^ meetings^" must have passed without the adoption of any plans of a political nature— for such things are not suffered to be mentioned in them. Editor. may command scouting parties on your side of the Schuylkill. \Gen. Lacey, in reply, says he had ordered out his horse to stop the quakers, with orders. " if they refused to stop when hailed, to fire into them, and leave their bodies lying in the road."] [So great was the intercourse with Philadel- phia, and so numerous the sufferings of the whigs in consequence of intelligence carried to the enemy, that an idea was entertained of removing all the people within fifteen miles of that city ; but Washington said " the measure was rather desirable than practicable," and preferred a rigid conduct towards " notorious characters," who, he again directed, should be tried by courts martial. But in a letter of the nth April, in consequence ot a resolve of con- gress, he says, " it will be needless to appre- hend any more. If found going to Philadel- phia with provisions, you may take that and their horses from them." Gen. Greene /o Gen. Lacey, dated at Val- ley Forge, April 21, 1778. The wife of maj. T. complains that some of your people have taken from her husband, one of their horses, which they are in want of to enable them to move up to Reading. I wish you to inquire into the matter, and if there is no capital offence, to order the beast to be delivered to the owner again. The war is a sufficient calamity under every possible restraint, but where people are influenced by avarice and private prejudice, they increase the distresses of the inhabitants beyond conception. Those evils can only be restrained by the generals, whose duty it is to protect the distressed inhabitants, as well as govern and regulate the affairs of the army. 1 hope you will pay particular attention to this affair, as the age and distress of the com- plainants appear to claim it." [In reply, Gen. Lacey states that he finds the horse was taken by a person who " calls him- self a volunteer, and has made a practice of riding with my parties." He was called upon to answer for his conduct, and fresh instruc- tions given not to molest the inhabitants "unless found favoring the enemy."] Gen. Lacey surprised. In a letter to Gen. Washington, dated camp near Neshaminy bridge, York road. May 2, 1778, gen. Lacey gives an account of his being surprised by a superior force of the enemy, near the Crooked Billet, at day break on the preceding day, by the neglect of a lieut. whose duty it was to keep a lookout, which he neglected to do and was cashiered for it. Though the attack was wholly unexpected and very vigorous, Lacey PENNSYLVANIA. 229 made out to get his people embodied, and re- treated fighting for upwards of two miles, when he reached a wood and extricated himself. He lost thirty killed, and seventeen wounded. A number of the enemy were killed. We notice this affair to give the following extract from gen. Lacey's letter. " Some [of his men] were butchered in the most savage and cruel manner — even when living, some were thrown into buckwheat straw, and the straw set on fire. The clothes were burnt on others ; and scarcely one left without a dozen wounds, with bayonets and cutlasses." [These things are repeated, with additional particulars, in a letter to general Armstrong.] General Lacey was relieved by general Potter about the middle of May, 1778, but resumed his old station in the autumn of 1780, to collect troops, wagons, horses, etc., by order of the council of Pennsylvania. The following letter from president Reed may serve to shew the state of things, as to the subjects to which it relates : To H. W , Esq., Bucks county. — Sir : — Having expressed myself so fully to you and Mr. T. upon the necessity of procuring a number of horses, I am not a little surprised that you should have discharged those that had been taken under the direction of general Lacey ; and I cannot help considering it as adding to my embarrassments at a time when you gave me reason to expect assistance. It is much to be wished that gentlemen in public office, who, from motives of compassion, or a fear of offending, cannot take part in these necessary measures, would on such occasions avoid any interference ; and leave persons of more decision to proceed. The legislature having vested the power of declaring martial law in us, I apprehend you had not authority to counteract the orders given : which were to send such horses as were taken immediately down to this place, for the accommodation of the militia, about to march, agreeably to general Washington's order. It will be a great disappointment if they do not come down, and will throw us all in confusion. As Mr. T. and yourself, by my accounts, discharged all the horses, after taken, I must esteem you account- able for them. It is no season for such lax and indecisive measures, and you will probably ere long, if the enemy are not driven from the countr)', experience that though temporizing measures appear at first view easy and desira- ble, they are ruinous in the end. You have already done enough, and have property enough, to make you an object of the vengeance of the enemy and their tory adherents ; and if you do not secure yourself by your exertions, you have little to expect from their lenity or gratitude. I should not have said this much if I did not feel myself much hurt and the public seri'ice injured, by giving way to a little clamor, after the most odious and difficult part of the business was done. I am, sir, your obedient, humble servant, Jos. Reed. Philadelphia, Aug. II, 1 780. General Lacey and his corps was discharged by an order of the executive of Pennsylvania, on the I2th October, 1781, with the thanks of the council. AN EULOGIUM Of the brave men who have fallen in the contest with Great Britain : Delivered by judge Brackenbridge, on Monday, July 5, 1779, before a numerous and respectable assembly of citizens and foreigners, in the German Calvinist church, Philadelphia. Heroes then arose ; Who, scorning coward self, for others liv'd, Toil'd for their ease, and for their safety bled. Thomson. It is the high reward of those who have risked their lives in a just and necessary war, * that their names are sweet in the mouths of men, and every age shall know their actions. I am happy in having it in my power, before a polite assembly, to express what I think of those who have risked their lives in the war of America. I know my abilities rise not to a level with so great a subject, but I love the memory of the men, and it is my hope, that the affection which I feel, will be to me instead of genius, and give me warm words to advance their praises. I conceive it as the first honor of these men that, before they engaged in the war, they saw it to be just and necessary. They were not the vassals of a proud chieftain rousing them, in barbarous times, by the blind impulse of at- tachment to his family, or engaging them to espouse his quariel, by the music and enter- tainment of his hall. They were themselves the chieftains of their own cause, highly in- structed in the nature of it, and from the best principles of patriotism, resolute in defence. They had heard the declaration of the court and parliament of Great Britain, claiming the authority of binding them in all cases whatso- ever. They had examined this claim, and found * Tacitus. PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. it to be, as to its foundation, groundless ; as to its nature tyrannical, and in its consequences, ruinous to tbie peace and happiness of both countries. On this clear apprehension and de- cided judgment of the cause, ascertained by their own reason, and collected from the best writers, it was the noble purpose of their minds to stand forth and assert it, at the expense of fortune, and the hazard of their lives. These brave men were not soldiers by pro- fession, bred to arms, and from a habit of mili- tary life attached to it. They were men in the easy walks of life ; mechanics of the city, mer- chants of the counting house, youths engaged in the literary studies, and husbandmen, peaceful cultivators of the soil. Happy in the sociability and conversation of the town, the simplicity and innocence of the countrv' village, or the philosophic ease of academic leisure, and the sweets of rural life, they wished not a change of these scenes of pleasure, for the dangers and calamities of. war. It was the pure love of virtue and of freedom, burning bright within their minds, that alone could engage them to embark in an undertaking of so bold and perilous a nature. These brave men were not unacquainted with the circumstances of their situation, and their unprepared state of war. Not a bayonet was anvilled out, not a fire-arm was in their pos- session. No redoubt was cast up to secure the city, no fort was erected to resist invasion, no gun mounted on the batter)', and no vessel launched upon the stream. The power of Britain, on the other hand, was well known, and by the lightning of her orators, in a thousand writings and harangues, had been thrown, in full force, upon their minds. They were taught to believe her, (what indeed she was) old in arts and in arms, and enriched with the spoils of a thousand victories. Em- braced with the ocean as her favorite, her com- merce was extensive, and she sent her ships to every sea. Abounding in men, her armies were in full force, her fleets were completely manned, her discipline was regular, and the spirit of her enterprise, by sea and land, had, in most cases, insured her successes. The idea of resistance to the power of Britain was indeed great — but the mighty soul of the patriot drank it in, and, like the eagle on the mountain top, collected magnanimity from the very prospect of the height from which he meant to soar : Like the steed who swallows the distant ground with his fierceness,* he attempts the career, and poured himself upon the race. • Book of Job. The patriot quits his easy independent walk of life, his shop, his farm, his office and his counting house, and with every hope and every anxious thought, prepares himself for war. The materials of gun powder are extracted from the earth : the bayonet is anvilled out ; the fire- arm is manufactured in the shop ; the manual exercise is taught ; the company is formed in battalion ; the battalion is instructed to manoeu- vre on the field ; the brigade is drawn forth ; and the standard of defiance is planted on the soil. Shall I mention the circumstances of the day when the sword was drawn, and the first blood was shed ; and shall I trace the progress of the war in the course of five campaigns? The narration would require the space of an entire day : I can mention but the sum of things ; and only tell you, that the inroad of the foe has been sustained upon the plain, and the fonvard and impetuous bands have been driven over the disdaining ground which they had meas- ured in advance. The hill has been defended, and the repulsed and rallying foe has been taught to understand, that the valor of America was worthy of the cause which her freemen have espoused. The wilderness has been surmounted in the march. It has been fought, foot to foot, and point to point, in skirmishes, and night surprises, and in pitched battles, with alternate hope and dubious success. The enemy, beaten in one state has retired to a second, and beaten in the second, he has returned to the first ; beaten in every state he has sought the water, and like a sea monster rolling to the deep, has washed his wounds in the brine of ocean. Rising from the ocean he has sought the land, and advanced with a slow and suspicious step upon the hostile territory. War is again arisen, and it has been fought from spring to autumn, and from autumn to spring, through the heat of summer and the inclemencies of winter, with unabated ardor, and unshaken perseverance. What tract of country has not been marked with the vestiges of war ? What ground has not been cut with trenches ? — What hill has not been covered with redoubts ? — What plain has not been made the scene of the engagement ? What soil of our whole earth has not been sowed with ball ? These have been the toils of the heroes of our army ; but the brave men whom we this day celebrate, have added to their toils the loss of life. They have fallen in the contest : These of them in the long and laborious march : These by the fever of the camp : These have fallen when, .tdvancing on the enemy, they PENNSYLVANIA. 231 have received the bayonet in their breast : or high in hope, and anxious of victory, they have dropt by the cannon or the musket ball. For what cause did these brave men sacri- fice their lives .-' For that cause which, in all ages, has engaged the hopes, the wishes, and endeavors of the breast of men — the cause of liberty. Liberty! thou art indeed valuable; the source of all that is good and great upon the earth ! — For thee, the patriot of America has drawn his sword, and has fought and has fallen. What was in our power we have done with regard to the bodies of these men ; we have paid them militar)' honors ; we have placed them in their native earth ; and it is with vener- ation that we yet view their tombs upon the furzy glade, or on the distant hill. Ask me not the names of these. The muses shall tell you of them, and the bards shall woo* them to their sons. The verse which shall be so happy as to embrace the name of one of these shall be immortal. The names of these shall be read with those of Pelopidas, Epaminondas, and the worthies of the world. Posterity shall quote them for parallels, and for examples. When they mean to dress the hero with the fairest praises, they shall say he was gallant and distinguished in his early fall, as Warren ; prudent and intrepid as Montgomery, faithful and generous as Macpherson ; he fell in the bold and resolute advance, like Haslet and like Mercer ; he saw the honor which his valor had acquired, and fainted in the arms of victory, like Herkimer : having gallantly repulsed the foe, he fell covered with wounds, in his old age, like Wooster. The names of these brave men shall be read ; and the earth shall be sensible of praise where their bodies are deposited. Hill of Boston, t where the God of arms gave uncommon valor to the patriot ! Here the muses shall observe the night, and hymn heroic acts, and trim their lighted lamps to the dawn of morning : The little babbling mystic brook, shall bear the melody, and stealing with a silver foot, shall tell it to the ocean. Hills within pros- pect of the York city, where the enemy, rejoicing at his early strength, adventured and fought, or where, refusing the engage- ment he fled, with precipitation to his ships ! On you the tomb of the hero is beheld, and fancy walking round covers it with shades. Grounds in the neighborhood of this city.t where the foreigner shall enquire the field of battle, and the citizen shall say with conscious pride, as if the honor was his own, this is the * Plino. t Bunker's hill. % Philadelphia. tomb of Witherspoon ; that is the ground where Nash fell ! Plains washed by the Ash- ley and Cooper, and before the walls of Charles- town ! — Here has the hero fallen, or rather he has risen to eternal honor, and his birth place shall be immortal. His fame, like a vestal lamp, is lighted up : It shall burn, with the world for its temple — and the fair assemblies of the earth shall trim it with their praise. Having paid that respect to the memory of these men which the annual return of this day demanded, it remains that we soothe the grief of those who have been deprived of a father, bereaved of a son, or who have lost a brother, a husband or a lover in the contest. Fathers, whose heroic sons have offered up their lives in the contest ; it is yours to recollect, that their lives were given them for the service of their country. Fathers ! dismiss every shade of grief; you are happy in having been the progenitor of him who is written with the heroes of his country. Sons ! whose heroic fathers have early left you, and in the conflict ot the war, have mi.xed with departed heroes ; be congratulated on the fair inheritance of fame which you are entitled to possess. If it is at all lawful to array our- selves in borrowed honor, surely it is best drawn from those who have acted a distin- guished part in the service of their country. If it is at all consistent with the feelings of philosophy and reason to boast of lineal glory, surely it is most allowable in those who boast of it as flowing from such source. We despise the uninstructed mind of that man who shall obtrude upon our ears the ideas of a vain an- cestral honor ; but we love the youth, and transfer to him the reputation of his father, who, when the rich and haughty citizen shall frown upon him as ignobly descended, shall say, " I had a father who has fallen in the service of his country." When after times shall speak of those who have risen to renown, I will charge it to the golden winged and silver tongued bards, that they recollect and set in order every circum- stance ; the causes of the war ; early and just ex- ertions, the toils, hazardous achievements, noble resolution, unshaken perseverance, unabated ardor ; hopes in the worst of times ; triumphs of victory ; humanity to an enemy ; All these will I charge it, that they recollect and set in order, and give them bright and unsullied to the coming ages. The bards I know will hear me, and you my gallant countrymen, shall go down to posterity with exceeding honor. Your fame shall ascend on the current of the stream of time : It shall play with the breezes 23^ PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of the morning. Men at rest, in the cool age of life, from the fury of a thousand wars fin- ished by their fathers, shall observe the spread- ing ensign. They shall hail it, as it weaves with variegated glories ; and feeling all the warm rapture of the heart, shall give their plaudit from the shores. BURNING OF BENEDICT ARNOLD In effigy by the people of Philadel- phia, AND description of the figures EXHIBITED AND PARADED THROUGH THE STREETS OF THAT CITY, SEPT., 1780. A Stage raised on the body of a cart, on which was an effigy of general Arnold sitting ; this was dressed in regimentals, had two faces, emblematical of his traitorous conduct, a mask in his lel't hand, and a letter in his right from Beel/.ebub, telling him that he had done all the mischief he could do, and now he must hang himself. At the back of the general, was a figure of the devil, dressed in black robes, shaking a purse of money at the general's left ear, and in his right hand a pitch-fork, ready to drive him into hell, as the reward due for the many crimes which his thirst of gold had made him commit. In the front of the stage, and before general Arnold, was placed a large lantern of trans- parent paper, with the consequences of his crimes thus delineated, z. e. on one part general Arnold on his knees before the devil, who is pulling him into the flames — a label from the general's mouth with these words, " My dear sir, I have served you faithfully," to which the devil replies, " And I'll reward you." On another side, two figures hanging, inscribed, " The Traitor's Reward," and wrote under- neath, " The adjutant general of the British army, and Joe Smith, the first hanged as a spy, and the other as a traitor to his countrj'." And on the front of the lantern was wrote the following : — " Major general Benedict Arnold, late com- mander of the fori Wesl Point. The crime 0/ this man is high treason. " He has deserted the important post, li'^est Point, on Hudson's river, committed to his charge by his excellency the commander in chief, and is gone off to the enemy at New York. " His design to have given up this fortress to our enemies has been discovered by the goodness of the Omniscient Creator, who has not only prevented him from carrying it into execution, but has thrown into our hands Andre, the adjutant general of their army, who was detected in the infamous character of a spy. " The treachery of the ungrateful general is held up to public view, for the exposition of infamy ; and to proclaim, with joyful acclama- tion, another instance of the interposition of bounteous Providence. " The effig>' of this ingrate is therefore hanged (for want of his body) as a traitor to his native country, and a betrayer of the laws of honor." The procession began about four o'clock, in the following order : Several gentleman mounted on horseback. A line of continental officers. Sundry gentlemen in a line. A guard of the city infantry. Just before the cart, drums and fifes playing the Rogue's march. Guards on each side. The procession was attended with a numer- ous concourse of people, who, after expressing their abhorrence of the treason and the traitor, committed him to the flames, and left both the effig)' and the original to sink into ashes and oblivion. ADDRESS Delivered by M. l'Abbe Bandole to congress, the supreme executive council, and the assembly of penn- sylvania, etc., etc., IVho were invited by his excellency the min- ister of France, to attend in the Roman Catho- lic church in Philadelphia, during the celebra- tion of divine service, and thanksgiving for the capture of lord Cornwallis, November, 1781. Gentlemen — A numerous people assem- bled to render thanks to the Almighty for his mercies, is one of the most affecting objects, and worthy the attention of the Supreme Being. While camps resound with triumphal acclama- tions — while nations rejoice in victory and glor)-, the most honorable office a minister of the altar can fill, is to be the organ by which public gratitude is conveyed to the Omnipo- tent. Those miracles, which he once wrought for his chosen people, are renewed in our favor; and it would be equally ungrateful and impious PENNSYLVANIA. 233 not to acknowledge, that the event which lately confounded our enemies, and frustrated their designs, was the wonderful work of that God who guards your liberties. And who but he could so combine the cir- cumstances which led to success ? We have seen our enemies push forward, amid perils almost innumerable, amid obstacles almost in- surmountable, to the spot which w'as designed to witness their disgrace : yet they eagerly sought it, as their theatre of triumph ! Blind as they were, they bore hunger, thirst, and inclement skies, poured their blood in bat- lie against brave republicans, and crossed immense regions to confine themselves in another Jericho, whose walls were fated to fall before another Joshua. It is He, whose voice commands the winds, the seas and the seasons, who formed a Junction on the same day, in the same hour, between a formidable fleet from the south, and an army rushing from the north, like an impetuous torrent. Who but he, in whose hands are the hearts of men, could inspire the allied troops with the friendships, the confidence, the tenderness of brothers .' How is it that two nations once divided, jeal- ous, inimical, and nursed in reciprocal preju- dices, are now become so closely united, as to form but one.'' — Worldlings would say, it is the wisdom, the virtue, and moderations of their chiefs ; it is a great national interest which has performed this prodigy. They will say, that to the skill of the generals, to the courage of the troops, to the activity of the whole army, we must attribute this splendid success. Ah ! they are ignorant, that the combining of so many fortunate circumstances, is an emanation from the all perfect mind, that courage, that skill, that activity, bear the sacred impression of him who is divine. For how many favors have we not to thank him during the course of the present year? Your union, which was at first supported by justice alone, has been consolidated by your courage : and the knot, which ties you together, is become indissoluble, by the accession of all the states, and the unanimous voice of all the confederates. You present to the universe the noble sight of a society, which, founded in equality and justice, secures to the individuals who compose it, the utmost happiness which can be derived from human institutions. This advantage, which so many other nations have been unable to procure, even after ages of efforts and misery, is granted by Divine Provi- dence to the United States ; and its adorable decrees have marked the present moment for the completion of that memorable and happy revolution which has taken place in this exten- sive continent. While your counsels were thus acquiring new energy, rapid and multiplied successes have crowned your arms in the southern states. We have seen the unfortunate citizens of these states forced from their peaceful abodes ; after a long and cruel captivity, old men, women and children, thrown, without mercy, into a foreign country. Master of their lands and their slaves, amid his temporary affluence, a superb victor rejoiced in their distresses. But Philadelphia has witnessed their patience and fortitude ; they have found here another home, and, though driven from their native soil, they have blessed God, that he has delivered them from their enemies, and conducted them to a country where every just and feeling man has stretched out the helping hand of benevolence. Heaven rewards their virtues. Three large states are at once wrested from the foe. The rapacious soldier has been compelled to take refuge behind his ramparts ; and oppression has vanished like those phantoms which are dissipated by the morning ray. On this solemn occasion, we might renew our thanks to the God of battles, for the suc- cess he has granted to the arms of your allies, and your friends, by land and by sea, through the other parts of the globe. But let us not recall those events which too clearly prove how much the hearts of our enemies have been obdurated. Let us prostrate ourselves at the altar, and implore the God of mercy to suspend his vengeance, to spare them in his wrath, to inspire them with sentiments of justice and moderation, to terminate their obstinacy and error, and to ordain that your victories be fol- lowed by peace and tranquility. Let us beseech him to continue to shed on the councils of the king your ally, that spirit of wisdom, of justice, and of courage, which has rendered his reign so glorious. Let us intreat him to maintain in each of the states that intelligence by which the United States are inspired. Let us return him thanks that a faction, whose rebellion he has corrected, now deprived of support, is annihil- ated. Let us offer him pure hearts, unsoiled by private hatred or public dissension ; and let us, with one will and one voice, pour forth to the Lord that hymn of praise, by which Chris- tians celebrate their gratitude and his glory. 234 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ADDRESS To THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, — BY Dr. Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia, 1787. There is nothing more common, than to confound the terms of American Rei'olution with those of t/ie late American war. The American war is over : but this is far from being the case with the American revolution. On the contrarj', nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of govern- ment; and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens, for these forms of government, after they are established and brought to perfection. The confederation, together with most of our state constitutions, were formed under very unfavorable circumstances. We had just emerged from a corrupted monarchy. Al- though we understood perfectly the principles of liberty, yet most of us were ignorant of the forms and combinations of power in republics. Add to this, the British army was in the heart of our country, spreading desolation wherever it went : our resentments, of course, were awakened. We detested the British name, and unfortunately refused to copy some things in the administration of justice and power, in the British government, which have made it the admiration and envy of the world. In our opposition to monarchy, we forgot that the temple of tyranny has two doors. We bolted one of them by proper restraints ; but we left the other open, by neglecting to guard against the effects of our own ignorance and licen- tiousness. Most of the present difficulties of this coun- try arise from the weakness and other defects of our governments. My business at present shall be only to suggest the defects of the confederation. These consist — ist. In the deficiency of co- ercive power. 2d. In a defect of e.\clusive power to issue paper money, and regulate commerce. 3d. In vesting the sovereign power of the United States in a single legis- lature : and, 4th. In the too frequent rotation of its members. A convention is to sit soon for the purpose of devising means of obviating part of the two first defects that have been mentioned. But I wish they may add to their recommen- dations to each state, to surrender up to con- gress their power of emitting money. In this way, a uniform currency will be produced, that will facilitate trade, and help to bind the states together. Nor will the states be deprived of large sums of money by this mean, when sud- den emergencies require it ; for they may al- ways borrow them, as they did during the war, out of the treasury of congress. Even a loan office may be better instituted in this way, in each state, than in any other. The two last defects that have been men- tioned, are not of less magnitude than the first. Indeed, the single legislature of con- gress will become more dangerous, from an increase of power, than ever. To remedy this, let the supreme federal power be divided, like the legislatures of most of our states, into two distinct, independent branches. Let one of them be styled the council of the states and the other the assembly of the states. Let the first consist of a single delegate — and the second, of two, three, or four delegates, cho- sen annually by each state. Let the president be chosen annually by the joint ballot of both houses ; and let him possess certain powers, in conjunction with a privy council, especially the power of appointing most of the officers of the United States. The officers will not only be better, when appointed this way, but one of the principal causes of faction will be thereby removed from congress. I apprehend this di- vision of the power of congress will become more necessary, as soon as they are invested with more ample powers of levying and ex- pending public money. The custom of turning men out of power or office, as soon as they are qualitied for it, has been found to be absurd in practice. Is it virtuous to dismiss a general — a physician — or even a domestic, as soon as they have ac- quired knowledge sufficient to be useful to us, for the sake of increasing the number of able generals, skilful physicians — and faithful ser- vants .' We do not. Government is a science, and can never be perfect in America, until we encourage men to devote not only three years, but their whole lives to it. I believe the prin- cipal reason why so many men of abilities object to serving in congress, is owing to thei: not thinking it worth while to spend three years in acquiring a profession, which their country immediately afterwards forbids them to follow. There are two errors or prejudices on the subject of government in America, which lead to the most dangerous consequences. It is often said, " that the sovereign and all other power is seated in the people." This idea is unhappily expressed. It should be — " all power is derived from the people," they possess it only on the days of their elections. PENNSYLVANIA. 235 After this, it is the property of their rulers ; nor can they exercise or resume it, unless it be abused. It is of importance to circulate this idea, as it leads to order and good government. The people of America have mistaken the meaning of the word sovereignty : hence each state pretends to be sct'ereign. In Europe, it is applied only to those states which possess the powerof making war and peace — of forming treaties, and the like. As this power belongs only to congress, they are the only sovereign power in the United States. We commit a similar mistake in our ideas of the word independent. No individual state, as such, has any claim to independence. She is independent only in a union with her sister states in congress. To conform the principles, morals and man- ners of our citizens, to our republican forms of government, it is absolutely necessary, that knowledge of every kind should be dissemina- ted through every part of the United States. For this purpose, let congress, instead of laying out a half a million of dollars, in building a federal town, appropriate only a fourth of that sum, in founding a federal university. In this university let every thing connected with government, such as history — the law of nature and nations — the civil law — the municipal laws of our country— and the principles of com- merce — be taught by competent professors. Let masters be employed, likewise, to teach gun- nery—fortification — and every thing connected with defensive and offensive war. Above all, let a professor of, what is called in the Euro- pean universities, economy, be established in this federal seminary. His business should be to unfold the principles and practice of agricul- ture and manufactures of all kind, and to enable him to make his lectures more extensively use- ful, congress should support a travelling cor- respondent for him, who should visit all the nations of Europe, and transmit to him, from time to time, all the discoveries and improve- ments that are made in agriculture and manu- factures. To this seminary, young men should be encouraged to repair, after completing their academical studies in the colleges of their respective states. The honors and offices of the United States should, after a while, be con- fined to persons who had imbibed federal and republican ideas in this university. For the purpose of diffusing knowledge, as well as extending the living principle of gov- ernment to every part of the United States — every state — city — county — village — and town- ship in the union should be tied together by means of the post-office. This is the true non- electric wire of government. It is the only means of conveying heat and light to every individual in the federal commonwealth. " Sweden lost her liberties," says the abbe Raynal, " because her citizens were so scattered, that they had no means of acting in concert with each other." It should be a constant injunc- tion to the post-masters, to convey newspapers free of all charge for postage. They are not only the vehicles of knowledge and intelligence, but the sentinels of the liberties of our country. The conduct of some of those strangers, who have visited our country, since the peace, and who fill the British papers with accounts of our distresses, shows as great a want of good sense, as it does of good nature. They see nothing but the foundations and walls of the temple of liberty ; and yet they undertake to judge of the whole fabric. Our own citizens act a still more absurd part, when they cry out, after the e.xperience of three or four years, that we are not proper ma- terials for republican government. Remember, we assumed these forms of government in a hurry, before we were prepared for them. Let every man exert himself in promoting virtue and knowledge in our country, and we shall soon become good republicans. Look at the steps by which governments have been changed, or rendered stable in Europe. Read the his- tory of Great Britain. Her boasted govern- ment has risen out of wars, and rebellions, that lasted above six hundred years. The United States are travelling peaceably into or- der and good government. They know no strife — but what arises from the collision of opinions ; and, in three years, they have ad- vanced further in the road to stability and hap- piness, than most of the nations in Europe have done, in as many centuries. There is but one path that can lead the Uni- ted States to destruction ; and that is their extent of territory. It was probably to effect this, that Great Britain ceded to us so much waste land. But even this path may be avoided. Let but one new state be exposed to sale at a time ; and let the land office be shut up, till every part of this new state be settled. I am extremely sorry to find a passion for retirement so universal among the patriots and heroes of the war. They resemble skillful mariners who, after exerting themselves to pre- serve a ship from sinking in a storm, in the middle of the ocean, drop asleep, as soon as the waves subside, and leave the care of their lives and property, during the remainder of the voyage, to sailors, without knowledge or expe- rience. Every man in a republic is public prop- 236 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. erty. His time and talents — his youth —his manhood — his old age — nay more, his life, his all, belong to his country. Patriots of 1774, 1775, 1776 — heroes of 1778, 1779. 1780 ! come forward ! your country de- mands your services ! — Philosophers and friends to mankind, come forward ! your country de- mands your studies and speculations ! Lovers of peace and order, who declined taking part in the late war. come forward ! your countrj' for- gives your timidity and demands your influence and advice ! Hear her proclaiming, in sighs and groans, in her governments, in her finan- ces, in her trade, in her manufactures, in her morals, and in her manners, " THE REVOLU- TION IS NOT OVER ! " PATRIOTIC GIFTS Of citizens of Pennsylvania. FROM THE PITTSBURG STATESMAN. At a critical period of the revolutionary war, when there was great danger of the dissolution of the American army, for want of provisions to keep it together, a number of patriotic gen- tlemen gave their bonds to the amount of about two hundred and sixty thousand pounds, in gold and silver, for procuring them. The provisions were provided — the army was kept together, and our independence was finally achieved. The amount of the bonds was never called for, but it is well to keep in remember- ance the names of those who in the times that tried men's souls stepped forward and pledged their all towards the support of those who were contending for our liberty. The following is a list of some of their names, with the sums re- spectively subscribed by them. Robert Morris ^£10000 B. M'Clennaghan 1 0000 A. Bunner & Co 6000 Tench Francis 55oo James Wilson 5000 William Bingham 5000 Richard Peters 500c Samuel Meredith 5000 James Mease 5000 Thomas Barclay 5000 Samuel Morris, jr 5000 Robert L. Hooper 5000 Hugh Shield 5000 Philip Moore 5000 Matthew Irwin 5000 Thomas Irwin 5000 John Benzet LS'xio Henry Hill 5000 John Morgan 5000 Thomas Willing 5000 Samuel Powel 5000 John Nixon 5000 Robert Bridges 5000 John Dunlap 4000 Michael Hillegas 4000 William Coates 4000 Emanuel Eyre 4000 James Bodden 4000 John Mease 4000 Joseph Carson 4000 Thomas Leiper 4000 Kean & Nichols , 4000 Samuel Morris 3000 Isaac Moses 3000 Charles Thompson 3000 John Pringle , . . . 3000 Samuel Miles 3000 Cadwalader Morris , 2500 Matthew Clarkson 2500 Thomas M'Kean 2000 John Donaldson 2coo John Steinmetz 2000 Benj. Randolph 2000 Abraham Bickley 2000 Robert Bass 2000 Owen Biddle 2000 John Gibson 2000 Charles Petit 2000 John Mitchel 2000 Robert Knox 200c John Bullock 2000 Joseph Reed 2000 Francis Gurney 2000 George Campbell 2000 John Wharton 2000 Benjamin Rush 2000 Thomas Lawrence 2000 Joseph Bleiver 2000 William Hall 2000 John Patton 2000 Benjamin Fuller 2000 Meade & Fitzsimmons 2000 Andrew Hodge 2000 Henry Keppele 2000 Francis C. Hassenclever 2000 Isaac Melcher 2000 John Si:haffer 2000 Alexander Tod 2000 John Purviance 2000 John Wilcocks 2000 Samuel Inglis 2000 Jonathan Penrose . 2000 Nathaniel Falkner 2000 James Caldwell 200c PENNSYLVANIA. 237 Gerardus Clarkson ;r2ooo John Shee looo Samuel Caldwell 1000 Samuel Penrose 1000 William TurnbuU 1000 B. Davis jr 1000 Sharp Delany 1000 Andrew Doz 1000 Peter Whitesides 1000 Andrew Robeson 1000 PRIVATE BENEFICENCE. FROM THE PHILADELPHIA CENTINEL. The subsequent narrative is no idle fiction of the brain ; we vouch for its authenticity, and no doubt but many of our readers are already acquainted with the names and circumstances depicted. We shall ever feel pleasure in em- bellishing our columns with such instances of private beneficence, so honorable to the cause of humanity, and we cannot but anticipate a con- currence in opinion of our patrons and corre- spondents. In the year 1806, a professional gentleman of this city had obtained a judgment, for a few hundred dollars, against an old, infirm gentle- man, who had formerly been a commissary to the United States' army, during the revolution- ary war, and who, by repeated misfortunes, had become reduced from easy circumstances to absolute penury and distress. — An e.xecution had been taken out, and the advocate called on the sheriff of Philadelphia county, presented it to him, and requested that it might be exe- cuted immediately. " It shall be done sir," said the minister of justice, and the gentleman was about leaving the apartment, when his ears were saluted with an exclamation not unlike that which greeted corporal Trim, as the beneficent and philanthropic Toby swore, that the lieut. should not sink, but march. " This execution," said he " shall never be ser\'ed by — — ," then turning to his clerk, he contin- ued, "give Mr. a check for the amount." The greatest astonishment was excited— the eye ol inquiry was turned on the sheriff, but " the form of his visage has changed ; " in- stead of the stern unbecoming features of a minister of justice, his countenance seemed beaming with seraphic mildness and un- bounded benevolence — the warm current of life, which for a moment had mantled his cheeks with crimson, had again receded to the heart, but a ray of ethereal sweetness remained, which language is inadequate to portray. " I could wish," said the gentleman, when his astonishment had in some measure sub- sided, " that you would so far gratify me as to inform me of the motives which have excited your munificence in the present extraordinary manner." "You shall have my reasons," said the good Samaritan, " and then judge for yourself of the propriety of my conduct." " In the month of December, 1777, which, you will recollect, was just after the battle of German- town, and when our army had retired to Val- ley Forge, I obtained from general Washing- ton, under whom I at that time held a captain's commission, a furlough of absence from the army for one month, for the purpose of visit- ing my wife and three small children. It was at that period of the revolution, when our army had scarcely anything but their patriot- ism with which to cover themselves, and little else than a love of liberty to afford them sub- sistence. I set out on my journey to Chestnut Hill, on foot, consoling myself for the weari- ness of the way. with the endearing anticipa- tions of again folding to my bosom the partner of my life, and the tender pledges of our con- jugal affection. As I turned from the high- way into the avenue which led to the scene of my former domestic felicity, and beheld the moonbeams playing on leafless branches of the majestic oaks, which were wont to shadow my humble dwelling, how animated, how ex- quisite were the sensations which took posses- sion of my breast ! I was at that moment at the pinnacle of human felicity — the next pre- cipitated me into the abyss of despair. The house which I fondly anticipated as sheltering all that was near and dear to me, was a smoking heap of smoking ruins. The desolating Briton had been there, and had left me to contemplate, in speechless agony, the devastation of his sac- rilegious hand. An appalling silence prevailed, save only when interrupted by the hollow blasts of the evening as they swept through the wide and melancholy waste. The moon, which, at this moment, emitted her feeble rays from behind a cloud, enabled me to discover, at a short distance from this scene of misery and destruction, my shivering wife and chil- dren, and from them it was learned, that the enemy, after having plundered them of their last rag, had set fire to the house, and that one of the unfeeling monsters had cast my little infant into the flames ; with much difficulty it was saved by its half distracted mother. To proceed, however, to that part of the story which accounts for my conduct this 238 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. morning ; as soon as daylight appeared, we set out for New Jersey, where I had some relations. The situation of my family was such as could hardly have failed to excite commiseration in a breast less interested for them than mine. Seated in a wretched cart, which was drawn by a decrepit old horse, without clothing sutfi- cient to screen them from the severity of the weather, they were destined to pass another night, with no other shelter than the canopy of heaven, ere they could reach their place of destination. While engaged in meditating in what manner the night could be best passed in our present situation, darkness began to over- shadow us ; the wind blew with increased vio- lence, and the rain poured down upon us in torrents. It was at this critical juncture, that a horseman approached, and inquired who I was, and whither I was going. After listening to a hasty recital of our misfortunes, he dis- mounted from his horse, unfastened the only blanket which he had to screen himself from the storm that raged, passed it around the neck of my wife, and threw the extremities of it over the heads of my shivering children. Having done this, he dropt a tear upon my hand, as he pressed it between his, gave me his best wishes, and vaulting into his saddle, was out of sight in a moment. And now, need I inform you, that this man was a commissary to the army, and the identical person against whom the iron hand of the law was this morn- ing directed ; or could you for a moment be- lieve, that I could seize on the palsied frame of my family's benefactor, and immure it within the cold inhospitable walls of a prison .' GoD FORBID ! " A gleam of exultation flashed across his countenance as the last sentence passed emphatically from his lips. The advo- cate bowed in silence and retired ; the remain- ing auditors averted their heads, and the be- nevolent and eloquent speaker passed from before them. REVOLUTIONARY REMINISCENCES Of Philadelphia. The people of " the good old thirteen slates," though they had made up their minds to suf- fering and endurance, did not enter on the contests for their rights and liberties in a hasty and unadvised manner ; they had counted the cost, and, although determined to sacrifice all that they held dear, rather than to crouch as slaves, yet they shuddered at beingforced upon that extremity. The intelligence of the battle of Lexington, the first blood that was drawn in the quarrel, was received with the deepest regret ; in Philadelphia the bells were muffled, and an expression of horror and gloom covered the countenances of all the citizens. Congress first sat in the building then Qall- ed Carpenters' hall, up the court of that name in Chestnut street. On the morning of tho^ay that they first convened, their future secretary, the now venerable Charles Thomson, '\\;ho resided at that time in the Northern Liberties, and who afterwards so materially assisteVto launch our first rate republic, had tliat morn- ing rode into the city, and alighted art-Shestnut street. He was immediately accosted by a mes- sage from congress, that they desired-to' speak with him. He followed the messenger, and, entering the building, has described himself as struck with awe, upon viewing die aspects of so many great and good men, impressed with the weight and responsibility of their situation, on the perilous edge of which they were then advancing. He walked up the aisled and bow- ing to the president, desired to know their pleasure. "Congress requests your services, sir, as their secretary." He took his seat at the desk, and never looked back until the vessel was securely anchored in the haven of independence. The first speaker, (I mean the first who rose to speak) in that congress, was Patrick Henry, an orator undoubtedly, but not superior to many who took their seats on that day, although his biographer has ascribed to his eloquence the fulminating character of Demosthenes. What he said on that occasion was short and practical. Peyton Randolph, first president of congress, died in October, 1775, at the seat of Henry Hill, Roxborough, near Philadelphia, where he had accepted an invitation to dine with other company. He fell from his seat in an apoplectic fit, and immediately expired. His corpse was taken to Virginia for interment. With respect to the notices of the still more remote " olden time " in Philadelphia, William Penn, at his first coming, brought over the frame of a house which was set up for him in town and remained in being for many years. I have also heard that the first mill for grind- ing corn was brought over in a similar manner, and was placed on Ridley Creek. Tobacco was at first cuhivated in Pennsyl- vania and was among her earliest exports. An old petition to the governor and council for a road to Germantown, mentions "the tobacco field, (in Front street) near the town." When William Penn arrived the second time DELAWARE. 239 with his family, in 1699, he brought over a coach. In the former part of last century, Isaac Norris, sen., of Fairhill, kept a coach and four — he lived out of town, and litce his worthy descendant of our time, had a large family, His cotemporary, Jonathan Dickinson, a gentle- man who had moved from Jamaica to Pennsyl- vania, had likewise a coach and four. A very respectable old gentleman, who died some years since, has told me that he well remem- bered when there were but eight four-wheeled carriages in the whole province : viz. the three above mentioned, capt. Anthony Palmer's, Andrew Hamihon's, James Logan's, judge Lloyd's of Chester, and, I think, judge Lang- home's of Bucks. The bells of Christ church were first tolled on account of the death of the wife of captain Palmer, when a fatal accident happened to one of the ringers. Captain Palmer was presi- dent of the council after James Logan, about the year 1740. Some of his descendants are still among us. DELAWARE. PROCEEDINGS Of the Committee of Inspection of Kent county, in relation to certain TEA. Dover, January 26, 1775. Gentlemen — At a meeting of the committee of inspection for Kent county, on Delaware, (on 26th inst.) information was given, by a member of the committee, of two barrels of tea, containing 2261b. which he had discovered on board J. H's sloop, at a landing place in said county ; that he had been obliged to put the tea into his own store, to secure it from the populace, as there was great reason to believe that it had been unduly imported, since the 1st of December last, in a brig late from Jamaica, belonging to J. H. who is now in this county, and coHfesses himself to be the owner of the tea. ,^, Mr. H. being 'tailed upon by the committee, acknowledged the tea to be his property, and said it was a part of a large chest he had bought of Duflfield and Hempburn, wt. 3. o, 23, tare 7olb, of which he produced a bill dated January nth, 1775. He declared he believed the tea to be duly imported, and had taken the above parcel which the committee had taken into custody, out of the chest, and packed it in barrels, for no other reason than because it was more conveniently hoisted in and out of the vessel ; but gave no reason for the immod- erate quantity, though very unfit for the place where he alleged it was to be sold. Mr. H. then took his leave and the com- mittee for this county unanimously resolved, that the tea should be kept in store, until the above state of the case was communicated to the com- mittee of inspection for the city of Philadel- phia, and that said committee be requested to enquire into the matter, and detect the remain- der of the said chest of tea, if duly imported and if otherwise, that by a speedy answer they will enable the committee to return an innocent man's property. Signed by order of the committee. LETTER FROM DR. JAMES TILTON To Dr. Elmer, upon the Condition of AFFAIRS IN Delaware, 1775. I have little more than time to enquire of you whether you ever received the answer I sent to your letter, received soon after I saw you at Philadelphia. I am unwilling to think you either negligent or forgetful of me, but I am much disposed to abuse our intermediate friend, Mr. D. — He kept your letter from me I don't know how long, and I take it for granted has lost mine altogether — thus you have been deceived and I have been abused and injured. It would be impertinent to trouble you with medical nonsense now. The important con- cerns of our countrv' engage every mind. It will be unnecessary for me to comment or enlarge upon the arguments offered on either or both sides. I will only mention the conclu- sion which I have drawn from them, and the principle upon which I act. I consider the imposition offered us by Great Britain as unrea- sonable, unjust and affronted ; I am, therefore, determined to resist to the uttermost, trusting the event to Providence. I am informed by the reverend father who brings you this, that you have taken an active part in this time of trouble ; that physic itself 240 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. does not hinder you from heading a light infan- try company. That I may give you some evi- dence of my zeal for the good of my country, I must inform you that 1 am first lieut. of a light infantry company — and that the hon. committee of safety at their late meeting in Dover, hon- ored me with the appointment of surgeon to the first battalion in our country. I am pleased with the public transactions of your province. Does the conduct of the people at large, cor- respond with the transactions of your public assemblies? Our militia is now completely formed throughout the government, and it completely disgraces a man not to enroll. — Of the company I belong to, above sixty are in genteel regimentals, with light infantry caps, and will soon be fully accoutered. In short, I was never so completely new modelled in so short a time ; instead of the careless and secure ap- pearance we made six months ago, you will now find most of us in a regimental dress with swords upon our thighs. But I must conclude with wishing to hear from you, and assuring you that I remain, Your affectionate humble servant, James Tilton. PETITION Of the inh.\bitants of Kent County to establish a militia. To the honorable the representathies of the counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex, in general assembly met, \i^h March, 1775. The petition of the inhabitants, freemen of Kent county, most humbly sheweth ; That we conceive a well regulated militia, composed of the gentlemen freeholders and other freemen, to be not only a constitutional right, but the natural strength and most stable security of a free government, from the e.\- ercise of which a wise people will not excuse themselves even in time of peace. That happily secure in the affectionate pro- tection of our mother country, we have for some time past been carelessly negligent of military art and discipline, and are therefore the more exposed to the insult and ravages of our natural enemies at this unhappy time, when we have lost our interest in the esteem and affection of our parent state. We therefore pray your honors to take our case into your most serious consideration, and, by passing an act of assembly establishing a militia throughout this government, grant us relief in the premises, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. RECANTATION Of an article reflecting upon the PATRIOTS OF Kent county, and the action OF THE RESPECTIVE COMMITTEES THEREON. I acknowledge to hav? wrote a piece, and did not sign it, since said to be an extract of a letter from Kent county, on Delaware, pub- lished in Humphrey's Ledger, No. 3. It was not dated from any place, and is some altered from the original. I folded it up and directed the same to J. F. and Sons. I had no intention to have it published ; and further, I let them know the author thought best it should not be published ; nor did I think they would — I am sincerely sorry I ever wrote it, as also for its being published, and hope I shall be excused for this, my first breach in this way, and I intend it shall be the last. R. H. To the committee of correspondence for Kent county, on Delaware, May 2, 1775- Reply of Committee Sir, — The president of the committee of correspondence, by and with the advice of such other of the rrrembers of that committee as he was able to collect and consult, this day laid before the committee of inspection for this county, your letter wherein you confess your- self to be the author of the Kentish letter (commonly so called) published in 3d No. of Humphrey's Ledger. The committee took the same into considera- tion, and have unanimously resolved that it is unsatisfactory, and you are requested to attend the committee at their next meeting on Tuesday the 9th inst. at French Battell's, in Dover, and render such satisfaction to the committee, as will enable them to clear the good people of this county from the aspersions of that letter, and justify them in the eyes of the public. Signed by order of the committee. To R. H, May 3, 1775. To the Committee of Inspection for Kent county, on Delaware. Gentlemen, — With sorrow and contrition for my weakness and folly, I confess myself the author of the letter, from which an extract was published in the 3d No. of Humphrey's Ledger, said to be from Kent county, on Delaware : but at the same time to declare it was published DELAWARE. 241 without my consent, and not without some alterations. I am now convinced that the political senti- ments therein contained, were founded on the grossest error; more especially that malignant insinuation, that " if the king's standard were now erected, nine out often would repair to it," could not have been suggested, but from the deepest infatuation. True indeed it is, the people of this county have ever shewn a zealous attachment to his majesty's person and govern- ment, and whenever he raised his standard in a just cause, were ready to flock to it : but let the severe account I now render to an injured people, witness to the world, that none are more ready to oppose tyranny or to be first in the cause of liberty, than the inhabitants of Kent county. Conscious that I can render no satisfaction adequate to the injury I have done to my country, I can only beg the forgiveness of my countrymen, upon those principles of humanity, which may induce them to consider the frailty of human nature — and I do profess and promise that I will never again oppose those laudable measures, necessarily adopted by my country- men, for the preservation of American free- dom : but will co-operate with them to the utmost of my abilities, in their virtuous struggle for liberty (so far as is consistent with my religious principles). R. H. A/oy 5. 1775- Satisfaction tendered. Gentlemen. — Whatever the public opinion may be of what I have heretofore said respect- ing the contest between Great Britain and the colonies, I do solemnly assure you that I have never had anything in view but a reconciliation between them, upon the full establishment of all the constitutional rights and privileges of America. Which rights and privileges I am determined to defend with my life and property against all invasions whatsoever. This you will please to make known to my brethren in this county. I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your humble servant, R. H. To the committee of observation for Kent county, on Delaware, May 5, 1775. Committee satisfied. Resolved unanimously, that the committee think the above recantation fully satisfactory. Thomas Nixon, Jr. Clerk. May 9, 1775. 16 LETTER To Committee of Inspection of Kent County, assigning reasons for re- lease FROM Military Service. Seventh month, 27, 1775. To the Committee 7ioui sitting at Don.'er. Whereas I understand you have been pleased to advertise without any distinction of age or religion, all those who refuse to take up arms to appear at Dover this day, in order to give reasons why they don't enrol, and I expect I am one of these transgressors ; and I not being willing to give any offence, but to follow after peace with all men — for without which, no man shall see the Lord. And looking on it as a duty on all Christians to be subject to every law and ordinance of man, for conscience sake, where such laws and ordinances are not repug- nant to the law of God and their religious prin- ciples, so I, as one who hath received favor from God, and one under the obligation of keeping his law, will let you know my several reasons why I am thus delinquent — the chief of which is as follows : Whereas the Lord my God hath been pleased by his Almighty power, to deliver my soul from the bondage of sin and death, and hath set up his law in my heart, with his strict command to obey the same at the risk of the loss of his holy favor, which is of more value to me than all the transitory things of this world, and even my life, which, if required, I am ready to offer up a sacrifice for his sake — now, this I do not refuse to do out of any obstinacy or opposition to my countrymen, but because I verily believe God to have a hand in these affairs, and dare not join to fight against him ; neither do anything to encourage others. Second reason is. I am now going in my fifty-sixth year, and am very fat and not fit for action. Third reason is, I have a giddiness in my head, that is so bad on me at times, that I have dropt in the road as though I was shot with a bullet. The fourth reason why, about two years ago I had the flux for seven months very bad, and now, to this day, when I overheat myself, I catch cold, and it returns upon me again, and will many times lay me up for seven or eight days together ; so I think that these reasons with the first and principal one, would be enough for any reason- able men, which I take you all to be, to have me excused. But if you are not satisfied with these reasons, I am ready and willing to come on the least notice, only please to let me know- by a line or two, and I will wait on you any time whenever you will please to call on me at. 242 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. any other time — I should have come to-day, only I was engaged another way before I heard of the advertisement, for I never saw it. This from your friend and well wisher to you all and all your honest undertakings ; and may the God of peace instruct you all, and give you grace, is the sincere prayer of me. Z. G. CORRESPONDENCE Upon the subject of Toryism in Suf- folk County. Letter from Samuel M'Masters to Dr. James Tilton. LEWES, NOVEMBER I4, I775, Sir — This informs you, that an indictment was found by the grand jury of Susse.x county, against a number of zealous friends to their country, for, as is said, insulting a certain J. C. The particulars are as follows : J. C, some time in the month of September, came to Lewes, and in an open, profane manner, cursed the honorable continental congress, and all those that would not curse it ; calling upon the supreme Being in a most solemn manner to d — n the congress, and all that would not d — n it ; that d — d set would ruin the country. For which expressions and such like, it was thought proper he should be had up before the committee of inspection, as guilty of treason against the liberties of America, and also the congress ; for the congress acting suitable to the power delegated, that body ought to be esteemed as king, and therefore whatever is said against that body should be deemed treason. C. being had up before the com- mittee, and the facts before mentioned suffi- ciently proved, one of the audience said " it sounded like a death warrant." C. in an insulting, swearing way. said, " put it in execu- tion." However, upon mature consideration of the committee, some of which was no bet- ter than C. a sort of recantation was drawn up and signed by C. but by no means satisfacton,' to the people. LTpon which, some concluded we should proceed in the new mode of making converts, by bestowing upon C. a coat of tar and feathers ; but after some hesitation, and much persuasion, were prevented from using any violent measures, unless beating the drum a few rods, and two boys throwing an egg a piece unknown to the men — which, as soon as they were observed, was immediately stopped. No threatening or abusive language was made use of to intimidate or affright him. This is as near the state of the matter as I can recol- lect — this they have made a riot of, and J. M, esquire, as king's attorney, has acted in this matter. Now, if such offenders as C. are permitted to bring us under the cognizance of the civil law, — all the friends to liberty here in Sussex, may as well give up as contend any longer : for, we are too weak to oppose ministerial tools. This from yours to serve, Samuel M'Masters. Dr. Tilton's reply. DOVER, NOVEMBER, 177$. Sir — Yours of the 14th inst. came safe to hand. I am not a little surprised at the contents of it. I have heard a great deal of Sussex tory- ism, but imagine, if you had really such among you, they would have acted more ingeniously than by playing off the civil law, as an engine against the sons of liberty. The recent success of Mr. H. I should have thought would have taught them better. Your grand jury must certainly have been infatuated with very undue prejudices, or they never could have counte- nanced such an indictment as you mention. I wish I was able to give you such advice as would be profitable to your deluded country- men ; but when I consider that I am wTiting to a man younger than myself, and who has per- haps as little influence in Sussex as I have in Kent, I conceive I cannot testify my esteem, for a lover of liberty, better, than by communi- cating my sentiments, on our present troubles, in as short and plain a manner as I can. I lay it down as a maxim, that the claim ot England on America " to tax her in all cases whatsoever," is affrontive to common sense, not to be tolerated, but spurned at by freemen, and to be resisted to the last extremity when- ever attempted to be put in execution. It is found equally true, by our experience, that the civil or municipal laws of the provinces, are not sufficient to defend us against the unjust and cruel means used to bring us under unjust and arbitrary taxation. What resource then had America left her? Why — she appealed to the law of nature, which having a like respect to all, is founded only in justice and truth. In doing this however, the Americans have not violated the constitution of England (as their enemies have suggested,) for that being founded in liberty cannot be repugnant to the eternal and immutable laws of truth and justice. By the law of nature then, and the constitution of England, we are perfectly right in defending our rights and liberties. The law of nature is DELAWARE. 243 above all others, and constantly governs in the last exigency of affairs. In our present struggle is it not equally necessary to guard against intestine enemies as foreign foes .' But by what law of the land can we do it ? — by none, and therefore we appeal to the law of nature. By this law the representatives of a people in committee, publish an enemy and make him infamous forever ; and by this law, the people at large tar and feather tories and traitors. The sole object of natural law is justice ; and agreeable to it, in Mr. C's case, the only ques- tion should be, has his punishment been more than adequate to his crimes.'' If he has dis- covered himself unfriendly to his country, and especially to America, his light escape could be owing to nothing but great partiality or uncom- mon humanity in his countrymen. And as to those men, who would now take advantage of the civil law, against those who were the in- struments of justice on C. in behalf of their country, I take it for granted they have a plentiful stock of ignorance or an uncommon share of boldness and wickedness ; and I will venture to add, that were they in any part of the United Colonies, beside Susse.x, they would in the one case meet with proper instruction, and in the other suitable correction. Letter from Dr. Tilton, to his brother j. w. on the same subject. DOVER, 36M NOVEMBER, 1775. Dear brother — It is not common for me to trouble you with political letters. Mrs. M. however, informs me of a late transaction, in Lewes, in which I think you so nearly inter- ested, that I am constrained to communicate a few thoughts of mine on the subject ; not from a vain pride ol differing in opinion with my elder brother, but from a sincere wish that you may improve any hints of mine that are right, to your own advantage and the public good. I am told you sat with a number of others and advised among the rest, that some young men should be indicted for mobbing J. C. a noted enemy to his country ; that you being the first who left the room, was as good as mobbed yourself, by the inhabitants of Lewes, who re- sented such treatment from their magistrates. This being a true state of the case, I am obli- ged to think you have been guilty of an error. I know you wish well to your country, but men of the best designs may sometimes be wrong in the means of accomplishing them. You cannot be ignorant that the law of the land is insufficient to protect us against the violence of Great Britain, and that therefore America has long since recurred to the law of nature, by virtue of which she has strengthened her hands — As we have no law of the land by which we can punish tories and traitors, the natural law of necessity takes place. — Natural law has jus- tice alone for its object, and in Mr. C's case, the sole question ought to be, has he received more than he deserved ? I am sure you will say he deser\ed ten times as much. Why then would you take advantage of the civil law in his behalf.' If you should answer in the language of the most unfriendly to this coun- try, "lest the civil authority should be brought into contempt," a moment's reflection will shew you the absurdity of such reasoning. Can the dignity of civil authority be supported by acting' in concert with villains.' and would you wish to be accounted the avenger of jus- tice ? But I need not enlarge, as no instance can be adduced where the Americans have punished an innocent person for crimes like C's. Mr. H's fate will ser\'e to show you the sense of the Philadelphians, respecting your conduct. His crime is nothing more than an exertion of civil power in opposition to the rights of nature. He was carted. — I don't mention this to reproach you with folly, but as a basis to that advice I wish you to take, viz : that you may use your utmost influence if pos- sible, to quash the indictments. I am per- suaded the reputation of your county and your own personal safety, are concerned in the event of this matter. For though Sussex should approve or submit to such conduct, I am con- fident every other part of the United Colonies will condemn and despise. For my own part, I have heard many bad reports of Sussex, but I assure you this fills me with more displeasure than any public trans.action of your county, I have ever attended to. ARREST OF A MEMBER Of THE Delaware Legislature by the Light Infantry Company of Dover, March, 1776. The petition and remonstrance of the light infantry company of Dover, to the honorable house of representatives, for the government of the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, now sitting at New Castle, humbly sheweth: That T. R. of Sussex county, esq. having for a long time past been of ill fame, and published 244 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. by diverse committees in several newspapers as an enemy to his country, and the said T. R. presuming to pass through our county, and at a critical conjuncture to sit in your honorable house, as one of our representatives, we thought ourselves bound in duty, as we regarded the honor of your honorable house, and the true interest and safety of the public, to take said T. R. into custody until your honorable house could take order in the matter. Whereupon an attempt being made to arrest Mr. R. col. M. of Sussex county also, drew his sword, and the' he was made well acquainted with the rea- sons and principles upon which it was thought necessary to arrest Mr. R. he swore he would defend him at the risk of his life. Upon this, he was immediately disarmed, and his violent conduct, together with the well known con- nection between the two men, inducing the company to consider Mr. M. as in the same predicament with Mr. R. they after mature deliberation, resolved to give them both a like treatment, by keeping them in safe custody until your advice and pleasure should be known. They were accordingly detained under guard for one night and next day, by advice of a num- ber of gentlemen in whom we could confide, they were set at liberty, on their giving bond with security that they would submit their con- duct to a strict enquiry before your honorable house, and not presume to sit or do any one act as members, until honorably acquitted of all charges and every degree of suspicion, by you. In all this we apprehend, we have acted consistent with the first principle of nature and humanity. And as we flatter ourselves with your approbation, we hope and expect that a scrutiny will be made into the conduct of these suspicious persons, and that in wisdom you will judge of them, and relieve your petitioners and the public in general of their apprehen- sions concerning them. We cannot omit the present opportunity, with humility and confidence, to make known to your honors many grievances of our own .and neighboring county, by which the cause of virtue and liberty has, and will greatly suffer — and may be ruined ; unless by the intreaties of your petitioners and other good men, we can prevail on your honors to look diligently and carefully into the ways and conduct of a number of designing and interested men, who, like the parliament of Great Britain, under the pretext of law, rule or order, most assiduously oppose and hinder, to the utmost of their power, the strenuous endeavors of the good and virtuous in all their public measures, on behalf of our threatened liberty. When under covert of authority or the specious garb of moderation, the first laws of nature and justice are violated, if we do but murmur, we are reprobated as violent incendiaries, and loaded with opprobrious epithets. By the dint of influence, a number of persons, the most noto- riously opposed to the cause of liberty, and who have made public concessions for the most daring offences, are made officers in our militia, and thus have influence among the people. But this reproach is not the most intolerable to complain of Men of the most dangerous characters have crept into our very councils, and, if it were possible, would con- taminate the very source and fountain of all our hopes and expectations. We pray your honors, that, after diligent enquiry and being well satisfied of the truth of these our allegations, j'ou will take the means of our redress into your serious consideration, and that you will give that aid to public virtue and liberty which your known wisdom and patriotism will naturally suggest. And your petitioners as in duty bound shall pray. REPLY OF THE MEMBERS Of the Assembly to the above peti- tion. CROSS ROADS, MARCH 3, 1776. Gentlemen — We, the members of assem- bly for Kent county, taking into consideration the confinement of Messrs. R. and M.,now in your custody, take the liberty to inform you that the continuing these supposed offienders any longer under a restraint of their liberty, may give interruption to the business of legis- lation in this government, which may be injur- ious, especially at this time ; we are therefore of opinion that you should release them from their imprisonment, and permit them to pursue their journey to New Castle, upon their giving bond with security to submit the enquiry into their respective offences to the house of assem- bly, and abide by, and perform whatsoevei shall be enjoined them by the house. We are, gentlemen, etc. Cesar Rodney, Wills Killen, John Haslett, Thomas Rodney, Vincent Lockerman. To the gentlemen of the light infantry company. DELAWARE. 245 Account of the arrest of the parties above referred to, as published in 1788, in a pamphlet, entitled " The Biographical history of Diony- sius, tyrant of Delaware, by Timoleon." "But to explain the attachment and connec- tion oi Dionysius with R. and the other repre- sentatives from Sussex, it will be necessary' to give some account of this county, and their election at Lewes, in October, 1775. This R. was a man of property, and had been a leader in the proprietarj' faction for some years. Per- fectly unprincipled, and subservient to direc- tion, he of course at this time, became a leader in opposition to independence. With all the industry of interested tools, he, and his asso- ciates of the same connection, prejudiced a majority of the people of Sussex against inde- pendence. Upon this principle it was, that R. and others of the same political creed, were elected representatives of the people. The whigs bore all this with a degree of patience peculiar to Delaware. R. rendered fearless by his success, and the forbearance of the whigs, proceeded boldly in his villanies. By every means in his power, he seduced the people to break through the non-importation agreement. In particular, he purchased a large quantity of tea, and dealt it out to all whom he could persuade to use it. Having by this time a degree of contempt for all opposition, there was so little reserve in these transactions, that the committee of observation of the county, could not avoid taking notice of them. After a mature hearing and judgment of his conduct, the committee published him in the newspapers, as an enemy to his country. It was upon this ground, the light infantry company of Dover seized upon R. on his way to take his seat in the house of representadves, at New Castle ; and demanded of the legislature, that he should not be permitted to sit as a representative of the people, while covered with charges of so malignant a dye. Instead of regarding the iniquities of this culprit, Dionysiits talked in a high strain of the breach of privilege of the house. An order issued, summoning the infantry to attend the house, which they instantly obeyed. Mention was even made of imprisoning them for so daring an offence. But the spirit of New Castle county did not at that time, favor this measure. It was suggested, they must find means of confining a regiment or more of their militia, or they would not detain the infantry long. For many days after the examination of the witnesses, which went chiefly to an enquiry into the offence of the infantry, there was no open discussion as usual in the house. At the ringing of the bell, a minority of patriotic members met regularly ; but Dioiiysius, in secret cabal, threatened some members, and allured others with promises, until he brought his measures to bear. Finally it was resolved, that R. and his associate (who had also been arrested for standing in his defence) should take their seats ; and the light infantry were dismissed." SELECTIONS From the papers of C^sar and Thomas Rodney. [The editor's friend, Cssar A. Rodney, of Delaware, well known as a member of con- gress from that state, attorney general of the United States, etc. favored him with an opportu- nity of examining a great mass of papers left by his uncle. General Cassar, and his father, Capt. Thomas Rodney, men celebrated for their devotion to the cause of liberty. Out of this extensive collection, the following articles have been gleaned, in the belief that each of them may go to establish some point interesting to those who seek to ascertain the " principles and acts of the revolution." Editor.] The Stamp Act Congress. Extract of a letter from C^SAR Rodney, to his brother THOMAS, dated New York, Oct. 20, 1765. When I wrote to you last, I expected that congress would have ended in eight or ten days from that time ; but. contrary to expectation, we have not yet finished. You and many others are surprised, perhaps, to think we should sit so long, when the business of our meeting seemed only to be the petitioning the king, and remonstrating to both houses of parliament ; but when you consider that we are petitioning and addressing that august body, the great legislature of the empire, for redress of griev- ances, — that, in order to point out those griev- ances, it was likewise necessary to set forth the liberty w^e have and ought to enjoy (as free- born Englishmen) according to the British constitution. This we are about to do by way of declaration, in the nature of resolve, as a foundation to the petition and address ; and was one of the most difficult tasks I ever yet saw undertaken, as we had carefully to avoid any infringement of the prerogative of the crown and the power of parliament — and yet in duty bound fully to assert the rights and privileges 246 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of the colonies. However, after arguing and debating two weeks, on liberty, privileges, pre- rogative, etc. in an assembly of great abilities, we happily finished them, and now have the petitions and addresses before us, and expect to finish in three or four days. C. Rodney to Thomas Rodney. PHILADELPHtA, SATURDAY, Sept. I7, I774. Sir — By express, which arrived here yester- day from the committee of the town of Boston, to the continental congress, we are informed the county of Suffolk, of which the town of Boston is the capital, had entered into certain resolutions, a copy of which was enclosed us, generally to the purport of not suffering the commander in chief to execute the act of par- liament, changing their government, by per- suading, protecting and compelling officers under the new regulation to resign, and by a refusal in jurymen to serve, etc. That they have ordered all those able to bear arms to keep in readiness to defend their inherent rights, even with loss of blood and treasure ; that they are determined not to injure the gen- eral or any of the king's troops, unless compelled thereto by an attack made by the troops on them. They complain of the general seizing of the powder at Cambridge, which they say was private property ; and also that he is now forti- fying the only pass that leads from the town of Boston into the country, from whence the in- habitants of the town are daily supplied : this pass is a narrow neck of land about 120 yards wide, at which he has placed a number of troops and 28 cannon ; that the country people passing and repassing this place are suffered to be insulted by the soldiery — and that the inhabitants feared, (from those movements of the general), he had designs of apprehending and sending to England those persons who have stood foremost in the great cause of liberty — that in consequence of his conduct, and those their suspicions, the inhabitants of Suffolk sent (by a committee appointed for that purpose) an address to the general, enquiring the cause of his stopping up and fortifying the pass, seizing and securing the magazines, etc. and their disapprobation of his conduct — and that they had no intention to assault either him or his soldiers ; — but that, if he continued to block up the pass, and thereby prevent them of the only means of supplying the town with necessa- ries, they should look upon it as a commence- ment of hostilities : Upon the whole, they sent an express to the general congress here for their instructions as to their future conduct The congress met on that business this day, and have resolved thereon — which you will see in the " Packet " of Monday, being ordered imme- diately to be printed, as well that the general as the people might know what they thought of the matter. I am yours, etc., Capt. Thomas Rodney. Cjesar Rodney. C. Rodney to Thomas Rodney. Philadelphia, Monday, Sept. 19, 1774. Sir — Some time ago, I do not doubt but you were all much alarmed, on a report that the king's ships were firing on the town of Boston. When that news came to this city, the bells were muffled, and kept ringing all that day : howe\er, in a few days after that news was contradicted here, and hope by this time it is so with you. By some very late authentic ac- counts from Boston government, to the gentle- men of that place now at the congress, we are informed that there was about three days be- tween this report's passing through the Massa- chusetts and Connecticut governments, and its being contradicted : that when the expresses went to contradict this false report, they found, in those two governments, in different parties, upwards of fifty thousand men, well armed, actually on their march to Boston, for the relief of the inhabitants; and that every farmer who had a cart or wagon, (and not able to bear arms), was with them, loaded with provisions, ammunition, etc., all headed by experienced officers, who had served in the late American war : and that vast numbers more were pre- paring to march. Upon the news being con- tradicted, they returned peaceably to their several places of abode — but not till they had sent some of their officers, from the difterent parties, to Boston, to know the real situation of affairs there, and to direct them what princi- pal officers in the different parts of the country they should hereafter send expresses to, in case they should stand in need of their assistance. It is supposed by some of the friends of lib- erty, at Boston, that the alarm was set on foot by some of the friends to the ministerial plan, in order to try whether there was that true valor in the people. If this was the case, I suppose you will think with me, that, by this time, they can have no doubts remaining. Indeed, I think it is proved by the general's own conduct ; for ever since that, he has been fortifying himself. DELAWARE. 247 which I imagine is more for his own security than to attack the inhabitants. I am yours, etc. C^SAR Rodney. Mr. Thomas Rodney, Dover. C. Rodney to Thomas Rodney. [extract.] Philadelphia, Sept. 34, 1774. Sir — Mr. R. Penn is a great friend of liberty, and has treated the gentleman delegates with the greatest respect. More or less of them dine with him every day — and his brother wishes his station would admit of his acting the same part ; all these matters are for your own private speculation, and not for public view. By this you may see that some people with you are mistaken in their politics, and you may also take for granted every body here is not well pleased with the coalition of the two brothers. I am, as usual, your friend and humble ser- vant, C^SAR Rodney. Mr. Thomas Rodney. C. Rodney to Thomas Rodney. Philadelphia, Monday^ Oct. 1775. Sir — On Friday, about eleven o'clock at night. Dr. K. of this city was seized by order of the committee of observation, for having wrote letters to England, injurious and de- structive to us in the American contest, and wicked with respect to this city, and is now confined in jail, together with one B. who came here with governor Skeen, Mr. C. an apothe- cary, who was in partnership with S. and one Mr. S. all of whom were aiding the doctor in his plan. You must know K. has been a con- siderable time since marked out as a thorough paced tory ; for which, together with his having insulted the people, he was (since I came to town last) carted through the streets. But the offence for which he is now confined, is thus circumstanced : On Wednesday last a ship sailed out of this port for London, in which Mr. C. was going passenger. A few days before she sailed, young Dewees, son of the sheriff, went to pay Dr. K. some money, and coming suddenly into his room, found him and C. together, with a bundle of papers before them, which they hustled up in seeming con- fusion. This, with K's tory character, gave Dewees suspicion, and he accordingly informed a few of the committee, who kept the matter secret, let the ship sail and the passengers go down to Chester by land, to go on board. On Thursday evening, which was the day the pas- sengers went, a small party was sent down to Chester ; they stayed there that night incog, and saw the passengers go on board, next morning. They then immediately pushed on board, seized and examined Mr. C. who, in a little time, told them that there were several letters from Dr. K. and Mr. B. and one from Mr. S. that he had the charge of them, and was concerned with them in the plan they had concerted, but that the letters were then in thecustody of a woman down in the cabin, and that she had them con- cealed in a pocket sewed to the inside of her s — ft tail, where in fact they soon after found them, and came back to town, (leaving C. as they had promised, upon his making a discovery of the whole matter, on oath, before Mr, Graham, at Chester), and then seized the authors. The letters were to lord Dartmouth and other ministers of state, but under cover to Messrs. M'CawIey. The substance and design was pressing their sending to Philadel- phia five thousand regulars, on which condition they would engage five thousand more here to join them, provided the royal standard should be also sent in, and K. appointed to bear it ; for that great numbers of those who now wear cockades and uniform were hearty in the min- isterial cause — that the rest were a pack of cowards — for that he (K.) had made above five thousand of them run, by snapping a single pistol at them, etc. They had with them, for the use of the ministry, one of J. F.'s plans of Delaware bay river, whereon they had described the place where the chevaux-de-frises were fixed. Besides these and many more villainous contrivances, they were taking home the out- lines for a print, to be struck off in London, shewing K.'s late exhibition in the cart, going through the streets of Philadelphia with the mob, some of whom he undertakes particularly to describe, to wit: Bradford, etc., etc., many of whom were actually not there, and how he every now and then, by snapping his pistol, made them run, etc. His abuse of the con- gress, committees, etc., (in his letters,) is in- tolerable — such as rebels, etc. After the com- mittee of safety had examined them and the contents of the letters, they sent a pilot boat down the river to overtake the ship, to bring up C. and to search the box of letters, and to bring all of them that they supposed to be from or to suspicious persons. This boat returned Sunday afternoon, brought C. and put him in jail, and also brought a number of letters belonging to and wrote by other persons. The 248 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. committee of safety has been sitting on these affairs all this day, but I have been so closely confined to congress to-day, that I don't yet know what they have done, or what others are accused. Yours, etc. CiESAR Rodney. Mr. TJiomas Rodney. Thomas Rodney to C. Rodney. Dover, August 30, 1776. Sir — I received your letters by last post, and the one preceding and one mentioned in that. I am pleased with your resolution mentioned in your last, as I should be sorry to hear that the unsteady passions which govern the people, should at any time give the least shock to that virtue which hath so long and necessarily sup- ported American liberty. Though the people in a popular government often put away good men for bad ones, and though such a change could not be more dangerous at any time than the present, yet I look on the present change with us as an example which favors liberty. If the people will not continually support those men, who have served them faithfully at all hazards, it cannot be supposed that they will long support those men who, in opposition to the public weal, have pursued their own private interest only. These men by a violent exer- tion of the influence of the magistracy, and descending to assert the most base, low and infamous falsehoods, have succeeded for once, because the people were blinded that they could not see their true interest. But be assured, that they that set them up will pull them down again. After devoting ten years to the service of your country and public business, to the great prejudice of your own private interest, you certainly deserve to enjoy the sweets of retire- ment, which is the happiest life in this state : and you will have this reflection, that after the time you mention, that you have accomplished the establishment of American liberty ; and that you could not do anything that would add to the honor already acquired : but I believe the people will not let you execute this design — they will soon be tired of those who they have now set up — and will begin to call again upon those men w^hose virtue hath been proved to the utmost. When the great matters which you mention are completed, I shall be content — nor shall desire to have any hand in politics, unless at any time liberty be encroached upon. Nothing but the great cause of liberty, which we have been embarked in, could have induced me, (who have an increasing family and so little for them,) to have spent so much of my time and money in public services. Thomas Rodney. Hon. Casar Rodney, in congress. Extract of a letter from COL. John Has- LETT,* to general C^SAR RODNEY, dated camp near Mount Washington, ^th Oct., 1776. Sir — I know you have already sacrificed a large share of private property to the evil and unthankful ; in this you resemble the Supreme Manager, who makes his sun to shine on the evil and the good, and, bad as times are, you have a few friends still of the latter character. And, my dear sir, who can better afford it? Providence has blessed you with a fortune to your prudence inexhaustible, by which you are enabled to live where you please, and to keep the first company where you do live, and all this with few drawbacks upon it. How then, can you lay out a part of it to more noble pur- poses, than in serving your country, guarding her rights and privileges, and forcing wretches to be happy against their will .' In this you will act as an agent of the Sovereign Goodness, and co-operate with Heaven to save a wretched race ; and though you may not effect the righteous purpose, the testimony of an approv- ing conscience, the applause of conscious virtue, and the approbation of all good beings, will more than balance the sacrifice. A thousand things might be urged to the same purpose. But a word to the wise. Thomas Rodney to C. Rodney. Allen's Town, in Jersey, 12 miles from Princeton, 20 do. from Brunswick, Dec. 30, 1776. Sir — I wrote you a long letter on the 24th, wTiich I had no opportunity of sending, and left it in my trunk at Mr. Coxe's, two miles from Bristol ; it contains the news to that time, which I cannot repeat here. On the 25th inst. in the evening, we received orders to be at Shamony ferry as soon as possible. We were there according to orders in two hours, and met the rifle-men, who were the first from Bristol ; we were ordered from thence to Dunk's ferry, on the Delaware, and the whole army of about 2000 men followed, as soon as the artillery got up. The three companies of Philadelphia infantry and mine were formed into a body, under the command of captain • Killed at Princeton. DELAWARE. 249 Henry, (myself second in command) which were embarked immediately to cover the land- ing of the other troops. We landed with great difficulty through the ice, and formed on the ferry shore, about 200 yards from the river. It was as severe a night as ever I saw, and after two battalions were landed, the storm in- creased so much, and the river was so full of ice, that it was impossible to get the artillery over; for we had to walk 100 yards on the ice to get on shore. Gen. Cadwallader therefore ordered the whole to retreat again, and we had to stand at least six hours under arms— first to cover the landing and till all the rest had retreated again — and, by this time, the storm of wind, hail, rain and snow, with the ice, was so bad, that some of the infantry could not get back till next day. This design was to have surprised the enemy at Black Horse and Mount HoUey, at the same time that Washing- ton surprised them at Trenton ; and had we succeeded in getting over, we should have finished all our troubles. Washington took 910 prisoners, with 6 pieces of fine artillery, and all their baggage in Trenton. The next night I received orders to be in Bristol before day ; we were there accordingly, and about 9 o'clock began to embark one mile above Bristol, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon got all our troops and artillery over, consisting of about 3000 men, and began our march to Burlington — the infantp,', flanked by the rifle- men, making the advanced guard. We got there about 9 o'clock and took possession of the town, but found the enemy had made pre- cipitate retreat the day before, bad as the weather was, in a great panic. The whole infantry and rifle-men were then ordered to set out that night and make a forced march to Bordentown, (which was about 1 1 miles), which they did, and took possession of the town about 9 o'clock, with a large quantity of the enemy's stores, which they had not time to carry off. We stayed there till the army came up ; and the general finding the enemy were but a few miles ahead, ordered the infantry to proceed to a town called Croswick's four miles from Bordentown, and they were followed by one of the Philadelphia and one of the New England battalions. We got there about 8 o'clock, and at about 10, (after we were all in quarters), were informed that the enemy's baggage was about 16 miles from us, under a guard of 300 men. Some of the militia colo- nels applied to the infantry to make a forced march that night and overhaul them. We had then been on duty four nighti and days, mak- ing forced marches, without six hours sleep in the whole time; whereupon the infantry offi- cers of all the companies unanimously declared it was madness to attempt, for that it would knock up all our brave men, not one of whom had yet gave out, but every one will suppose were much fatigued. They then sent off a party who were fresh, but they knocked up before they got up with them, and came back and met us at this town next morning. They surrounded a house where there was six tories — took three of them — one got off — and one who ran and would not stop, was shot dead. They gave him warning first by calling, and at last shot two bullets over his head, but he still persisted, and the next two shot ; one bullet went through his arm and one through his heart. The enemy have fled before us in the greatest panic that ever was known ; we heard this moment that they have fled from Princeton, and that they were hard pressed by Washing- ton. Never were men in higher spirits than our whole army is ; none are sick, and all are determined to extirpate them from the Jersey, but I believe the enemy's fears will do it before we get up with them. The Hessians, from the general to the common soldier, curse and im- precate the war, and swear they were sent here to be slaughtered ; that they never will leave New- York again, till they sail for Europe. Jersey will be the most whiggish colony on the continent : the very Quakers declare for taking up arms. You cannot imagine the distress of this country. They have stripped every body almost without distinction — even of all their clothes, and have beat and abused men, women and children, in the most cruel manner ever heard of. We have taken a number of pri- soners, in our route, Hessians and British, to the amount of about twenty. It seems likely through the blessing of Providence, that we shall retake Jersey again without the loss of a man, except one gen. Washington lost at Trenton. The enemy seem to be bending their way to Amboy with all speed, but I hope we shall come up with the Princeton baggage yet, and also get a share of their large stores at Brunswick. I hope if I live, to see the con- quest of Jersey, and set off home again in two weeks. Some of my men have complained a little, but not to say sick ; they are all now well here. Thomas Rodney. Brig. gen. Ccesar Rodney, esq. 250 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Letters from General Washington to C^SAR Rodney* Camp, four miles from potts* grove, September 24, 1777. Dear Sir— I last night read your favor of the 2ist, and am much obliged to you for the book. This, and the one taken in the action at Chadsford, complete general Howe's orders from April to the loth inst. I am sorry for the captivity of Mr. Berry, whom you mention to be a young man of merit, but no proposition for his exchange can be made at this time, nor can he be exchanged but in due course, which is the only rule by which equal justice can take place. The conduct of the militia is much to be regretted. In many instances, they are not to be roused, and in others they come into the field with all possible indifference, and, to all appearance, entirely unimpressed with the im- portance of the cause in which we are engaged. Hence proceeds a total inattention to order and to discipline, and too often a disgraceful depart- ure from the army at the instant their aid is most wanted. I am inclined to think, the com- plaints and objections offered to the militia laws are but too well founded. The interest of the community has not been well consulted in their formation, and, generally speaking, those I have seen are unequal. I wish I could inform you that our affairs were in a happier train than they now are. After various manoeuvres and e.xtending his army high up the Schuylkill, as if he meant to turn our right flank, general Howe made a sudden countermarch on Monday night, and in the course of it and yesterday morning, crossed the river, which is fordable in almost every part several miles below us ; he will possess him- self of Philadelphia in all probability— but 1 think, he will not be able to hold it. No exertions shall be wanting on my part to dispossess him. I am, in haste, dear sir, your most obedient servant, George Washington. Brig. gen. Rodney. Gen. Washington to C. Rodney. West point, August 26, 1779. Sir— In a letter which I had the honor of addressing your excellency on the 22d May, I took the liberty of mentioning the inconve- • Cf^sar Rodney was a member of the *' Stamp act con- gress," held in the city of New York in 1765, and of the Continental congress, and one of the signers to the declara- tion of independence ; was repeatedly chosen governor of the State of Delaware, and performed several terms of duty as a Brigadier General. niences which had prevailed for want of system in the clothing department, and the necessity there was for an early appointment of state or sub-clothiers, agreeably to the ordinance estab- lished by congress, by their act of the 23d March, with which I presumed your excellency had been made acquainted. I am now under the necessity of troubling you with a further address on the subject of clothing itself. From the best information I have been able to obtain, both from returns and particular enquiries, I fear that there is but too much reason to appre- hend, that unless the respective states interfere with their exertions, our supplies of this essen- tial article will be very deficient, and that the troops may again experience on this account a part of those distresses which were so severely and injuriously felt in past stages of the war, and which a regard to the interests of the states, as well as to the duties of humanity, should prevent if it be practicable. I do not know exactly how matters will turn out with woolen clothing. I should hope tolerably well ; but if the attention of the state should ever go to this, there will be little probability of our having an over-supply. But the articles to which I would take the liberty to solicit your excellency's more particular attention, are blankets, shirts, shoes and hats — more espe- cially the two first, as our prospects of them are by no means pleasing, and such indeed as decides that the supply from the continental clothiers and agents will fall far short, or at least stand upon too critical and precarious a footing. The importance and advantages of good supplies of clothing are evident — and they have been most remarkably and happily demonstrated in the health of the troops, since they have been pretty comfortably provided for in this instance — a circumstance of all others the most interesting. While I am on the subject of clothing, I would also beg leave to add, that the condition of the officers in this respect, appears to me to require the attention of their states. It is really in many instances painfully distressing. The want of necessaries and the means of procur- ing them, at the present exorbitant prices, have compelled a great many officers of good repu- tation and merit to resign their commissions ; — and, if they are not relieved, it must be the case with many others, as they will have no alternative. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect and esteem, your excellency's most obedient ser\'ant, George Washington. His excellency Ccesar Rodney, esq. DELAWARE. 25 1 Gen. Washington to C. Rodney. Head quarters, West point, Au^st 26, 1779. Sir — I have the honor to enclose your excellency a list of sundry officers belonging to your state who have been in captivity and are reported by the commissary of prisoners, as violators of parole. A conduct of this kind, so ignominious to the individuals themselves, so dishonorable to their country, and to the service in which they have been engaged, and so injurious to those gentlemen who were associ- ated with them in misfortune, but preserved their honor — demands that every measure should be taken to deprive them of the benefit of their delinquency and to compel their return. We have pledged ourselves to the enemy to do everything in our power for this purpose, and in consequence I directed Mr. Beatty, com- missary of prisoners, to issue the summons which you will probably have seen in the public papers. But as it is likely to have a very partial operation, I find it necessary in aid of it to request the interposition of the executive powers of the different states to enforce a com- pliance. Most of these persons never having been and none of them now being in continental service, military authority will hardly be suffi- cient to oblige them to leave their places of residence and return to captivity, against their inclination : Neither will it be difficult for them to elude a military search and keep themselves in concealment. I must therefore entreat that your excellency will be pleased to take such measures as shall appear to you proper and effectual to produce their immediate return. This will be rendering an essential service to our officers in general, in captivity, will tend much to remove the difficulties which now lie in the way of exchanges, and to discourage the practice of violating paroles in future. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect and esteem, your excellency's most obedient, humble senant, Geo. Washington. His excellency Governor Rodney. [Only one person of Delaware was charged in the schedule with having violated his parole.] Gen. Washington to C. Rodney. Head-Quarters, Morristown, — 16 Dectmbery 1779. Sir — The situation of the army with respect to supplies, is beyond description alarming. It has been five or six weeks past on half allowance, and we have not more than three days' bread, at a third allowance, on hand, nor any where within reach. When this is ex- hausted, we must depend on the precarious gleanings of the neighboring country. Our magazines are absolutely empty everywhere, and our commissaries entirely destitute of money or credit to replenish them. We have never experienced a like extremity at any pe- riod of the war. We have often felt temporary want from an accidental delay in forwarding supplies, but we always had something in our magazines and the means of procuring more. Neither one nor the other is at present the case. This representation is the result of a minute examination of our resources. Unless some extraordinary and immediate exertions be made by the states from which we draw our supplies, there is every appearance that the army will infallibly disband in a fortnight. I think it my duty to lay this candid view of our situation before your excellency, and to entreat the vigorous interposition of the state to rescue us from the danger of an event, which, if it did not prove the total ruin of our affairs, would at least give them a shock they would not easily recover, and plunge us into a train of new and still more perplexing embarrassments than any we have hitherto felt. I have the honor to be, with g^eat respect, your excellency's most obedient servant, G. Washington. His excellency Governor Rodney. Gen. Washington to C. Rodney. Head-quarters, near the Liberty Pole, Bergen county, 37 .Au^st. 1780. Sir — The honorable the committee of co- operation havmg returned to congress, I am under the disagreeable necessity of informing your excellency that the army is again reduced to an extremity of distress for want of provis- ion. The greater part of it has been without meat from the 21st to the 26th. To endeavor to obtain some relief, I moved down to this place, with a view of stripping the lower parts of the country of the remainder of its cattle, which, after a most rigorous exaction, is found to afford between two and three days' supply only, and those consisting of milch cows, and calves of one or two years old. When this scanty pittance is consumed, I know not what will be our next resource, as the commissary can give me no certain information of more than 120 head of cattle expected from Penn- sylvania, and about 150 from Massachu- setts — I mean in time to supply our immediate wants. 252 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Military coercion is no longer of any avail, as nothing further can possibly be collected from the country' in which we are obliged to take a position, without depriving the inhabi- tants of the last morsel. This mode of subsist- ing, supposing the desired end could be answered by it, besides being in the highest degree distressing to individuals, is attended with ruin to the morals and discipline of the army. During the few days which we have been obliged to send out small parties to pro- cure provisions for themselves, the most enor- mous excesses have been committed. It has been no inconsiderable support of our cause, to have had it in our power to contrast the conduct of our army with that of the enemy, and to convince the inhabitants that, while their rights were wantonly violated by the British troops, by ours they were respected. This distinction must, unhappily, now cease, and we must assume the odious character of the plunderers instead of the protectors of the peo- ple ; the direct consequence of which must be, to alienate their minds from the army and in- sensibly from the cause. We have not yet been absolutely without flour, but we have this day, but one day's sup- ply in camp, and I am not certain that there is a single barrel between this place and Trenton. I shall be obliged therefore to draw down one or two hundred barrels from a small magazine, which I had endeavored to establish at West Point, for the security of the garrison, in case of a sudden investiture. From the above state of facts, it may be foreseen that this army cannot possibly remain much longer together, unless very vigorous and immediate measures are taken by the states to comply with the requisitions made upon them. The commissary general has neither the means nor the power of procuring supplies — he is only to receive them from the several agents. Without a speedy change of circumstances, this dilemma will be involved '. either the army must disband, or what is, if possible, worse, subsist upon the plunder of the people. I would fain flatter myself that a knowledge of our situation will produce the desired relief: not a relief of a few days, as has generally heretofore been the case, but a supply equal to the establishment of magazines for the winter. If these are not formed before the roads are broken up by the weather, we shall certainly experience the same difficulties and distresses the ensuing winter which we did the last. Although the troops have, upon every occasion hitherto, borne their wants with unparalleled patience, it will be dangerous to trust too often to a repetition of the cause of discon- tent. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your excellency's most obedient, G. Washington. Thomas Rodney to C. Rodney. Dover, July so, 1779- Dear Sir — You will readily grant that it is evident from the low credit of our money, that the state of our finances is bad enough ; yet I think congress is too much alarmed on this head, and is thereby urged into measures that still tend to depress the credit of the money. 'Tis well enough that they should alarm the people, that every exertion may be made by them to support congress in their measures for raising the value of the money — but if congress be too much alarmed themselves, they will not be so likely to direct these exertions in the best manner to answer effectually the purpose intended. Congress, in my humble opinion, ought to be cool, uniform and firm, in what they do on this head. Taxation, if not impeded by other means, will restore the money much sooner perhaps than congress apprehend ; for, by this means, without destroying one bill, one half the money, at least, will be taken out of circulation, and the people will soon be amazed to see the money disappear, without hearing that any of it is destroyed. This position will appear evident to you when you consider, that, from the moment the present tax is collected, (if the plan is pursued), there will always be at least sixty millions of dollars locked up in the treasuries — -and as fast as any part of this sum is dealt out to supply the exigencies of the war, it ought to be supplied by the taxes coming in. I think there can be no doubt but a sum, equal to what I have mentioned, will always remain in the treasury ; that is, betweem the hands of the first collectors and those that pay it out to the people again : and while it is there, it will be out of sight and out of circulation. But if taxation has been too long neglected, and is now too slow to supply your present demand, it is better to borrow, than emit any more money — but not upon unusual interest ; — a higher interest than usual, holds out that the people are not ready and willing to support the public credit, and that the security is doubtful. An accumulating interest, to be in proportion to the increase of the quantity of money, holds out that you intend to emit more — that is, that you will make the monster yet more terrible, that has frightened every body almost out of their wits already. DELAWARE. 253 Borrowing is a measure I never would advise, if the necessity of our circumstances did not drive us into it, by being past the opportunity of better means ; but as we are now circumstanced, borrowing may have an extraordinary good effect, if the measure is wisely conducted — that is, if the friends to America would form themselves into bodies, or small societies, and every man subscribe ac- cording to his abilities to lend the public at usual interest, and each society to appoint one or more of their members to take a certificate for the gross sum they all subscribe, in trust to receive and pay each member his interest annually, and his principal according to the terms of lending. This is the mode the friends of the cause are en- deavoring to promote here, that all persons what- ever may have an opportunity of subscribing. When I see large societies formed in your city to promote their own particular sentiment about the constitution of government, I cannot think they would be backward in a measure of this sort, which possibly may be the means of saving the very existence of that government. The mode that I would advise in your city would be this : Let each class of people, ac- cording to their calling, associate together — and let the merchants, who we may suppose the monied men, begin — their example will soon be followed by the rest. This would convince both our friends and enemies, as well abroad as at home, that the people are determined to support the public credit, and the only hope that Britain now has would vanish in a moment. Once this example is set, he that is able, and does not follow it, will give the strongest proof of his disaffection, and ought to be regarded accordingly. There are few evils but what have benefits proportionate attendant on them. War cannot be carried on without supplies, and the high prices given for them for twelve months past, has encouraged the merchant and the farmer in such a degree, that we see industry, enter- prise and plenty abound every where — so that, in my private view, (notwithstanding the state of our finances), our circumstances are the most flourishing that they have been since the war began. Thomas Rodney. Ccesar Rodney, esq. John Dickinson, of Penn. to Thomas Rodney. Philadelphia, July 22, 1779. Dear Sir — I have received your favor of the 17th, for which and the enclosure I am much obliged, as I shall always be for a com- munication of your sentiments on public affairs. I so much agreed with you concerning the expediency of acceding to the confederation, though, as you justly observe, in several par- ticulars exceptionable, that I used what little influence I had to forward its ratification by our state ; advising, at the same time, a strong de- claration upon the parts objected to addressed to congress, and pointedly expressing our ex- pectation of a revision and alteration thereof at a more convenient season. Your reflections on our loan, and on some other proceedings, I fear, are too well founded. — Our difficulties are prodigious. We see the wisdom of your proposal to stop the presses — we perceive taxation to be of as much impor- tance as you mention — we are desirous of bor- rowing on the lowest terms — but, while we have so many thousands to supply with neces- saries, and while the demands upon us for the articles we must purchase are daily and hourly rising upon us, with such a boundless stretch — to what purpose are loans and taxes .' I have esteemed it my duty since I have been in congress, to keep my eyes constantly fixed on the preventing further emissions — and several steps have been taken towards that point, that are known but by very few to lead towards it : some others are now under consideration — and I am impatiently waiting for the moment, when a prospect of carrying on aftairs without further emissions, and a likelihood of succeeding in the attempt, will permit me to move for stop- ping the presses. Mrs. Dickinson and Sally, with myself, desire to be very affectionately remembered to your family. I am, sir, your sincerely affectionate and very humble servant, John Dickinson. To Thomas Rodney, esq. Dover. Thos. Rodney to C. Rodney. Philadelphia, June 14, 1761. Sir — You will find by the contents of this, that it is a confidential letter, conveying you very important and pleasing intelligence. Congress has received a letter from the king of France, and also otherwise officially informed by his minister here, that the empress of Russia threw out an invitation for the belligerent powers to apply for her mediation, at which the court of London eagerly caught, and men- tioned the emperor of Germany as another mediator — and a congress was proposed to be 254 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. opened at Vienna, for the purpose of settling a general peace. The answer ot the court of France was, that they could send no plenipo- tentiaries to said congress, till they had con- sulted their allies ; but, in the mediators are such respectable powers, and may be so fully relied on for justice, the king presses the United States to submit to the mediation — and that the first preliminary he will insist on, previous to any other negotiation, shall be, the indepen- dence of the United States, in full — and upon obtaining this, request that the states may be ■as moderate in all other demands as possible, that the mediating powers, may thereby re- ceive favorably impressions of our equity and justice. The same mediating application was made to the court of Spain, and their answer was, that they could not do any thing but in conjunction with their ally, the king of France — so that the congress of mediation is likely to be delayed till our despatches reach France. However, the king says that, if he is so pressed that he cannot decently del.ay sending a pleni- potentiary till that time, he shall insist on the preliminary before mentioned, and then only proceed in the negotiation so as to have it in such forwardness as will not injure America against their plenipotentiaries and instructions arrived. The king of France thinks that very equitable terms of peace may be obtained through this mediation, but urges us strongly to exert ourselves this campaign — as the wrest- ing the southern states out of the hands of the British, will contribute greatly to lessen their demands and make them more readily incline to equitable terms of peace ; and that our ex- ertions ought to be quick and vigorous, lest a truce should take place: and to ensure the success of this mediation we ought to make the most ample and vigorous preparations for carrying on the war. Britain made an attempt, through a Mr. Cumberland, to negotiate a separate treaty with Spain ; but this has failed, though Mr. Cumberland is still at Madrid. Spain would not treat but in conjunction with France, and France cannot treat but in conjunc- tion with America. Thus are we linked togeth- er, so that the independence of America now stands on prosperous ground, and no further doubt need to remain about it : for this much is certain — all the powers of Europe, (Britain e.\- ceptedl, wish us to be independent. Thus far in confidence, with this addition, that congress have appointed Dr. Franklin, J. Adams, J. Jay, H. Laurens and governor Jefferson, plenipo- tentiaries for settling the peace. They first agreed to appoint but one, and Adams was appointed before I came up ; they then agreed to add two more, then Jay was appointed — then Jefferson had five votes, Franklin four, and Laurens one. The states voted the same way three times. Then I proposed to the members of Virginia and Pennsylvania that we should appoint them both, which being generally agreed to, this day was appointed for the pur- pose, and then Laurens was included — so the appointment now consists of five. New Hamp- shire, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, were for Franklin, South Carolina for Laurens, and Massachusetts, Connecticut, Jersey, Vir- ginia and North Carolina for Jefferson, Rhode Island and New York unrepresented ; Georgia absent. Mr. M'Kean wanted to alter in favor of Jefferson and leave Franklin out, which, upon Georgia's coming in, would have carried him ; but I would not give up Franklin, and by the manner of proposing to appoint them both, got him appointed — though this was ex- ceedingly against the grain of several members. He will now be put at the head of the commis- sion. His abilities, character and influence are what will be of most use to us in Europe. I am, your most obedient, Thomas Rodney. CcEsar Rodney, esq., Dover. American and French soldiers. ■Williamsburg, Dec. 16, 1781. Dear Sir — After the departure of gen. Washington, the French quartered themselves upon the people, of this and some other towns, a la mode militaire, and gave no small offence ; but they are now dancing them into good humor again by a ball every week. I had my- self a petit guerre with a French officer, by which I was turned out of my quarters, and, consequently, came off but second best. Bemg summoned before count Rochambeau to answer for my rebellious conduct, I received a long lecture on the subject of politeness to friends and allies, with intimations of his power to punish obstinacy. Although I was put into quarters equally good with those I was com- pelled to leave, I must confess, I did not per- fectly understand the French politeness, in the mode of exchange. The old count, I believe, has either forgotten or forgiven me, as a day or two ago he gave me an invitation to dine with him. It must be mortifying to our poor dt-ziils to observe the comfortable and happy life of French soldiers. They appear on parade every day like fine gentlemen, as neat as their offi- cers, and hardly to be distinguished from them. MARYLAND. 2S5 They are paid once a week, and, by their happy countenance, appear to want nothing. A sen- tinel is not allowed to stand upon duty without a warm watch-coat in addition to his other clothing. The officers treat the soldiers with attention, humanity and respect, and appear to employ all the means necessary to inspire them with sentiments of honor. E.xcept some horse- jockeying and plundering, at the reduction of York, I have heard of no stealing among them. — Theft is said to be a crime held in universal abhorrence among them. I have not seen or heard of any instance, yet, of a French soldier being whipped. Their desertions, I believe, have been rare, and their sickness but little. When will our army bear the comparison ? James Tilton, Thomas Rodney, esq. \ MARYLAND, PROCEEDINGS Of the people assembled at Annapolis, respecting the importation of brit- ish goods. Annapolis, Junt 39, 1769. Several of the counties hain'ng entered into resolutions of non-importation of British su- perfluities, and the proxn'nce, in general, being invited by the gentlemen of Anne Arundel county, to request some people from each county, to tneet at this place, on the 20th instant, in order that a general resolution of non-importation might be forjned There was accordingly a very full meet- ing, at which the following RESOLU- TIONS were entered into ; and it was agreed, that twelve copies should be printed and transmitted to each county, to be signed by the people, which, it is expected, will be done with great readiness throughout the province. We, the subscribers, his majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the merchants, traders, free- holders, mechanics, and other inhabitants of the province of Maryland, seriously consider- ing the present state and condition of the province, and being sensible that there is a ne- cessity to agree upon such measures, as may tend to discourage, and as much as may be, prevent the use of foreign luxuries and super- fluities, in the consumption of which we have heretofore too much indulged ourselves, to the great detriment of our private fortunes, and, in some instances, to the ruin of our families ; and, to this end, to practise ourselves, and as much as possible, to promote, countenance, and encourage in others, a habit of temper- ance, frugality, economy, and industry, and considering also, that measures of this nature are more particularly necessary at this time, as the parliament of Great Britain, by imposing taxes upon many articles imported hither from thence, and from other parts beyond sea, has left it less in our power, than in time past, to purchase and pay for the manufactures of the mother-country ; which taxes, especially those imposed by a late act of parliament, laying duties on tea, paper, glass, etc., we are clearly convinced have been imposed contrary to the spirit of our constitution, and have a direct and manifest tendency to deprive us, in the end, of all political freedom, and reduce us to a state of dependence, inconsistent with that liberty we have rightfully enjoyed under the govern- ment of his present most sacred majesty, (to whom we owe, acknowledge, and will always joyfully pay all due obedience and allegiance) and of his royal predecessors, ever since the first settlement of the province, until of very late time — have thought it necessary to unite, as nearly as our circumstances will admit, with our sister colonies, in resolutions for the purpose aforesaid ; and, therefore, do hereby agree, and bind ourselves, to and with each other, by all the ties and obligations ot honor and reputation, that we will strictly and faithfully observe, and conform to the follow- ing resolutions: First, That we will not, at any time here- after, directly or indirectly, import, or cause to be imported, any manner of goods, merchan- dise, or manufactures, which are, or shall here- after be, taxed by act of parliament, for the purpose of raising a revenue in America (except paper not exceeding six shillings per ream, and except such articles only as orders have been already sent for) but, that we will always con- sider such taxation, in every respect, as an ab- solute prohibition to the articles that are, or may be taxed. Secondly, That we will not hereafter, 256 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. directly or indirectly, during the continuance of the aforesaid act of parliament, import, or cause to be imported, from Great Britain, or any other part of Europe, (except such articles of the produce or manufacture of Ireland, as may be immediately and legally brought from thence, and also, except all such goods as orders have been already sent for) any of the goods herein after enumerated, to wit, horses, spirits, wine, cider, perry, beer, ale, malt, bar- ley, peas, beef, pork, fish, butter, cheese, tal- low, candles, oil, except Salad-oil, fruit, pickles, confectionery, British refined sugar, mustard, coffee, pewter, tin-ware of all kinds, whether plain or painted, waiters, and all kinds of japan- ware, wrought copper, wrought and cast brass, and bell-metal, watches, clocks, plate, and all other gold and silversmiths' work, trinkets, and jewelry of all kinds, gold and silver lace, join- ers' and cabinet work of all sorts, looking- glasses, upholstery of all kinds, carriages of all kinds, ribbons and millinery of all V\x\As, except ■wig-ribbon, lace, cambric, lawn, muslin, kent- ing, gauze of all kinds, except Boulting-clotlis, silks of all kinds, except raw and seguing silk, atid wig cauls, velvets, chintzes, and calicoes of all sorts, of more than twenty-pence per yard, East-India goods of every kind, except salt-petre, black pepper, and spices, printed linens, and printed cottons, striped linens, and cottons, check linens, and cotton checks of all kinds, handkerchiefs of all kinds, at more than ten shillings per dozen ; cotton velvets, and all kinds of cotton, or cotton and linen stuffs, bed- bunts, and bed-ticking of all sorts, cotton counterpanes and coverlids, British manufac- tured linens of all kinds, except sail-cloth, Irish and all foreign linens, above one shilling and six pence per yard ; woolen cloth, above five quarters wide, of more than five shillings per yard ; narrow cloths of all sorts, of more than three shillings per yard ; worsted stuffs of all sorts, above thirteen pence per yard ; silk and worsted, silk and cotton, silk and hair, and hair and worsted stuffs of all kinds, worsted and hair shags, mourning of all and every kind, stockings, caps, waistcoat and breeches pat- terns of all kinds, rugs of all sorts, above eight shillings; blankets, above five shillings, per blanket ; men's and women's ready made clothes and wearing apparel of all kinds, hats of all kinds, of more than two shillings per hat ; wigs, gloves, and mits of all kinds, stays and bodices of all sorts, boots, saddles, and all man- ufactures of leather, and skins of all kinds, except men's and women's shoes, of not more than four shillings per pair, whips, brushes, and brooms of all sorts, gilt, and hair trunks. paintings, carpets of all sorts, snuff-boxes, snuff, and other manufactured tobacco, soap, starch, playing cards, dice, English china, Eng- lish ware, in imitation of China, delph and stone ware, of all sorts, except milk-pans, stone bottles, jugs, pitchers, and chamber pots, mar- ble and wrought stone of any kind, except scythe-stones ; mill-stones, and grind-stones, iron castings, ironmongery of all sorts, except nails ; hoes, steel, handicraft and manufactur- ers' tools, locks, frying-pans, scythes and sick- les, cutlery of all sorts, except knives and forks, not exceeding three shillings per dozen ; knives, scissors, sheep shears, needles, pins and thim- bles, razors, chirurgical instruments and spec- tacles, cordage, or tarred rope of all sorts, seines, ships' colors ready made, ivory, horn and bone ware of all sorts, except combs. Thirdly, That we will not, during the time aforesaid, import any wines, of any kind what- ever, or purchase the same from any person whatever, except such wines as are already imported, or for which orders are already sent. Fourthly, That we will not kill or suffer to be killed, or sell, or dispose to any person, whom we have reason to believe intends to kill, any ewe-lamb that shall be yeaned before the first day of May in any year, during the time aforesaid. Fifthly, That we will not, directly or indi- rectly, during the time aforesaid, purchase, take up, or receive, on any terms, or conditions whatever, any of the goods enumerated in the second resolution, that shall, or may be im- ported into this province, contrary to the intent and design of these resolutions, by any person whatever, or consigned to any factor, agent, manager, or storekeeper here, by any person residing in Great Britain, or elsewhere ; and if any such goods shall be imported, we will not, upon any consideration whatever, rent or sell to, or permit any way to be made use of by any such importer, his agent, factor, man- ager, or store-keeper, or any person, on his, or their behalf, any store-house, or other house, or any kind of place whatever, belonging to us, respectively, for exposing to sale, or even secur- ing any such goods, nor will we suffer any such to be put on shore on our respective proper- ties. Sixthly, That if any person shall import, or endeavor to import, from Great Britain or any part of Europe, any goods whatever, con- trary to the spirit and design of the foregoing resolutions, or shall sell any goods which he has now, or may hereafter have on hand, or may import, on any other terms than are herein MARYLAND. 257 expressed, we will not, at any time hereafter, deal with any such person, his agent, manager, factor, or storekeeper, for any commodity what- ever ; and that such of us as are, or may be sellers of goods, will not take any advantage of the scarcity of goods, that this agreement may occasion, but will sell such as we have now on hand, or may hereafter import, or have for sale, at the respective usual and accustomed rates for three years last past. Seventhly, That we will not, during the time aforesaid, import into this province, any of the goods above enumerated for non-impor- tation in the second resolution, which have been, or shall be imported from Great Britain, or some part of Europe, from any colony, or province, which hath not entered, or shall not, within two months from the date hereof, enter into resolutions of non-importation, nor will we purchase, take up, or receive, on any terms, or conditions whatever, any such goods, from any person or persons, that may import the same ; nor will we purchase, take up, or receive, on any terms, or conditions, any of the said goods, which may be imported from any province, or colony, which has entered, or may enter into such resolutions, unless a certificate shall accompany such goods, under the hands of a committee of merchants (if any) of the place from whence such goods shall come or if no such committee, then under the hands of at least three of the principal merchants there, who have entered into resolutions of non-importation, that such goods were imported before such resolution was entered into in such place. And that we will not purchase, take up, or receive, on any terms, or conditions whatever, after the expira- tion of six months, from the date hereof, from any colony, or province aforesaid, any of the said enumerated articles, which have been, or shall be imported from Great Britain. Eighthly, We, the tradesmen and manu- facturers, do likewise promise, and agree, that we will not avail ourselves of the scarcity of European goods, proceeding from the resolu- tions for non-importation, to raise or enhance the prices of the different articles, or commodi- ties, by us wrought up, or manufactured ; but that we will sell and dispose of the same, at the usual and accustomed rates we have done for these three years past. Lastly, That, if any person, or persons, whatever, shall oppose, or contravene the above resolutions, or act in opposition to the true spirit and design thereof, we will consider him, or them, as enemies to the liberties of America, and treat them on all occasions, with the con- tempt they deserve ; provided that these resolu- 17 tions shall be binding on us, for and during the continuance of the before mentioned act of par- liament, unless a general meeting of such per- sons at Annapolis, as may, at any time here- after, be requested by the people of the several counties in this province to meet, for the pur- pose of considering the expediency of dispens- ing with the said resolutions, or any of them, not exceeding four from each county, or a majority of such of them as shall attend, shall determine otherwise. PROCEEDINGS Of Merchants and others of Balti- more COUNTY, relative TO IMPORTA- TION OF European goods. At a meeting of the merchants, and others, inhabitants of Baltimore county, associators for non-importation of European goods, held, at Mr. Little's, Ncniemher 14, 1769, John Smith, chairman — The committee of enquiry having reported, that IVilh'am Moore, jun.hdiA imported a cargo of goods in the Lord Cambden, captain John Johnston, from London, of the value of ;£90O sterling, which they were in doubt were not within the terms of the association. The fol- lowing question was put, whether William Afoore, juit. has imported the said cargo within the terms mentioned in the agreement of the 30th of March last, to which he was a signer.' Upon which question, the gentlemen present were unanimously of opinion, that the said cargo was imported contrary to that agree- ment. Of which determination William Moore being informed, he alleged, as a justifi- cation of his conduct, that at the time he signed the agreement, he objected to Mr. 'John Merry- >nan, who then had the carriage thereof, (and who is now absent in London) that he would not sign, unless he had liberty to send off his orders for fall goods, and to import the same : That some few days afterwards Mr. Merryman informed him, that the merchants of the town would give leave to send off the orders, and receive the fall goods ; and that, in conse- quence of this information, he signed the agreement, without any such condition, written or expressed, in the same opposite to his name. After which the question was put, whether Mr. Moore should have liberty to land and vend his whole cargo? Which was deter- mined in the affirmative. 258 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE. Thomas Ewing, Alexander M'Machen, Benjamin Rogers, Jonathan Hudson, Murdock Kennedy, Henry Brown, WiMiam Hammond, Andrew Buchanan, John Deaver, H. D. Gough, Jonathan Plowman, Richard Moale, Archibald Buchanan, Hercules Courtenay, John Macnabb, Charles Rogers, John A. Smith, Thomas Place. FOR THE NEGATIVE. John Moale, Henry Thompson, William Lux, E. R. Robert Christie, Robert Alexander, John Smith, William Smith, Alexander Lawson, Ebenezer Mackie, William Lux. The committee of enquiry having also re- ported that Benjamin Howard had imported a cargo of goods, of the value of /1700 sterling, in the Lord Cambdcn, captain John Johnston, London, which they were in doubt were not within the terms of the association of 30th March. Upon which the Ibllowing question was put, whether Benjamin Haivard be per- mitted to land and vend the said cargo, he having alleged that he never signed the associa- tion of the 30th March, being then an inhabi- tant of Anne-Arundel county, and that he apprehended he was entitled to import within the terms of the general association of the 22d June, to which he was a subscriber, his orders for the said cargo having been trans- mitted the 1st of May. Resolved in the affir- mative, FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE. Thomas Ewing, Alexander M'Machen, Benjamin Rogers, Jonathan Hudson, Thomas Place, Henry Thompson, Henry Brown, William Hammond, Andrew Buchanan, John Deaver, H. D. Gough. Jonathan Plowman, Richard Moale, Archibald Buchanan, Murdock Kennedy, John Moale, John Macnabb, Charles Rogers, John A. Smith, Hercules Courtenay. FOR THE NEGATIVE. John Smith, Robert Christie, William Smith, Ebenezer Mackie, Alexander Lawson, William Lux. ACTION Of THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND UPON THB subject of the boston port-bill. Queen Anne's County, May 30, 1774. At a meeting of a considerable number of the magistrates, and other the most respectable inhabitants of Queen-Anne's county, at Queen's town, on the thirtieth day of May, 1774, in order to deliberate upon the ten- dency and effect of the act of parliament for blocking up the port and harbor of Boston. Duly considering and deeply affected with the prospect of the unhappy situation of Great Britain and British America, under any kind of disunion, this meeting think themselves obliged, by all the ties which ever ought to preserve a firm union among Americans, as speedily as possible to make known their sentiments to their distressed brethren of Boston ; and there- fore publish to the world. That they look upon the cause of Boston in its consequences to be the common cause of America. That the act of parliament for blocking up the port and harbor of Boston, appears to them a cruel and oppressive invasion of their natural rights, as men, and constitutional rights as English subjects, and if not repealed, will be a foundation for the utter destruction of American freedom. That all legal and constitutional means ought to be used by all America, for procuring a repeal of the said act of parliament. That the only effectual means of obtaining such repeal, they are at present of opinion, is an association, under the strongest ties, for breaking off all commercial connections with Great Britain, until the said act of parliament be repealed, and the right assumed by parlia- ment for taxing America, in all cases whatso- ever, be given up, and American freedom as- certained and settled upon a permanent consti- tutional foundation. That the most practicable mode of forming such an effectual association, they conceive to be a general meeting of the gentlemen, who are already or shall be appointed committees, to form an American intercourse and corre- spondence upon this most interesting occasion. That in the mean time they will form such particular associations as to them shall seem effectual ; yet professing themselves ready to join in any reasonable general one tha'. may be devised as aforesaid. That these sentiments be immediately for- MARYLAND. 259 warded to be printed in the Maryland and Pennsylvania Gazettes. That Edward Tilghman, Solomon Wright, Turbut Wright, John Browne, Richard Tilgh- man Earle, James HoUyday, Thomas Wright, William Hemsley, Adam Gray, Clement Sewell, Richard Tilghman, James Kent, John Kerr, James Bordley, and William Bruff, be a com- mittee of correspondence and intercourse, until some alteration is made in this appointment by a more general meeting. Attested by^ James Earle, dk. com. Baltimore County, May 31, 1774. At a general meeting of the freeholders, gentle- men, merchants, tradesmen, and other inha- bitants of Baltimore county, held at the court house of the said county, on Tuesday the 31st of May 1774, Captain Charles RiDGELY, Chairman — I. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the town of Boston is now suffer- ing in the common cause of America, and that it is the duty of every colony in America to unite in the most effectual means to obtain a repeal of the late act of parliament for blocking up the harbor of Boston. — Dissentient three. II. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that if the colonies come into a joint resolution to stop importations from, and exportations to Great Britain and the West-Indies, until the act for blocking up the harbor of Boston be repealed, the same may be the means of pre- ser\-ing North America in her liberties. Dis- sentient three. III. That therefore the inhabitants of this county will join in an association with the several counties in this province and the prin- cipal colonies in America, to put a stop to exports to Great Britain and the West-Indies, after the first day of October next, or such other day as may be agreed on, and to put a stop to the imports from Great Britain after the first day of December next, or such other day as may be agreed upon, until the said act shall be repealed, and that such association shall be upon oath. — Dissentient nine. IV. Unanimously. — That it is the opinion of this meeting, that as the most effectual means of uniting all parts of this province in such as- sociation, as proposed, a general congress of deputies from each county be held at Annapolis at such times as may be agreed upon and that if agreeable to the sense of our sister colonies, delegates shall be appointed fromi this province to attend a general congress of delegates from the other colonies, at such time and place as shall be agreed on, in order to settle and estab- lish a general plan of conduct for the important purposes aforementioned. V. Unanimously, — That the inhabitants of this county will, and it is the opinion of this meeting, that this province ought to break off all trade and dealings with that colony, pro- vince or town, which shall decline or refuse to come into similar resolutions with a majority of the colonies. VI. That Capt. Charles Ridgely, Charles Ridgely, son of John, Walter Tolley, jun. Thomas Cockey Dye, William Lux, Robert Ale.xander, Samuel Purviance, jun. John MoalCi Andrew Buchanan, and George Risteau, be a committee to attend a general meeting at An- napolis. And that the same gentlemen, to- gether with John Smith, Thomas Harrison, William Buchanan, Benjamin Nicholson, Tho- mas Sollars, William Smith, James Gittings, Richard Moale, Jonathan Plowman, and Wil- liam Spear, be a committee of correspondence to receive and answer all letters, and on any emergency, to call a general meeting, and that any six of the number have power to act. VII. That a copy of the proceedings be transmitted to the several counties of this pro- vince, directed to their committee of corre- spondence, and be also published in the Mary- land Gazette, to e\ince to all the world the sense they entertain of the invasion of their constitutional rights and liberties. VIII. That the chairman be desired to return the thanks of this meeting to the gentle- men of the committee of correspondence from Annapolis, for their polite personal attend- ance in consequence of an invitation by the committee of corresporKlence for Baltimore town. Signed per order, William Lux, Clerk. Anne Arundel County, June 4, 1774. At a meeting of a very considerable and re- spectable body of the inhabitants of Anne Arundel county, inclusive of those of the city of Annapolis, on Saturday the 4th day of June, 1774, Mr. Brice Thomas Beale Wor- thington, moderator. I. Resolved, unanimously. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the town of Bos- ton is now suffering in the common cause of America, and that it is incumbent on every, colony in America to unite in effectual means 26o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. to obtain a repeal of the late act of parliament, for blocking up the harbor of Boston. II. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that if the colonies come into a joint resolution to stop all importations from, and exportations to Great Britain, and the West- Indies, till the said act be repealed, the same will be the most effectual means to obtain a repeal of the said act, and preserve North America and her liberties. III. Resolved therefore, unanimously, That the inhabitants of this county will join in an association with the several counties in this province, and the principal colonies in America, to put a stop to exports to Great Britain, and the West-Indies, after the gth day of October next, or such other day as may be agreed on and to put a stop to the imports of goods, not already ordered, and of those ordered that shall not be shipped from Great Britain by the 2oth day of July next, or such other day as may be agreed on, until the said act shall be repealed, and that such association be on oath. IV. Resolved, That as remittances can be 'made only from exports, after stopping the exports to Great Britain and the West-Indies, it will be impossible for very many of the peo- ple of this province who are possessed of valu- able property, immediately to pay off their debts, and therefore it is the opinion of this meeting, the gentlemen of the law ought to bring no suit for the recovery of any debt due from any inhabitants of this province, t*any inhabitant of Great Britain, until that said act be re- pealed ; and further, that they ought not to bring suit for recovery of any debt, due to any inhabitant of this province, except in such cases where the debtor is guilty of a wilful delay in payment, having ability to pay, or is about to abscond or remove his effects, or is wasting his substance, or shall refuse to settle his account. V. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that a congress of deputies from the several counties, to be held at Annapolis as soon as conveniently may be, will be the most speedy and effectual means of uniting all the parts of this province in such association as proposed ; and that, if agreeable to the sense of our sister colonies, delegates ought to be appointed from this province to attend a general congress of deputies from the other colonies, at such time and place as may be agreed on, to effect unity in a wise and prudent plan for the forementioned purpose. VI. Resolved, unanimously. That the inhabi- tants of this county will, and it is the opinion of this meeting, that the province ought to break off all trade and dealings with that col- ony, province, or town, which shall decline or refuse to come into similar resolutions with a majority of the colonies. VII. Resolved, That Brice Thomas Beale Wor- thington, Charles Carroll, barrister, John HalL William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, jun. Matthias Hammond, Thomas Sprigg, Samuel Chew, John Weems, Thomas Dorsey, Rezin Hammond, John Hood, jun. be a com- mittee to attend a general meeting at Anna- polis, and of correspondence, to receive and answer all letters, and on any emergency to call a general meeting, and that any six of the number have power to act. Ordered, That a copy of these resolves be transmitted to the committee of the several counties of this province, and be also published in the Maryland Gazette. By order, John Duckett, elk. com. PATRIOTIC RECOMMENDATION. Full meeting of Deputies respecting manufactures, and home industry. Annapolis, December 15, 1774. At a meeting of the deputies appointed by the several counties of the province of Maryland, at the city of Annapolis, by adjournment, on the 8th day of December, 1774, and con- tinued till the 1 2th day of the same month, were present, eighty-five members. Mr. John Hall in the chair, and Mr. John Duckett, clerk. The proceedings of the continental congress were read, considered, and unanimously ap- proved. Resolved That every member of this convention will, and every person in the pro- vince ought strictly and inviolably to observe and carry into execution the association agreed on by the said continental congress. On motion, unanimously resolved. That the thanks of this convention be given, by the chairman, to the gentlemen who represented this province as deputies in the late continental congress for their faithful discharge of that im- portant trust : And the same was done accor- dingly. To increase our flocks of sheep, and there- by promote the woolen manufacture in this province, Resolved, That no person ought to kill any lamb, dropt before the first day of May yearly, or other sheep, after the first day of January next, under four years of age. To increase the manufacture of linen and cotton. Resolved, That every planter and far- mer ought to raise as much flax, hemp, and MARYLAND. 261 cotton, as he conveniently can ; and the culti- vation thereof is particularly recommended to such inhabitants of this province, whose lands are best adapted to that purpose — And re- solved, That no flax-seed, of the growth of the present year, ought to be purchased for expor- tation, after the twelfth day of this month. It being represented to this convention, that many merchants and traders of this province, from a scarcity of cash to make their remit- tances, and other causes, had sold their goods, within twelve months next before the twenti- eth day of October last, at, and sometimes even below, the prime cost ; and that, in many different parts of this province, merchants had vended their goods at a very different advance on the prime cost ; and it appearing to this convention to be unjust to compel such mer- chants to sell their goods at prime cost, and that one general rule, allowing a reasonable profit to the trader, and preventing him from takmg advantage of the scarcity of goods which may be occasioned by the non-importa- tion, would give great satisfaction to the mer- chants and people of this province, resolved unanimously. That no merchant ought to sell his goods, at wholesale, for more than iisjj per cent. — at retail, for cash, for more than 13 per cent, — on credit, for more than 150 per cent, advance on the prime cost ; and that no merchant, or other person, ought to engross any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever. — And in case any question should arise, re- specting the prime cost of goods, every mer- chant or factor possessing or owning such goods, ought to ascertain the same on oath, if requested to do it by the committee. As a further regulation to enforce an observ- ance of the late continental association — Re- solved unanimously. That in all cases, where breaches of the continental association, or the resolves of this convention, shall happen and be declared such by any committee of a county, no gentleman of the law ought to bring or prosecute any suit whatever for such offender. And if any factor shall commit any breach of the said association or resolves, that no gentleman of the law ought to bring or prosecute any suit for any debt due to the store of which the said factor has the manage- ment, after notice as aforesaid. Resolved, That it is earnestly recommended, by this convention, to the people of this prov- ince, that the determinations of the several county committees be observed and acquiesced in. That no persons, except members of the committees, undertake to meddle with or deter- mine any question respecting the construction of the association entered into by the continen- tal congress. And that peace and good order be inviolably maintained throughout this con- gress. Resolved unanimously. That if the late acts of parliament, relative to the Massachusetts-Bay, shall be attempted to be carried into execution by force in that colony, or if the assumed power of parliament to tax the colonies shall be at- tempted to be carried into execution by force, in that colony or any other colony, that in such case, this province will support such colony to the utmost of their power. Resolved unanimously. That a well regulated militia, composed of the gentlemen, freeholders, and other freemen, is the natural strength and only stable security of a free government, and that such militia will relieve our mother country from any expense in our protection and de- fence ; will obviate the pretence of a necessity for taxing us on that account, and render it unnecessary to keep any standing army (ever dangerous to liberty) in this province. And therefore, it is recommended to such of the said inhabitants of this province as are from sixteen to fifty years of age, to form themselves into companies of si.xty-eight men ; to choose a captain, two lieutenants, an ensign, four ser- geants, four corporals, and one drummer, for each company ; and use their utmost endeavors to make themselves masters of the military ex- ercise. That each man be provided with a good firelock and bayonet fitted thereon, half a pound of powder, two pounds of lead, and a cartouch-box, or powder-horn and bag for ball, and be in readiness to act on any emergency. Resolved unanimously. That it is recom- mended to the committees of each county to raise by subscription, or in such other voluntary manner as they may think proper, and will be most agreeable to their respective counties, such sums of money as, with any monies al- ready raised, will amount to the following sums in the respective counties, to wit : In St. Mary's county ^£6°° Charles 800 Calvert 366 Prince George's 833 Anne Arundel 866 Frederick 1333 Baltimore 933 Harford 466 Worcester 533 Somerset 533 Dorchester 480 Caroline 3S8 Talbot 400 262 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Queen Anne's £$33 Kent 566 CcEcil 400 ^10,000 And that the committees of the respective counties lay out the same in the purchase of arms and ammunition for the use of such county, to be secured and kept in proper and convenient places, under the direction of the said committees. Resolved tinanimously , That it will be neces- sary that a provincial meeting of deputies, chosen by the several counties of this province, should be held in the city of Annapolis, on Monday, the 24th day of April next, unless American grievances be redressed before that time; and therefore we recommend that the several counties of this province choose depu- ties, as soon as conveniently may be, to attend such meeting. And the committee of corre- spondence for this province are impowered to call a meeting of the said deputies, before the said 24th day of April, if they shall esteem it necessary. Resolved unanimously. That contributions from the several counties of this province, for supplying the necessities, and alleviating the distresses of our brethren at Boston, ought to be continued in such mannerand so long as their occasions may require ; and that it is the duty of the committees of each county to collect and transmit the same as soon as possible. Resolved unanimously, That the hon. Mat- thew Tilghman, and John Hall, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, Jun. Charles Carroll, of Car- rolkon, Charles Carroll, barrister, and William Paca, esquires, or any three or more of them, be a committee of correspondence for this province. Resohied unanimously, That the hon. Mat- thew Tilghman, and Thomas Johnson, Jun., Robert Goldsborough, William Paca, Samuel Chase, John Hall, and Thomas Stone, esquires, or any three or more of them, be delegates to represent this province in the next continental congress, and that they, or any three or more of them, have full and ample power to consent and agree to all measures which such congress shall deem necessary and effectual to obtain a redress of American grievances ; and this province bind themselves to execute, to the utmost of their power, all resolutions which the said congress may adopt. And further, if the said congress shall think necessary to adjourn, we do authorise our said delegates to represent and act for this province, in any one congress to be held by virtue of such adjournment. Resolved unanimously, That it is recom- mended to the several colonies and provinces, to enter into such or the like resolutions, for mutual defence and protection, as are entered into by this province. As our opposition to the settled plan of the British administration to enslave America, will be strengthened by an union of all ranks of men in this province, we do most earnestly recommend, that all former differences about religion or politics, and all private animosities and quarrels of every kind, from henceforth cease and be forever buried in oblivion ; and we intreat, we conjure every man by his duty to God, his country, and his posterity, cordially to unite in defence of our common rights and liberties. Ordered, That copies of these resolutions be transmitted by the committee of correspondence for this province, to the committees of corre- spondence for the several colonies, and be also published in the Maryland Gazette. By order, John Duckett, Clerk. MEMORIAL OF JAMES CHRISTIE. Annapolis, 1775. In provincial convention, August 7, 1775, the following memorial of] AWES CHRISTIE,ya«. of Baltimore to^wn, merchant, was read— To the honorable the delegates of the freemen of the province of Maryland, in convention now assembled. The memorial of James Christie, jun., of Baltimore county — Sheweth — That your memorialist did, on the 22d day of February last, write the letter, a copy of which is hereunto annexed, to his friend and cousin-german. lieutenant colonel Christie, in the island of Antigua : That, at the time of writing the said letter, your memorialist unfor- tunately could not approve of the measures then pursued in this province, as a petition from the hon. continental congress was then lying at the foot of the throne of Great Britain, the result of which was not at that time known in America. That the said letter, having been intercepted by means, to your memorialist altogether unknown, was, on the 13th of July instant, laid before the committee of Baltimore county, who came to such resolutions on the same as will appear to this convention, by a copy of the pro- ceedings hereunto annexed. That in pur- suance of the said resolutions, your memorialist has already suffered a painful imprisonment, and hath paid to the guard appointed by the MARYLAND. 263 committee, the sum of thirty-one pounds, seventeen shillings and six pence current money, as will appear by the receipt for the same, ready to be produced. That, by a subsequent resolution of the said committee on the 24th instant, the said guard was discharged, on the application of your memorialist for that purpose, upon your memo- rialist's giving an obligation, with live securities, not to depart the province without leave of the said committee or this convention. And your memorialist presumes, with all deference, to say, that the letter in question, the contents of which has excited so much uneasiness in the minds of the good people of this province, could not be productive of any ill effect, being wrote by a private individual to his friend and rela- tion, a person who had not the power, if he had the inclination, and who, from regard to his own private interest, and from the ties of blood (his wife, family and fortune being in this country) cannot be supposed to be active in devising measures to crush the liberties there- of; and in the most solemn manner your memorialist avers, that he never harbored a wish to introduce a military force into this province for the purpose of enslaving the inhabitants thereof. And your memorialist begs leave to add, that he is extremely sorry that his private opinion should have given any offence ; he was far from intending any ; he considered himself as writing to a friend in con- fidence, and had no expectation or wish, that such private opinions would ever appear in public, or be productive of any public measures whatever. That the said committee having referred all further proceedings on your memorialist's case to the gentlemen delegated by this province to the continental congress, and they having referred the same to the consideration of this convention, obliges your memorialist to make this application, humbly to request that this honorable convention will consider your me- morialists's case, and discharge your memorial- ist and his securities from the said obligation, and also grant permission to your memorialist to depart the province with all convenience, with- out molestation in person or property. Your memorialist, relying on the wisdom and humanity of this honorable convention, most cheerfully submits his case to their decision, humbly praying. That the blessings of peace and tranquility may be restored to every part of the British empire ; that the rights and privileges of Ameri- ca may be established on a firm and lasting basis, and a speedy and honorable reconciliation take place between the parent state and her colonies, is the sincere wish of your memo- rialist. James Christie, jun. Baltimore, July 27, 1775. And upon reading the letter of the said James Christie therein referred to, dated the 22d of February, 1775, to Gabriel Christie, lieut. colonel of the 60th regiment, in which the said Christie represented the inhabitants of that town as concerned in measures, in his opinion, treasonable and rebellious, and that a number of soldiers would keep them very quiet, the same was considered by this convention, and thereupon it is resolved, that the said James Christie, by the said letter, hath manifested a spirit and principle altogether inimical to the rights and liberties of America ; That the said James Christie, by insinuating the necessity of introducing a military force into this province, has manifested an inveterate enmity to the lib- erty of this province in particular, and of British America in general. Therefore, resolved. That the said James Christie is and ought to be considered as an enemy to America, and that no person trade, deal, or barter with him hereafter, unless for necessaries and provisions, or for the sale or purchase of any part of his real or personal estate, of which he may be at this time seized or possessed. Resolved. That the said James Christie be expelled and banished this province forever, and that he depart the province before the first day of September next. Resolved, That the said James Christie deposite in the hands of this convention, or into the hands of such person or persons as they shall appoint, the sum of five hundred pounds sterling, to be expended occasionally towards his proportion of all charges and ex- penses incurred or to be incurred for the defence of America, during the present contest with Great Britain ; the overplus, if any, after a reconciliation shall happily be effected, to be restored to the said James Christie. Resolved, That no punishment be inflicted on the said James Christie, other than what is now directed by this convention. Resolved, That the five hundred pounds ster- ling is to be paid in steriing, or other money at par. Resolved, That the resolutions of the com- mittee of Baltimore county are, by the deter- minations of this convention superseded, and that therefore the said James Christie may negotiate his bills of exchange ; and that he 264 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. may assign, or he, or any person for him, may collect the debts due to him, in the same man- ner as other persons may negotiate their bills of exchange, assign or collect their debts. Signed by order of the convention, G. DuvALL, Clerk. PATRIOTIC LETTER From a minister of the Church of England, to the Earl of Dart- mouth. Maryland, Decetttber 30, 1775. My lord — If constitutional allegiance to my king, a warm attachment to my country,* and the most sanguine emotions for peace and per- manent union between the parent state and her colonies, will sufficiently expiate for epistolary freedom, permit a minister of the king of kings to address a minister of the king of Great Brit- ain, France, Ireland, and North America : for it is the language of my soul, that the precious American jewel may speedily and immovably be set in the most effulgent diadem. Your lordship sustains a two-fold character : a soldier of the lord of lords, and secretary of state for the northern department, under our rightful sovereign. High and honorable offices indeed ! but every soldier is not an intrepid warrior, or as a noble lord once expressed it, " There are many professors, but few posses- sors ; " nor is every sen'ant of the crown infalli- ble ; in both these, every man at best is but a fallible being. This doctrine your lordship once lozied, being then a real follower of the Lamb : for I well remember several opporluiiities, and the happy andjirecioiis moments of each, when we bowed together at the sacred altar :\ at which, when I beheld the right honorable com- municant, with his livery servants on his right hand and left, my soul was raised almost to the third Heaven, and my spirits filled with evangelical love ! For not many mighty, not many noble, are truly godly. As your lord- ship's condescension was so laudable, honor- able, and scriptural, as to appear a professor of Christianity, a witness for God, and the truly humble soul, I trust, and firmly believe, that " the most fine gold is not yet become dim." To whom then shall I write, or speak in behalf of the miserable convulsed empire ; for your lordship hath (/ trust) eternal life at heart, and everlasting felicity, by faith, in full view. The parliament of Great Britain say, they have a right to tax or bind the American in all • Born in the city of Oxford, t Of the locli Chapel. cases whatsoever, to which they answer, " As they were born free, free they will be, or die," and upon many of their hats there is this motto, "freedom or death." Upon others, " God and our rights." Since the battle of Lexington, I have been twice in eight of the thirteen united colonies, namely, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, New-Castle, etc* and Maryland, all which, except New- York, are almost unani- mous in the voice of liberty. Indeed none (save a few officers under the crown) are will- ing to be bound by the British parliament, in all cases whatsoever. The Americans declare a master can lay no greater burden on a slave than to bind him in all cases whatsoever. — These things the united colonies have imbibed, and before this can reach your lordship, Can- ada will, in all human probability, be added to the thirteen, for St. John's and Montreal have, upon capitulation, surrendered, and the rest of the province, in every other respect, bids fair for a general surrender, or subjection to the American side. In New-York city and prov- ince, although there are, I verily believe, more friends to government (as they call themselves) than all the rest of the colonies together can produce, yet in the city and province there is, on the other side of the question, a majority large enough to subdue them at any time : for instance, a few weeks ago some of these friends appeared in the province in opposition to the American voice ; whereon a small party went out immediately, who subdued and disarmed them. These friends, my lord are not worthy of the appellation ; they are only sycophants ; they flatter with their lips and pens, and deceive (I fear) your lordship and others in administra- tion, from packet to packet. They have repeatedly insinuated, that the New England governments have nothing else in view but in- dependence. It is totally repugnant to truth. Before the sword was drawn, there could not possibly be greater loyalists. In the year 1769, I arrived first in America, and they daily man- ifested what loving subjects they were : and the dissenting clergy also, in every opportunity, were particularly anxious to invoke the Great' Jehovah in behalf of their dread sovereign, of whom they spake in terms the most pathetic ; also for all his governors and officers, as well as for others, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, jnight still be * Although New Castle, etc. belong to Pennsylvania, yet as they in assembly are distinctly represented, and also in the congress, these counties therefore are viewed as, and called one ofthe united colonies. MARYLAND. 265 and flourish under his sceptre. Add to this, I justly may, the several conversations I have had with, and the private prayers I have heard by those gentlemen concerning his majesty, his crown and dignity ; with all which every loyal- ist could but be perfectly well pleased. To these facts, my lord, I have not only been an eye witness in one colony, but in many, nay even in Massachusetts-Bay. and her capital. Now, my lord, for Christ's sake, attend faith- fully. About two months ago I viewed the camps, Roxbury and Cambridge. The lines of both are impregnable ; with forts (many of which are bomb proot") and redoubts, supposing them to be all in a direction, are about 20 miles ; the breastworks of a proper height, and in many places 17 feet in thickness, the trenches wide and deep in proportion, before which lay forked impediments, and many of the forts, in every respect, are perfectly ready for battle ; the whole, in a word, an admiration to every spec- tator ; for verily their fortifications appear to be the works of seven years, instead of about as many months. At these camps are about 20,000 men. well disciplined. The generals and other officers, in all their military under- takings, solid, discreet, and courageous, the men daily raving for action, and seemingly void of fear. There are many floating batteries, and also batteaus in abundance ; besides this strength, 10,000 militia are ordered in that government to appear on the first summons. Provisions and money there are very plenty, and the soldiers faithfully paid. The army in great order, and very healthy, and about six weeks ago lodged in comfortable barracks. — Chaplains constantly attend the camps, morn- ing and night. Prayers are often offered up for peace and reconciliation, and the soldiers very attentive. The roads, at the time I viewed the camps, were almost lined with spectators, and thousands with me can declare the above, re- specting the camps, to be a just description ; but, my lord, I have more facts to mention. Continential and provincial currencies, to facilitate this great undertaking, are emitted, which circulate freely, and are daily exchanged for silver and gold. Their harbors, by spring, will swarm with privateers ; an admiral is ap- pointed, a court established, and on the yi in- stant the continental flag, on board the Black Prince, opposite Philadelphia, was hoisted. Many of the captains of those vessels, in the last war, proved their intrepidity to the world by their prizes, and some of them have already taken many valuable prizes which government had ordered to Boston, and thereby must have much distressed the troop ; all which the prints will particularize. The appointment of the continental and pro- vincial congresses and committees, your lord- ship, without doubt, before now, must be fully acquainted with. These sets of gentlemen, by virtue of the great privileges with which the colonies have entrusted them, claim now the following prerogatives over the united colonies. The continental congress is over all, under the king ; the provincials over the committees, and the committees over the counties. The congresses and committees have so raised and regulated the militia and minutemen, whom they have raised almost in every county, that they make, in every city and town, the most warlike appearance. Salt-petre is made in abundance, and powder-mills constantly em- ployed in many provinces ; and many believe that there is now in the possession of the Americans, powder enough for three years. This to me is very obvious. Soon after Gene- ral Gage collected the troops from the several provinces into one body at Boston, the con- gresses ordered all the shop-keepers not to sell their powder to fowlers and hunters, but to keep the same for the use of the colonies, which in general was faithfully observed. Be- fore this, a person might get a large quantity of powder almost at every large store, or mer- chant's shop, in every city, town, and county on the continent. Now all this collected to- gether, and what the mills have made, to- gether with the great quantities taken at St. John's, Montreal, other forts, and on the seas, must make an immense quantity : add to this, the constant employment of the mills, and a great number of privateers faithfully looking out for yours. And, my lord, how is it possi- ble for all store ships to escape a fleet so large, which, at this time, I firmly believe, is com- posed of 50 sail, and by next spring I shall not marvel if their fleet be doubled. Iron guns of the best quality have been made in America, and as they have plenty of iron and lead mines, they can make what quantity of cannon, shot, and bullets they please ; but administration have lately supplied them with a very valuable assortment of such stores.* Rifles, infinitely better than those im- ported, are daily made in many places in Penn- sylvania, and all the gun-smiths everywhere constantly employed. In this country, my lord, the boys, as soon as they can discharge a gun, frequently exercise themselves therewith, some a fowling, and others a hunting. The • Store vessels bound to Boston, taken by the conti- nental captains. 266 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. great quantities of game, the many kinds and the great privileges of killing, making the Americans the best marksmen in the world, and thousands support their families princi- pally by the same, particularly riflemen on the frontiers, whose objects are deer and turkeys. In marching through woods, one thousand of these riflemen would cut to pieces ten thou- sand of your best troops. I don't, my lord, speak at random, or write partially ; I have travelled too much among these men to be in- sensible of their abilitfes. — Oh, my lord ! if your lordship knew but one half what I know of America, your lordship would not persist, but be instantly for peace, or resign. But, my lord, construe this epistle as you please, nevertheless, my meaning is, that it should not in the least convey, or even hint, anything about the legality or illegality of the unhappy dispute. Many great and celebrated writers have moved every ner%'e, but hitherto in vain. What then can I do, who am but a babe ? Not much truly ; but when a house is in flames, all run, without distinction, some with buckets, some with grapplings, and others with engines, wishing they providentially may e.xtinguish the fire. Now my lord the British empire is really in flames. I cannot therefore be inactive. Suffer then the insignificant with the most significant, to help forward with some- thing. I present therefore for your lordship's acceptance, an engine of facts ; the car\'ed works are but homely, but the essential parts are sound, and substantial : try them lawfully and faithfully, and I (by God's permission) will pledge my life they will stand the test; facts are at all times proof against the most invete- rate foes. By way of appurtenances, I must add — up the North river, in the province of New-York, there is erected an impregnable fort, against which vessels cannot possibly many minutes survive. In the New England governments, batteries are already made before most of their sea-ports. The minute-men, be- fore mentioned, like firemen, have all things proper and ready to attend on the first alarm. The American coast, long as it is, both by land and sea, is faithfully watched, and posts are everywhere established. Whether, there- fore, administration have in view the east or west of the continent, it matters not ; set but a foot ashore to execute their plan, and the same will instantly find enemies ; nay, let thou- sands be landed, and they will immediately find swarms of foes ; for the electrical posts riding day and night will soon make them sen- sible thereof. My lord, administration have not one friend they can call theirs, in every respect, that is a resident among the Ameri- cans ; they have several, it is true, who, for sordid gain, act under the rose, but woe to them if they should be discovered. — Many ex- amples have been already made, and this may be relied on, that in a few months (as ways and means are now under consideration) ad- ministration will in every respect in America be friendless. The destroying of Falmouth, and Lord Dunmore's proclamation, proclaim- ing a jubilee to the slaves and convicts in Vir- ginia, provided they repair to the royal stand- ard in due time, have e.xasperated the Ameri- cans beyond description, and made the breach infinitely wider. — A few days ago his lordship's party was repulsed with great loss. His lord- ship, my lord, can do nothing but cause the men and treasure now under his command to be sac- rificed and expended in vain ; for he is surround- ed by hundreds of the best riflemen, who have driven his troops out of their intrenchments, etc. Most, if not all, by this time, of his majesty's governors are afloat, and rendered incapable of fulfilling your lordship's commands.* The most celebrated military authors are re- printed for the use of the young officers, that they may be furnished with every pre-requisite against spring. The ship-carpenters are very busy in getting the rest of the privateers ready, and also other hands to equip them wholly for sailing. Now, right honorable sir, what will you do .' — Where will your lordship look .' Where can administration fix their ideas with the least view of success ? Say, my lord, that their troops are good ; the Americans have again and again repulsed them ; not one plan of administration hath had the wished for success ; in general they have turned out abortive ? — Say further, that 20 or 30,000, nay double the numbers, shall be sent to subdue the Americans — 20,000 (descending to the camp phrase) may nearly serve for a breakfast, or rather do for a relish, and so, from time to time, British troops may be transported /or the American sacrifice. But administration can destroy all their sea ports : I reply, a few months ago they might have wrought such devastation, but now they will find it impracticable. Some harbors are blocked up, batteries before others erected, as above mentioned, and when the ice impedi- ments are dissolved in their harbors, no mar- vel, my lord, if some of the British armament, as well as transports or store-ships, be taken : about an hundred privateers, with the most in- trepid marines, and those persons who, last nat- * Each riding at anchor before his govemment, or as near as convenience will admit. MARYLAND. 267 ural war, immortalized their names, again cho- sen for captains, are (touching their schemes) no contemptible enemy by sea. Convinced I am fully, that an hundred thousand of the best troops Europe can raise will not subdue the Americans, nor make them acquiesce in the parliamentary claims. — Let government say what they please in favor of their forces — remember, my lord, the Americans have just such blood, the like courage, the same spirits, and are equal in color and stature, and as well disciplined. Some of their fathers, grand-fath- ers, and great-grandfathers, are to British dust returned, and in silent repose, while their sons and grandsons are struggling for their birth-rights ; for they traditionally or constitu- tionally retain the idea of liberty, and with him of old say, " God forbid that we should sell the inheritance of our fathers ! " — Whether this be believed or not, I don't know ; but one thing I know, albeit the king requesteth, nevertheless, like Naboth, they will resist even unto death. — Blessed be God, we have no Jezebel to stir up his majesty, for his consort is the best of queens, and as such the Americans extol her majesty daily. Perhaps, my lord, this may be viewed as partiality ; but I can assure your lordship. I write from conviction, and not from a partial spirit. If I am charged anywhere herein with partiality, as it is most natural and also very fashionable now to act the sycophant where one's interest is, I certainly flatter your lordship (as I fear too many have), for I have no interest nor kindred here, nor hopes of in- terest for, or reward for anything of this nature that I have done or can do. But I have immense hopes and views. My time here is very short, and ere long I shall be in a world of spirits, where the most noble, the right hon- orable and reverend persons must all appear ; " I know not therefore how to give flattering titles unto man : for in so doing my Maker would soon take me away." If, figuratively, two persons may represent both parties in dispute, there is a striking sim- ilarity in sacred writ, with which your lordship is perfectly acquainted, and by which I beg permission to mention the following things. I view both sides, as to their precious blood, as good old Jacob viewed his sons, Joseph and Benjamin, and am equally with him unwilling that either should be slain. If the British troops must be represented by the elder brother, grieved to my very heart I must be to hear that he is sacrificed ; and if the Ameri- can forces may be compared to the younger, I shall equally lament his death. — May God, of his infinite mercy, save both by a speedy ac- commodation. Benjamin hath repeatedly pe- titioned Joseph for redress of grievances ; but Joseph would not receive his petition, but made himself strange, and spake roughly unto him, charging him with having and holding unjustly Pharaoh's cup,* of which the poor lad is perfectly innocent. — Oh ! that Joseph would take Benjamin in his arms and embrace him, for they are brothers ! If Benjamin have erred, let the age and wisdom of Joseph over- look and obliterate all ; let him no longer refrain, but fall on his neck and kiss him, and let love and virtue re-unite them. As Joseph embraced and owned Benjamin as his brother, and returned his money, so let the parent state embrace and own the colonies without fee or reward, and instantly the sword on both sides will be sheathed ; and then Benjamin, as usual, will go and carry corn and money to Joseph, and take his superb clothing in exchange. But if Joseph will yet refrain and not be recon- ciled, Benjamin is determined to clothe him- self with his own wool, and keep his money and send his corn to other merchantmen. Let facts, my lord, apologize for prolixity ; I will conclude now with a few lines. The Americans may be led with a hair ; but they have too much English blood in them, are too well disciplined, and too numerous to be driven, t\tn by an hundred thousand of the best forces government can raise. Where government can produce one thousand on the continent, America, with as much ease and expense, can produce ten thousand in oppo- sition : for men, women and children are against the proceedings of administration throughout the united colonies to a wonderful majority. The women, both old and young, being greatly irritated at the inflexibility of ad- ministration, are not only willing their sons and brothers should turn out in the field, but also declare that they will give them up and themselves likewise as a sacrifice before they will bow to Pharaoh's task-masters ; this makes the raising of troops on the continent very easy. Let a person go into any province, city, town, or county, and ask the females, " Are you willing your sons or brothers should go for soldiers and defend their liberties?" they would severally answer, " Yes, with all my soul, and if they won't go I won't own them as my sons, or brothers; for I'll help myself if there should be any need of mine : if I can't stand in the ranks, I can help for- ward with powder, balls, and provisions," and presently this will appear more pellucid. Last * Not rendering unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's. 268 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. summer I saw in Philadelphia a company of school-boys, called the Academy company, in their uniforms, with real arms and colors. Upon this, I asked how many such companies were in the city, and for what they were de- signed ; to which I was answered by a gentle- woman, the mother of two of this company, " there are three companies, and as to the design, they are to learn the art or theory of war ; and if there should be any occasion for them in the field of battle, they will go, for they are all volunteers ; but I for my part am, I do aver, sir, heartily willing to sacrifice my sons, believing that with such sacrifice God is well pleased : for he has hitherto marvellously blessed our arms and conquered our enemies for us, and he who, in the days of his flesh, spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, will in the end, I doubt not, evince to the world that he is conqueror." This, my lord, is the language of the American women ; your lordship knows it is generally the reverse with the English, the mothers' and sisters' lives are bound up in the boys ; but I am afraid I shall trespass on your lordship's patience : Therefore, In the great name, and for the sake of the ever blessed Trinity, I now beseech your lord- ship to weigh thoroughly, and with patience, impartiality, and love, this narrative of facts ; and may that ever blessed adorable person, Jesus Christ, the wonderful counsellor and prince of peace, give your lordship a right judgment and understanding in all things, and counsel and influence administration to act wisely, and repeal the acts in dispute, and so make peace. I am, my lord, your lordship's ready and willing servant, for Christ's sake, B. P. ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY To THE PEOPLE OF M.4RYLAND. Annapolis, Juiy 7, 1780. Friends and countrymen. — A free people, from whom the trust and powers of govern- ment are delegated to a representative council, for the better management of the public inter- ests, have a right to be informed at all times, but more especially in great emergencies, of the true situation of their affairs. Duty, there- fore, as well as inclination, prompts us to lay before you the exigencies and the danger of this, in common with our sister states ; to dis- close our wants, our resources, and the means of calling them forth in support of the justest cause and noblest ends a people can contend for. The enemy, convinced by fatal experience, that force and artifice alone will never subdue the stubborn spirit of liberty, have long de- pended on the failure of our public credit to accomplish their views of conquest : the rapid depreciation of our paper currency, principally owing to the not imposing taxes in due time, as somewhat adequate to the public demands, and the abilities of the people to pay, had given foundation to the opniion, that these states, from the want of money to support the war, would at length give up the contest, and bend to the galling yoke of Britain. The event, how- ever, we trust will discover this opinion to be as vain and delusive, as many others entertained by our inveterate foe. The congress has recommended to the states a plan for calling in their bills of credit, by taxes or otherwise, which has been adopted by this and several others of the states. Taxes, equally laid, quickly col- lected, and faithfully applied, are necessary to give efficacy to the plan, and to restore, and when restored, to preserve public credit. — Ex- perience has taught us the necessity of taxation : a free people, seeing that necessity, and the importance of victory, on which their liberty depends, needs no exhortation to submit, even with cheerfulness, to the heaviest taxes : reflect, that these will be but temporary, and the bene- fits resulting from them most extensive and permanent ; if adequate and timely exertions are made, the war, probably, may be speedily ended, and will not leave us incumbered with a load of debt, under which the present and future generations must otherwise inevitably labor: by timely and due exertions we shall avoid the evils inseparable from a great national debt. The taxes hitherto imposed cannot be complained of as very burthensome : our present debt, when compared with our probable re- sources in peace, is far from being alarming ; a lingering war, however, besides consuming our inhabitants, wasting our resources, accu- mulating expense, will subject our country to the cruel and wanton devastations of an enemy, who never yet used even transient victories with moderation. What strong incentives to the most vigorous and spirited efforts are de- ducible from these reflections ! Rise then into action with that ardor which, despising, over- comes all difficulties, and which led you, desti- tute of money, of allies, of arms and soldiers to encounter one of the most powerful nations in Europe. Single, and unsupported, raw and undisciplined, you baffled for three successive years the repeated attacks of numerous and veteran bands. Shall we now, when strength- ened by a mighty alliance, drop and desert the MARYLAND. 269 field, to which honor, the strongest ties, the dearest interests of humanity, point ; to which victory itself invites us ? A warlike, potent, and magnanimous nation, has espoused our cause with all that warmth of friendship, and is determined to yield us powerful aid, a respectable land and naval force may be daily expected on our coast from France, ready to act under the orders of our patriotic general. How disgraceful would it be to this state, were it any ways accessary in laying that great, and good man, under the humiliating necessity of avowing to our allies an inability to under- take any enterprise of consequence against the common enemy ; particularly, if that weakness should proceed, not from the real inability of this, and the other states, but from the supine- ness, or the want of spirit in their people ! We have hitherto done our duty ; the general has acknowledged our exertions, and we entreat you by all that is dear to freemen, not to forfeit the reputation you have so justly acquired : let us set an example of fortitude, perseverance and disinterestedness ; these vir- tues form the character of true republicans : beware, lest an inordinate love of riches should mark too strongly ours ; remember, that you entered upon this war, not through choice, but necessity ; not to acquire wealth, or power, but to preserve liberty and property : remember that your cause is righteous, that you had not recourse to arms, until the bayonet uplifted to your breasts, a discretionary surrender of all that is valuable to man, was demanded with menaces of hostile force, and with all the inso- lence of conscious power : remember too that you have pledged to each other your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honor, in defence of those rights, without the enjoyment of which, life is but miser)-, and government a curse. The general has called upon us to complete our battalions, and for a reinforcement of 2205 militia, to join him with all expedition. Considering the approach of harvest, and at- tentive to your ease and convenience, we have offered to raise an additional battalion, in lieu of the militia, and we have the satisfaction to inform you, that the general has approved the offer, on condition that this battalion be ready at the place of rendezvous by the last of this month at farthest. By the law, printed for your information, and with which we entreat your ready compliance, you will perceive that we have held out the most liberal encourage- ment for recruits, upon principles of equal- ity and justice. If, from negligence, indif- ference, or the dread of danger and fatigue, motives too degrading to be imputed to free- men, or from any other cause, this battalion should not be raised in time, we have directed the militia to be called out in classes, to supply the place of regular troops : your duty, your interest, and no doubt your inclination, will impel you to second the views of your repre- sentatives ; without your co-operation, in vain may we make laws, or concert plans for the general cause ; these must remain as dead let- ters, unless inspirited by your zeal and activity. We have the honor to represent men who, sensible of the blessings of liberty, must know, that the continuance of them rests altogether on the successful issue of this war. You feel not, indeed, at present, those distresses, which our brethren, whose country is the immediate scene of action, are exposed to ; their calami- ties, therefore, possibly may make a lighter impression on your minds. Contemplate, we beseech you, the ravages committed by the British forces on the plains of Jersey ; behold the dwellings of the poor and rich in flames, or reduced to ashes ; the fruits of a long and laborious industry swept instantly away as by a torrent ; view the helpless infant, the aged parent, the tender virgin, victims to the savage fury, and unbridled lusts of an insolent soldiery ; vievv these scenes of horror and dismay ; rouse, and revenge these wrongs, for these we too in our turn shall feel, if we refuse our aid to drive these spoilers and invaders from our land : emulate the conduct of the brave militia of our sister states ; the proofs of courage and patriot- ism, which they have exhibited, you cannot but applaud, and therefore must wish to imitate, and, if possible, surpass. The prize we are contending for is inestim- able ; the blood of those heroes, which has been shed in this just and glorious cause, the inviolable ties of plighted faith, the necessity of conquering, gratitude to our illustrious general, and to the brave men under his command, all, conspiring, call aloud for our redoubled efforts. Our army is weak, and reinforced it must be, to act on the defensive, or offensively, as cir- cumstances may require ; reinforcements, pro- portionable to those demanded from this, are to be furnished by the other states. The fall of Chariestown, and the distress of our brave friends in that quarter, have infused fresh vigor into the councils of America; let us, like the Romans of old, draw new resources and an increise of courage, even from defeats, and manifest to the world, that we are the most to be dreaded, when most depressed. By order of the general assembly, Dan. of St. Tho. Jenifer, Pres. Sec. JOSIAS Beall, Spr, Ho. Del. 270 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ADDRESS Of the citizens of Baltimore to the Hon. Major General, the Marquis de LA Fayette. Baltimore, November 15, 1781. It is with peculiar satisfaction tliat the citizens of Baltimore embrace the present moment, to express a gratitude which they will always owe to major general the marquis de la Fayette ; and to congratulate him, per- sonally, on the late important events in Virginia and South Carolina, so glorious and consequen- tial to America. Among the first in our cause, you early found a way to our affections, with him, who has struggled with our various difficulties since their beginning. At a time when we had no ally, you were our friend ; and when we gained an ally, your presence and good offices could not but increase a cordiality which must render our union with France permanent. In particular, we cannot sufficiently acknowl- edge our sense of your late campaign in Virginia, where, with a few regulars and militia, you opposed the British commander, from whose large army, and military talents this state had such serious cause of apprehension. These things, sir, have rendered you dear to us, and we feel the highest gratification in see- ing, once more, in our town, the man who will always hold a first place in our hearts. tion to the inhabitants of Baltimore ; at the end of it I find myself bound to them by a new tic of everlasting gratitude. L.A Fayette. REPLY Of Major General de la Fayette to the address of the citizens of Balti- more. Baltimore, November 15. 1781. In the affectionate attentions of the citizens of a free town, I would find a reward for the services of a whole life. The honor to have been among the first American soldiers, is for me a source of the greatest happiness. I participate with you in the glorious events that have taken place under his excellency, general Washington's immediate command, and under general Greene. I enjoy the effects these will have on the success of our noble cause and particularly the advantages which they will afford to this state. The time when I had the honor to command the array in Virginia, which you are pleased so politely to mention, has only shewn that the courage and fortitude of American troops are superior to every kind of difficulty. My campaign began with a personal obliga- ADDRESS To Count de Rochambeau, by the Mer- chants of Baltimore. Balti.more, Juiy 29, 1782, Yesterday a deputation of the merchants of this town, waited upon his excellency Count de Rochambeau, and presented him the following address, expressing their grateful sentiments of his very polite attention to their request for protection of the trade, etc. To his excellency /he COWT DE ROCHAMBEAU, commander in chief of the auxiliary troops of his most Christian majesty, in the United States. We, the merchants of the town of Baltimore, impressed with a grateful sense of the impor- tant ser\'ices rendered by your excellency, and the gallant forces under your command, to the United States, and more particularly to the state of Maryland, beg leave to wait upon your excellency, and return you our most sincere thanks, in this public fnanner, for the distin- guished aid and protection, which you have, from time to time, so willingly affiarded to the commercial interests of this state, and to inform your excellency, that we are happy in the oppor- tunity of paying you this tribute, so justly due to distinguished merit. And, permit us, sir, on this occasion, to observe, that when the distresses of this country rendered an application to the French nation for assistance necessary, the wisdom of your sovereign pointed out your excellency as the grand instrument to assist in our salvation ; and, with gratitude, we remark, that the objects of your appointment have been fully answered, and the events that have taken place, since your happy arrival in America, and in which you acted so distinguished a part, fully evince the propriety of your sovereign's choice, and the magnanimity of his intentions toward us — for we have seen a British army, numerous and well appointed, become prisoners of war to the united exertions of the combined armies of France and America — an event that was con- siderably accelerated by the great experience and military talents of your excellency, and the valor of the officers and soldiers under your command, and which, we trust, will tend event- MARYLAND. 271 ually to the establishment of the rights and liberties of this country, the purposes for which you have so generously drawn your sword. And we beg leave also, amid the general joy diffused by the birth of a Dauphin of France to congratulate your excellency on that auspi- cious event ; and it is our fer\'ent wish and prayers, that he may long live to tread the footsteps of his illustrious father, in being the friend of the distressed, and the advocate for the liberties of mankind. In hopes that your excellency will enjoy health and happiness, while you reside among us, and on return to your native country, may you be rewarded by your sovereign, in propor- tion to your merits and services — we remain, with sentiments of gratitude and esteem, on behalf of the merchants of Baltimore, your excellency's most obedient servants, Samuel Purviance, Richard Curson, Samuel Smith, Mark. Pringle, William Patterson. REPLY Of Count de Rochambeau. Baltimore, July^ 178a, To the merchants of the to'uw of Baltimore. Gentlemen — The intentions of the king, my master, toward his faithful allies, being that his auxiliary troops should not only protect the liberties of the United States, but watch over their commercial interests, as often and as much as would be in their power, I have felt a peculiar pleasure to have been able to render some service to your state. The noblest reward for me is. without doubt, the approbation of such a respectable body of citizens. The praises which you are pleased to bestow on my conduct, and that of the officers and soldiers under my command, are due, in a great measure, to his excellency general Wash- ington, and his army, to whose exertions we have had the honor to co-operate, in the reduc- tion of the British army at York-Town. My sovereign will certainly be impressed with a grateful sense of the general joy which has been diffused among the people of all ranks in the United States, upon the birth of an heir to his kingdom. I shall not fail to make him acquainted with your patriotic and generous wishes. I embrace with pleasure, gentlemen, this occasion, to render you my sincere thanks foi the readiness with which you have taken in your houses our staff-office: s and others, whose duty and station renders the convenience of a house absolutely necessary to them. I flatter myself that they will maintain, with you, that good understanding, and harmony of sentiments, which we have been happy enough to experience, till now, from your fellow citizens in the different states. Le Cte de Rochambeau. ADDRESS Of the Governor to Count de Rocham- beau. Annapolis, August 15, 178a. On Saturday last arrived in this city, on a visit to our governor, his excellency count Rocham- beau, commander in chief of the auxiliary army in the United States, accompanied by the Count Dillon, and several other French officers of dis- tinction, and on Monday morning set out on his return to Baltimore. To his excellency COUNT DE ROCHAMBEAU, commander in chief of the auxiliary army in the United States. Annapolis, .4ug. n, 1782. Sir — It is with singular pleasure, that the ex- ecutive of Mar\land embrace the opportunity af- forded by your arrival in this city, of offering your excellency every mark of esteem and respect. Accept, sir, our warmest thanks for the dis- tinguished part you sustained in the reduction of York ; to the wisdom of your counsels, the vigor of your conduct, the bravery of the troops under your command, and to the judicious exertions of the Count de Grasse, the success obtained by the allied army is, in a great degree, to be attributed. We are happy to assure your excellency, that the people of this state, deeply interested in every event which can promote the felicity of your illustrious monarch, or his kingdom, received with the most lively demonstrations of joy, the account of the birth of a Dauphin. That the young prince may emulate the virtues, and inherit the dominions of his royal father, and that the union, founded on the most gen- erous equality, and cemented by the blood of both nations, may endure forever, is our fervent wish ; the incidents of war have only more strongly united our affections, and we doubt not, that the ancient spirit of France, with her numerous resources, will soon humble the pride of our common enemy. The ready protection afforded by your excel- lency to the commerce of Mar>'land, demands our grateful acknowledgments ; the decorum and exemplary discipline observed by your 2/2 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. troops, on their march through the state, have given entire satisfaction to our citizens ; our duty and inclination will prompt us to do ever)' thing in our power for their convenience ; and we request your excellency to communicate to the generals and other officers of your army the high sense we entertain of their merit, and the affection and regard we have for their per- sons and characters. In behalf of the executive, Thomas S. Lee. Reply of the Count De Rochambeau. To his excellency the governor, and the honor- able council of the state of Maryland. Annapolis, August ii, 1782. I am very sensible of the marks of friendship and affection that I receive from his excellency the governor, and the honorable council of the state of Maryland. If we have been happy enough to contribute toward the success of their arms, under our commander in chief, his excellency General Washington, we receive the most flattering marks of approbation, by the very cordial re- ception the French army meet with from all the inhabitants of this state. The great joy and interests they have been pleased to show, on account of the birth of the Dauphin, will undoubtedly, be very agreeable to the king my master ; he will be equally flat- tered at the warmth with which the state of Mar)'land support their alliance, and wish it to be lasting. The strict discipline of the troops, is the least mark of gratitude that we could give to a state from which we receive so many proofs of attachment and friendship. I have the honor to be, your obedient and most humble servant, Le Compte De Rochambeau. VIRGINIA. PROCEEDINGS Of Delegates assembled at Williams- burg, Va., August i, 1774. At a very full meeting of the delegates from the different counties in the colony and do- minion of Virginia, begun in Williams- burg, the first day of August, in the year of our Lord 1774, and continued by sez'eral adjournments to Saturday the 6th of the said month, the follozuitig association was unani- mously resolved upon and agreed to. We, his majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the delegates of the freeholders of Virginia, deputed to represent them at a general meet- ing in the city of Williamsburg, avowing our inviolable and unshaken fidelity and attach- ment, to our most gracious sovereign, our regard and affection for all our friends and fel- low subjects in Great Britain and elsewhere, protesting against every act or thing, which may have the most distant tendency to inter- rupt, or in anywise disturb his majesty's peace, and the good order of government, within this his ancient colony, which we are resolved to maintain and defend, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, but at the same time affected with the deepest anxiety, and most alarming apprehensions, of those grievances and distres- ses by which his majesty's American subjects are oppressed, and having taken under our most serious deliberation, the state of the whole con- tinent, find that the present unhappy situation of our affairs is chiefly occasioned by certain ill-advised regulations, as well of our trade as internal policy, introduced by several unconsti- tutional acts of the British parliament, and at length, attempted to be enforced by the hand of power ; solely influenced by these important and weighty considerations, we think it an in- dispensable duty, which we owe to our country, ourselves, and latest posterity, to guard against such dangerous and extensive mischiefs, by every just and proper means. If, by the measures adopted, some unhappy consequences and inconveniences should be derived to our fellow subjects, whom we wish not to injure in the smallest degree, we hope and flatter ourselves, that they will impute them to their real cause — the hard necessity to which we are driven. That the good people of this colony may, on so trying an occasion, continue steadfastly directed to their most essential interests, in hopes that they will be influenced and stim- ulated by our example to the greatest industry, the strictest economy, and frugality, and the VIRGINIA. 273 execution of every public virtue, persuaded that the merchants, manufacturers, and other inhab- itants of Great Britain, and, above all, that the British parliament will be convinced how much the true interest of that kingdom must depend on the restoration and continuance of that mutual friendship and cordiality, which so happily subsisted between us, we have unani- mously, and, with one voice, entered into the following resolutions and association, which we do oblige ourselves, by those sacred ties of honor and love to our country, strictly to ob- serve ; and further declare, before God and the world, that we will religiously adhere to and keep the same inviolate, in every particular, until redress of all such American grievances as may be defined and settled at the general congress of delegates from the different col- onies, shall be fully obtained, or until this asso- ciation shall be abrogated or altered- by a gen- eral meeting of the deputies of this colony, to be convened, as is herein after directed. And we do, with the greatest earnestness, recom- mend this our association, to all gentlemen, merchants, traders, and other inhabitants of this colony, hoping that they will cheerfully and cordially accede thereto. 1st. We do hereby resolve and declare that we will not, either directly or indirectly, after the first day of November next, import from Great Britain, any goods, wares, or merchan- dises, whatever, (medicines excepted,) nor will we, after that day, import any British manu- factures, either from the West-Indies or any other place, nor any article whatever, which we shall know, or have reason to believe, was brought into such countries from Great Britain, nor will we purchase any such articles so im- ported, of any person or persons whatsoever, except such as are now in the country, or such as may arrive on or before the said first day of November, in consequence of orders already given, and which cannot now be counter- manded in time. 2dly. We will neither ourselves import, nor purchase any slave, or slaves, imported by any person, after the first day of November next, either from Africa, the West-Indies, or any other place. 3dly. Considering the article of tea as the detestable instrument which laid the founda- tion of the present sufferings of our distressed friends in the town of Boston, we view it with horror, and therefore, resolve that we will not, from this day, either import tea of any kind whatever, nor will we use or suffer, even such of it as is now at hand, to be used in any of our families. r8 4thly. If the inhabitants of the town of Bos- ton, or any other colony, should, by violence or dire necessity, be compelled to pay the East- India company for destroying any tea, which they have lately, by their agents, unjustly at- tempted to force into the colonies, we will not, directly or indirectly, import or purchase any British East-India commodity whatever, till the company, or some other person, on their behalf, shall refund and fully restore to the owners, all such sum or sums of money as may be so extorted. 5thly. We do resolve, that unless American grievances be redressed before the loth day of August, 1775, we will not, after that day, di- rectly or indirectly, export tobacco or any other article whatever, to Great Britain ; nor will we sell any such articles as we think can be exported to Great Britain with a prospect of gain, to any person or persons whatever, with a design of putting it into his or their power to export the same to Great Britain, either on our own. his or their account. And that this resolution may be the more effectu- ally carried into execution, we do hereby re- commend it to the inhabitants of this colony, to refrain from the cultivation of tobacco as much as conveniently may be, and in lieu thereof that they will, as we resolve to do, apply their attention and industry, to the culti- vation of all such articles, as may form a proper basis for manufactures of all sorts, which we will endeavor to encourage through- out this colony to the utmost of our abilities. 6thly. We will endeavor to improve our breed of sheep, and increase their number to the utmost extent, and to this end, we will be as sparing as we conveniently can in killing of sheep, especially those of the most profitable kind, and if we should at any time be over- stocked and can conveniently soare any we will dispose of them to our neighbors, especially the poorer sort of people, upon moderate terms. 7thly. Resolved, that the merchants and others, venders of goods and merchandises within this colony, ought not to take advan- tage of the scarcity of goods that may be occa- sioned by this association, but that they ought to sell the same, at the rates they have been accustomed to for twelve months past, and if they shall sell any such goods on higher terms, or shall in any manner, or by any device what- ever, violate or depart from this resolution, we will not, and are of opinion that no inhabitant of this colony ought, at any time thereafter, to deal with any such persons, their factors, or agents, for any commodity whatever ; and it is 274 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. recommended to the deputies of the several counties, that committees be chosen in each county, by such persons as accede to this asso- ciation, to take effectual care that these re- solves be properly observed, and for corre- sponding occasionally with the general commit- tee of correspondence in the city of Williams- burg. Provided that, if exchange should rise, such advance may be made in the prices of goods as shall be approved by the committee of each county. Sthly. In order the better to distinguish such worthy merchants and traders, who are well wishers to this colony, from those who may attempt, through motives of self-interest, to obstruct our views, we do hereby resolve, that we will not, after the first day of Novem- ber next, deal with any merchant or trader, who will not sign this association, nor until he hath obtained a certificate of his having done so from the county committee, or any three members thereof And if any merchant, trader, or other persons, shall import any goods or merchandise, after the first day of November, contrary to this association, we give it as our opinion, that such goods and merchandise should be either forthwith re-shipped, or deliv- ered up to the county committee, to be stored at the risk of the importer, unless such im- porter shall give a proper assurance to the said committee, that such goods or merchandises shall not be sold within this colony during the continuance of this association ; and if such importer shall refuse to comply with one or the other of these terms, upon application and due caution given to him or her, by the said com- mittee, or any three members thereof, such committee is required to publish the truth of the case in the Gazettes, and in the county where he or she resides, and we will thereafter consider such person or persons as inimical to this countr)', and break off every connection and all dealings with them. 9thly. Resolved, That if any person or per- sons shall export tobacco, or any other com- modity, to Great Britain, after the loth day of August, 1775, contrary to this association, we shall hold ourselves obliged to consider such person or persons as inimical to the commu- nity, and as an approz'er of American griti'- antes ; and give it as our opinion, that the public should be advertised of his conduct, as in the 8th article is desired. lothly. Being fully persuaded that the united wisdom of the general congress may improve these our endeavors to preserve the -rights and liberties in British America, we de- cline enlarging at present, but do hereby resolve that we will conform to, and strictly observe, all such alterations, or additions, assented to by the delegates for this colony, as they may judge it necessary to adopt, after the same shall be published and made known to us. iithly. Resolved, That we think ourselves called upon by every principle of humanity and brotherly affection, to extend the utmost and speediest relief to our distressed fellow subjects in the town of Boston, and therefore most earnestly recommend it to all the inhabitants of this colony, to make such liberal contribu- tions as they can afford ; to be collected and remitted to Boston, in such manner as may best answer so desirable a purpose. I2thly, and lastly. Resolved, That the mod- erator of this meeting, and, in case of his death, Robert Carter Nicholas, esquire, be empowered, on any future occasion, that may in his opinion require it, to convene the several delegates of this colony, at such time and place as he may judge proper ; and in case of the death or ab- sence of any delegate, it is recommended that another be chosen in his place. Peyton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, junior. Southy Simpson, Isaac Smith, J. Walker, Thomas Jefferson, John Tabb, John Winn, William Cabell, Joseph Cabell, Frederick Macklin, Henry Tazewell, Henry Bell, R. Rutherford, William Acrill, P. Carrington, James Speed, Archibald Cary, B. Wat kins, Henry Pendleton, Henry Field, junior, William Fleming, John Mayo, Robert Boiling, John Banister, Francis Slaughter, Henry King, Meriwether Smith, Charles Broadwater, Thomas Marshall, James Scott, junior, Isaac Zane, George Rootes, Thomas Whiting, Lewis Burwell, Thomas M. Randolph, John Woodson, Nathaniel Terry, Micajah Watkins, J. Mercer, J. Syme, Richard Adams, Samuel Du Val, William Norwell, John S. Wills, John Day, Richard Hardy, Joseph Jones, William Fitzhugh, George Brooke, George Lyne, Carter Braxton, William Aylett, James Selden, Charles Carter, Francis Peyton, Thomas Walker, Thomas Pettus, Edmund Berkeley, James Montagjue, VIRGINIA. 575 Worlich Westwood, James Edmonson, W. Roane, Benjamin Baker, Burwell Basset, B. Dandridge, Thomas Newton, jun. James Holt, Adiel Milby, John Bowdoin, Peter Presley Thornton Rodham Kenner, Thomas Barbour, William Bibb, John Morton, Peter Poythress, William Robinson, Christopher Wright, Henry Lee, T. Blackburn, Robt. Wormeley Carter, Robert Burton, Benner Goode, Lemuel Riddick, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Edwin Gray, Henry Taylor, George Stubblefield, Mann Page, jun. John Alexander, C. Carter, ,AlIen Cocke, Nicholas Faulcon, jun. Davie Mason, Michael Blow, William Hanvood, William Langhorne, Richard Lee, Dudley Digges, Thomas Nelson, jun. Champion Travie, .Joseph Hutchings. INSTRUCTIONS To THE Delegates to congress, LIAMSBURG, I774. WlL- The unhappy disputes between Great Britain and her American colonies, which began about the third year of the reign of his present maj- esty, and since continually increasing, have proceeded to lengths so dangerous and alarm- ing as to excite just apprehensions, in the minds of his majesty's faithful subjects of this colony, that they are in danger of being deprived of their natural, ancient, constitutional, and char- tered rights, have compelled them to take the same into their most serious consideration ; and being deprived of their usual and accus- tomed mode of making known their grievances, have appointed us their representatives to con- sider what is proper to be done in this danger- ous crisis of American affairs. It being our opinion that the united wisdom of North America should be collected in a general con- gress of all the colonies, we have appointed the honorable Peyton Randolph, esquire, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, esquires, deputies to re- present this colony in the said congress, to be held at Philadelphia on the first Monday in September next. And that they may be the better informed of our sentiments, touching the conduct we wish them to observe on this important occa- sion, we desire they will express, in the first place, our faith and true allegiance to his ma- jesty, king George the third, our lawful and rightful sovereign ; and that we are determined with our lives and fortunes, to support him in the /f£-a/ exercise of all his just rights and pre- rogatives ; and however misrepresented, we sincerely approve ofa constitutional connection with Great Britain, and wish most ardently a return of that intercourse of affection and com- mercial connection that formerly united both countries, which can only be effected by a removal of those causes of discontent which have of late unhappily divided us. It cannot admit of a doubt but that British subjects in America, are entitled to the same rights and privileges as their fellow subjects possess in Britain ; and therefore, that the power assumed by the British parliament to bind America by their statutes, in all cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional, and the source of these unhappy differences. The end of government would be defeated by the British parliament exercising a power over the lives, the property, and the liberty of the American subject ; who are not, and from their local circumstances cannot, be there re- presented. Of this nature we consider the several acts of parliament for raising a revenue in America, for extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty, for seizing American subjects and transporting them to Britain to be tried for crimes committed in America, and the several late oppressive acts respecting the town of Boston, and province of the Massa- chusetts-Bay. The original constitution of the American colonies possessing their assemblies with the sole right of directing their internal polity, it is absolutely destructive of the end of their insti- tution that their legislatures should be sus- pended, or prevented, by hasty dissolutions, from exercising their legislative power. Wanting the protection of Britain, we have long acquiesced in their acts of navigation restrictive of our commerce, which we consider as an ample recompense for such protection ; but as those acts derive their efficacy from that foundation alone, we have reason to expect they will be restrained, so as to produce the reasonable purposes of Britain, without being injurious to us. To obtain a redress of those grievances, with- out which the people of America can neither be safe, free, nor happy, they are willing to under- go the great inconvenience that will be derived to them from stopping all imports whatsoever from Great Britain, after the first day of No- vember next, and also to cease exporting any 276 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION, commodity whatsoever, to the same place, after the loth day of August, 1775. The earnest desire we have, to make as quiclc and full pay- ment, as possible, of our debts to Great Bri- tain, and to avoid the heavy injury that would arise to this country from an earlier adoption of the non-exportation plan, after the people have already applied so much of their labor to the perfecting of the present crop, by which means they have been prevented from pursuing other methods of clothing and supporting their families, have rendered it necessary to restrain you in this article of non-exportation ; but it is our desire that you cordially co-operate with our sister colonies, in general congress, in such other just and proper methods as they, or the majority, shall deem necessary for the accom- plishment of these valuable ends. The proclamation issued by general Gage, in the government of the province of the Massa- chusetts-Bay, declaring it treason for the in- habitants of that province to assemble them- selves to consider of their grievances, and form associations for their common conduct on the occasion, and requiring the civil magistrates and officers to apprehend all such persons to be tried for their supposed offences, is the most alarming process that ever appeared in a Brit- ish government ; that the said general Gage hath thereby assumed and taken upon himself power denied by the constitution to our legal sovereign ; that he, not having condescended to disclose by what authority he exercises such extensive and unheard of powers, we are at a loss to determine whether he intends to justify himself as the representative of the king, or as the commander in chief of his majesty's forces in North America. If he considers himself as acting in the character of his majesty's repre- sentative, we would remind him, that the statute 25th Edward III. has expressed and defined all treasonable offences, and that the legislature of Great Britain hath declared that no offence shall be construed to be treason but such as is pointed out by that statute, and that this was done to take out of the hands of tyrannical kings, and of weak and uncked ministers, that deadly weapon which constructive treason had furnished them with, and which had drawn the blood of the best and honestest men in the kingdom, and that the king of Great Britain hath no right, by his proclamation, to subject his people to imprison- ment, pains, and penalties. That, if the said general Gage conceives he is empowered to act in this manner, as the com- mander in chief of his majesty's forces in Amer- ica, this, a', but then at Birmingham, in England, where he successfully applied his ex- tensive scientific knowledge to practical im- provements, in various manufactures, etc., dated May 7th, 1775, writes as follows : " Within this week, we have received the un- happy news of an action of considerable mag- nitude between the king's troops and our brethren of Boston, in which it is said 500 of the former, with the earl of Percy, were slain. That such an action has happened is un- doubted, though, perhaps, the circumstances may not yet have reached us with truth. This accident has cut off our last hopes of reconcilia- tion, and a frenzy of revenge seems to have seized all ranks of people. — It is a lamentable circumstance that the only mediatory power acknowledged by both parties, instead of lead- ing to a reconciliation this divided people, should pursue the incendiary purpose of still blowing Up the flames, as we find him con- stantly doing in ever)' speech, and public dec- laration. This may, perhaps, be intended to intimidate into an acquiescence, but the effect has been most unfortunately otherwise. A little knowledge of human nature, and atten- tion to its ordinary workings, might have fore- seen that the spirits of the people were in a state, in which they were more likely to be pro- voked than frightened by haughty deportment ; and to fill up the measure of irritation, pro- scription of individuals has been substituted in room of a just trial. Can it be believed that a grateful people will suffer those to be con- signed to execution whose sole crime has been developing and asserting their right ? Had the parliament possessed the liberty of reflec- tion, they would have avoided a measure as im- potent as it was inflammatory. When I saw lord Chatham's bill, I entertained high hopes that a reconciliation could have been brought about. The difference between his terms, and those offered by our congress, might have been ac- commodated, if entered on by both parties with a disposition to accommodate ; but the dignity of parliament, it seems, can brook no opposition to its power. Strange, that a set of men who have made sale of their virtue to the minister, should yet talk of retaining dignity ! " Thomas Jefferson to John Randolph, formerly attorney general. August as, 177s. I am sorry the situation of our country should render it not eligible to you to remain longer in it. I hope the returning wisdom of Great Britain will ere long put an end to the unnatural contest. There may be people to whose tempers and dispositions contention may be pleasing, and who may therefore wish a continuance of confusion ; but to me, it is of all states but one, the most horrid. My first wish is a restoration of our just rights ; my second a return of the happy period when, consistently with duty, I may withdraw my- self totally from the public eye, and pass the rest of my days in domestic ease and tran- quility, banishing every desire of afterwards even hearing what passes in the world. Per- haps, ardor for the latter adds considerably to the warmth of the former wish. Looking with fondness towards a reconciliation with Great Britain, I cannot help hoping you may be able to contribute towards expediting this good work. I think it must be evident to yourself that the ministry have been deceived by their ofl[icers on this side of the water, who (for what purposes I cannot tell) have con- stantly represented the American opposition as that of a small faction, in which the body of the people took little part. This you can in- form them, of your own knowledge, to be untrue. They have taken it into their heads, too, that we are cowards, and shall surrender at discretion to an armed force. The past and 4"uture operations of the war must confirm or undeceive them on that head. I wish they were thoroughly and minutely acquainted with every circumstance relative to America, as it exists in truth. I am persuaded they would go far towards disposing them to reconcilia- tion. Even those in parliament who are called friends to America, seem to know nothing of our real determinations. I observe they pro- nounced in the last parliament that the con- gress of 1774 did not mean to insist rigorously on the terms they held out, but kept something in reserve to give up, and in fact that they would give up, every thing but the right ot taxation. Now, the truth is far from this, as I can affirm, and put my honor to the assertion. Their continuing in this error may, perhaps, have very ill consequences. The congress stated the lowest terms they thought possible to be accepted, in order to convince the world they were not unreasonable. They gave up the monopoly and regulation of trade, and all acts passed prior to 1764, leaving to British 284 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. generosity to render these, at some future time, as easy to America as the interests of Great Britain could admit. I wish no false sense of honor, no ignorance of our real inten- tions, no vain hope that partial concessions of right will be accepted, may induce the ministiy to trifle with accommodation till it shall be put even out of our own power to accommodate. If, indeed. Great Britain, disjoined from her colonies be a match for the most potent na- tions of Europe, with the colonies thrown into their scale, they may go on securely ; but if they are not assured of this, it would be cer- tainly unwise, by trying the event of another campaign, to risk our accepting a foreign aid, which, perhaps, may not be unattainable but on a condition of everlasting avulsion from Great Britain. This would be thought a hard condition to those who wish for re-union with the parent country. I am sincerely one of those, and would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation ; but I am one of those too, who rather than sub- mit to the right of legislating for us, assumed by the British parliament, and which late ex- perience* has shown they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean. ACTION Of Common Council of Willi.amsburg, relative to the removal of arms be- longing to his majesty. Ai a court of common council for the city of Williamsburg, held the ?>thof May, 1775. Whereas it hath been represented to this hall, that, on the 4th inst. in the night time, some person or persons unknown, had broke * This is understood to have alluded to a bill, passed by the house of lords at their preceding session, excepting from the benefit of any general pardon which might be offered, certain individuals by name. Mr. Montague, then agent for the house of burgesses of Virginia (which place was procured for him by the interest of Peyton Randolph, speaker of the house, and his early and inti- mate friend) extracted the substance of the bill, and the names excepted, and enclosed the extract to Peyton Ran- dolph. Among the persons excepted were Hancock and one or both .\damses, as notorious leaders of the opposi- tion in Massachusetts, Patrick Henry, as the same in Virginia, Peyton Randolph, as president of the general congress at Philadelphia, and Thomas Jefferson, as author of a proposition to the convention of Virginia for an ad- dress to the king, in which was maintained that there was in right no link of union between England and the colo- nies but that of the same king, and that neither the parlia- ment, nor any other functionary of that government, had any more right to exercise authority over the colonies, thao over the electorate of Hanover, &c. into the public magazine, and taken from thence sundry fire-arms belonging to his majesty : We, the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the said city, being desirous to maintain peace, order and good government, do hereby declare our abhorrence of such unlaw- ful proceeding, and do hereby require the in- habitants to use their utmost endeavors to pre- vent the like outrage in future, and e.xhort all persons who may be in possession of any of the said arms, to return the same immediately, to be replaced in the magazine. And it having been recommended to this meeting by the governor and council, to ap- point a guard to protect the said magazine, they are of opinion that they have no authority to lay any tax for that purpose, but that if some trusty person should be appointed, by his ex- cellency the governor, to be keeper thereof, and care taken to strengthen it with proper bars, there probably would be a stop put to violences of that nature, and they do humbly recommend to his excellency, Mr. Gabriel Maupin, who lives near the magazine, as a person worthy of that trust. (A copy) Mat. Davenport, town clerk. PROCEEDINGS In Hanover county, relative to hos- tilities COMMITTED BY THE KING'S TROOPS. At a committee appointed and held for Han- over county, at the court house, on Thursday the 9th of May, 1775 — present, John Syme, Samuel Overton, William Craghead, Mcri- weather Skelton, Richard Morris, Benjamin Anderson, John Pendleton, John Robinson, Nelson Berkely, and George Dabney, jun. Agreeably to a resolution of the committee held at Newcastle the 2d inst. setting forth, that they being fully informed of the violent hostilities committed by the king's troops ia America, and of the danger arising to the colony by the loss of the public powder, and of the conduct of the governor, which threatens, altogether, calamities of the greatest magnitude and most fatal consequences to this colony, and therefore recommending reprisals to be made upon the king's property, sufficient to replace the gun-powder taken out of the maga- zine, it appears to this committee, that the volunteers who marched from Newcastle, to obtain satisfaction for the public powder, by reprisal or otherwise, proceeded on that busi- VIRGINIA. 285 ness as follows, to wit : " That an officer with 16 men was detached to seize the king's receiver general, with orders to detain him ; and this, it was supposed, might be done with- out impeding the progress of the main body. The said receiver general not being appre- hended, owing to his absence from home, the said detachment, according to orders proceeded to join the main body on its march to Williams- burg, and the junction happened the 3d instant at Uoncastle's ordinary about sunset. A little after sunrise next morning, the commanding officer being assured that proper satisfaction in money should be instantly made, the volunteers halted, and the proposal being considered by them was judged satisfactory as to that point ; and the following receipt was given, viz., " Doncastle's ordinary. New Kent, May 4, 1775: Received from the hon. Richard Cor- bin, esq. his majesty's receiver general, ^330, as a compensation for the gun-powder lately taken out of the public magazine by the gover- nor's order ; which money I promise to convey to the Virginia delegates at the general con- gress, to be under their direction, laid out in gun-powder for the colony's use, and to be stored as they shall direct, until the next colony convention or general assembly, unless it shall be necessary, in the mean time, to use the same in defence of this colony. It is agreed that in case the next convention shall determine that any part of this said money ought to be returned to his majesty's said receiver general, that the same shall be done accordingly. Test, Pat. Henry, jun." Sam. Meredith, ) Parke Goodale. f It was then considered that as a general congress would meet in a few days, and pro- bably a colony convention would shortly assem- ble, and that the reprisal now made would amply replace the powder, with the charges of transportation, the commanding officer wrote the following letter, and sent it by express. Sir — The affair of the powder is now settled, so as to produce satisfaction to me, and I earnestly wish to the colony in general. The people here have it in charge, from Hanover committee, to tender their service to you, as a public officer, for the purpose of escorting the public treasury to any place in this colony, where the money may be judged more safe than in the city of Williamsburg. The repri- sal now made by the Hanover volunteers, though accomplished in a manner least liable to the imputation of violent extremity, may possibly be the cause of future injury to the (A true copy) treasury. If therefore you apprehend the least danger, a sufficient guard is at your service. I beg the return of the bearer may be instant, because the men wish to know their destina- tion. With great regard, I am, sir, your most humble servant, Pat. Henry, jun. To Robert Carter Nicholas, esq. trcas. Test, Samuel Meredith, /,,. , Garland Anderson. [ (^ '"''^^"W) To which an answer was received from the said Mr. Nicholas, importing that he had no apprehensions of the necessity or propriety of the proffered service. For which reasons, and understanding, moreover, from others, that the private citizens of Williamsburg were in a great measure quieted from their late appre- hension for their persons and property, the volunteers judged it best to return home, and did so accordingly, in order to wait the fiirther directions of the general congress, or colony convention. It appears also to this committee, that before, and on the march, strict orders were repeatedly given to the volunteers to avoid all violence, injury and insult, towards the persons and property of every private indi- vidual ; and that in executing the plan of re- prisal on the persons of the king's servants and his property, bloodshed should be avoided, if possible ; and that there is the strongest reason to believe that the foregoing orders, respecting private persons and property, were strictly observed. Resolved, That this committee do approve of the proceedings of the officers and soldiers of the volunteer company, and do return them their most sincere thanks for their services on the late expedition ; and also that the thanks of this committee be given to the many volun- teers of the different counties who joined, and were marching and ready to co-operate with the volunteer company of this county. Ordered, That the clerk do transmit a copy of those proceedings to the printers, and desire that they will be pleased to publish the same in the Gazettes, as soon as possible. By order of the committee, (A copy) Bart. Anderson, Clerk. PATRIOTIC ADDRESS Of the Baptists of Virginia to the Convention, and the action taken thereon. Au^st 16, 1775. An address from the Baptists in this colony was presented to the convention, and read ; 286 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. setting forth, that however distinguished from the body of their countr>'men, by appellatives and sentiments of a religious nature, they nev- ertheless consider themselves as members of the same community in respect to matters of a civil nature, and embarked in the same com- mon cause ; that, alarmed at the oppression which hangs over America, they had consid- ered what part it would be proper to take in the unhappy contest, and had determined that in some cases it was lawful to go to war, and that they ought to make a military resistance against Great Britain in her unjust invasion, tyrannical oppressions, and repeated hostilities ; that their brethren were left at discretion to enlist, without incurring the censure of their religious community ; and, under these circum- stances, many of them had enlisted as soldiers, and many more were ready to do so, who had an earnest desire their ministers should preach to them during the campaign ; that they had therefore appointed four of their brethren to make application to this convention for the liberty of preaching to the troops at convenient times, without molestation or abuse, and pray- ing the same may be granted them. Resolved, That it be an instruction to the commanding officers of the regiments or troops to be raised, that they permit dissenting clergy- men to celebrate Divine worship, and to preach to the soldiers, or exhort, from time to time, as the various operations of the military service may permit, for the ease of such scrupulous consciences as may not choose to attend Divine service as celebrated by the chaplain. ADDRESS Of the Freeholders of Botetourt COUNTY, Virginia, to Colonel An- drew Lewis, and Mr. John Hover. Williamsburg, Oct. 1775. Gentlemen — For your past service you have our thanks, and we presume it is all the reward you desire. And as we have again committed to you the greatest trust we can confer (that of appearing for us in the great council of the colony) we think it expedient you hear our sentiments at this important juncture. And first, we require you to represent us with hearts replete with the most grateful and loyal veneration for the race of Brunswick, for they have been truly our fathers ; and at the same time the most dutiful affection for our sov- ereign, of whose honest heart we cannot en- tertain any diffidence ; but sorr)' we are to add. that in his councils we can no longer confide ; a set of miscreants, unworthy to administer the laws of Britain's empire, have been permitted impiously to sway. How unjustly, cruelly, and tyrannically, they have invaded our rights, we need not put you in mind. We only say. and we assert it with pride, that the subjects of Britain are one ; and when the honest man of Boston who has broke no law, has his pro- perty wrested from him, the hunter on the Allegany must take the alarm, and, as a free- man of America, he will fly to his representa- tives, and thus instruct them : — Gentlemen, my gun, my tomahawk, my life I desire you to render to the honor of my king and country ; but my liberty to range these woods on the same terms my father has done, is not mine to give up ; it was not purchased by me, and pur- chased it was ; it is entailed on my son, and the tenure is sacred. Watch over it, gentle- men, for to him it must descend unviolated, if my arm can defend it ; but if not, if wicked power is permitted to prevail against me, the original purchase was blood, and mine shall seal the surrender. That our countrymen and the world may know our disposition, we choose that this be published. And we have one request to add, that is, that the sons of freedom who appeared for us at Philadelphia, will accept our most ardent, grateful acknowledgments ; and we hereby plight them our faith, that we will reli- giously observe their resolutions, and obey their instructions, in contempt of power and tem- porary interest ; and should the measures they have wisely calculated for our relief fail, we will stand prepared for every contingency. We are, gentlemen, your dutiful, etc. The Freeholders of Botetourt. PROCLAMATION Of Lord Dunmore offering freedom to the slaves belonging to the rebels in Virginia, November 7, 1775. In Norfolk and the adjacent country. Dun- more counted on numerous adherents. The rash advice, together with his own impetuous, haughty and revengeful temper, early impelled him to a measure characterized by folly, and fraught with incalculable mischief, not only to the people of Virginia, but to his own cause, tinder date of Nov. 7th, he issued the following proclamation, the style of which strongly indi- cates the agitation of a perturbed mind, whilst its substance betrays a blind, impolitic, ruin- VIRGINIA. ous inflexibility, and, what is still worse, a sav- age and wanton disregard for the fundamental principles upon which the social fabric essen- tially rests, and for those rules of civilization, which are usually respected, even in the frenzy and calamitous intent of war. By kis excellency, the right honorable JOHN, EARL OF DUNMORE, kts majesty's lieutenant and governor general of the colony of Vir- ginia, and vice admiral of the same. A PROCLAMATION. " As I have ever entertained hopes that an accommodation might have taken place be- tween Great Britain and this colony, without being compelled by my duty to do this most disagreeable, but now absolutely necessary duty, rendered so by a body of men, unlawfully assembled, firing on his majesty's tenders, and the formation of an army, and an army now on its march to attack his majesty's troops, and destroy the well disposed subjects of this colony. To defeat such treasonable purposes, and that all such traitors, and their abettors may be brought to justice, and that the peace and good order of this colony may be again restored, which the ordinary course of the civil law is unable to effect, I have thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby declaring that, until the aforesaid good purposes can be obtained, I do, in virtue ofthe power and author- ity to me given, by his majesty, determine to execute martial law, and cause the same to be executed throughout this colony ; and to the end that peace and good order may the sooner be restored, I do require ever)' person capable of bearing arms to resort to his majesty's standard, or be looked upon as traitors to his majesty's crown and government, and thereby become liable to the penalty the law inflicts upon such offences ; such as for- feiture of life, confiscation of lands, etc., etc. And I do hereby further declare all indented servants, negroes, or others (appertaining to rebels) free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his majesty's troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing his colony to a proper sense of their duty to his majesty's crown and dignity. I do further order and require all his majesty's liege sub- jects, to retain their quit-rents or other taxes due, or that may become due in their own cus- tody, till such a time may again be restored to this at present most unhappy country, or de- manded of them for their former salutary pur- 287 poses, by officers properly authorized to receive the same. "Given under my hand, on board the ship William, off Norfolk, the 7th day of November, in the i6th year of his majesty's reign. "DUNMORE. " God save the king." LETTER From Lord Dunmore, to General Howe, referring to his proclamation, of- fering freedom to slaves of the REBELS IN Virginia. Nov. 30, 1775. " I must inform you, that with our little corps I think we have done wonders. We have taken and destroyed above fourscore pieces of ord- nance, and by landing in different parts of the country, we keep them in continual hot water ; but as captain Leslie tells me he means to give you particulars enough, I shall say no more on that subject. Among the prisoners, we have taken one Oliver Porter, and Deane, two natives of Boston, bringing in gunpowder to North Carolina. The latter was sent from Boston to influence the minds of the people, in which he has been but too successful. He was taken from on board a schooner going from this place to the Western Islands, to bring powder to this colony ; and the others have carried arms against his majesty in this province. I have sent them more with a view of intimidating others than to punish them, as they expect here that, so sure as they are sent to Boston, they are to be hanged. Robinson is a delegate of our convention. Matthews was a captain of their minute-men. Perhaps they may be of some use to you, in exchanging them for good men. The sloop not sailing so soon as I expected, I have to inform you that, on the 14th inst. I had information that a party of about a hundred ofthe North Carolina rebels had marched to the assistance of those in this colony, and were posted at a place called the Great-Bridge, a very essential pass in the country. I accordingly embarked our little corps in boats, in the night of the 14th, with between twenty and thirty volunteers from Norfolk. We landed within four miles of the bridge, and arrived there a little after daylight ; but, to our great mortification, fonnd the birds had flown the evening before. But hearing that a body, between 2 and 300, of our rebels were within about ten miles of us, we deter- mined to beat up their quarters, and accord- ingly proceeded about eight miles, when they 288 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. fired on our advanced guards from the woods : on which I immediately ordered our people to rush upon them, and at the same time sent a party of the regulars, with the volunteers, to out-flank them. The enemy immediately fled on all quarters, and our people pursued them for a mile or more, killed a few, drove others to a creek, where they were drowned, and took nine prisoners, among whom is one of their colonels. We only had one man wounded, who is recovering. I immediately upon this issued the enclosed proclamation ; which has had a wonderful effect, as there are no less than 300 who have taken and signed the enclosed oath. The blacks are also flocking from all quarters, which I hope will oblige the rebels to disperse, to take care of their families and property, and had I but a few more men here, I would immediately march to Williams- burg, my former place of residence, by which I should soon compel the whole colony to sub- mit. We are in great want of small arms ; and if two or three field pieces and their carriages could be spared, they would be of great service to us ; also some cartridge paper, of which not a sheet is to be got in this country, and all our cartridges are expended. — Since the 19th of May last I have not received a single line from any one in administration, though I have wrote volumes to them, in each of which I have prayed to be instructed, but to no purpose. I am therefore determined to go on doing the best of my power for his majesty's service. I have accordingly ordered a regiment, called the Queen's own loyal regiment, of 500 men, to be raised immediately, consisting of a lieu- tenant-colonel commandant, major, and ten companies, each of which is to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, and fitty privates, with non-commissioned officers in proportion. You may observe, by my procla- mation, that I offer freedom to the blacks of all rebels that join me, in consequence of which there are between 2 and 300 already come in, and those I form into corps as fast as they come in, giving them white officers and non- commissioners in proportion. And from these two plans, I make no doubt of getting men enough to reduce this colony to a proper sense of their duty. My next distress will be the want of arms, accoutrements and money, all of which you may be able to relieve me from. The latter I am sure you can, as there are many merchants here who are ready to supply me, on my giving them bills on you, which you will have to withdraw, and give your own in their room. I hope this mode will be agreeable to you ; it is the same that general Gage pro- posed. I have now, in order to carry on the recruiting business, victualling, clothing, etc. drawn on you for ^5000 sterling, and have appointed a pay-master, who will keep exact accounts. I wish you would inform me, by the return of the sloop, what bounty money may be given to those who enlist. — Having heard that 1000 chosen men belonging to the rebels, a great part of whom were riflemen, were on their march to attack us here, or to cut off our provisions, I determined to take possession of the pass at the Great-Bridge, which secures us the greatest part of two counties, to supply us with provisions. I accordingly ordered a stockade to be erected there, which was done in a few days ; and I put an officer and 25 men to garrison it, with some volunteers and , who have defended it against all the efforts of the rebels for these eight days past. We have killed several of their men, and I make no doubt we shall now be able to maintain our ground there ; but should we be obliged to abandon it, we have thrown up an intrenchment on the land side of Norfolk, which I hope they never will be able to force. Here we are contending, with only a very small part of a regiment, against the extensive colony of Virginia. If you could but spare me, for a few months, the 64th regiment now in the castle, and the remaining part of the 14th, I really believe we should reduce this colony to a proper sense of their duty." PROCEEDINGS In the convention of Virginia re- lating TO THE PROCLAMATION OF LORD DUNMORE. Williamsburg, Virginia, January 25, 1776. Resolved, unanimously, that this convention do highly approve of col. Woodford's conduct, manifested, as well in the success of the troops under his command, as in the humane treat- ment of, and kind attention to, the unfortunate, though brave officers and soldiers, who were made prisoners in the late action near the Great Bridge, and that the president communicate to col. Woodford the sense of his country on this occasion. Whereas lord Dunmore, by his proclamation, dated on board the ship William, the 7th day of November, 1775, hath presumed, in direct violation of the constitution, and the laws of this country, to declare martial law in force, and to be executed throughout this colony, whereby our lives, our liberty, and our property, VIRGINIA. 289 are arbitrarily subjected to his power and di- rection : and whereas the said lord Dunmore, assuming powers which the king himself can- not exercise, to intimidate the good people of this colony into a compliance with his arbi- trary will, hath declared those who do not immediately repair to his standard, and submit in all things to a government not warranted by the constitution, to be in actual rebellion, and thereby to have incurred the penalties inflicted by the laws for such offences ; and hath offered freedom to the servants and slaves of those he is pleased to term rebels, arming them against their masters, and destroying the peace and happiness of his majesty's good and faithful subjects, whose property is rendered insecure, and whose lives are exposed to the dangers of a general insurrection. We, as guardians of the lives and liberty of the people, our consti- tuents, conceived it to be indispensably our duty to protect them against every species of despotism, and to endeavor to remove those fears with which they are so justly alarmed. If it were possible the understandings of men could be so blinded, that every gleam of reason might be lost, the hope, his lordship says, he hath ever entertained of an accommodation between Great Britain and this colony, might pass unnoticed ; but truth, justice, and common sense, must ever prevail, when facts can be appealed to in their support. It is the peculiar happiness of this colony, that his lordship can be traced as the source of innumerable evils, and one of the principal causes of the misfor- tunes under which we now labor. A particular detail of his conduct, since his arrival in this colony, can be considered only as a repetition. it having been already fully published to the world by the proceedings of the general assem- bly, and a former convention ; but the un- remitting violence with which his lordship endeavors to involve this country in the most dreadful calamities, certainly affords new matter for the attention of the public, and will remove every imputation of ingratitude to his lordship, or of injustice to his character. His lordship is pleased to ascribe the unworthy steps he hath taken against this colony to a necessity arising from the conduct of its inhabitants, whom he hath considered in a rebellious state, but who know nothing of rebellion except the name. Ever zealous in support of tyranny, he hath broken the bonds of society, and trampled justice under his feet. Had his lordship been desirous of effecting an accommodation of these disputes, he hath had the most ample occasion of exerting both his interest and abilities ; but that he never had in view any such salutary 19 end, most evidently appears from the whole tenor of his conduct. The supposed design of the Canada bill having been to draw down upon us a merciless and savage enemy, the present manoeuvres amongst the Roman Cath- olics in Ireland, and the schemes concerted with Doctor Connelly, and other vile instru- ments of tyranny, which have appeared by the examination of the said Connelly, justify the supposition, and most fully evince his lordship's inimical and cruel disposition towards us, and can best determine whether we have been wrong in preparing to resist, even by arms, that system of tyranny adopted by the ministry and parliament of Great Britain, of which he is become the rigid executioner in this colony. The many depredations committed also upon the inhabitants of this colony, by the tenders and other armed vessels employed by his lord- ship for such purposes ; the pilfering and plun- dering the property of the people, and the actual seduction and seizure of their slaves, were truly alarming in their effects, and called aloud for justice and resistance. The persons of many of our peaceable brethren have been seized and dragged to confinement, contrary to the prin- ciples of liberty, and the constitution of our country : yet have we borne this injurious treat- ment with unexampled patience, unwilling to shed the blood of our fellow-subjects, who, prosecuting the measures of a British parlia- ment, would sacrifice our lives and property to a relentless fury and unabating avarice. If a governor can be authorized, even by majesty itself, to annul the laws of the land, and to in- troduce the most execrable of all systems, the law martial ; if, by his single fiat, he can strip us of our property, can give freedom to our ser\'ants and slaves, and arm them for our destruction, let us bid adieu to every thing valuable in life ; let us at once bend our necks to the galling yoke, and hug the chains prepared for us and our latest posterity ! It is with inexpressible concern we reflect upon the distressed situation of some of our unhappy countrymen, who had thought them- selves too immediately within the power of lord Dunmore, and have been induced thereby to remain inactive. We lament the advantage he hath taken of their situation, and at present impute their inactivity, in the cause of freedom and the constitution, not to any defection or want of zeal, but to their defenceless state ; and whilst we endeavor to afford them succor, and to support their rights, we expect they will contribute every thing in their deliverance : yet if any of our people, in violation of their faith plighted to this colony, and the duty they 290 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. owe to society, shall be found in arms, or con- tinue to give assistance to our enemies, we shall think ourselves justified, by the necessity we are under, in executing upon them the law of retaliation. Impressed with a just and ardent zeal for the welfare and happiness of our countrymen, we trust they will, on their part, exert them- selves in defence of our common cause, and that we shall all acquit ourselves like freemen, being compelled by a disagreeable, but abso- lute necessity, of repelling force by force, to maintain our just rights and privileges, and we appeal to God, who is the Sovereign Disposer of all events, for the justice of our cause, trust- ing to his unerring wisdom to direct our coun- cils, and give success to our arms. Whereas lord Dunmore, by his proclamation, dated on board the ship William off Norfolk, the 7th day of November, 1775, hath offered freedom to such able bodied slaves as are will- ing to join him, and take up arms against the good people of this colony, giving thereby en- couragement to a general insurrection, which may induce a necessity of inflicting the severest punishments upon those unhappy people already deluded by his base and insidious arts, and whereas, by an act of the general assembly now in force in this colony, it is enacted, that all negro, or other slaves, conspiring to rebel or make insurrection, shall suffer death, and be excluded all benefit of clergy — we think it pro- per to declare, that all slaves who have been, or shall be, seduced by his lordship's proclama- tion, or other arts, to desert their master's ser- vice, and take up arms against the inhabitants of this colony, shall be liable to such punishment as shall hereafter be directed by the convention. And to the end that all such, who have taken this unlawful and wicked step, may return in safety to their duty, and escape the punishment due to their crimes, we hereby promise pardon to them, they surrendering themselves to colo- nel William Woodford or any other comman- der of our troops, and not appearing in arms after the publication hereof. And we do fur- ther earnestly recommend it to all humane and benevolent persons in this colony, to explain and make known this our offer of mercy to those unfortunate people. And whereas, notwithstanding the favorable and kind dispositions shewn by the convention and the natives of this colony, and the extraor- dinary and unexampled indulgence by them held out to the natives of Great Britain, resid- ing in this colony, (the Scotch who gave them- selves this title in their petition) many of these have lately become strict adherents to the lord Dunmore and the most active promoters of all his cruel and arbitrary persecutions of the good people of this colony, not only by violadng the continental association, to which they had solemnly subscribed, in many the most flagrant instances ; not merely by giving intelligence to our enemies and furnishing them with provi- sions, but by propagating, as well in Great Britain as in this colony, many of the most mis- chievous falsehoods, to the great prejudice and dishonor of this countr)' : And moreover, many of these natives of Great Britain, instead of giving their assistance in suppressing insurrec- tions, have contrary to all faith, solemnly plighted in their petition, excited our slaves to rebellion, and some of them have daringly led those slaves in arms against our inhabitants ; the committee having these things in full proof, and considering their alarming and dangerous tendency, do give it as their opinion, and it is accordingly resolved, that the former resolution in their favor ought from henceforth to be totally abrogated and rescinded ; that none of the freemen, inhabitants of this country, wherever born, ought to exempted from any of the burthens or dangers to which the colony is exposed : but that, as good citizens, it is in- cumbent on them to use every exertion of their power and abilities in the common defence ; and should any persons of ability decline or shrink from so necessary a duty to the com- munity, that all such, except those who have taken u p arms against our inhabitants, or shewn themselves to us, may be permitted, under a license of the committee of safety, to leave the country. OUTRAGES Committed by British troops, 1776. One of lord Dunmore's tenders went to a place called Mulberry -island, in Warwick county, and landed her men, who went to Mr. Benjamin Wells's house, with their faces blacked like negroes, whose companions they are, and robbed the house of all the furniture, four ne- groes, a watch, and stock-buckle. The inhu- man wretches even took the bed on which lay two sick infants. OATH Extorted from the people of Norfolk AND Princess Anne, by lord Dunmore, 1776. " We the inhabitants of being fully sen- VIRGINIA. 2gi sible of the errors and guilt into which this colony hath been misled, under color of seeking redress of grievances, and that a set of factious men styling themselves committees, conven- tions, and congresses, have violently, and under various pretences, usurped the legislative and executive powers of government, and are there- by endeavoring to overturn our most happy constitution, and have incurred the guilt of actual rebellion against our most gracious sov- ereign : We have therefore taken an oath ab- juring their authority, and solemnly promising in the presence of Almighty God, to bear faith and true allegiance to his sacred majesty George the third ; and that we will, to the ut- most of our power and ability, support, main- tain, and defend his crown and dignity, against all traitorous attempts and conspiracies what- soever. And whereas armed bodies of men are collected in various parts of this colony, without any legal authority, we wish them to be informed, that however unwilling we should be to shed the blood of our countrymen, we must, in discharge of our duty to God and the king, and in support of the constitution and laws of our country, oppose their marching into this county, where their coming can answer no good end, but, on the contrary, must expose us to the ravages and horrors of a civil war ; and for that purpose, we are determined to take advantage of our happy situation, and will de- fend the passes into our countr)-, and neighbor- hood to the last drop of our blood." INSTRUCTIONS Of the Virginia Convention to their delegates in congress. Jn tke Virginia Convention — present 1 1 2 members. Williamsburg, Wednesday^ May 15, 1776. Forasmuch as all the endeavors of the uni- ted COLONIES, by the most decent representa- tions and petitions to the king and parliament of Great Britain, to restore peace and security to America under the British government, and a re-union with that people upon just and libe- ral terms, instead of a redress of grievances, have produced, from an imperious and vindic- tive administration, increased insult, oppres- sion, and a vigorous attempt to effect our total destruction. By a late act, all these colo- nies are declared to be in rebellion, and out of the protection of the British crown, our proper- ties subject to confiscation, our people, when captivated, compelled to join in the murder and plunder of their relations and countrymen, and all former rapine and oppression of Americans declared legal and just. Fleets and armies are raised, and the aid of foreign troops en- gaged to assist these destructive purposes. The king's representative in this colony hath not only withheld all the powers of govern- ment from operating for our safety, but, having retired on board an armed ship, is carrying on a practical and savage war against us, tempt- ing our slaves, by every artifice, to resort to him, and training and employing them against their masters. In this state of extreme dan- ger, we have no alternative left but an abject submission to the will of those over-bearing ty- rants, or a total separation from the crown and government of Great Britain, uniting and ex- erting the strength of all America for defence, and forming alliances with foreign powers for commerce and aid in war. Wherefore, appeal- ing to the Searcher of hearts for the sincerity of former declarations, expressing our desire to preserve the connection with that nation, and that we are driven from that inclination by their wicked councils, and the eternal laws of self-preservation : Resohied, unan. That the delegates ap- pointed to represent this colony in general congress be instructed to propose to that re- spectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent states, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the crown or parliament of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent of this colony to such declara- tion, and to whatever measures may be thought proper and necessary by the congress for form- ing foreign alliances, and a confederation OF the colonies, at such time, and in the manner, as to them shall seem best. Pro- vided, that the power of forming government for, and the regulations of the internal con- cerns of each colony, be left to the respective colonial legislatures. Resolved, unan. That a committee be ap- pointed to prepare A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, and such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this col- ony, and secure substantial and equal liberty tc the people. Edmund Pendleton, President. (A copy) John Tazewell, Clerk of the Convention. 292 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. PATRIOTIC DEMONSTRATIONS Of the members of the convention. Toasts drank, and the Union flag unfurled. Williamsburg, May 15, 1776. In consequence of the above resolution, uni- versally regarded as the only door which will lead to safety and prosperity, some gentlemen made a handsome collection for the purpose of treating the soldiery, who next day were paraded in Waller's grove, before brigadier general Lewis, attended by the gentlemen of the committee of safety, the members of the general convention, the inhabitants of this city, etc., etc. The resolution being read aloud to the army, the following toasts were given, each of them accompanied by a discharge of the artillery and small arms, and the accla- mations of all present : 1. The American independent states. 2. The grand congress of the United States, and their respective legislatures. 3. General Washington, and victory to the American arms. The UNION flag of the American states waved upon the capitol during the whole of this ceremony, which being ended, the soldiers partook of the refreshment prepared for them by the affection of their countrymen, and the evening concluded with illuminations, and other demonstrations of joy; every one seem- ing pleased that the domination of Great Bri- tain was now _at an end, so wickedly and tyrannically exercised for these twelve or thir- teen years past, notwithstanding our repeated prayers and remonstrances for redress. have levied against America, and that I will, from time to time, declare and make known all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against the peace and safety of Virginia, which shall come to my knowledge ; So help me God." TEST OATH Prescribed bv the Committee of Vir- ginia TO BE TAKEN BY THE INHABITANTS THEREOF, 1776, AND PUBLISHED BY ITS ORDER. " I, A. B. in the presence of Almighty God, do solemnly swear, that I will, to the utmost of my power, support, maintain, and defend the government of Virginia, in the present just and necessary war, against all powers whatever, who do, or may le\'y or carry on any hostility of war against the same, and that I will not in any manner aid, or assist, comfort, countenance, correspond with or abet any person whatever, whom I know, or have cause to suspect, have designs to further, aid, or assist the tyrannical and cruel war, which the British pariiament VIRGINIA— CALLED TO ARMS. The following address was issued to the peo- ple of Virginia, at the time when the gov- ernor, Patrick Henry, issued his proclamation on the 14/// of May, 1779, announcing the arrival of a British fleet in the Chesapeake, and noticing some of the ravages they had committed. Friends and countrymen. — When our country is invaded by the avowed enemies to the com- mon rights of mankind ; when it is threatened with all those calamities which barbarity and cruelty can inflict, it is no longer time to pause. We have not an enemy to oppose who can claim the common pretension for war. We have to combat those who seek not for a retal- iation of injuries done them, but who would be our tyrants. Tyrants of the blackest nature, who would rob us not only of those privileges which are dearest to us, but would bring our grey hairs down with sorrow to the grave. To be the base slaves of arbitrary power, to be in- sulted, trampled under foot by a soldiery, the outcastsof jails, to be stripped of your property, to behold your wives and children the victims of bruta! lust, or nobly to resist the torrent of despotism, nobly to stand forth and to wreak your vengeance upon an enemy the most barbarous and cruel, is the only alternative which now awaits you. They have already commenced the horrid war. Your houses are already devoted to the flames ; your wives have been driven with the flocks and herds to their ships. To the Hessian, and the still more barbarous Highlander, let them now offer up their prayers for mercy. But what mercy are they to hope from those whose avowed design is conquest, ruin, and misery! Indigna- tion usurps the place of reflection. Indigna- tion should hurry us to action, should fire our souls with the noble emulation, who first should have the immortal glory of plunging his dag- ger in the breast of such an enemy. Fortunately for us, we have men to com- mand, beloved, respected, and admired for their intrepidity, activity, and good conduct ; men who, if supported by their fellow citizens, will soon bafile the designs of our enemy ; will soon rescue this country from the disgrace of being plundered and ravaged by a merciless VIRGINIA. 293 banditti. Virginia stands foremost for public spirit. Her sons have now the most glorious opportunity of gaining immortal fame. They have a commander to lead them to the field, whose experience and bravery will ensure them victory. They may now have the satisfaction not only of saving their country but of revenge — of revenge for attempts, which, if carried into execution, will entail shame and ruin upon us to the latest ages. Activity, vigor, a determination to conquer or to die, will soon expel those invaders of our rights ; torpor and inactivity will confirm them in their conquest. Example will create heroes. The body of the people must be put in motion by the influence of those whom they respect and esteem. Follow then the conduct of our brave brethren to the north, remember what gave a favorable cast to the melancholy pros- pect they had before them. Men of fortune and distinction were the first to oppose the enemy. Success crowned their efforts, and patriotism received eternal honor. Similar example here will ensure similar success. The progress of the enemy in our country may carry along with it the most dangerous conse- quences. What accessions will they not gain from those among us who feel every day the yoke of slavery ! We shall supply them with the certain means of our own destruction, unless our activity and vigor arrest them in their progress. The possession of sufficient ground for their encampment is not only dis- graceful to us, but ruinous. It will be an asy- lum for our slaves ; they will flock to their standards, and form the flower of their army. They will rival the Hessian or Highlander, if possible, in cruelty and desolation. It is said that at present their army does not consist of more than two thousand. This circumstance, which may lull us into security, seems big with the most fatal consequences, unless we resolve to anticipate the evil. They doubtless expect reinforcements from our slaves ; not to mention from tories and the disaffected. In a word, the means of our salvation are difficult, but certain and glorious, if we will seize them in time. Delay and inactivity will bring along with them infamy, disgrace, and certain perdition. BATTLE OF YORKTOWN, VA. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, Va., Oct. 19, 1781. FROM THE VILLAGE RECORD, NOVEMBER 7, 1821. This week the Journal of capt. Davis is brought to a close. The event to which it particularly relates is the most important in our military annals. It is not recollected that the general orders, issued during the invest- ment of Cornwallis, were ever before published. JOURNAL OF CAPT. DAVIS. Oct. 12. — A tremendous fire from both sides. Head-qitartcrs, Oct. 12, 1 78 1. For to-morrow. M. G. M. La Fayette, B. G. Muhlenburgh. The Marquis' division will mount in the trenches to-morrow. The superintendent of the deposite of the trenches, is required to have the quality of saucisson, fascines and gabions brought to the deposite, accurately inspected ; to reject such as are not fit for use, and report the corps that offer them. 17 — Two Hessian deserters came in; every thing favorable. Head-quarters, Oct. 13, 178 1. For to-morrow. B. G. Wayne and Gist's brigade. 14. — This morning a deserter says the in- fanti-y refuse doingduty. That Cornwallis pro- mised them they would be relieved from New- York, and give each reg. a pipe of wine. The marquis, at dark, stormed their river battery, and baron viscount Viomnel stormed another on their extreme, to the left, with little loss. We run our second parallel complete. Head-quarters Oct 14, 1 78 1. For to-morrow. M. G. Lincoln, B. G. Clmton. Maj. general Lincoln's division will mount the trenches to-morrow. The effects of the late col. Scammel will be disposed of at public sale, to-morrow at 3 o'clock. P. M. at maj. Rice's tent, in gen. Hayne's Brigade. 15. — This night the enemy made a sally and imposed themselves on the French for Ameri- cans ; forced their works and made themselves masters of an American battery which they spiked. Imposition being found out, they re- tired, with eight men killed on the spot. Head-quarters, Oct. 15, 1 78 1. For to-morrow. M. G. M. La Fayette, B. G. Muhlenburg and Hayne's brigade. Maj. gen. La Fayette's division will mount the trenches to-morrow. 294 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. The commander in chief congratulates the army on the success of the enterprise against the two important works on the left of the enemy's lines. He requests the baron Viomnel, who commanded the French grenadiers and chas- seurs, and marquis La Fayette, who com- manded the American light infantry, to accept his warmest acknowledgments for the excel- lency of their dispositions and their own gal- lant conduct on the occasion ; and he begs them to present his thanks to every individual officer, and to the men of their respective com- mands, for the spirit and rapidity with which they advanced to the attacks assigned them, and for the admirable firmness with which they supported them, under the fire of the enemy, without returning a shot. The general reflects with the highest degree of pleasure on the confidence which the troops of the two nations must hereafter have in each other. — Assured of mutual support, he is con- vinced there is no danger which they will not cheerfully encounter — no difficulty which they will not bravely overcome. The troops will be supplied with fresh beef to Thursday ne.\t, inclusive ; they will receive 3 pints of salt to every 100 rations, for their allowance of Wednesday and Thursday. 16. — Our batteries completing very fast. Head-qtiarters, Oct. 16, 1781. For to-morrow. M. G. B. Steuben, B. G. Wayne and Gist's brigade. Maj. gen. baron Steuben's division will mount in the trenches to-morrow. The commander in chief having obstr\-ed that the trenches are constantly crowded with spectators, who, by passing and repassing pre- vent the men from working, and thereby greatly impede the operations of the siege. He therefore orders that no officer, who is not on duty, shall hereafter enter the trenches, except gen. officers and their aids, and that no inhabitant, or person not belonging to the army, be suffered to enter the trenches, at any time, without permission from the maj. general of the trenches. In future the relief for the trenches are not to beat their drums after they pass the mill dam ; they are from that place to march silently, with trailed arms and colors furled, until they arrive at their posts in the trenches. Lieut, col. Dehart being relieved from his arrest, the court martial, of which col. Cortland is president, will proceed to the trial of the prisoners confined in the provost. 17.— At II o'clock, his lordship closes the scene by propositions for deputies from each army, to meet at Moore's house, to agree on terms for the surrender of York and Gloster. An answer was sent by 3 o'clock, when a ces- sation of arms took place. Head-quarters, Oct. 17, 1 78 1. For the trenches to-morrow. Maj. gen. Lincoln's Division. 18. — Flags alternately passing this day. Head-quarters, Oct. 18, 1 78 1. For the trenches to-morrow. Maj. gen. marquis La Fayette's division. 19. — At I o'clock this day, our troops marched in and took possession of their horn-works, and the British marched out. The American and French armies form a lane through which the British pass and ground their arms. Head-quarters, Oct. 19, 1781. For to-morrow. M. G. Lincoln, Col. Butler, Maj. Woodson, B. M. Blake. Gen. Muhlenburg's brigade will hold itself in readiness for duty to-morrow. 20. — Lay quiet this day cleaning our arms. Head-quarters, Oct. 20, 1781. For to-morrow. M. G. M. La Fayette, Col. Stewart, Maj. Bird, M. M. Co.'c. Brig, general Hayne's brigade for duty to- morrow, to parade at 10 o'clock on their own parade. The general congratulates the army upon \\\e. glorious event of yesterday : the generous proofs which his most Christian majesty has given of his attachment to the cause of Ameri- ca, must force conviction in the minds of the most deceived among the enemy, relative to the decisive good consequences of the alliance ; and inspire every citizen of these states with sentiments of the most unalterable gratitude. His fleet, the most numerous and powerful that ever appeared in those seas, commanded by an admiral whose fortune and talents insure success ; an army of the most admirable com- position, both in officers and men, are the pledges of his friendship to the United States, and their co-operation has secured us the pre- sent signal success. The general, upon this occasion, entreats his excellency count Rochambeau, to accept his most grateful acknowledgments for his counsel and assistance at all times. He presents his warmest thanks to the generals baron de Vi- omnel, chevalier Chastelleu.x, marquis de St. VIRGINIA. 295 Simon, count de Viomnel, and to brig, de Choisey (who had a separate command), for the ilkistrious manner in which they have advanced the interest of the common cause. He requests the count de Rochambeau will be pleased to communicate to the army under his immediate command, the high sense he enter- tains of the distinguished merits of the officers and soldiers of every corps, and that he will present, in his name, to the regiment of Arge- nois and Deaponts, the pieces of brass ord- nance captured by them, as a testimony of their gallantry in storming the enemy's redoubts, on the night of the 14th inst. when officers and men so universally vied with each other in the exercise of every soldierly virtue. The general's thanks to each individual of merit, would comprehend the whole army : but he thinks himself bound however by affection, duty and gratitude, to express his obligation to maj-gens. Lincoln, La Fayette and Steuben, for their dispositions in the trenches — to gen. Duportail and col. Carney for the vigor and knowledge which were conspicuous in their conduct of the attacks; and to gen. Knox and col. de Abberville for their great attention and fatigue in bringing forward the artillery and stores ; and for their judicious and spirited management of them in the parallels. He requests the gentlemen above mentioned, to communicate his thanks to the officers and soldiers of their commands. Ingratitude, which the general hopes never to be guilty of, would be conspicuous in him, was he to omit thanking in the warmest terms his excellency governor Nelson, for the aid he has derived from him, and from the militia under his com- mand : to whose activity, emulation and cour- age such applause is due ; the greatness of the acquisition would be ample compensation for the hardships and hazards which they en- countered with so much patriotism and firm- ness. In order to diffuse the general joy in every breast, the general orders those men belonging to the army, who may now be in confinement, shall be pardoned, and join their respective corps. 21. — British marched out for their canton- ments under militia guards. 22. — York affords very good Port-wine. 23. — Orders for the troops to hold themselves in readiness to march at the shortest notice. 24. — Marquis de St. Simon's troops embark their cannon. 25. — Demolish our works by brigades. 26. — Expectations of a supply of necessaries from the merchants of York and Gloster. 27. — Report says sirH. Clinton has embarked from New-York for Virginia. 28. — The American cannon put on board ves- sels for the head of Elk. 29. — Nothing material. 30. — I was on duty at Gloster. 31. — Col. Tarlton dismounted from his horse by an inhabitant, who claimed him in the midst of the street. Nov. I. — A supply of clothing purchased by agents, appointed for that purpose. 2. — Distribution of the supplies. 3. — Orders for Pennsylvania and Maryland troops to march to-morrow for South Carolina. 4. — General beat at 8 o'clock. Tents struck and loaded. Troops march at 9. DESCRIPTION Of the Surrender at Yorktown. As every incident connected with our revolu- tionary history is interesting to the great mass of the people, I shall solicit a niche in your paper to answer an inquiry in a late Compiler, concerning the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia ; and hope that your readers will experience the same pleasure in reading the account, that I enjoy in the narration : "At two o'clock in the evening Oct. 19th, 1781, the British army, led by general O'Hara, marched out of its lines, with colors cased and drums beating a British march. " It will be seen in the sequel, that O'Hara, and not Cornwallis, surrendered the British army to the allied forces of France and America. In this affair, lord Cornwallis seemed to have lost all his former magnanimity and firmness of character, — he sunk beneath the pressure of his misfortunes, and for a moment gave his soul up to chagrin and sorrow. The road through which they marched was lined with spectators, French and American. On one side the com- mander in chief, surrounded by his suite and the American staffs, took his station ; on the other side opposite to him, was the count de Rochambeau, m like manner attended. The captive army approached, moving slowly in column, with grace and precision. " Universal silence was observed amidst the vast concourse, and the utmost decency prevailed, exhibiting in demeanor an awful sense of the vicissitudes of human life, mingled with commiseration for the unhappy. The head of the column approached the com- mander in chief — O'Hara, mistaking the circle, 296 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. turned to that on his left for the purpose of paying his respects to the commander in chief, and requesting further orders ; when quickly discovering his error, with embarrassment in his countenance, he flew across the road, and advancing up to Washington, asked pardon for his mistake, apologized for the absence of lord Cornwallts, and begged to know his further pleasure. "The general feeling his embarrassment, relieved it by referring him, with much polite- ness, to general Lincoln for his government. Returning to the head of the column, it again moved, under the guidance of Lincoln, to the field selected for the conclusion of the ceremony. •' Every eye was turned, searching for the British commander in chief, anxious to look at that man heretofore so much their dread. All were disappointed. " Cornwallis held himself back from the humiliating scene ; obeying sensations which his great character ought to have stifled. He had been unfortunate, not from any false step or deficiency of exertion on his part, but from the infatuated policy of his superior, and the united power of his enemy brought to bear upon him alone. There was nothing with which he could reproach himself; there was nothing with which he could reproach his brave and faithful army ; why not then appear at its head in the day of misfortune, as he had always done in the day of triumph .-' " The British general in this instance deviated from his usual line of conduct, dimming the splendor of his long and brilliant career. "Thus ended the important co-operation of the allied forces. Great was the joy diffused throughout our infant empire." I cannot end this interesting detail as recorded by Henry Lee, without giving you his panegyric on the father of our country. " This wide acclaim of joy and confidence, as rare as sincere, sprung not only from the con- viction that our signal success would bring in its train the blessings of peace, so wanted by our wasted country. And from the splendor with which it encircled our national name, but from the endearing reflection that the mighty exploit had been achieved by our faithful, beloved Washington. We had seen him strug- gling throughout the war with inferior force against the best troops of England, assisted by her powerful navy ; surrounded by difficulties, oppressed by want ; never dismayed, never ap- palled, nroer despairing of the commonwealth. " We have seen him renouncing his fame as a soldier, his safety as a man ; in his unalloyed love of country, weakening his own immediate force to strengthen that of his lieutenants ; submitting with equanimity to his own conse- quent inability to act, and rejoicing in their triumphs, become best calculated to uphold the great cause entrusted to his care ; at length, by one great and final exploit, under the benign influence of Providence, lifted to the pinnacle of glory, the rewards of his toil, his sufferings, his patience, his heroism, and his virtue. Wonderful man ! rendering it difficult by his conduct throughout life to decide whether he most excelled in goodness or in greatness." ANECDOTE Connected with the surrender of yorktown. Baron Steuben commanded in the trenches at the moment Lord Cornwallis made his over- ture for capitulation. The proposals were im- mediately despatched to the commander-in- chief, and the negotiation, as we say, pro- gressed. — The marquis de la Fayette, whose tour it was next to mount guard in the tren- ches, marched to relieve the Baron, who, to his astonishment, refused to be relieved. He informed General de la Fayette, that the cus- tom of European war was in his favor, and that it was a point of honor which he could neither give up for himself, nor deprive his troops of— that the offer to capitulate had been made during his guard, and that in the tren- ches he would remain until the capitulation was signed or hostilities commenced. The marquis immediately galloped to head quar- ters : — general Washington decided in favor of the baron — to the joy of one, and to the morti- fication of the other of those brave and valua- ble men. The baron remained till the business was finished. I should not have sent you this recollection, had I not seen in your paper of this morning an extract from Lee's memoirs relative to the surrender. My anecdote may not be worth much now, but such as it is, it is at your service. One who was in the trenches. EFFECT Of the INTELLIGENCE OF THE SURRENDER OF Lord Cornw.^llis when received IN London, England. From sir N. IV. IVraxalFs inemoirs of his own time. November, 1781. — During the whole month VIRGINIA. 297 of November, the concurring accounts trans- mitted to government, enumerating lord Corn- wallis's embarrassments, and the positions taken by the enemy, augmented the anxiety of the cabinet. Lord George Germain, in partic- ular, conscious that on the prosperous or adverse termination of that expedition, must hinge the fate of the American contest, his own stay in office, as well as probably the duration of the ministry itself, felt, and even expressed to his friends, the strongest uneasi- ness on the subject. The meeting of parlia- ment meanwhile stood fixed for the 27th of November. On Sunday the 25th, about noon, official intelligence of the surrender of the British forces at Yorktovvn, arrived from Fal- mouth, at lord Germain's house in Pall-mall. Lord \Valsingham,.who, previous to his father sir William de Grey's elevation to the peerage, had been under secretary of state in that de- partment, and who was selected to second the address in the house of peers, on the subse- quent Tuesday, happened to be there when the messenger brought the news. Without communicating it to any other person, lord George, for the purpose of despatch, immedi- ately got with him into a hackney-coach and drove to lord Stormount's residence in Portland- place. Having imparted to him the disastrous information, and taken him into the carriage, they instantly proceeded to the Chancellor's house in Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, whom they found at home ; when, after a short consultation, they determined to lay it them- selves, in person before lord North. He had not received any intimation of the event when they arrived at his door, in Downing-street, between i and 2 o'clock. The first minister's firmness, and even his presence of mind gave way for a short time, under this awful disaster. I asked lord George afterwards, how he took the communication, when made to him .' " As he would have taken a ball in his breast," replied lord George. For he opened his arms, exclaiming wildly, as he paced up and down the apartment during a few minutes, " Oh God ! it is all over ! " Words which he repeated many times, under emotions of the deepest agitation and distress. When the first agitation of their minds had subsided, the four ministers discussed the question, whether or not it might be expedient to prorogue parliament for a few days ; but, as scarcely an interval of forty-eight hours re- mained before the appointed time of assemb- ling, and as many members of both houses were already either arrived in London, or on the road, that proposition was abandoned. It became, however, indispensable to alter, and almost model anew the king's speech, which had been already drawn up, and completely prepared for delivery from the throne. This alteration was therefore made without delay ; and at the same time, lord George Germain, as secretary for the American department, sent off a despatch to his majesty, who was then at Kew, acquainted him with the melancholy termination of lord Cornwallis's expedition. Some hours having elapsed, before these different, but necessary acts of business could take place, the ministers separated, and lord George Germain repaired to his office in Whitehall. There he found a confirmation of the intelligence, which arrived about two hours after the first communication ; having been transmitted from Dover, to which place it was forwarded from Calais with the French account of the same event. I dined on that day at lord George's ; and though the information, which had reached London in the course of the morning, from two different quarters, was of a nature not to admit of long concealment ; j'et it had not been com- municated either to me, or to any individual of the company, as it might naturally have been through the channel of common report, when I got to Pall-mall, between five and six o'clock. — Lord Walsingham, who likewise dined there, was the only person present, except lord George, who was acquainted with the fact. — The party, nine in number, sat down to table. I thought the master of the house appeared serious, though he manifested no discompos- ure. Before the dinner was finished, one of his servants delivered him a letter, brought back by the messenger who had been de- spatched to the king. Lord George opened and perused it : then looking at lord Walsing- ham, to whom he exclusively directed his observation, " The king writes " said he, "just as he always does, except that I observe he has omitted to mark the hour and the minute of his writing with his usual precision." This remark, though calculated to awaken some interest, excited no comment ; and while the ladies, lord George's three daughters, remained in the room, we repressed our curiosity. But they had no sooner withdrawn, than lord George having acquainted us, that from Paris information has just arrived of the old Count de Maurepas, first minister, lying at the point of death: "It would grieve me," said I, "to finish my career, however far advanced in years, were I first minister of France, before I had witnessed the termination of this great contest between England and America." " He has survived to see that event," replied lord 298 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. George, with some agitation. Utterly unsus- picious of the fact which had happened beyond the Atlantic, I conceived him to allude to the indecisive naval action fought at the mouth of the Chesapeake, early in the preceding month of September, between admiral Graves and count de Grasse ; which, in its results, might prove most injurious to Lord Comwallis. Under this impression, "my meaning," said I, " is that if I were the Count de Maurepas, I should wish to live long enough, to behold the final issue of the war in Virginia." " He has survived to witness it completely," answered lord George. — " The army has surrendered, and you may peruse the particulars of the cap- itulation in that paper," taking at the same time one from his pocket, which he delivered into my hand, not without visible emotion. By his permission I read it aloud, while the company listened in profound silence. ' We then discussed its contents, as it affected the ministr)'. the country and the war. It must be confessed that they were calculated to diffuse a gloom over the most convivial society, and that they opened a wide field for political speculation. After perusing the account of lord Cornwal- lis's surrender at Yorktown, it was impossi- ble for all present not to feel a lively curiosity to know how the king had received the intelligence, as Veil as how he had expressed himself in his note to lord Germain, on the first communica- tion of so painful an event. He gratified our wish by reading it to us, observing at the same time, that it did the highest honor to his maj- esty's fortitude, firmness and consistency of character. The words made an impression on my memory which the lapse of more than thirty years has not erased ; and I shall here commemorate its tenor, as serving to show how that prince felt and wrote, under one of the most afflicting, as well as humiliating occurrences of his reign. The billet ran nearly to this effect : " I have received, with senti- ments of the deepest concern, the communica- tion which lord George Germain had made me, of the unfortunate result of the operations in Virginia. I particularly lament it, on account of the consequences connected with it, and the difficulties which it may produce in carrying on the public business, or in repairing such a mis- fortune, — But I trust that neither lord George Germain, nor any member of the cabinet, will suppose that it makes the smallest alteration in those principles of my conduct which have directed me in past times, and which will always continue to animate me under every event, in the prosecution of the present con- test." Not a sentiment of despondency or of despair was to be found in the letter ; the very hand-writing of which indicated composure of mind. — Whatever opinion we may entertain relative to the practicability of reducing Amer- ica to obedience by force of arms, at the end of 1781, we must admit that no sovereign could manifest more calmness, dignity or self-com- mand than George III: displayed in this reply. Severely as the general effect of the blow received in Virginia was felt throughout the nation, yet no immediate symptoms of minis- terial dissolution, or even of pariiamentary defection became visible in either house. All the animated invectives of Fo.\, aided by the contumelious irony of Burke, and sustained by dignified denunciations of Pitt, enlisted on the same side, made little apparent impression on their hearers, who seemed stupefied by the dis- astrous intelligence. Yet never probably, at any period of our history, was more indignant language used by the opposition, or sup- ported by administration. In the ardor of his feelings at the recent calamity beyond the Atlantic, Fo.x not only accused ministers of being virtually in the pay of France, but menaced them with the vengeance of an un- done people, who would speedily compel them to expiate their crimes on the public scaffold. Burke, with inconceivable warmth of color- ing, depicted the folly and impracticability of taxing America by force, or, as he describes it, '• shearing the wolf." The metaphor was wonderfully appropriate, and scarcely admitted of denial. Pitt leveled his observations princi- pally against the cabinet, whom he represented as destitute of principle, wisdom or union of design. All three were sustained, and I had almost said, outdone by Mr. Thomas Pitt, who, in terms of gloomy despondency, seemed to regard the situation of the country as scarcely admitting of a remedy, under such a parlia- ment, such ministers and such a sovereign. Lord North, in this moment of general depres- sion, found resources within himself. — He scornfully repelled the insinuations of Fox, as deserving only contempt, justified the principle of the war, which did not originate in a des- potic wish to tyrannize over America, but from the desire of maintaining the constitutional authority of parliament over the colonies ; deplored in common with the opposition, the misfortunes which had marked the progress of the contest ; defied the threat of punish- ment ; and finally adjured the house not to aggravate the present calamity by dejection or despair, but, by united exertions, to secure our national extrication. VIRGINIA. 299 GEN. WASHINGTON. Important Letter from him. It has been controverted whether the capture of gen. Cornwallis was the result of a plan preconcerted between gen. Washington and count de Grasse ; or rather whether the arrival of the count in the Chesapeake, was pre-de- termined and expected by gen. Washington, and consequently all the preparations to attack New York, a mere finesse to deceive the enemy, or whether the real intention was against New York, and the siege of Yorktown planned upon the unexpected arrival of the French fleet in the bay. The following letter will set the mat- ter in its true light. — Carey's Museum. Mount Vernon, July 13, 1788. Sir — I duly received your letter of the 14th inst. and can only answer you briefly and gen- erally from memory : that a combined operation of the land and naval forces of France in Amer- ica, for the year 1781, was preconcerted the year before ; that the point of attack was not absolutely agreed upon,* because it could not be foreknown where the enemy would be most susceptible of impression ; and because we (having the command of the water with suffi- cient means of conveyance) could transport ourselves to any spot with the greatest celerity ; that it was determined by me, nearly twelve months before hand, at all hazards, to give out, and cause it to be believed by the highest mili- tary as well as civil officers, that New- York was the destined place of attack, for the impor- tant purpose of inducing the eastern and middle states to make greater exertions in furnishing specific supplies, than they otherwise would have done, as well as for the interesting pur- pose of rendering the enemy less prepared elsewhere ; that, by these means, and these alone, artillery, boats, stores, and provisions, were in seasonable preparation to move with the utmost rapidity to any part of the continent ; for the difficulty consisted more in providing, than knowing how to apply the military appa- ratus ; that, before the arrival of the count de Grasse, it was the fixed determination to strike the enemy in the most vulnerable quarter, so as to insure success with moral certainty, as our affairs were then in the most ruinous train imaginable ; that New-York was thought to be beyond our effort, and consequently, that the only hesitation that remained, was between an attack upon the British army in Virginia, and * Because it would be easy for count de Grasse, in good time before his departure from the West Indies, to give notice, by express, at what place he could most con- veniently first touch to receive advice. that in Charleston : and finally, that, by the intervention of several communications, and some incidents which cannot be detailed in a letter, the hostile post in Virginia, from being a prffinsional atid strongly expected, became the definitive and certain, object of the cam- paign. I only add, that it never was in contempla- tion to attack New- York, unless the garrison should first have been so far degarnished, to carry on the southern operations, as to render our success in the siege of that place, as infalli- ble as any future military event can ever be made. For I repeat it, and dwell upon it again, some splendid advantage (whether upon a larger or smaller scale was almost immaterial) was so essentially necessary, to revive the ex- piring hopes and languid exertions of the country, at the crisis in question, that I never would have consented to embark in any enter- prise wherein, from the most rational plan and accurate calculations, the favorable issue should not have appeared to my view as a ray of light. The failure of an attempt against the posts of the enemy, could, in no other possible situation during the war, have been so fatal to our cause. That much trouble was taken, and finesse used, to misguide and bewilder sir Henry Clin- ton, in regard to the real object, by fictiti^ous communications, as well as by making a decep- tive provision of ovens, forage, and boats in his neighborhood, is certain ; nor were less pains taken to deceive our own army ; for I had always conceived, where the imposition does not completely take place at home, it would never sufficiently succeed abroad. Your desire of obtaining truth, is very lauda- ble ; I wish I had more leisure to gratify it, as I am equally solicitous the undisguised verity should be known. Many circumstancesL^Will unavoidably be misconceived, and misrepre- sented. Notwithstanding most of the papers, which may properly be deemed official, are preserved ; yet the knowledge of innumerable things of a more delicate and secret nature, is confined to the perishable remembrance of some few of the present generation. With esteem, I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant, George Washington. 300 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. GEORGE MASON, OF VIRGINIA, Author of the celebrated bill of rights the first adopted in america, and one of the most distinguished patriots in the colonies. Mr. Niles, 5z>: The emancipation of the states of North America must ever be regarded as one of the most memorable events recorded in the annals of the human race. The revolutions, which have embroiled and desolated the great nations from which they sprang, are acknowledged to have received their first impulse from the principles and events of the American struggle. The grave has closed upon a great majority of the leaders in the American revolution ; and the characters of the founders of our independence and freedom are beginning to be contemplated with the severe impartiality of a distant pos- terity. The passions which buoyed, annoyed, or infested their individual fame have subsided. Each is receiving a settled and mellow lustre ; and a just judgment is already busily engaged in assigning the decree of estimation and re- spect which a grateful posterity should continue to render to the memory of each of those whose efforts have obtained so many blessings and such everlasting glory for this nation. Among the conductors of those important events, the name of George Mason, must always hold a distinguished place. An exhibition of character, in a public station, may be calcula- ted to give an impression of the profoundest respect ; but, the sincerest, and best affections of the heart can only be won by those traits, which are developed when the individual has been divested of the imposing forms and cir- cumstances of place and office. It is for these reasons, as well as for the rays of light which they shed upon the most interesting portion of the history of our country, that I send you the following papers. George Mason, their author, was an inde- pendent planter, resident in Fairfax county, Virginia, his native state, when the revolution commenced. He was a man endowed by na- ture with a vigorous understanding, which had been well cultivated by a liberal education. He was a sound constitutional lawyer, although he had not practiced or been bred to the profes- sion. His mind had, evidently, been well stored from the best political writers of his time. In temperance he was, like the younger Cato, constitutionally stern, firm, and honest ; and in all the affairs of life, in which he was engaged, as well private as public, he was habitually, minutely, and critically clear, punctual, exact, and particular. He was a member of the first conventions and assemblies elected by the peo- ple independently of the colonial authorities. He chose and valued most, the station of a representative of the people ; because he thought it most honorable, and one where he could be most useful ; nor did he ever consent to accept of any other, but once, when he acted as a commissioner to adjust the navigation and boundary, between Maryland and Virginia. He was a man of the people in spirit and in truth ; and every act of his life incontestibly evinces, that in their cause he never once, or for a sin- gle moment, trembled, hesitated, or wavered. Many intelligent foreigners, and some of our own countrymen, whose judgments have been confused or ■ per\'erted by aristocratic princi- ples, entertain a belief, and propagate the opinion, that our liberties were principally es- tablished by the integrity, wisdom, and for- bearance of our military leaders. To such it will be particularly instructive to attend to the first of the following letters from this venerable patriot ; written at a time, and under circum- stances singularly impressive and affecting. In a ripe old age, chastened by experience, when the hand of Providence had visited his house- hold with such an affliction as to induce him to desire no more the return of hilarity to his heart, he seats himself in his closet to unbosom himself to his friend ; to tell him of his political op'.nions and principles and to speak of the sen- timents, feelings, and probable fortunes of his country. This letter, which is so highly honor- able to its author, furnishes conclusive proof, that all the chiefs, as well military as civil, were guided and controlcd by the people, and bears ample testimony to their virtue and their glory. He was a member of the convention which formed the present constitution of the United States, and appears to have been deeply, and sincerely impressed with the magnitude of the undertaking. He was afterwards a member of the convention of Virginia by which it was ratified, which he actively and firmly opposed, without previous amendments. He was a most decided enemy to all constructive and implied powers. And it is remarkable, that he was the author of some, and the warm advocate of every amendment since made to it. His friend and coadjutor, the illustrious Henry, poured forth the boundless wealth of his im- passioned eloquence in opposition ; he charmed, enchanted, or won over many of his auditors to withhold their assent from the proposed plan of government. But, when Mason spoke, he VIRGINIA. 301 seemed to cite his hearers severally to the bar of reason and truth, and imperatively to demand of them to produce the reason and grounds upon which they proposed to tolerate the per- nicious principles he denounced. Henry de- lighted, astonished, and captivated. Mason stirred the house, and challenged every friend of the new constitution to stand forth ; at the same time, that he made them feel, they would have to meet an antagonist whom it was diffi- cult to vanquish, and impossible to put to flight ; such was the clear, condensed, and dauntless vigor he displayed. George Mason was a member of that conven- tion of Virginia, which, on the fifteenth day of May, 1776, declared that state independent and formed the constitution by which it is still gov- erned. And to him belongs the honor of having draughted the first declaration of rights ever adopted in America, of which the following is a copy. The few alterations made by the con- vention, which adopted it unanimously on the twelfth day of June, 1776, and made it a part of the constitution of Virginia, where it yet re- mains, are noted. This declaration contains principles more extensive, and much more perspicuously expressed than any then to be found in the supposed analogous instruments of any other age or country. The English magna charta was, strictly speaking, a contract between an assemblage of feudal lords and a king, not a declaration of the rights of man, and the fundamental princi- ples on which all government should rest. " It was not so much their intention to secure the liberties of the people at large, as to establish the privileges of a few individuals. A great tyrant on the one side, and a set of petty tyrants on the other, seem to have divided the kingdom ; and the great body of the people, disregarded and oppressed on all hands, were beholden for any privileges bestowed upon them, to the jealousy of their masters ; who, by limiting the authority of each other over their dependents, produced a reciprocal diminution of their power." The articles drawn up by the Spanish junta, in the year 1522, under the guidance of the celebrated Padilly, are much more distinct and popular in their provisions than those of the English magna charta. But, although it is admitted, that the principles of liberty were ably defended, and better understood, at that time in Spain, than they were for more than a cen- tury after, in England, the power of Charies 5th proved to be irresistible, the people failed in their attempt to bridle his prerogative, and their liberties were finally crushed. The famous English bill of rights sanctioned by William and Mary on their ascending the throne, and which, under the name of the peti- tion of rights, appears to have been projected many years before by that profound lawyer, sir Edward Coke, like magna charta, and the articles of the Spanish junta, is a contract with nobility and royalty, a compromise with despot- ism, in which the voice of the people is heard in a tone of disturbed supplication and prayer. But in this declaration of Mason's, man seems to stand erect in all the majesty of his nature — to assert the inalienable rights and equality with which he has been endowed by his Creator, and to declare the fundamental principles by which all rulers should be controled, and on which all governments should rest. The con- trast is striking, the difference prodigious. And when I read, at the foot of this curious original, the assertion of its author, that " This Declaration of Rights was the first in Amer- ica ; " I see a manly mind indulging its feelings under a consciousness of having done an act so permanently and extensively useful. And what feeling can be so exquisitely delightful ? what pride more truly virtuous and noble .' The principles of hberty filled and warmed the bosom of this venerable patriot in that last hour, which is an awful, and an honest one to us all ; in his last will, he speaks in his dying hour, and charges his sons, on a father's bless- ing, to be true to freedom and their country. He was indeed and in truth one of the fathers of this nation. Therefore, let every son of free America, as he enters upon the busy scenes of life, hear and solemnly beseech Heaven to fortify him in the faithful observance of this sacred charge of one of the most worthy fathers of this country. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. (Co/ry of the first draught by George Mason.) A declaration of rights made by the representa- tives of the good people of Virginia, assem- bled in full and free convention ; which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government, unanimously adopted by the convention of Virginia, June 12th, 1776. I. That all men are created tquaWy free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights of which, they cannot, by any compact, deprive, or divest their posterity ; (a) among ■which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing 302 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. property, and pursuing and obtaining happi- ness and safety. 2. That all power is 6y God and nature vesitA in and consequently derived from the people ; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them. 3. That government is, or ought to be, in- stituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the people, nation or community. Of all the various modes and forms of govern- ment, that is best, which is capable of produc- ing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of administration ; and that whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable indefeasible right, to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most condu- cive to the public weal. 4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or priv- ileges from the community, but in considera- tion of public ser\'ices ; which not being de- scendible, neither ought the offices of magis- trate, legislator, or judge, to be hereditary. 5. That the legislative and executive powers of the state should be separate and distinct from \.\ie.jtiduial\ and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burthens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, and return unto that body from which they were originally taken, and vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain and regular election, (a) — 6. That elections of members, to serve as representatives of the people in /he legislaticre, ought to be free, and that all men having suffi- cient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to the community, have the right of suffrage ; and cannot be taxed, or deprived of their property for public uses without their own consent, or that of their re- presentatives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, as- sented for the common good. 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. 8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions, a man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of his vicinage, without unani- mous consent he cannot be found guilty, nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself ; and that no man be deprived of his liberty, except by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers. 9. That excessive bail ought not to be re- quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 10. (This article was inserted by the con- vention.) 11. That in controversies respecting prop- erty, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by jury is preferable to any other, and ought to be held sacred. 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. 13. That a well regelated militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state ; that standing armies in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty ; and that, in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by the civil power. 14. (This article also was inserted by the convention.) 15. That no free government, or the bless- ing of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by fre- quent recurrence to fundamental principles. 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and convic- tion, not by force or violence, and, therefore that all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, unpunished and unre- strained by the magistrate ; tmless under color of religion, any man disturb the peace, the happiness, or the safety of society. And that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other. " This declaration of rights was the first in America ; it received few alterations or addi- tions in the Virginia convention, (some of them not for the better,) and was afterwards closely imitated by the other United States." The foregoing was copied verbatim from the original, the hand-writing of the author, col. George Mason, of Virginia, left in the posses- sion of his son, gen. John Mason of Georgetown. In order to facilitate the comparison of it with VIRGINIA. 303 that which was adopted by the convention, and is still in force, it has been thought proper to num- ber the articles as in the adopted declaration, omitting the tenth and fourteenth which were inserted entire by the convention ; and to place those words in italics, which were either ex- punged or altered, and to put a caret where others were added. Letter from George Mason. *' Virginia, Gunston-Hall, Oct. 2. 1778. " My dear sir. — It gave me great pleasure, upon receipt of your favor of the 23d of April, (by Mr. Digges) to hear that you are alive and well, in a country, where you can spend your time agreeably ; not having heard a word from you, or of you, for two years before. I am much obliged, by the friendly concern you take in my domestic affairs, and your kind enquir)' after my family ; great alterations have hap- pened in it. About four years ago I had the misfortune to lose my wife : to you, who knew her, and the happy manner in which we lived, I will not attempt to describe my feelings : I was scarce able to bear the first shock, a de- pression of spirits, a settled melancholy fol- lowed, from which I never e.xpect, or desire to recover. I determined to spend the remain- der of my days in privacy and retirement with my children, from whose society alone, I could expect comfort. Some of them are now grown up to men and women ; and I have the satis- faction to see them free from vices, good-na- tured, obliging and dutiful : they all still live with me, and remain single, except my second daughter, who is lately married to my neigh- bor son. My eldest daughter (who is blessed with her mother's amiable disposition) is mistress of my family, and manages my lit- tle domestic matters, with a degree of prudence far above her years. My eldest son engaged early in the American cause, and was chosen ensign of the first independent company formed in Virginia, or indeed on the continent ; it was commanded by the present general Washing- ton as captain, and consisted entirely of gen- tlemen. In the year 1775, he was appointed a captain of foot, in one of the first minute-regi- raents raised here ; but was soon obliged to quit the service, by a violent rheumatic dis- order ; which has followed him ever since, and, I believe will force him to tr)' the climate of France or Italy. My other sons have not yet finished their education : as soon as they do, if the war continues, they seem strongly in- clined to take an active part. In the summer of '75, I was, much against my inclination, drag'd out of my retirement, by the people of my county and sent a delegate to the general convention at Richmond ; where I was appointed a member of the first committee of safety ; and have since, at different times, been chosen a member of the privy-council, and of the American congress ; but have con- stantly declined acting in any other public character than that of an independent repre- sentative of the people, in the house of dele- gates ; where I still remain, from a conscious- ness of being able to do my country more ser- vice there, than in any other department, and have ever since devoted most of my time to public business ; to the no small neglect and injury of my private fortune ; but if I can only live to see the American union firmly fixed, and free governments well established in our western world, and can leave to my children but a crust of bread and liberty, I shall die satisfied ; and say, with the psalmist, " Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." — To show you that I have not been an idle spectator of this great contest, and to amuse you with the sentiments of an old friend upon an important subject, I enclose you a copy of the first draught of the declaration of rights, just as it was drawn and presented by me, to the Virginia convention, where it received few alterations ; some of them I think not for the better ; this was the first thing of the kind upon the continent, and has been closely imi- tated by all the states. There is a remarkable sameness in all the forms of government throughout the American union, except in the states of South Carolina and Pennsylvania ; the first having three branches of legislature, and the last only one ; all the other states have two : this difference has given general disgust, and it is probable an alteration will take place, to assimilate these to the constitu- tions of the other states. We have laid our new government upon a broad foundation, and have endeavored to provide the most effectual securities for the essential rights of human nature, both in civil and religious liberty; the people become every day more and more at- tached to it ; and I trust that neither the pow- er of Great Britain, nor the power of hell will be able to prevail against it. There never was an idler or a falser notion, than that which the British ministry have imposed upon the nation, that this great revo- lution has been the work of a faction, of a jun- to of ambitious men against the sense of the people of America. On the contrary, nothing has been done without the approbation of the 304 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. people, who have indeed outrun their leaders : so that no capital measure hath been adopted until they called loudly for it : to any one who knows mankind, there needs no greater proof than the cordial manner in which they have co- operated, and the patience and perseverance with which they have struggled under their sufferings ; which have been greater than you, at a distance can conceive, or I describe. Equally false is the assertion that independ- ence was originally designed here : things have gone such lengths, that it is a matter of moon- shine to us, whether independence was at first intended, or not, and therefore we may now be believed. The truth is, we have been forced into it, as the only means of self-preservation, to guard our country and posterity from the greatest of all evils, such another infernal gov- ernment (if it deserves the name of govern- ment) as the provinces groaned under, in the latter ages of the Roman commonwealth. To talk of replacing us in the situation of 1763. as we first asked, is to the last degree absurd, and impossible : they obstinately refused it, while it was in their power, and now, that it is out of their power, they offer it. Can they raise our cities out of their ashes .' Can they replace, in ease and affluence ; the thousands of families whom they have ruined .' Can they restore the husband to the widow, the child to the parent, or the father to the orphan ? In a word, can they reanimate the dead ? — Our country has been made a scene of desolation and blood — enormities and cruelties have been committed here, which not only disgrace the British name, but dishonor the human kind, we can never again trust a people who have thus used us ; human nature revolts at the idea ! — The die is cast — the Rubicon is passed — and a reconciliation with Great Britain, upon the terms of returning to her government is im- possible. No man was more warmly attached to the Hanover family and the whig interest of England, than I was, and few men had stronger prejudices in favor of that form of government under which I was born and bred, or a greater aversion to changing it ; it was ever my opinion that no good man would wish to try so dangerous an experiment upon any speculative notions whatsoever, without an absolute necessity. The ancient poets, in their elegant manner of expression, have made a kind of being of necessity, and tell us that the Gods themselves are obliged to yield to her. When I was first a member of the convention, I exerted myself to prevent a confiscation of the and although I was for putting the country immediately into a state of defence, and preparing for the worst ; yet as long as we had any well founded hopes of reconciliation, I opposed to the utmost of my power, all violent measures, and such as might shut the door to it ; but when reconciliation became a lost hope, when unconditional submission, or effectual resistance were the only alternatives left us, when the last dutiful and humble petition from congress received no other answer than declar- ing us rebels, and out of the king's protection, I, trom that moment, looked forward to a revo- lution and independence, as the only means of salvation ; and will risk the last penny of my fortune, and the last drop of my blood upon the issue : for to imagine that we could resist the efforts of Great Britain, still professing our- selves her subjects, or support a defensive war against a powerful nation, without the reins of government in the hands of America (whatever our pretended friends in Great Britain may say of it) is too childish and futile an idea to enter into the head of any man of sense. I am not singular in my opinions ; these arc the senti- ments of more than nine tenths of the best men in America. God has been pleased to bless our endeavors, in a just cause, with remarkable success. To us upon the spot, who have seen step by step the progress of this great contest, who know the defenceless state of America in the begin- ning, and the numberless difficulties we have had to struggle with, taking a retrospective view of what is passed, we seem to have been treading upon enchanted ground. The case is now altered. American prospects brighten, and appearances are strongly in our favor. The British ministry must and will acknowledge us independent states." George Mason to his Son. An extract from the copy of a letter from col. George Mason to his son, Mr. George Mason, then in France, dated 1 78 1, the original of which was put into the hands of the Count de Vergennes by Dr. Franklin. " Our affairs have been, for some time, grow- ing from bad to worse. The enemy's fleet commands our rivers, and puts it in their power to remove their troops, from place to place, when and where they please without opposition ; so that we no sooner collect a force sufficient to counteract them in one part of the country, but they shift to another, ravaging, plundering, and destroying every thing before vIRGI^aA. 305 them. Our militia turn out with great spirit, and have, in several late actions, behaved bravely; but they are badly armed and ap- pointed. General Greene with about 1200 regular troops and some militia, is in South Carolina : where he has taken all the enemy's posts, except Charleston. The enemy's capital object, at this time, seems to be Virginia. Gen- eral Phillips died lately in Petersburg ; upon wHich the command of the British troops then devolved upon Arnold. But lord Cornwallis, quitting North Carolina, has since joined Arnold, with about 1200 infantry and 300 cavalry, and taken the chief command of their army in Virginia, now consisting of about 5000 men. They have crossed James river, and by the latest accounts were at Westover ; their light horse having advanced as far as Hanover court house. They have burnt Page's warehouses, where the greatest part of the York River tobacco was collected ; they had before burned most of the tobacco upon James river, and have plundered great part of the adjacent country. The Marquis de la Fayette is about twenty miles below Fredericksburg with about 1 200 regulars and 3000 militia, wait- ing the arrival of general Wayne, with about 1500 regular troops of the Pennsylvania line. " We have had various accounts of the sail- ing of a French fleet, with a body of land forces, for America ; should they really arrive it would quickly change the face of our affairs, and infuse fresh spirits and confidence ; but it has been so long expected in vain, that little credit is now given to reports concerning it. " You know, from your own acquaintance in this part of Virginia, that the bulk of the people here are staunch whigs ; strongly attached to the American cause, and well affected to the French alliance ; yet they grow uneasy and restless, and begin to think that our allies are spinning out the war, in order to weaken America, as well as Great Britain, and thereby leave us at the end of it, as dependent as possi- ble upon themselves. " However unjust this opinion may be, it is natural enough for planters and farmers, bur- thened with heavy taxes, and frequently drag- ged from their families upon military duty on the continual alarms occasioned by the supe- riority of the British fleet. They see their property daily exposed to destruction, they see with what facility the British troops are re- moved from one part of the continent to another, and with what infinite charge and fatigue ours are, too late, obliged to follow ; and they see too, very plainly, that a strong French fleet would have prevented all this. ao " If our allies had a superior fleet here, I should have no doubt of a favorable issue to the war: but, without it, I fear we are deceiving both them and ourselves, in expecting we shall be able to keep our people much longer firm, in so unequal an opposition to Great Britain. " France surely intends the separation of these states, forever, from Great Britain. It is highly her interest to accomplish this ; but by drawing out the thread too fine and long, it may unexpectedly break in her hands. " God bless you, my dear child ; and grant that we may again meet, in your native coun- try, as freemen, — otherwise that we may never see each other more, is the prayer of Your affectionate father, G. Mason." George Mason to his son then in France, DATED Jan. 8, 1783. " As to the money you have spent in Europe, provided you can satisfy me that it has not been spent in extravagance, dissipation or idle parade, I don't regard it. It is true, I have a large family to provide for ; and that I am determined from motives of morality and duty to do justice to them all ; it is certain also that I have not lost less than ;^io,ooo sterling by the war, in the depreciation of paper money and the loss of the profits of my estate ; but think this a cheap purchase of liberty and independence. I thank God, I have been able, by adopting principles of strict economy and frugality, to keep my principal, I mean my country estate, unimpaired, and I have suffered little by the depredations of the enemy. I have at this time, two years' rents (you know mine are all tobacco rents) in arrear and two crops uninspected ; so that if a peace happens, it will find me plentiful handed in the article of to- bacco, which will then be very valuable. The money it has cost you to relieve the distresses of your unfortunate countrymen was worthily expended, and you will receive retribution, with large interest, in heaven — but in order to shorten the time of credit and also to entitle myself to some proportion of the merit, I shall insist upon replacing to you every shilling of it here. I hope you will therefore keep an exact account of it. " I beg you will freely communicate to me the situation of your affairs ; and if there should be a necessity of making you remit- tances, I will endeavor to do it at all events, though it must be by selling some of the produce of my estate at an undervalue. I am 3o6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. now pretty far advanced in life, and all my views are centred in the happiness and welfare of my children — you will therefore find from me every indulgence which you have a right to expect from an affectionate parent. I have been for some time in retirement and shall not probably return again to public life ; my anxiety for my country, in these times of danger, makes me sometimes dabble a little in politics, and keep up a correspondence with some men upon the public stage. You know I am not apt to form opinions lightly and with- out due examination. And I can venture to say that the French court and nation, may confide in the honor and good faith of America. We reflect with gratitude on the important aids France has given us ; but she must not, and I hope will not attempt to lead us into a war of ambition or conquest, or trail us around the mysterious circle of European politics. We have little news worth communicating — nothing of consequence has happened here this cam- paign ; the enemy having generally kept close within their lines, and the American army not strong enough to force them. We have a long time expected the evacuation of Charlestown ; the enemy have dismantled their out works and embarked their heavy artillery and some of their troops. — However, by the last accounts (in December) they had still a garrison there. By late accounts from Kentucky, we are informed that general Clarke with 1200 volun- teers had crossed the Ohio river and destroyed six of the Shawnese towns, destroying also about 2,000 barrels of their corn and bringing off furs and other plunder to the value of £3,000, which was sold and the money divided among his men ; this will probably drive these savages near the Lakes or the Mississippi. Upon Clarke's return the Chickasaws sent deputies to him to treat for peace. Every thing was quiet in the new settlements, and upwards of 5,000 souls have been added to them since last September. The people there are extremely uneasy lest the free navigation of the river Mis- sissippi to the sea should not be secured to them upon a treaty of peace ; if it is not, it will occa- sion another war in less than seven years : the inhabitants think they have a natural right to the free, though not the exclusive navigation of that river ; and in a few years they will be Strong enough to enforce that right." George Mason to a Friend. Extract of a letter from colonel George Mason, of Virginia (while serving in the general convention), to a friend in that state. Philadelphia, yune 1st, 1787. " The idea I formerly mentioned to you, be- fore the convention met, of a great national council, consisting of two branches of the legislature, a judiciary and an executive, upon the principle of fair representation in the legis- lature, with powers adapted to the great objects of the union, and consequently a control in these instances, on the state legislatures, is still the prevalent one. Virginia has had the honor of presenting the outlines of the plan, upon which the convention is proceeding ; but so slowly, that it is impossible to judge when the business will be finished ; most probably not before Ang}is\.—festina lente may very well be called our motto. When I first came here, judging from casual conversations with gentle- men from the different states, I was very ap- prehensive that, soured and disgusted with the unexpected evils we had experienced from the democratic principles of our governments, we should be apt to run into the opposite extreme, and in endeavoring to steer too far from Scylla, we might be drawn into the vortex of Charyb- dis, of which I still think, there is some danger ; though I have the pleasure to find in the convention, many men of fine republican principles. America has certainly, upon this occasion, drawn forth her first characters ; there are upon this convention many gentle- men of the most respectable abilities ; and, so far as I can yet discover, of the purest inten- tions ; the eyes of the United States are turned upon this assembly, and their expectations raised to a very anxious degree. " May God grant, we may be able to gratify them by establishing a wise and just govern- ment. For my own part, I never before felt myself in such a situation ; and declare, I would not, upon pecuniary motives, serve in this convention for a thousand pounds per day. The revolt from Great Britain, and the forma- tions of our new governments at that time, were nothing compared with the great business now before us ; there was then a certain degree of enthusiasm, which inspired and sup- ported the mind ; but to view, through the calm sedate medium of reason, the influence which the establishments now proposed may have upon the happiness or misery of millions yet unborn, is an object of such magnitude, as absorbs, and in a manner suspends the opera- tions of the human understanding." VIRGINIA. 307 " P. S. All communications of the proceed- ings are forbidden during the sitting of the convention ; this I think was a necessary pre- caution to prevent misrepresentations or mis- takes ; there being a material difference be- tween the appearance of a subject in its first crude and indigested shape, and after it shall have been properly matured and arranged." An extract from the last will and TESTAMENT OF COLONEL GEORGE MaSON, OF Virginia. " I recommend it to my sons, from my own experience in hfe, to prefer the happiness of independence and a private station to the troubles and vexation of public business : but if either their own inclinations or the necessity of the times should engage them in public affairs, I charge them on a father's blessing, never to let the motives of private interest or ambition induce them to betray, nor the terrors of poverty and disgrace, or the fear of danger or of death, deter them from asserting the liberty of their country, and endeavoring to transmit to their posterity those sacred rights to which themselves were born." GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE, Commander of the Western Depart- ment OF Virginia. Interesting no- tice OF him. [While his countrymen on the sea-board were contending with the British regulars, col. George Rogers Clarke was the efficient pro- tector of the people of the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania from the inroads of the savage allies of the " defender of the faith." The history of his exploits would fill a yolume — and for hair-breadth 'scapes and hardy enterprise, would hardly have a parallel. The character of this veteran is well developed in the following extract, recently published in the (Philadelphia) " National Gazette," from " the note of an old officer."] " The Indians came into the treaty at Fort Washington in the most friendly manner, except the Shawnees — the most conceited and most warlike of the aborigines ; the first in at a battle — the last at a treaty. Three hund- red of their finest warriors, set off in all their paint and feathers, filed into the council house. Their number and demeanor, so unusual at an occasion of this sort, was altogether unexpected and suspicious. The United States stockade nwistered seventy men. " In the centre of the hall, at a little table, sat the commissary general ClarKe, the inde- fatigable scourge of these very marauders, general Richard Butler, and the hon. Mr. Par- sons — there was present, also, a captain Denfry, who I believe is still alive, and can attest this story. On the part of the Indians an old coun- cil sachem and a warrior chief took the lead : the latter, a tall, raw boned fellow with an impudent and villainous look, made a boister- ous and threatening speech, which operated effectually on the passions of the Indians, who set up a prodigious whoop at every pause. He concluded by presenting a black and white wampum, to signify they were prepared for either event, peace or war. Clarke exhibited the same unaltered and careless countenance he had shown during the whole scene, his head lean- ing on his left hand and his elbow resting on the table : he raised his little cane and pushed the sacred wampum off the table, with very lit- tle ceremony — every Indian at the same mo- ment started from his seat with one of those sudden, simultaneous and peculiarly savage sounds which startle and disconcert the stout- est heart, and can neither be described nor for- gotten. " Parsons, more civil than military in his habits, was poorly fitted for an emergency that probably embarrassed even the hero of Sara- toga — the brother and father of soldiers. At this juncture Clarke rose — the scrutinizing eye cowered at his glance ; he stamped his foot on the prostrate and insulted symbol, and ordered them to leave the hall — they did so appar- ently involuntarily. " They were heard all that night debating in the bushes near the fort. The raw-boned chief was for war, the old sachem for peace : the latter prevailed, and next morning they came back and sued for peace." JOHN CHAMPE, A gallant soldier OF Virginia, who attempted the seizure of the traitor Arnold, having been selected for THAT PURPOSE BY MAJOR LeE AT THE IN- STANCE OF General Washington. [Some person in a late Compiler having asked, with at least the semblance of sincerity, whether Slaughter or Champe was sent to arrest the traitor Arnold ? I beg leave to inform him, upon the testimony of Henry Lee, that Champe was the distinguished soldier se- lected for this highly honorable, and most confidential business, by major Lee, at the 308 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. request of General Washington. Lee, in his memoirs of the war in the southern states, thus describes the hero, and his adventure : — ] " He was a native of Loudon county, in Vir- ginia, about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age ; that he had enlisted in '76 — rather above the common size — full of bone and mus- cle ; with a saturnine countenance ; grave, thoughtful and taciturn — of tried courage and inflexible perseverance, and as lilcely to reject an offer coupled with ignominy, as any officer in the corps ; a commission being the goal of his long and anxious exertions, and certain on the first vacancy." [It will be proper here to premise, that although Champe was young, ardent, and de- voted to his country's cause, and thirsting for military fame ; yet his noble and magnanimous soul revolted at the idea of doing any thing underhanded, or that had even the shadow of a deviation from the paths of chivalry, and the high notions of honor which glowed in every American bosom. — At last, however, Champe, convinced that no action stamped with the ap- probation of the commander-in-chief, could be other than laudable and worthy of a soldier's best exertions, engaged in the enterprise with alacrity and zeal ; and alter all the plans of Washington were fully explained to him by Major Lee, it was determmed, to give a greater chance of success, that Champe should enter the enemy's lines as a deserter ! and accord- ingly he did desert.] — " Evidently discerni- ble as were the difficulties in the way, no relief could be administered by major Lee, lest it might induce a belief that he was privy to the desertion, which opinion getting to the enemy, would involve the life of Champe. The sergeant was left to his own resources and to his own management, with th« declared de- termination that, in case his departure should be discovered before morning, Lee would take care to delay pursuit as long as was practicable. " Giving to the sergeant three guineas, and presenting his best wishes, he recommended him to start without delay, and enjoined him to communicate his arrival in New-York as soon thereafter as might be practicable. Champe pulling out his watch, compared it with the . major's, reminding the latter of the import- ance of holding back pursuit, which he was convinced would take place during the night, and which might be fatal, as he knew that he should be obliged to zig-zag in order to avoid the patroles, which would consume time. It was now eleven o'clock : He returned to camp,* * From Lee's marque, where they had been consulting on the best plan of the proposed desertion. and taking his cloak, valise, and orderly book, he drew his horse from the picket, and mount- ing him, put himself upon fortune. Lee, charmed with his expeditious consummation of the first part of his enterprise, retired to rest. Useless attempt ! The past scene could not be obliterated ; and, indeed, had that been practicable, the interruption which ensued would have stopped repose. •' Within half an hour. Captain Carnes, offi- cer of the day, waited upon the major, and, with considerable emotion, told him that one of the patrole had fallen in with a dragoon, who, being challenged, put spur to his horse and escaped, though instantly pursued. Lee, complaining of the interruption, and pretending to be extremely fatigued by his ride to and from head-quarters, answered as if he did not understand what had been said, which com- pelled the captain to repeat it. Who can the fellow that was pursued be.' enquired the major ; adding, a countr)'man, probably. No, replied the captain, the patrole sufficiently dis- tinguished him to know that he was a dra- goon ; probably one from the army, if not cer- tainly of our own. This idea was ridiculed from its improbability, as during the whole war but a single dragoon had deserted from the legion. This did not convince Carnes, so much stress was it now the fashion to lay on the desertion of Arnold, and the probable effect of his example. The captain withdrew to examine the squadron of horse, whom he had ordered to assemble in pursuance of es- tablished usage on such occasions. Very quickly he returned, stating that the scoundrel * was known, and no other person than the ser- geant major, who had gone off with his horse, baggage, and orderly book — so presumed, as neither the one nor the other could be found. Sensibly affected at the supposed baseness of a soldier extremely respected, the captain added that he had ordered a party to make ready for pursuit, and begged the major's written orders. " Occasionally this discourse was interrupted, and every idea suggested which the excellent character of the sergeant warranted, to induce the suspicion that he had not deserted, but had taken the liberty to leave camp with a view to personal pleasure ; an example, said Lee, too often set by the officers themselves, destructive as it was of discipline, opposed as it was to orders, and disastrous as it might prove to the corps in the course of the service. * The reader will understand, that Washington and Lee were the only persons acquainted with the facts in this case. VIRGINIA. 309 " Some little delay was thus interposed, but it being now announced that the pursuing party was ready, major Lee directed a change in the officer, saying that he had a particular service in view, which he had determined to entrust to the lieut. ready for duty, and which probably must be performed in the morning. He there- fore directed him to summon cornet Middleton for the present command. Lee was induced thus to act, first to add to the delay, and next from his knowledge of the tenderness of Mid- dleton's disposition, which he hoped would lead to the protection of Champe, should he be taken. — Within ten minutes Middleton ap- peared to receive orders, which were delivered to him made out in the customary form, and signed by the major. ' Pursue so far as you can with safety, sergeant Champe, who is sus- pected of deserting to the enemy, and has taken the road leading to Pauler's Hook. Bring him aUve that he may suffer in the presence of the army ; but kill him if he resists or escapes after being taken.' " Detaining the cornet a few minutes longer in advising him what course to pursue, urging him to take care of the horse and accoutre- ments, if recovered — and enjoining him to be on his guard, lest he might, by his eager pur- suit, improvidently fall into the hands of the enemy, the major dismissed Middleton, wish- ing him success. A shower of rain fell soon after Champe's departure, which enabled the pursuing dragoons to take the trail of his horse ; knowing, as officer and trooper did, the make of their shoes, whose impression was an unerring guide. " When Middleton departed, it was a few min- utes past twelve ; so that Champe had only the start of rather more than an hour — by no means as long as was desired. Lee became very un- happy, not only because the estimable and gallant Champe might be injured, but lest the enterprise might be delayed ; and he spent a sleepless night. The pursuing party during the night, was, on their part, delayed by the necessary halts to examine the road, as the impression of the horse's shoes directed their course ; this was unfortunately too evident, no other horse having passed along the road since the shower. When the day broke, Middleton was no longer found to halt, and he pressed on with rapidity. Ascending an eminence before he reached the three Pidgeons, some miles on the north of the village of Bergen, (Jersey) as the pursuing party reached its summit, Champe was discovered not more than half a mile in front, resembling an Indian in his vigilance. The sergeant at the same moment discovered the party, (whose object he was no stranger to,) and giving spur to the horse, he determined to outstrip his pursuers. Middleton, at the same instant put his horses to the top of their speed ; and being (as the legion all were) well acquaint- ed with the country, he recollected a short route through the woods to the bridge below Bergen, which diverged from the great road just after you gain the three Pidgeons. — Reaching the point of separation he halted, and dividing his party, directed a sergeant with a few dragoons to take the near cut, and possess, with all pos- sible despatch the bridge, while he with the residue followed Champe ; not doubting but that Champe must deliver himself up, as he would be closed between himself and his ser- geant. Champe did not forget the short cut, and would have taken it himself, but he knew it was the usual route of our parties when returning in the way from the neighborhood of the enemy, properly preferring the woods to the road. — He consequently avoided it, and persuaded that Middleton would avail himself of it, wisely resolved to relinquish his intention of getting to Pauler's Hook, and to seek refuge . from two British galleys, lying a few miles to the west of Bergen. " This was a station always occupied by one or more galleys, and which it was known now lay there. Entering the village of Bergen, Champe turned to his right, and disguised his change of course as much as he could by taking the beaten streets, turning as they turned ; he passed through the village and took the road towards Elizabeth town Point. Middleton's sergeant gained the bridge, when he conceived himself ready to pounce upon Champe when he came up ; and Middleton pursuing his course through Bergen, soon got also to the bridge, when to his extreme mortification he found that the sergeant had slipped through his fin- gers. Returning up the road, he enquired of the villagers of Bergen, whether a dragoon had been seen that morning preceding his party .' He was answered in the affirmative, but could learn nothing satisfactory as to the route he took. While engaged in enquiries himself, he spread his party through the village to take the trail of Champe's horse, a resort always recurred to. Some of his dragoons hit it just as the sergeant, leaving the village, got in the road leading to the Point. Pursuit was re- newed with vigor, and again Champe was dis- covered. He, apprehending the event, had prepared himself for it, by lashing his valise, (containing his clothes and orderly book) on his shoulders, and holding a drawn sword in his hand, having thrown away its scabbard. 3IO PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. This he did to save what was indispensable to him and to prevent any interruption to swim- ming by the scabbard, should Middleton, as he presumed, when disappointed at the bridge, take the measures adopted by him. The pursuit was rapid and close, as the stop occasioned by the sergeant's preparation for swimming had brought Middleton within two or three hundred yards. As soon as Champe got abreast of the galleys, he dismounted, and running through the marsh to the river, plunged into it, calling upon the galleys for help. This was readily given ; they fired upon our horse, and sent a boat to meet Champe, who was taken on board, and conveyed to New- York, with a letter from the captain of the galley stating the past scene, all of which he had seen." Washington was highly pleased with the result of his adventure. The eagerness of the pursuit he thought would be decisive evidence to the British commander, that this was a real and not a feigned desertion. Champe was im- mediately brought before sir Henr)' Clinton, and questioned by him on a variety of subjects, and amongst the rest, if any American officers were suspected of desertion, and who those officers 'cvere. The sergeant was forewarned on this point, and gave such answers as would more effectually mislead. After this examina- tion he was consigned to the care of general Arnold, and by him retained in his former rank. Washington hoped and believed, that the trial of Andre would occupy much time, and enable Champe to accomplish his designs. That gal- lant officer disdaining all subterfuge, com- pletely foiled this hope, by broadly confessing the nature of his connection with Arnold. The commander in chief offered to exchange Andre for Arnold, a proposal sir Henry Clinton, for obvious motives, declined. Had this gallant officer protracted his trial, and the plot proved successful, the life of Andre would have been saved, not by the intrigues of sir Henry Clinton, but of Washington in his favor. The honest and precipitate intrepidity of the British officer defeated this benevolent project, and no alter- native remained but a speedy death. The ser- geant, unfortunate as he was in this, was more successful in obtaining evidence the most full and satisfactory, that the suspicions resting on several American officers were foul calumnies, and a forgery of the enemy. He now deter- mined on making a bold attempt for the seizure of Arnold. Having been allowed, at all times, free access to Arnold, marked all his habits and movements, he awaited only a favorable oppor- tunity for the execution of his project. He had ascertained that Arnold usually retired to rest about twelve, and that previous to this, he spent some time in a private garden, adjoining his quarters. He was there to have been seized, bound and gagged, and under the pre- text that he was a soldier in a state of intoxi- cation, to have been conveyed through bye paths, and unsuspected places to a boat lying in readiness, in the river Hudson. Champe engaged two confederates, and major Lee, who co-operated in the plan, received timely intelli- gence of the night fixed on for its execution. At the appointed time that officer, attended by a small parcy well mounted, laid in wait on the other side of the Hudson with two spare horses, one for Champe, and the other for Arnold. The return of daylight announced the discomfiture of the plan, and Lee and his party retired to the camp with melancholy forebod- ings that the life of the gallant sergeant had been sacrificed to his zeal in the service of his country. Consoling was the intelligence, shortly after received from the confederates, that on the night preceding the one fixed for Arnold's arrest, that officer had shifted his quarters. It appeared that he was employed to superintend the embarkation of certain troops composed chiefly of American deserters, and it was apprehended that unless they were removed from their barracks, which were adjacent to the shore, many might seize that opportunity to escape. This attempt was never afterwards renewed. On the junction of Arnold with lord Cornwallis, in Virginia, the sergeant found means to elude the vigilance of the British lines, and to reach in safety the army of general Greene. Having been furnished by that officer with the means of escaping to Washington's camp, he arrived there to the astonishment and joy of his old confederates in arms. When Washington assumed the command of the army under president Adams, he caused strict enquiry to be made for the man who had so honorably distinguished himself, intending to honor such tried fidelity with military pro- motion, and heard to his great sorrow that he died but a short time before, in the state of Kentucky. These facts are taken and con- densed from the interesting manuscript of major general Lee. SKETCH OF GEN. JOHN CROPPER, A DISTINGUISHED OFFICER OF THE VIR- GINIA CONTINENTAL LINE. Died — At his seat on Bowman's Folly, at sixteen minutes past two o'clock on the morn- VIRGINIA. 3" ing of Monday, 15th of January, 1821, general 'John Cropper, in the 66th year of his age, after an illness of eleven days. He embarked early in the cause of his country, and was chosen a captain, in the 9th Virginia regiment on conti- nental establishment, when only nineteen or twenty years of age, and marched in December 1776, to the north to join the army under the command of the illustrious Washington. Gen- eral Cropper was promoted from a captaincy in the 9th Virginia regiment to a major in the 5th Virginia regiment. Gen. C. was at the battle of Brandywine, when the 5th Virginia regiment was nearly cut to pieces, and from which, during the action, his colonel and lieu- tenant both ran away. Gen. C. then retreated with the remainder of the regiment, and lay concealed in some bushes on the battle ground, until near day-break of the same night of the engagement — between mid-night and day- break, he stole off and marched to Chester, with a red handkerchief lashed to a ramrod for colors. On Chester Bridge, general C. was met by the illustrious George Washington and general Woodford. The latter alighted from his horse, embraced gen. Cropper, and pressed him to his bosom and said, " He whom we thought was lost, is found."— Gen. C. was then promoted to a lieutenant colonel in the 7th Virginia regiment, and was at the battles of Germantown and Monmouth Courthouse. From the 7th Virginia regiment he was pro- moted to the command of the eleventh Virginia regiment, by the Marquis De La Fayette, which regiment he commanded until his return to Virginia on the 30th of November, 1782. The day on which the preliminary articles of peace were signed at Paris, Gen. Cropper was en- gaged with com. Whaley, in the barge Victory, in the Chesapeake Bay, against five British barges, under the command of com. Perry. At the commencement of this engagement, there were attached to com. Whaley 's squadron three other American barges, all of which ran off as soon as the engagement commenced, and left com. Whaley alone to contend with five British barges, full manned. — Com. W. had on board his barge 69 men, principally citizens of the counties of Accomack and Northampton. About the middle of the engagement, com. W's magazine took fire, at which time several of his men were overboard hanging by the rig- ging — 29 men out of 69 men were killed on board of com. W's barge, together with the commodore himself. In this engagement gen- eral Cropper had to contend with two white men and one negro, all armed with cutlasses, and boarding pikes, and defended himself with a musket and bayonet. — One of the general's antagonists struck him with a cutlass on the head, which nearly brought him down. In the middle of this individual conflict, the negro dis- covering his young master to be the person with whom he and the two white men were engaged, cried out, " Save him — he is my young master ! " — Gen. Cropper afterwards set this faithful man free, and settled him in the city of Baltimore. — General John Cropper, was in the service of his beloved country about 45 years. Those who were acquainted with him, know- how he discharged his duty in every station in which he was placed. Gen. C. retained to the last hour of his life the veneration and love he bore for the illustrious Washington, the savior of his country. He tried to imitate him in his conduct as a soldier and citizen. The deeds of this great, good, and illustrious American was the theme of general Cropper at all times. He could not bear to hear the least whisper derogatory to the character of the best of men — and more than once has gen. Cropper been personally engaged to defend his fame. Gen. C. had the honor to die possessed with a writ- ten document, from the pen of this illustrious personage, which evidenced the high opinion he entertained of the worth of the deceased as an officer. This document was treasured up as a miser would treasure his gold, and but few persons were permitted to read it, or hear it read. It was the more highly prized, because this illustrious general and statesman was cau- tious in discovering his opinions, or showing his attachment to individuals. — Gen. Cropper was the soldier's friend. — The deceased has left a widow and seven children, and ten grand- children, to deplore his loss. The writer of this is one who was well acquainted with the deceased. 312 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. NORTH CAROLINA. ADDRESS Of the assembly of North Carolina, to governor josiah martin, april 1775. To his excellency Josiah Martin, esq., captain general, governor, and conimander in chief, in and over the province of North Carolina. Sir : — We, his majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the members of the assembly of North Carolina, have taken into consideration your excellency's speech, at the opening of this session. We met in general assembly, with minds superior to private dissension, determined calmly, unitedly, and faithfully, to discharge the sacred trust reposed in us by our constitu- ents. Actuated by sentiments like these, it behoves us to declare, that the assembly of this colony have the highest sense of their allegi- ance to the king of Great Britain, to whom alone, as our constitutional sovereign, we ac- knowledge allegiance to be due, and to whom we so cheerfully and repeatedly have sworn it, that to remind us of the oath was unnecessary. This allegiance, all past assemblies have, upon every occasion, amply expressed ; and we, the present representatives of the people, shall be always ready, by our actions, with pleasure to testify ; sensible, however, that the same con- stitution which established that allegiance, and enjoined the oath in consequence of it, hath bound his majesty under as solemn obliga- tions, to protect subjects inviolate in all their just rights and privileges, wisely intending, by reciprocal dependence, to secure the happiness of both. We contemplate, with a degree of horror, the unhappy state of America, involved in the most embarrassing difficulties and distresses, by a number of unconstitutional invasions of their just rights and privileges ; by which, the inhabitants of the continent in general, and of this province in particular, have been precipi- tated into measures, extraordinary perhaps in their nature, but warranted by necessity, from whence, among many other measures, the appointment of committees, in the several towns and counties, took its birth, to prevent, as much as in them lay, the operations of such unconstitutional encroachments. And the assembly remain unconvinced of any steps taken by those committees, but such as they were compelled to take for that salutary purpose. It is not to be controverted, that his ma- jesty's subjects have a right to petition for a redress of grievances, or to remonstrate against them ; and as it is only in a meeting of the people, that their sense, respecting such petition and remonstrance, can be obtained, that the right of assembling is as undoubted. — To attempt, therefore, under the mask of authority, to prevent or forbid a meeting of the people for such purposes, or to interrupt their proceedings when met, would be a vain effort, unduly to exercise power in direct opposition to the constitution. Far be it from us, then, sir, even to wish to prevent the operations of the convention now held at Newbern, or to agree with your excel- lency in bestowing upon them the injurious epithet of an illegal meeting. They are, sir, the respectable representatives of the people, appointed for a special and important purpose, to which, though our constituents might have thought us adequate, yet, as our meeting de- pended upon the pleasure of the crown, they would have been unwise to have trusted to so precarious a contingence, especially as the frequent and unexpected prorogations of the assembly, one of them in particular, as if all respect and attention to the convenience of their representatives hath been lost, was pro- claimed but two or three days before the time which had been appoinied for the meetings, gave the people not the least reason to expect that their assembly would have been permitted to sit till it was too late to appoint delegates to attend the continental congress at Philadel- phia ; a measure which they joined the rest of America in thinking essential to its interest. The house, sir, neither know, nor believe that any base arts have been practised upon the people in order to lead them from their duty ; but we know with certainty, that the steps they have taken proceeded from a full conviction, that the parliament of Great Britain had, by a variety of oppressive and unconstitu- tional proceedings, made those steps absolutely necessary. We think it, therefore, a duty we owe the people, to assert, that their conduct has not been owing to base arts, practised upon them by wicked and designing men ; and have it much to lament, that your excellency NORTH CAROLINA. should add your sanction to such groundless imputations, as it has a manifest tendency to weaken the influence which the united petition of his majesty's American subjects might oth- erwise have, upon their sovereign, for a redress of those grievances of which they so justly complain. We should feel inexpressible concern at the information, given us by your excellency, of your being authorized to say, that the appointment of delegates, to attend the congress at Phila- delphia, now in agitation, will be highly offen- sive to the king, had we not recently been informed, from the best authority, that his majesty has been pleased to receive, very gra- ciously, the united petition of his American subjects, addressed to him by the continental delegates, lately convened at Philadelphia. We have not, therefore, the least reason to suppose, that a similar application to the throne, will give offence to his majesty, or pre- vent his receiving a petition for the redress of grievances, which his American subjects have a right to present, either separately or unitedly. We shall always receive, with pleasure, the information of any marks of loyalty to the king, given to your excellency, by the inhabitants of this colony ; but we are greatly concerned, lest the manner in which you have thought proper to convey this information, should excite a belief, that a great number of the people of this province are disaffected to their sovereign, to prevent which, it is incumbent upon us, in this manner, solemnly to testify to the world, that his majesty has no subjects more faithful than the inhabitants of North Carolina, or more ready, at the expense of their lives and fortunes, to protect and support his person, crown, and dignity. If, however, by the signal proofs your excellency speaks of, you mean those addresses lately published in the North Carolina Gazette, and said to be presented to you, the assembly can receive no pleasure from your congratula- tions thereupon, but what results from the con- sideration that so few have been found in so populous a pro\ince, weak enough to be seduced from their duty, and prevailed upon by the base arts of wicked and designing men, to adopt principles so contrary to the sense of all America, and so destructive of those rights and privileges, it was their duty to maintain. We take this opportunity, sir, the first that has been given us, to express the warm attach- ment we have to our sister colonies in general, and the heart-felt compassion we entertain for the deplorable state of the town of Boston in particular, and also to declare the fixed and determined resolution of this colony, to unite with the other colonies in every effort to retain those just rights and liberties which, as subjects to a British king, we possess, and which it is our absolute and indispensable duty, to hand down to posterity, unimpaired. John Harvey, Speaker. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. FROM THE RALBIGH REGISTER. It is not probably known to many of our read- ers, that the citizens of Mecklenburg county, in this state, made a declaration of inde- pendence more than a year before congress 7nade theirs. The following document on the subject has lately come to the hands of the editor from unquestionable authority, and is published that it may go down to posterity. [As yhs genuineness of this declaration of In- dependence has been recently questioned in different sections of the country, reference is particularly requested to an extract from a let- ter written by Sir James Wright. Governor of Georgia, to the home government, of date June 20th, 1775,* one month after the date of that declaration (May 20th, 1775,) in which he states that " by the enclosed paper your lordship will see the extraordinary resolves by the people in Charlotte Town, Mecklenburgh county." This statement settles for all time, the authenticity of that declaration. The extract was recently furnished to the reriser of this work, March 7, 1876, by the Historical Society of Georgia.] North Carolina, Mecklenburg county. May 20, 1775. In the spring of 1775, the leading characters of Mecklenburg county, stimulated by the en- thusiastic patriotism which elevates the mind above considerations of individual aggran- disement, and scorning to shelter themselves from the impending storm, by submission to lawless power, etc. etc., held several detached meetings, m each of which the individual senti ments were •' that the cause of Boston was the cause of all ; that their destinies were indissolu- bly connected with those of their eastern fel- low-citizens — and that they must either submit to all the impositions which an unprincipled and to them an unrepresented parliament might impose — or support their brethren who were doomed to sustain the first shock of that power, which, if successful there, would ultimately overwhelm all in the common calamity. Con- formably to these principles, col. Adam Alex- • See Georgia, p. 390. 314 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ander, through solicitation, issued an order to each captain's company in the county of Meck- lenburg, (then comprising the present county of Cabarrus) directing each militia company to elect two persons, and delegate to them ample power to devise ways and means to aid and assist their suffering brethren in Boston, and also generally to adopt measures to extricate themselves from the impending storm, and to secure, unimpaired, their inalienable rights, privileges and liberties, from the dominant grasp of British imposition and tyranny. In conforming to said order, on the 19th of May, 1775, the said delegation met in Char- lotte, vested with unlimited powers ; at which time official news, by express, arrived of the battle of Lexington on that day of the preceding month. Every delegate felt the value and importance of the prize, and the awful and solemn crisis which had arrived — every bosom swelled with indignation at the malice, invete- racy, and insatiable revenge developed in the late attack at Lexington. The universal senti- ment was — let us not flatter ourselves that popular harangues — or resolves ; that popular vapor will avert the storm, or vanquish our common enemy — let us deliberate — let us cal- culate the issue — the probable result : and then let us act with energy as brethren leagued to preserve our property — our lives, — and what is still more endearing, the liberties of America. Adam Alexander was then elected chairman, and John M'Kiiitt Alexander, clerk. After a free and full discussion of the various objects for which the delegation had been convened, it was unanimously ordained — 1. Resolved, That whosoever directly or in- directly abetted, or in any way, form or man- ner, countenanced the unchartered and dan- gerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country — to America — and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man. 2. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Meck- lenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from al- legiance to the British crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our right and liberties — and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of American patriots at Lex- ington. 3. Resolved, That we do hereby declare our- selves a free and independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-gov- erning association, under the control of no power other than that of God and the general government of the congress : to the mainte- nance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor. 4. Resolved, That, as we now acknowledge the existence and control of no law or legal officer, civil or military within this county, we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former laws — wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Bri- tain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein. 5. Resolved, That it is also further decreed, that all, each, and every military officer in this county is hereby reinstated to his former com- mand and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And that every member present of this delegation shall henceforth be a civil officer, viz., a justice of the peace, in the character of a ' Comviittee man,' to issue pro- cess, hear and determine all matters of contro- versy, according to said adopted laws, and to preserve peace, and union, and harmony, in said county ; and to use every exertion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom through- out America, until a more general and orga- nized government be established in this province. Incidents relating to the Declara- tion OF Independence. A number of by-laws were also added, merely to protect the association from confusion, and to regulate their general conduct as citizens. After sitting in the court-house all night, nei- ther sleepy, hungry or fatigued, and after dis- cussing every paragraph, they were all passed, sanctioned, and decreed, unanimously, about 2 o'clock, A. M. May 20. In a few days, a dep- utation of said delegation convened, when capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was deputed as express to the congress at Philadelphia, with a copy of said resolves and proceedings, to- gether with a letter addressed to our three representatives, viz., Richard Caswell, IVm. Hooper, and Joseph Hughes, under express in- junction, personally, and through the state rep- resentation, to use all possible means to have said proceedings sanctioned and approved by the general congress. On the return of capt. Jack, the delegation learned that their proceed- ings were individually approved by the mem- bers of congress, but that it was deemed pre- mature to lay them before the house. A joint letter from said three members of congress was also received, complimentary of the zeal in the NORTH CAROLINA. 315 common cause, and recommending persever- ance, order and energy. The subsequent harmony, unanimity, and exertion, in the cause of hberty and independ- ence, evidently resulting from these regulations, and the continued e.\ertion of said delegation, apparently tranquilized this section of the state, and met with the concurrence and high approbation of the council of safety, who held their sessions at Newbem and Wilmington, and who confirmed the nomination and acts of the delegation in their official capacity. From this delegation originated the court of enquiry of this county, who constituted and held their first session in Charlotte ; they then held their meetings regularly at Charlotte, at col. James Harris's, and at col. Phifer's, alter- nately, one week at each place. It was a civil court founded on military process. Before this judicature all suspicious persons were made to appear, who were formally tried, and ban- ished or continued under guard. Its jurisdic- tion was as unlimited as toryism, and its decrees as final as the confidence and patriotism of the county. Several were arrested and brought before them from Lincoln, Rowan, and the adjacent counties. [The foregoing is a true copy of the papers on the above subject, left in my hands by John Matthew Alexander, deceased. I find it men- tioned on file, that the original book was burned in April, 1800; that a copy of the pro- ceedings was sent to Hugh Williamson, in New York, then writing a history of North Carolina, and that a copy was sent to gen. W. R. Davie. J. M'Knitt.] THE MECKLENBURG RESOLUTIONS. Statements as to Authenticity of SAME. Declaration of Independence. — The follow- ing paragraph appears in the Essex Register of the 24th ult., in relation to the declaration of independence made by the citizens of Mecklen- burg county, in this state, as early as May, 1775, which was originally published in this paper on the 30th of April, 1818, and which has been copied into most of the newspapers printed in the United States. " The Mecklenburg resolutions, as copied from the Raleigh Register, have not had uni- versal credit. It has been surprising that they had been so long unknown. Though the pub- lisher says they rest upon high authority, the public would be pleased to know more about them. If they are forgeries, they are highly criminal, and we agree, that " fictions of this kind, five and forty years after the pretended fact, ought to be discountenanced by every man of honor, and this in particular ought to be hunted from the dark cavern from which it originated. The more ingenious the invention, the more detestable." We can only say that, from the specious form in which they appeared, we were induced to copy them. They had so many circumstances that they could easily be exposed, if fictions ; and, being printed in the state in which the resolutions are said to have been taken, they originated where these circum- stances might be explained. We know not what part the representatives of North Caro- lina took in congress, and how far they availed themselves of the spirit they found in their con- stituents. With us, it was no objection that they were not published. We know the state of the press at that time, and the general ina- bility to take a fair estimate of local opinions. As some doubts have arisen respecting the documents, it is of the greatest importance that the documents be examined and traced to their true history. These doubts involve some se- rious questions. We copied them from the press, and they have no object in northern policy. They are, if true, favorable to the south in which they appear. As they regard a period of our history in which every thing should be clear and certain, we hope the publisher will assist to more satisfactory knowledge of their true character." For the satisfaction of the respectable editor of the Essex Register, we are desirous of giving him, and others, who may have doubts as to the correctness of these documents, all the in- formation in our power ; and we feel confident, after we shall have done so, no longer doubt will remain as to the truth and reality of the proceedings in question. It appears, this Mecklenburg declaration of independence had, during last winter, been the subject of conversation at Washington, amongst members of congress ; and that, in order to put the matter out of dispute, one of our senators, and the representative from the Mecklenburg district, in congress, wrote to gentlemen in that part of the country, most likely to give it, for satisfactory information in relation to this matter. Our senator received the following answer to the letter which he wrote on this ocasion : ^'Alexandria, Mecklenburg county, N. C. February 7, i8ig. 'Sir — Your application to gen. JosepH 3i6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Graham, of Lincoln county for information respecting the declaration of independence by the county of Mecklenburg, previous to the dec- laration by the United States, induced him to forward your letter to me for the like purpose, with a request to furnish you from my father's old papers, every thing on that subject that could be found ; but, previous to the reception of your letter, William Davidson* had addressed my brother on the same subject, and he has furnished all that could be found amongst my father's papers on that subject. But, on look- ing again, I found an old proclamation,! which I herein enclose to you — if it should be of any service, you can use it. " Nearly all my father's papers were burned in the spring of 1800; which destroyed the papers now wanting, as I believe he acted as secretary to the committee that declared inde- pendence for this county in 1775. •'I am, sir, with respect and esteem, yours, etc. "Wm. B. Alexander." *' Hon. Nathaniel Macon. The declaration and resolutions published, were received by Mr. Davidson from J. M'Knitt (brother of Mr. Ale.xander, the writer of the above letter) accompanied with the following certificate : " The foregoing is a true copy of the papers on the above subject, left in the hands of John M'Knitt Alexander, deceased. I find it men- tioned on file, that the original book was burned April, 1800; that a copy of the proceedings was sent to Hugh Williamson, in New York, then writing the history of North Carolina, and that a copy was sent to gen. W. R. Davie. " J. M'Knitt." And the papers, thus certified, were sent to us for publication, by the senator who had col- lected the information. We trust, therefore, that the most sceptical will no longer entertain a doubt of the authenticity of this declaration of independence of Mecklenburg county. If fur- ther evidence of these facts were wanting, it is believed, the testimony of one the most respect- able inhabitants of this city, who was present when the declaration was resolved upon, might be added. • Mr. Davidson is the representative in congress from that district. t This was the proclamation of George 3d, published with the declaration. ADDRESS Of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, to the British Empire, September 3, 1775. Mr. Hooper laid before the house an address to the inhabitants of the British empire ; and the same being read was unanimously received, and is as follows, viz. Friends and fellow-citizens — "The fate of the contest which at present subsists between these American colonies and the British minis- ters who now sit at the helm of public affairs, will be one of the most important epochs which can mark the annals of the British history. " Foreign nations with anxious expectation wait the result, and see with amazement the blind infatuated policy which the present ad- ministration pursues to subjugate these colo- nies, and reduce them from being loyal and useful subjects, to an absolute dependence and abject slavery ; as if the descendants of those ancestors who have shed rivers of blood, and expended millions of treasure, in fixing upon a lasting foundation the liberties of the British constitution, saw with emy the once happy state of this western region, and strove to ex- terminate the patterns of those virtues which shone with a lustre which bids fair to rival and eclipse their own. "To enjoy the fruits of our own honest in- dustry ; to call that our own which we earn with the labor of our hands, and the sweat of our brows ; to regulate that internal policy by which we, and not they, are to be affected ; these are the mighty boons we ask. And traitors, rebels, and every harsh appellation that malice can dictate, or the violence of lan- guage express, are the returns which we re- ceive to the most humble petitions and earnest supplications. We have been told that inde- pendence is our object ; that we seek to shake off all connection with the parent state. Cruel suggestion ! do not all our professions, all our actions, uniformly contradict this ? " We again declare, and we invoke that Al- mighty Being who searches the recesses of the human heart and knows our most secret in- tentions, that it is our most earnest wish and prayer to be restored, with the other United Colonies, to the state in which we and they were placed before the year 1763, disposed to glance over any regulations which Britain had made previous to this, and which seem to be injurious and oppressive to these colonies, hoping that at some future day she will be- nignly interpose, and remove from us every cause of complaint. NORTH CAROLINA. 317 "Whenever we have departed from the forms of the constitution, our own safety and self-presen'ation have dictated the expedient ; and if in any instances we have assumed powers which the laws invest in the sovereign or his representatives, it has been only in defence of our persons, properties, and those rights which God and the constitution have made unalienably ours. As soon as the cause of our fears and apprehensions are removed, with joy will we return these powers to their regular channels ; and such institutions formed from mere necessity, shall end with that neces- sity which created them. " These expressions flow from an affection, bordering upon devotion, to the succession of the house of Hanover, as by law established, from subjects who view it as a monument that does honor to human nature ; a monument capable of teaching kings how glorious it is to reign over a free people. — These are the heart- felt effusions of men ever ready to spend their blood and treasure, when constitutionally called upon, in support of that succession of his ma- jesty King George the third, his crown and dignity, and who fer\'ently wish to transmit his reign to future ages as the sera of common happiness to his people. Could these our sen- timents reach the throne, surely our sovereign would forbid the horrors of war and desolation to intrude into this once peaceful and happy land, and would stop that deluge of human blood which now threatens to overflow this colony ; blood too precious to be shed but in a common cause, against the common enemy of Great Britain and her sons. "This declaration we hold forth as a testi- mony of loyalty to our sovereign, and affection to our parent state, and as a sincere earnest of our present and future intentions. " We hope, thereby, to remove those impres- sions which have been made by the represen- tation of weak and wicked men to the preju- dice of this colony, who thereby intended that the rectitude of our designs might be brought into distrust, and sedition, anarchy, and confu- sion, spread through this loyal province. " We have discharged a duty which we owe to the world, to ourselves, and posterity ; and may the Almighty God give success to the means we make use of, so far as they are aimed to produce just, lawful, and good pur- poses, and the salvation and happiness of the whole British empire." ROYAL PROCLAMATION Of Governor JosiAH Martin, to the peo- ple OF North Carolina, October 3, 1780. The following ROYAL proclamation was communicated at the same time, and published as a curiosity : NORTH CAROLINA. By his excellency Josiah Martin, his majesty's captain general and governor in chief of the said province, etc., etc., etc. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas the king, ever anxious for the wel- fare and happiness of all his people, and sensible to the representations which have been con- stantly made to him of the steady and unshaken loyalty, and of the inviolable fidelity and attach- ment of his faithful subjects in this province to his person and government, and confiding entirely in their repeated assurances to his majesty of their own uttermost exertions in co-operation with his arms whenever they should be directed to their support. And whereas his majesty, moved by these considera- tions, by every the most tender and paternal feeling of concern and regard for the sufferings and misery of his faithful people, under the intolerable yoke of arbitrary power, which his majesty, with indignation, sees imposed by the tyranny of the rebel congress upon his free- born subjects, hath been pleased to send an army to their aid and relief — I have, therefore, thought it proper, by this proclamation, to inform his majesty's loyal and faithful subjects in this province, of this great proof and instance of his majesty's gracious attention to them, and at the same time to advertise them that the royal army, under the command of lieut. gen. earl Cornwallis, is thus far -\dvanced to their support, leaving it to themselves to compute its power and superiority from the great, signal, and complete victory which it obtained when in force very inferior to its present strength, over the rebel army on the i6th of August. And whereas, while his majesty, on the one hand, holds forth grace and mercy to his de- luded subjects who shall immediately, and with good faith, return to their duty, to which they have been invited, in vain by every reason and argument, and by every consideration of inter- est, of freedom, and happiness, he is deter- mined, on the other, to employ, in the most vigorous and effectual manner, the force of his arms, and the united strength of his faithful people, to restore and maintain to them that genuine liberty, peace, and prosperity, which 318 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. they formerly enjoyed in such full security, under the mild government and protection of Great Britain, and to compel the disobedient to submission to the laws, and to a participa- tion of those blessings of a free constitution, which, through ignorance, infatuation, delusion, blindness, and fraud, they have been hitherto led to resist, notwithstanding his majesty's most gracious and merciful endeavors to reclaim them. Having thus signified to the king's loyal and faithful subjects the arrival and progress of his majesty's army to their aid and support, which they have so long and eagerly wished for, it becomes my duty to remind them that the time is now arrived in which they are to evince the sincerity of their professions of loyalty and attachment to his majesty's person and government ; they are to consider them- selves in this hour most seriously and solemnly called upon by every duty of the subject to the sovereign, and by every tie and consideration of family, liberty, and property, of present and future welfare and interest, with heart and hand, to join and unite their strength with that of his majesty's forces, in order to deliver themselves from that intolerableyoke of slavery and arbitrary power, (which the tyranny of the rebel congress, lost to every sense of truth and virtue, is evidently aiming to rivet upon them, by calling in the aid of the two Roman Catholic powers of France and Spain, whose policy and incessant labor it has been for ages to subvert the civil and religious liberties of mankind) and to restore themselves to that state of perfect freedom which is acknowledged thoughout the world to be found only in the envied rights and condition of British subjects. And whereas I have the entire confidence, that it is the wish, inclination, and ardent desire of his majesty's faithful and loyal sub- jects in this province, to employ their strength on this great occasion for the redemption of every thing that can be dear to men, in the way that is likely most effectually and certainly to accomplish the great objects of peace and happiness which they have in view : I do here- by exhort and invite all the young and able- bodied men to testify the reality of their loyalty and spirit, by enlisting in the provincial corps, which are forthwith to be raised and put under my command, as his majesty's governor of the province, hereby informing and assuring them that they are and will be required to serve only during the rebellion, and within the provinces of North and South Carolina and Virginia, under officers of their own recommendation ; that each man will receive the bounty of three guineas at the time of enlisting, and all the pay, clothing, appointments, allowances, and encouragements of soldiers of his majesty's army ; and will be entitled, at the end of the rebellion, when they are to be discharged, to free grants of land. And I have such full as- surance that his majesty's loyal and faithful subjects of this province will so clearly see the propriety and necessity of forming their strength upon this plan, which experience hath proved can alone render it useful and effectual, to the speedy suppression of the tyranny which has for years past deprived them of every bles- sing, right, and enjoyment of life, that I am confident their honest zeal will lead them to contend and vie with each other in filling the respective battalions in which they shall choose to enlist, from a just sense of the merit and applause that will be due to such as are soonest completed. Given under my hand, and the great seal of the said province at head quarters, in Charlottetown, this third day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty, and in the twentieth year of his majesty's reign. Jo. Martin.. By his excellency's command : RiGDON Brice, p. Secy. God save the king ! SOUTH CAROLINA. 319 SOUTH CAROLINA. ACTION Of the inhabitants of Charleston, South Carolina, to resist the Stamp Act. FROM DRAYTON MEMOIRS, I775. Among other extracts made from this work, and published in the Charleston Courier, we have selected the following : The proceedings at Charleston to resist the operations of the stamp-act are ver>' interest- ing. The commons house of assembly, having been assured of the stamp-act from Great Britain, endeavored to prevent it from being en- forced by denying it official promulgation. This furnishes additional evidence that the colonists resorted to the chances of war, after having in- effectually tried every mode of redress. But fate, for wise purposes, had rendered remonstrance, argument, and even entreaty, unavailing. " Having received the stamp-act, the lieut. governor, (in the absence in England of Thomas Boone, the governor), manifested a desire of complying with its requisitions, in causing it to be executed, (the governor of the province being, by the terms of the act, sworn with its due execution) ; but his powers at that time were insufficient to effectuate the same. " Encouraged by this weakness, and by the public opinion which was hostile to the act, the members of assembly deliberated in what manner they might most embarrass and elude its operations. And, as the best mode they could devise, they addressed the lieutenant governor on the occasion, requesting to be informed whether the stamp-act, said to have been passed in parliament, had been transmit- ted to him, and if it had through what chan- nel ; and whether he had received it from a secretary of state, the lords of trade, or from any other authentic source ? These were questions of a singular nature — however, his honor, from a desire to soften as much as pos- sible the fermentations which existed, answered, he had received it from Thomas Boone, the governor of the province. The assembly replied, that, while Mr. Boone was out of the bounds of his government they could not consider him in any other light than as a private gentleman ; and the act being received through such a channel, was not sufficiently authentic, to place the lieutenant governor under the obligation of enforcing it. "The stamps soon reached Charleston, and were deposited at Fort Johnson. The people finding the lieutenant governor and crown officers determined to circulate them, resolved to counteract all their movements, and obtain possession of the stamp paper. "About one hundred and fifty volunteers were soon organized and armed for the pur- pose ; and two nights after, boats being pro- vided at LamboU's bridge, on the west end of South Bay, they formed and marched towards that place for embarkation. From thence, they proceeded in boats across Ashley river, and landed after twelve o'clock at night, on James Island, between Style's plantation and the fort. They then proceeded towards the fort, and halting at a small distance from it, a reconnoitering party was sent forward. This party proceeded to the draw-bridge unnoticed, or challenged by sentries ; and finding it down, through the omission of the garrison, they immediately returned and reported the same. " The whole body of volunteers then ad- vanced upon the fort; and arriving at the bridge, they crossed it without opposition — pressed through the inner gate, which was not secured, and immediately possessed them- selves of the fort. Only one soldier was found awake ; and before he could give the alarm, the remainder of the garrison was secured except Lloyd, its commander, who had not slept there that night. The garrison was then placed under a guard — the bridge was drawn up — and a search commenced for the obnoxious stamped paper. This, to the great joy of the volunteers, was at length found in one of the rooms of the barracks, and a guard was placed over it. Preparations were then made for maintaining the fort against any attack which might be made upon it by the sloop-of-war, when day light should arrive ; and for this purpose, the cannon on the plat- form were loaded with ball and grape shot, matches were provided, and a number of men were stationed at each gun ; and a flag, show- ing a blue field, with three white crescents, which the volunteers had brought with them for the purpose, was hoisted on the flag staff of the fort." 320 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ADDRESS Of the Provincial Congress to Lord William Campbell, Governor of the Province, June 20, 1775. Charleston, ynnc 21, 1775. Ordered — That the hon. William Henry Drayton, the hon. Bernard Elliot, colonel Charles Pinckney, col. James Parsons, col. Isaac Motte, col. Stephen Bull, col. William Moultrie, major Owen Roberts, captain Thomas Savage, captain John Huger, Miles Brewton, Thomas Ferguson, and Gabriel Capers, esquires, be a deputation to present his excellency the gov- ernor, the address of this congress. To his excellency the right honorable lord William Campbell, governor and commander in chief over the province aforesaid. The humble address and declaration of the provincial congress. May it please your excellency — We, his ma- jesty's loyal subjects, the representatives of the people of this colony, in congress assembled, beg leave to disclose to your excellency, the true cause of our present proceedings ; not only that upon your arrival among us, you may re- ceive no unfavorable impression of our conduct, but that we may stand justified to the world. When the ordinary- modes of application for redress of grievances, and the usual means of defence against arbitrary impositions have failed, mankind generally have had recourse to those that are extraordinary. Hence, the origin of the continental congress — and hence the present representation of the people in this colony. It is unnecessary to enumerate the grievances of America ; they have been so often represen- ted, that your excellency cannot be a stranger to them. — Let it, therefore, suffice to say, that the hands of his majesty's ministers, having long lain heaNy, now press with mtolerable weight. We declare, that no love of innovation — no desire of altering the constitution of gov- ernment — no lust of independence has h.ad the least influence upon our councils : but, alarmed and roused by a long succession of arbitrary proceedings, by wicked administrations — im- pressed with the greatest apprehension of in- stigated insurrections — and deeply affected by the commencement of hostilities by the British troops against this continent, — solely for the preservation and defence of our lives, liberties, and properties, we have been impelled to asso- ciate and take up arms. We sincerely deplore those slanderous infor- mations and wicked councils, by which his | majesty has been led into measures, which, if persisted in, must inevitably have involved America in all the calamities of a civil war, and rend the British empire. We only desire the secure enjoyment of our invaluable rights, and we wish for nothing more ardently, than a speedy reconciliation with our mother country, upon constitutional principles. Conscious of the justice of our cause, and the integrity of our views, we readily profess our loyal attachment to our sovereign, his crown, and dignity ; and, trusting the event to Provi- dence, we prefer death to slavery. These things, we have thought it our duty to declare, that your excellency, and through you, our august sovereign — our fellow subjects — and the whole world — may clearly understand, that our taking up arms, is the result of dire neces- sity, and in compliance with the first law of nature. We entreat and trust, that your excellency will make such a representation of the state of this colony, and of our true motives, as to as- sure his majesty, that in the midst of all our complicated distresses, he has no subjects in his wide dominions, who more sincerely desire to testify their loyalty and affection, or who would be more willing to devote their lives and fortunes to his real service. By order of the provincial congress, at Charleston, June 20, 1775. Henry Laurens, President. RESOLUTIONS Passed by the Provincial Congress. Charleston, Wednesday ^ June 21, 1775. " Whereas, the inhabitants of Poole, a sea- port in the English Channel, lost to all sense of honor, humanity and gratitude, have, by their late petition to parliament, manifested them- selves not only inimical to America, but desi- rous to add to the heavy oppressions under which the unfortunate and virtuous inhabitants of the four New England governments labor, in consequence of their laudable conduct in defence of the liberties of America and of man- kind : to testify our just resentment to so base and cruel a conduct in the inhabitants of Poole, it is hereby resolved. That this colony will not use or employ any shipping belonging to that port, or owned by any inhabitant there, or carry on any transactions, or hold any communication with that people. Thursday, yune 33. " Resolved, That all absentees, holding estates SOUTH CAROLINA. 321 in this colony, except the sick, those above 60, and those under 21 years of age, ought, forth- with to return to this colony. " Resolved, That no persons, holding estates in this colony, ought to withdraw from its service, without giving good and sufficient rea- sons for so doing to this congress, or, during its recess, to the general committee. Peter Timothy, Secretary. ASSOCIATION Formed for resistance to the aggres- sions OF Great Britain, June, 1775. The actual commencement of hostilities against this continent, by the British troops, in the bloody scene on the 19th of April last, near Boston ; the increase of arbitrary' impositions, from a wicked and despotic ministry, and the dread of instigated insurrections in the colonies, are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed peo- ple to the use of arms : — We, therefore, the subscribers, inhabitants of South Carolina, holding ourselves bound, by that most sacred of all obligations, the duty of good citizens towards an injured country, and thoroughly convinced, that, under our present distressed circumstances, we shall be justified before God and man, in resisting force by force, do unite ourselves under every tie of religion and honor, and associate as a band in her defence, against every foe ; hereby solemnly engaging that whenever our continental and provincial coun- cils shall decree it necessary, we will go forth, and be ready to sacrifice our lives, and for- tunes, to secure her freedom and safety. — This obligation to continue in full force until a re- conciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, upon constitutional prin- ciples ; an event which we most ardently desire. And we will hold all those persons inimical to the liberties of the colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this association. Subscribed by every member present, and certified by Henry Laurens, President. June, 1775. LETTER From Charleston, South Carolina, August 5, 1775. The determination of the people to resist tke aggression of Grvat Britain. "Be assured, peace will never be firmly established between Great Britain and America, until the latter receives an ample recognition of her rights, and full satisfaction for the blood that has or may be shed. The inhabitants of this vast continent would give up all their sea- coast towns, retire into the interior country, and contentedly subsist on the bare necessaries of life, rather than submit to the implicit subju- gation of a British parliament. But don't ap- prehend they will suffer this distress like docile animals. No ; depend, they will protect their property to the last extremity, and although they have hitherto acted only on the defensive, believe me, unless there is an evident prospect of accommodation this winter, hostilities will commence on their part, by and with the assist- ance of a foreign power, and with a spirit that will alarm all Europe. And then farewell to Great Britain." RESOLUTIONS Of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, and Complimentary Ad- dress OF THE President to the Rep- resentatives of the Province in the Continental Congress for their patriotic services. From the Journal of the Provincial congress of South Carolina. In Congress, Feb. 8, 1776. Resolved, That Mr. President do signify the approbation of this congress, and present their thanks to the hon. Henry Middleton, and John Rutledge, esqrs. now present in congress, and to the other delegates of this colony at Philadelphia, for their important services in the American congress. Mr. President accordingly addressed himself to the hon. Mr. Middleton, and Mr. Rutledge, as follows : Gentletnen — When the hand of tyranny, armed in hostile manner, was extended from Great Britain to spoil America of whatever she held most valuable, it was for the most im- portant purposes, that the good people of this colony delegated you to represent them in the continental congress, at Philadelphia. It became your business to ascertain the rights of America, to point out her violated franchises, to make humble representation to the king for redress, and he, being deaf to the cries of his American subjects, to appeal to the King of kings, for the recovery of the rights of an infant people, by the majesty of Heaven formed for future empire. In this most important business you engaged, 322 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. as became good citizens ; and, step by step, you deliberately advanced through it, with a regret and sorrow, and with a resolution and conduct, that bear all the characters of ancient magnanimity. Your constituents, with a steady eye, beheld your progress. They saw the American claim of rights, the association for the recovery of American franchises, and the humble petition to the king for redress of griev- ances. They saw the American appeal to the King of kings ; and a second humble petition to the British monarch, alas ! as unavailing as the first. They have also seen the establish- ment of an American naval force, a treasury, a general post-office, and the laying on a conti- nental embargo: in short, they have seen per- mission granted to colonies to erect forms of government independent of, and in opposition to the regal authority. Your country saw all these proceedings, the work of a body of which you were and are members ; proceedings arising from dire ne- cessity, and not from choice ; proceedings that are the natural consequences of the present inauspicious reign ; proceedings just in them- selves, and which, notwithstanding the declara- tions of the corrupt houses of parliament, the proclamation at the court of St. James's, the 23d of August, and the subsequent royal speech in parliament, are exactly as far distant from treason and rebellion, as stands the glori- ous revolution, which deprived a tyrant of his kingdoms, and elevated the house of Brunswick to royalty. Worthy delegates ! It is the judgment of your country that your conduct, of which I have marked the grand lines, in the American congress, is justifiable before God and man, and that, whatever may be the issue of this defensive civil war, in which, unfortunately though gloriously, we are engaged, whether independence or slavery, all the blood, and all the guilt, must be imputed to British not to American counsels. — Hence your constituents, sensible of the propriety of your conduct, and of the benefits which, with the blessing of the Almighty, it is calculated to shed upon America, have constituted me their instrument, as well to signify to you their approbation, as to pre- sent to you their thanks : and it is in the dis- charge of these duties that I now have the hxjnor to address you. In an important crisis, like the present, to receive the public thanks of a free people, is to receive the most honorable recompense for past sen'ices, and to deserve such thanks is to be truly great. I know that it is with pain such men hear their commendations. Gentlemen, with the public recompense, I mean to pay in to you my mite also ; and lest I wound your delicacy, when I mean only to do justice to your merit, I forbear to particularize what is already well known. I therefore confine my- self; and I do most respectfully, in the name of the congress, present to you, and to each of you, the thanks of your country, for your im- portant services in the American congress at Philadelphia. PROCEEDINGS Of the general assembly of South Carolina. At a general assembly begun and holden at Charleston, on Tuesday the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand seven hundred and seventy-six ; and from thence continued, by divers adjourn- ments, to Thursday the eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred a?id seventy-six. An act to prment sedition, and punish insur- gents and disturbers of the public peace. Whereas a horrid and unnatural war is now carried on by the ministry and parliament of Great Britain, against the united colonies of North America in general, and this colony in particular, with a cruel and oppressive design of robbing tlie colonies and good people of this colony of their dearest and most valuable rights as freemen, and reducing them to a state of the most abject slavery' and oppression : and whereas, also, in order further to accomplish the said iniquitous and unwarrantable designs, every means has been adopted by a wicked ad- ministration to sow civil dissensions and ani- mosities, and to create disorder, confusion and bloodshed amongst the good people of this colony, by employing secret emissaries to stir up In the minds of wicked and evil-disposed persons, persuasions and principles inimical to the ties of humanity, and the common rights of mankind, and thereby inducing them not only to disturb the common peace, safety, and good order of this colony, but to take up arms and spill the blood of their fellow-citizens, who are only acting in the defence of their lives, lib- erties, and properties, against the hands of a lawless and despotic power: to the intent, therefore, and in order the more effectually to preserve and secure the peace, order, and good government of this colony, and to deter and prevent such evil-minded persons from com- SOUTH CAROLINA. 323 mitting such offences, and all such other of- fences declared in this act, to the great danger of the lives, liberties, and properties of the in- habitants of this colony: Be it enacted by his excellency John Rutledge, esq. president and commander in chief in and over the colony of South Carolina, and by the honorable the legis- lative council and general assembly of this colony, and by the authority of the same, that if any person or persons within this colony do, or shall, from, and immediately after, the pass- ing of this act, take up arms with a hostile intent, and by force and violence, or by words, deeds, or writing, or any other means whatso- ever, cause, induce, or persuade, or attempt to cause, induce, or persuade any other person or persons, with such hostile intent, to take up arms, and by force and violence to oppose and subvert the authority of the government of this colony, established by the constitution, agreed on and confirmed in congress at Charleston, on the twenty-sixth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, or to wound, maim, or kill any person or persons, or destroy any of the houses, goods, or chattels of any such persons who shall under, and by virtue of any authority of the said government, be acting in support and defence of the same, or the execu- tion of any power, authority or office derived therefrom, all and every of such person or per- sons, and the aider and abettor, or aiders and abettors of such person or persons so offend- ing, in either of the offences aforesaid, shall, on being indicted and convicted of the same, by due course of law, be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony, and suffer death without benefit of clergy. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That if any persons within this colo- ny shall, immediately after the passing of this act, or at any time thereafter, by letter, writing, message, or other means of intelligence, hold any correspondence or intercourse, or conspire or concert in any manner whatever with, or aid or abet any land or naval force, raised or to be raised, or which shall be sent by Great Britain, in a hostile manner, against this colony, or any other force or body of men within this colony, who shall, in a hostile intent or manner, oppose the power and authority of the present govern- ment of this colony, established as aforesaid, with an intent to promote the accomplishment of any hostile plan of operation, designed by such force or forces against the lives, liberties and properties of all or any of the inhabitants and friends to the constitution of this colony, established as aforesaid — every such person or persons, so offending in any of the said of- fences, shall, on being indicted and convicted thereof by due course of law, be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony, and suffer death without benefit of clergy. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons within this colony shall, immediately after the passing of this act, or at any time thereafter, furnish or supply, or cause or procure to be furnished or supplied, with any bills of exchange, monies, goods, provisions, liquors, or other necessary ar- ticles of subsistence, or any military or naval stores whatever, to any of the land or naval for- ces, raised or to be raised, or sent by Great Bri- tain, or any authority derived from that gov- ernment, against this colony, or shall, in like manner, furnish or supply, or cause to be fur- nished or supplied, any force or body of men who shall, in a hostile manner, oppose the gov- ernment of this colony, established as afore- said — ever)' such person or persons, so offend- ing in either of the offences aforesaid, and the aider or abettor, or aiders and abettors of any of the said offences, shall, on being indicted or convicted thereof, by due course of law, be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony, and suf- fer death without benefit of clergy. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons with- in this colony shall, at any time after the pass- ing of this act, compel, induce, persuade, or attempt to compel, induce, or persuade any white person, or persons, or any free negro, or negroes, mulatto or mulattoes, Indian or In- dians, to desert from their habitation or habi- tations, or any negro or other slave or slaves, to desert from his or their master, mistress, or owner, and to join any land or naval force, raised or to be raised, or sent by Great Bri- tain, or any authority derived from that govern- ment, against the united colonies of America, or this colony, to join any person or persons armed in a hostile manner, with intent to op- pose or subvert the government of this colony, established as aforesaid, or with intent of kill- ing any person or persons, or destroying his, her, or their goods or property, who shall be acting, or ready and willing to act in support and defence of such government, or any of the inhabitants of this colony and friends to the same — every such person or persons, so offend- ing in any of the above offences, and all such as shall aid and abet the said offender, or of- fenders, in the perpetration and execution of any of the said offences, shall, on conviction there- of, by due course of law, be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony, and shall suffer death without benefit of clergy. Provided 324 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. always, nevertheless, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed or taken to pre- vent the good people of this colony from arm- ing of slaves or negroes, for the better defence of this colony against all enemies whatsoever, who shall invade or attack the same, or endan- ger the safety thereof. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That if any person or persons within this colony shall, immediately after the passing of this act, or at any time thereafter, col- lect or assemble with any body or assembly of persons, or cause or procure them to be so col- lected and assembled, with intent, in a riotous and seditious manner, to disturb the public peace and tranquility, and the good order of the government, and by words or other- wise to create and raise traitorous sedi- tions or discontents in the minds of the good people of this colony, against the authority of the present government established as afore- said — every such person or persons, so offend- ing in any of the said offences, shall, on convic- tion thereof, by due course of law, be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the lands and tenements, goods and chattels, and other real and personal estate of all such person or persons, who shall be duly convicted, by virtue of this act, of any of the crimes and offences thereby made felony, shall, within one month after such con- viction, by the sheriff of each district respec- tively, in which such real and personal estate of the person or persons so convicted, or any part thereof, shall be found, with three free- holders of the said distinct, be appraised upon oath, and the said appraisement duly returned, by the said sheriff of such district, to the secre- tary's office in Charleston, within one month after such appraisement is made, and the said sheriff of such district in which the appraise- ment is made, as aforesaid, shall, within one month thereafter, expose such estate so ap- praised to public sale, first giving twenty-one days public notice of the sale ; and shall, within three months after such sale, deposite the amount of the same, deducting legal poundage and charges, in the office of the col- ony treasury in Charleston, and the commis- sioners of the colony treasury, or any one of them, on receipt of such monies from the sheriff, as aforesaid, shall give a receipt or /oucher for the same. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That if any sheriff or sheriffs, for any of the districts in this colony, shall in any wise trangress, or disobey, or neglect the put- ting in execution, any of the provisions or clauses in this act, respecting their duty and office — every sheriff so offending, disobeying or neglecting the same, shall forfeit his office, and incur the penalty of one thousand pounds cur- rent money, to be sued for, and recovered by bill or plaint in any court of record in this col ony, wherein no essoign, privilege, protection or wag-er of law, or more than one imparlance, shall be allowed. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the monies arising from the sale of all such estates as shall become for- feited, by virtue of this act, shall be appro- priated for a fund, and shall become a re- prisal fund, for reimbursing all such losses and damages which have been, or shall be sustained by any person or persons who have been, are, or shall be, engaged in opposi- tion to the oppressive measures of the British ministry, or the defence of the present estab- lished constitution, and the liberties of this colony. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That no person or persons shall be reimbursed, by virtue of this act, for any losses or damages sustained from persons acting in open hostility against the present constitution of government, and the liberties of this colony, unless the said reimbursement be, on applica- tion, and oath made of the damages actually sustained, deemed just and reasonable by the general assembly of this colony, or such other body or persons as the legislative body of this colony shall appoint. Pro\ided always, never- theless. That such person or persons, to whom such reimbursement shall be thought reasonable, do first, before the receipt thereof take and subscribe the oath of fidelity, ordained in the present constitution, if such person or persons had not before taken and subscribed the same. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the fines and penalties to be incurred, by virtue of this act, shall upon re- covery thereof, be paid into the colony treasury, to be applied to, and for such uses and pur- poses as are herein mentioned. G. G. Powell, speaker of the Legislative council. James Parsons, speaker of the General assembly. In the council chamber, the nth day of April, 1776 — Assented to, J. RUTLEDGE. SOUTH CAROLINA. 325 ADDRESS Of the Assembly to John Rutledge, April 3. 1776. To his excellency John Rutledge, esq. president and conmander in chief in and oaier the colony of South Carolina. The address of the legislative council and gen- eral assembly. May it please your excellency — We, the legislative council and general as- sembly of South Carolina, convened under the authority of the equitable constitution of govern- ment established by a free people in congress, on the 26th ult. beg leave, most respectfully, to address your excellency. Nothing is better known to your excellency than the unavoidable necessity which induced us, as members of congress, on the part of the people, to resume the powers of government, and to establish some mode for regulating the internal polity of this colony ; and, as members of the legislative council and general assembly to vest you, for a time limited, with the exe- cutive authority. Such constitutional proceed- ings, on our part, we make no doubt will be misconstrued into acts of the greatest crimin- ality by that despotism, which, lost to all sense of justice and humanity, has already pretended that we are in actual rebellion. But, sir, when we reflect upon the unprovoked, cruel, and accumu- lated oppressions under which America, in gen- eral, and this colony in particular, has long con- tinued ; oppressions which, gradually increasing in injustice and violence, are now, by the inexorable tyranny perpetrated against the united colonies, under the various forms of rob- bery, conflagrations, massacre, breach of public faith, and open war ; conscious of our natural and unalienable rights, and determined to make every effort in our power to retain them, we see your excellency's elevation from the midst of us, to govern this country', as the natural consequence of such outrages. By the suffrages of a free people you, sir, have been chosen to hold the reins of govern- ment, an event as honorable to yourself as bene- ficial to the public. We firmly trust that you will make the constitution the great rule of your conduct ; and, in the most solemn manner, we do assure your excellency that, in the dis- charge of your duties, under that constitution which looks forward to an accommodation with Great Britain (an event which though traduced and treated as rebels, we still earnestly desire,) we will support you with our lives and fortunes. In the legislative council, the 3d day of April, 1776. George Gabriel Powell, speaker. In the general assembly, the 3d day of April, 1776. By order of the house, James Parsons, speaker. Answer OF John Rutledge, April 3, 1776. Honorable gentlemen of the legislative council, Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the general assembly. My most cordial thanks are due, and I re- quest that you will accept them, for this solemn engagement of support, in discharging the duty of the honorable station to which, by your favor, I have been elected. Be persuaded, that no man would embrace a just and equitable accommodation with Great Britain more gladly than myself; but, until so desirable an object can be obtained, the defence of my countr)', and preservation of that con- stitution which, from a perfect knowledge of the rights, and a laudable regard to the hap- piness of the people, you have so wisely framed, shall engross my whole attention. To this country I owe all that is dear and valuable, and would, with the greatest pleasure, sacrifice every temporal felicity to establish and perpetuate her freedom. J. Rutledge. RESOLUTIONS Passed by the General Assembly of South Carolina, April 6, 1776. Ordered, That the following resolutions be forthwith printed and made public. By order of the house, Peter Timothy, Clerk G. A. Whereas, the honorable the continental con- gress hath resolved, " that in the present situation of affairs, it will be very dangerous to the liberties and welfare of America, if any colony should separately petition the king or either house of parliament :" and whereas no step should be left unessayed to promote the general welfare : and whereas the sending commissioners from Great Britain to treat with the different colonies, is dangerous to the stability of the liberties of America : There- fore — Resolved, That it is the opinion of this house< that no measure should be left unessayed to 326 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. establish the liberties of America, and to place them as far as may be, out of the reach of fraudulent schemes to subvert them by nego- tiation ; and that this colony should not enter into any treaty or correspondence with the court of Great Britain, or with any person or persons under that authority, but through the medium of the continental congress. Resolved also. That it is the opinion of this house, that if any person or persons sent from Great Britain to treat with the several colonies, shall arrive in this colony by water, such per- son or persons and their retinue or company, should not, upon any pretence, be allowed to land, or to remain in the colony longer than forty-eight hours, wind and weather permit- ting ; or while so remaining, to hold any com- munication with any person in this colony, but through his excellency the president ; and if any such persons shall arrive by land, they should be forthwith escorted out of the colony, and not permitted to hold conference with any person not for that purpose authorized by the president and that for the mere purpose of accommoda- tion. SPEECH Of John Rutledge, President, to the General Assembly, April ii, 1776. Honorable gentlemen of the legislative coun- cil — Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the gen- eral assembly. It has afforded me much satisfaction to observe that though the season of the year rendered your sitting very inconvenient, your private concerns, which must have suffered greatly by your long and close application, in the late congress, to the affairs of the colony, requiring your presence in the county, yet con- tinuing to prefer the public weal to ease, and retirement, you have been busily engaged in framing such laws as our peculiar circum- stances rendered absolutely necessary to be passed before your adjournment. Having given my assent to them, I presume you are now desirous of a recess. On my part, a most solemn oath has been taken for the faithful discharge of my duty ; on yours, a solemn assurance has been given to support me therein. Thus a public compact between us stands recorded. You may rest assured that I shall keep this oath ever in mind — the constitution shall be the invariable rule of my conduct — my ears shall be always open to the complaints of the injured, justice. in mercy, shall neither be denied, or delayed. Our laws and religion, and the liberties of America, shall be maintained and defended, to the utmost of my power. I repose the most perfect confidence in your engagement. And now, gentlemen, let me entreat that you will, in your several parishes and districts, use your influence and authority to keep peace and good order, and procure strict observance of, and ready obedience to the law. If any persons therein are still strangers to the nature and merits of the dispute between Great Britain and the colonies, you will explain it to them fully, and teach them, if they are so unfortunate as not to know their inherent rights. Prove to them, that the privileges of being tried by a jury of the vicinage, acquainted with the parties and witnesses ; of being taxed only with their own consent, given by their representatives, freely chosen by, and sharing the burthen equally with themselves, not for the aggrandizing a rapacious minister, and his dependent favorites, and for corrupting the people, and subverting their liberties, but for such wise and salutary purposes, as they themselves approve ; and of having their internal polity regulated, only by laws consented to by competent judges of what is best adapted to their situation and circum- stances, equally bound too by those laws, are inestimable, and derived from that constitution, which is the birth-right of the poorest man, and the best inheritance of the most wealthy. Relate to them the various, unjust and cruel statutes, which the British parliament, claiming a right to make laws for binding the colonies in all cases whatsoever, have enacted ; and the many sanguinary measures which have been, and are daily pursued and threatened, to wrest from them those invaluable benefits, and to enforce such an unlimited and destructive claim. To the most illiterate it must appear, that no power on earth can, of right, deprive them of the hardly earned fruits of their honest industry, toil and labor — even to them, the impious attempt to prevent many thousands from using the means of subsistence provided for man by the bounty of his Creator, and to compel them, by famine, to surrender their rights ; will seem to call for Divine vengeance. The endeavors, by deceit and bribery, to engage barbarous nations to embrue their hands in the innocent blood of helpless women and children ; and the attempts by fair but false promises to make ignorant domestics subser- vient to the most wicked purposes, are acts at which humanity must revolt. Shew your constituents then, the indispensa- ble necessity which there was for establishing SOUTH CAROLINA. 327 some mode of government in this colony ; the benefits of that, which a full and free represen- tation has established ; and that the consent of the people is the origin, and their happiness the end of government. Remove the appre- hensions with which honest and well-meaning, but weak and credulous, minds may be alarmed; and prevent ill impressions by artful and design- ing enemies. Let it be known that this consti- tution is but temporary, till an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained ; and that such an event is still desired by men who yet remember former friendships and intimate connections, though for defending their per- sons and properties, they are stigmatized and treated as rebels. Truth, being known, will prevail over artifice and misrepresentation. — In such case no man, who is worthy of life, liberty, or property, will, or can, refuse to join with you, in defending them to the last extremity, disdaining every sordid view, and the mean paltry considerations of private interest and present emolument, when placed in competition with the Uberties of millions ; and seeing that there is no alter- native but absolute, unconditional submission, and the most abject slavery, or a defence becom- ing men born to freedom, he will not hesitate about the choice. Although superior force may, by the permission of Heaven, lay waste our towns, and ravage our country, it can never eradicate from the breasts of freemen, those principles which are ingrafted in their very nature. — Such men will do their duty, neither knowing, nor regarding consequen- ces ; but submitting them, with humble confi- dence, to the omniscient and omnipotent arbi- ter and director of the fate of empires, and trust- ing that his Almighty arm, which has been so signally stretched out for our defence, will deliver them in a righteous cause. The eyes of Europe, nay of the whole world, are on America. The eyes of every other colony are on this ; a colony, whose reputation for generosity and magnanimity, is universally acknowledged. I trust, therefore, it will not be diminished by our future conduct ; that there will be no civil discord here ; and that the only strife amongst brethren will be, who shall do most to serve and to save an oppres- sed and injured country. John Rutledge. April n, 1776. In general assembly. South Carolina, April II, 1776. Ordered, That the speech this day delivered to both houses, by his excellency the president, and commander in chief of this colony, be forthwith printed and made public, as well in the newspapers as otherwise. By order of the house, Peter Timothy, Clerk G. A. CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Charges to the Grand Jury, Of general sessio?t held at Charleston, 1776 a7td 1777, commending the constitution as established by congress March 26th, 1776/ the rise of the Afnerican empire and other topics affecting the interests of the people, with the Presentments of the Jury ap- pended. At an adjournment of the court of general sessions of the peace, oyer and termi- ner, ASSIZE AND general GAOL DELIV- ERY, held at Charleston for the district of Charleston, on Tuesday, the 23d day of April, 1776 — Before the hon. William Henry Drayton, esq. chief justice, and his associates, justices of the colony of South Carolina, On motion of Mr. Attorney General, ordered. That the charge of his honor, the chief jus- tice, delivered to the grand jury, be pub- lished together with their presentments. By order of the court, John Colcock, C. C. S. May 2d. THE charge to THE GRAND JURY. Gentlemen of the grand jury — When, by evil machinations tending to nothing less than absolute tyranny, trials by jun/ have been dis- continued, and juries, in discharge of their duty, have assembled, and as soon as met, as silently and arbitrarily dismissed without being impannelled, whereby, in contempt of magna charta, justice has been delayed and denied ; it cannot but afford to every good citizen, the most sincere satisfaction, once more to see juries, as they now are, legally impannelled, to the end, that the laws may be duly adminis- tered — I do most heartily congratulate you upon so important an event. In this court, where silence has but too long presided, with a direct purpose to loosen the bands of government, that this country might be involved in anarchy and confusion, you are now met to regulate your verdicts, under a new constitution of government, independent 328 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of royal authority : A constitution which arose according to the great law of nature and of nations, and which was established in the late congress, on the 26th of March last — a day that will be ever memorable in this country — a month, remarkable in our history, for having given birth to the original constitution of our governraent in the year 1669; for being the aera of the American calamities by the stamp act, in the year 1765 ; for being the date of the repeal of that act in the following year ; and for the conclusion of the famous siege of Bos- ton, when the American arms compelled gen- eral Howe, a general of the first reputation in the British service, with the largest, best disci- plined, and best provided army in that service, supported by a formidable fleet, so precipi- tately to abandon the most impregnable for- tifications in America, as that he left behind him a great part of the bedding, military stores, and cannon of the army. And for so many important events, in the month of March remarkable in our annals — But I proceed to lay before you, the principal causes leading to the late revolution of our government — the law upon the point — and the benefits resulting from that happy and necessary establishment. The importance of the transaction deserves such a state — the occasion demands, — and our future welfare requires it: To do this may take up some little time, but the subject is of the highest moment, and worthy of your particular attention : I will therefore confine my discourse to that great point ; and, after charging you to attend to the due observance of the jury law, and the patrol and negro acts, forbearing to mention the other common duties of a grand jury, I will e.xpound to you the constitu- tion of your country. The house of Brunswick was yet scarcely settled in the British throne, to which it had been called by a free people, when, in the year 1719, our ancestors in this country, finding that the government of the lords proprietors operated to their ruin, exercised the rights transmitted to them by their forefathers of England ; and casting off" the proprietary au- thority, called upon the house of Brunswick to rule over them — a house elevated to royal dominion, for no other purpose than to pre- serve to a people their unalienable rights. The king accepted the invitation, and thereby indisputably admitted the legality of that revo- lution. And in so doing, by his own act, he vested in those our forefathers, and us their posterity, a clear right to effect another revolu- tion, if ever the government of the house of Brunswick should operate to the ruin of the people. — So the excellent Roman emperor, Trajan, delivered a sword to Saburanus, his captain of the Pratorian guard, with this ad- mired sentence. " Receive this sword, and use it to defend me if I govern well, but against me, if I behave ill." With joyful acclamations our ancestors, by act of assembly passed on the i8th day of August, 1721, RECOGNIZED the British mon- arch : The virtues of the second George are still revered among us — he was the father of his people : And it was with ecstacy we saw his grandson George the Third, mount the throne possessed of the hearts of his subjects. But alas ! almost with the commencement of his reign, his subjects felt causes to complain of government. The reign advanced — the grievances became more numerous and intoler- able — the complaints more general and loud — the whole empire resounded with the cries of injured subjects ! At length, grievances being unredressed and ever increasing ; all patience being borne down ; all hope destroyed ; all confidence in royal government blasted ! — Behold ! the empire is rent from pole to pole ! perhaps to continue asunder forever. The catalogue of our oppressions, continen- tal and local, is enormous. Of such oppres- sions, I will mention only some of the most weighty. Under color of law, the king and parliament of Great Britain have made the most arbitrary attempts to enslave America : By claiming a right to bind the colonies " in all cases whatsoever." By laying duties at their mere will and pleas- ure upon all the colonies; By suspending the legislature of New York ; By rendering the American charters of no validity, having annulled the most material parts of the charter of the Massachusetts- Bay; By divesting multitudes of the colonists of their property, without legal accusation or trial ; By depriving whole colonies of the bounty of Providence on their own proper coasts, in order to coerce them by famine ; By restricting the trade and commerce of America ; By sending to, and continuing in America, in time of peace, an armed force vnthout and against the consent of the people ; By granting impunity to a soldiery instigated to murder the Americans : By declaring, that the people of Massachu- setts-Bay are liable for offences, or pretended offences, done in that colony, to be sent to, and SOUTH CAROLINA. 329 tried for the same in England ; or in any col- ony where they cannot have the benefit of a jury of the vicinage. By establishing in Quebec the Roman Catholic religion, and an arbitrary government ; instead of the Protestant religion and a free government. And thus America saw it demonstrated, that no faith ought to be put in a royal proclama- tion ; for I must observe to you that, in the year 1763, by such a proclamation, people were invited to settle in Canada, and were as- sured of a legislative representation, the bene- fit of the common law of England, .ind a free government. It is a misfortune to the public, that this is not the only instance of the ineffi- cacy of a royal proclamation. However, hav- ing given you one instance of a failure of royal faith in the northern extremity of this abused continent, let it suffice, that I direct your atten- tion to the southern extremity ; respecting which, the same particulars were, in the same manner promised, but the deceived inhabitants of St. Augustine are left by their grand jury in vain to complain and lament to the world, and yet scarcely permitted to exercise even that privilege distinguishing the miserable, that royal taith is not kept with them. The proceedings which I have enumerated, either immediately or in their evident conse- quences, deeply affected all the colonies ; ruin stared them in the face. They united their counsels, and laid their just complaints before the throne, praying a redress of grievances. But, to their astonishment, their dutiful petition for peace and safety, was answered only by an actual commencement of war and military destruction ! In the mean time, the British troops that had been peaceably received by the devoted in- habitants of Boston, as the troops of their sovereign bound to protect them ! fortified that town, to imprison the inhabitants, and to hold that capital against the people to whom it be- longed ! And the British rulers having deter- mined to appeal from reason and justice, to violence and arms, a select body of those troops, being in the night suddenly and pri- vately marched from Boston — at Lexington, on the 19th day of April, 1775, they by surprise drew the sword of civil war, and plunged it into the breasts of the Americans ! Against this horrid injustice the Almighty gave instant judgment : A handful of country militia, badly armed, suddenly collected, and unconnectedly, and irreg^jlarly brought up to repel the attack, discomfited the regular bands of the tyranny ; they retreated, and night saved them from total slaughter. Thus forced to take up arms in our own defence, America yet again most dutifully peti- tioned the king, that he would " be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united appli- cations of his faithful colonists to the throne, in presence of their common councils, might be improved into a happy and permanent re- conciliation ; and that in the meantime, meas- ures might be taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of his majesty's sub- jects : — " — But. it was in vain ! — The petition on the part of millions, praying that the effu- sion of blood might be stayed, was not thought worthy of an answer ! The nefarious war con- tinued. The ruins of Charlestown, Falmouth and Norfolk, towns not constructed for offence or defence, mark the humane progress of the royal arms ; So the ruins of Carthage, Corinth, and Numantium, proclaimed to the world that justice was expelled the Roman senate ! — On the other hand, the fortitude with which America has endured these civil and military outrages ; the union of her people, as astonish- ing as unprecedented, when we consider their various manners and religious tenets ; their distance from each other ; their various and clashing local interests, their self denial ; and their miraculous success in the prosecution of the war : I say, these things all demonstrate that the Lord of Hosts is on our side ! So it is apparent, that the Almighty Constructor of the universe, having formed this continent of materials to compose a state pre-eminent in the world, is now making use of the tyranny of the British rulers, as an instrument to fashion and arrange those materials for the end for which, in his wisdom, he had formed them. In this enlightened age, humanity must be particularly shocked at a recital of such vio- lences ; and it is scarce to be believed, that the British tyranny could entertain an idea of pro- ceeding against America by a train of more dishonorable machinations. But, nothing less than absolute proof has convinced us that, in carrying on the conspiracy against the rights of humanity, the tyranny is capable of attempting to perpetrate whatever is infamous. For the little purpose of disarming the im- prisoned inhabitants of Boston, the king's general. Gage, in the face of day, violated the public faith, by himself plighted ; and in con- cert with other governors, and with John Stuart, he made every attempt to instigate the savage nations to war upon the southern colo- nies, indiscriminately to massacre man, woman and child : The governors in general have de- monstrated, that tnith is not in them ; they have enveigled negroes from, and have armed 330 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. them against their masters ; they have armed brother against brother — son against father ! Oh ! Almighty Director of the universe ! What confidence can be put in a government ruUng by such engines, and upon such princi- ples of unnatural destruction ! — A government that upon the 2ist day of December last, made a law, ex post facto, to justify what had been done, not only without law, but in its nature unjust I — a law to make prize of all vessels trading in, to, or from the united colonies — a law to make slaves of the crews of such vessels, and to compel them to bear arms against their conscience, their fathers, their bleeding coun- try ! — The world, so old as it is, heretofore had never heard of so atrocious a procedure ; It has no parallel in the registers of tyranny. — But to proceed — ^ The king's judges in this country refused to administer justice ; and the late governor, lord William Campbell, acting as the king's repre- sentative for him, and on his behalf, having endeavored to subvert the constitution of this country, by breaking the original contract between king and people, attacking the people by force of arms ; having violated the funda- mental laws ; having carried off the great seal, and having withdrawn himselfout of this colony, he abdicated the government. Oppressed by such a variety of enormous injuries, continental and local, civil and military, and by divers other arbitrar)- and illegal courses ; .ill done and perpetrated by the assent, command, or sufferance of the king of Great Britain ; the representatives of South Carolina, in congress assembled, found them- selves under an unavoidable necessity of estab- lishing a form of government, with powers legislative, executive and judicial, for the good of the people ; the origin and great end of all just government. For this only end. the house of Brunswick was called to rule over us. — Oh ! agonizing reflection ! that house ruled us with swords, fire and bayonets ! The British government operated only to our des- truction. Nature cried aloud, self preservation is the great law — we have but obeyed. If I turn my thoughts to recollect in history, a change of government upon more cogent reasons, I say I know of no change upon prin- ciples so provoking — compelling — justifiable. And in this respect, even the famous revo- lution in England, in the year 1688, is much inferior. — However we need no better authority than that illustrious precedent ; and I will therefore compare the causes of, and the law upon the two events. On the 7th of February, 1688, the lords and commons of England, in convention, completad the following resolution. " Resolved that king James the second, hav- ing endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people ; and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having with- drawn himself out of this kingdom ; has abdi- cated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." That famous resolution deprived James of his crown ; and became the foundation on which the throne of the present king of Great Britain is built — it also supports the edifice of government which we have erected. In that resolve, there are but three facts stated to have been done by James : I will point them out, and e.xamine whether those facts will apply to the present king of Great Britain, with regard to the operations of gov- ernment, by him or his representative, imme- diately or by consequence affecting this colony. The first fact is, the having endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original contract. The violation of the fundamental laws is the second fact ; and in support of these two charges, the lords spiritual and temporal and commons, assembled at Westminster, on the 1 2th day of February, 16S8, declared that James was guilty. " By assuming, and exercising a power of dispensing with, and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent of parliament : " By committing and persecuting divers worthy prelates, for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power : " By issuing and causing to be executed a commission, under the great seal, for erecting a court, called the court of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes : " By levying money for, and to the use of the crown, by pretence of prerogative, for other time, and in other manner, than the same was granted by parliament : " By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace, without consent of parliament ; and quartering soldiers contrary to law : " By causing several good subjects, being protestants, to be disarmed, at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law : " By violating the freedom of election of members to ser\'e in parliament : SOUTH CAROLINA. 331 " By prosecutions in the court of king's bench, for matters and causes cognizable only in par- liament ; and by divers other arbitrary and illegal courses." This declaration, thus containing two points of criminality — breach of the original contract, and violation of fundamental laws — I am to distinguish one from the other. In the first place then, it is laid down in the best law authorities, that protection and sub- jection are reciprocal ; and that these reciprocal duties form the original contract between king and people. It therefore follows, that the orig- inal contract was broken by James' conduct as above stated, which amounted to a not affording due protection to his people. And, it is as clear, that he violated the fundamental laws, by the suspending of laws, and the execution of laws ; by levying money ; by violating the freedom of election of members to serve in parliament ; by keeping a standing army in time of peace ; and by quartering soldiers con- trary to law, and without consent of parliament ; which is as much as to say, that he did those things without consent of the legislative assem- bly chosen by the personal election of that people, over whom such doings were exercised. These points, reasonings, and conclusions, being settled in, deduced from, and estab- lished upon parliamentary proceedings, and the best law authorities, must ever remain unshaken . I am now to undertake the disagreeable task of examining, whether they will apply to the violences which have lighted up, and now feed the flames of civil war in America. James the second suspended the operations of laws — George the third caused the charter of the Massachusetts Bay to be in effect annihi- lated ; he suspended the operation of the law which formed a legislature in New York, vest- ing it with adequate powers ; and thereby he caused the very ability of making laws in that colony to be suspended. King James levied money without the con- sent of the representatives of the people called upon to pay it — King George has levied money upon America, not only without, but expressly against the consent of the representatives of the people in America. King James violated the freedom of election of members to sen-e in parliament — King George, by his representative, lord William Campbell, acting for him and on his behalf, broke through a fundamental law of this coun- try, for the certain holding of general assem- blies ; and thereby, as far as in him lay, not only violated but annihilated the very ability of holding a general assembly. King James in time of peace kept a standing army in England, without consent of the rep- resentatives of the people among whom that army was kept — king George hath in time of peace invaded this continent with a large stand- ' ing army without the consent, and he hath kept it within this continent, expressly against the consent of the representatives of the people among whom that army is posted. All which doings by king George the third respecting America are as much contrary to our interests and welfare ; as much against law, and tend as much, at least, to subvert and extirpate the liberties of this colony, and of America, as the similar proceedings, by James the second, operated respecting the people of England. For the same principle of law, touching the premises, equally applies to the people of England in the one case, and to the people of America in the other. And this is the great principle. Certain acts done, over, and affecting a people, against and ■without their consent expressed by themselves, or by rep- resentatives of their own election. — Upon this only principle was grounded the complaints of the people of England — ^upon the same is grounded the complaints of the people of America. And hence it clearly follows, that if James the second violated the fundamental laws of England, George the third hath also violated the fundamental laws of America. Again — King James broke the original contract by not affordmg due protection to his subjects, although he was not charged with having seized their towns and with having held them against the people — or with having laid them in ruins by his arms — or with having seized their vessels — or with having pursued the people with fire and sword — or with having declared them rebels, for resisting his arms lev- elled to destroy their lives, liberties and prop- erties — But George the third hath done all those things against America; and it is therefore un- deniable, that he hath not afforded due protec- tion to the people. Wherefore, if James the second broke the original contract, it is undeni- able that George the third has also broken the original contract between king and people ; and that he made use of the most violent measures by which it could be done — Violences, of which James was guiltless — Measures, carrying con- flagration, massacre and open war amidst a people, whose subjection to the king of Great Britain, the law holds to be due only as a re- turn for protection. And so tenacious and clear is the law upon this very principle, that it is laid down, subjection is not due even to a 332 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. king, de jure, or of right, unless he be also king de facto, or in possession of the executive powers dispensing protection. Again — The third fact charged against James is, that he withdrew himself out of the kingdom — And we know that the people of this country have declared, that lord William Campbell, the king of Great Britain's representative, " having used his umost efforts to destroy the lives, liberties, and properties of the good people here, whom by the duty of his station he was bound to protect, withdrew himself out of the colony." — Hence it will appear that George the third hath withdrawn himself out of this colony, provided it be established that exactly the same natural consequence resulted from the with- drawing in each case respectively : king James personally out of England, and king George out of Carolina, by the agency of his substitute and representative, lord William Campbell. — By king James withdrawing, the executive magistrate was gone, thereby, in the eye of the law, the executive magistrate was dead, and of consequence royal government actually ceased in England — So by king George's representa- tive's withdrawing, the executive magistrate was gone, the death, in law, became apparent, and of consequence royal government actually ceased in this colony. Lord William withdrew as the king's representative, carrj'ing off the great seal and royal instructions to governors, and acting for and on the part of his principal, by every construction of law, that conduct became the conduct of his principal ; and thus, James the second withdrew out of England and George the third withdrew out of South Caro- lina ; and by such a conduct, respectively, the people in each country were exactly in the same degree injured. The three facts against king James being thus stated and compared with similar pro- ceedings by king George, we are now to ascer- tain the result of the injuries done by the first, and the law upon that point ; which being ascertained, must naturally constitute the judg- ment in law, upon the result of similar injuries done by the last : And I am happy that I can give you the best authority upon this important point. Treating upon this great precedent in consti- tutional law, the learned judge Blackstone declares that the result of the facts "amounted to an abdication of the government, which abdication did not affect only the person of the king himself, but also, all his heirs ; and ren- dered the throne absolutely and completely vacant." Thus it clearly appears that the gov- ernment was not abdicated, and the throne vacated by the resolution of the lords and com- mons ; but that the resolution was only decla- ratory of the law of nature and reason, upon the result of the injuries proceeding from the three combined facts of mal-administration. And thus, as I have on the foot of the best authorities made it evident, that George the third, king of Great Britain has endeavored to subvert the constitution of this country, by breaking the original contract between king and people ; by the advice of wicked persons, has violated the fundamental laws, and has withdrawn himself, by withdrawing the consti- tutional benefits of the kingly office, and his protection out of this country: From such a result of injuries, from such a conjuncture of circumstances — the law of the land authorizes me to declare, and it is my duty boldly to declare the law, that George the third, king of Great Britain, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant ; that is, HE HAS NO AUTHORITY OVER US, and WE OWE NO OBEDIENCE TO HIM The British minis- ters already have presented a charge of mine to the notice of the lords and commons in par- liament ; and I am nothing loth that they take equal resentment against this charge. For, supported by the fundamental laws of the con- stitution, and engaged as I am in the cause of virtue — I fear no consequences from their machinations. Thus having stated the principal causes of our last revolution, it is as clear as the sun in meridian, that George the third has injured the Americans, at least as grievously as James the second injured the people of England ; but that James did not oppress these in so criminal a manner as George has oppressed the Ameri- cans. Having also stated the law on the case, I am naturally led to point out to you some of the great benefits resulting from that revolution. In one word then, you have a form of gov- ernment in every respect preferable to the mode under the British authority. And this will most clearly appear by contrasting the two forms of government. Under the British authority, governors were sent over to us, who were utterly unacquainted with our local interests, the genius of the peo- ple, and our laws, generally, they were but too much disposed to obey the mandates of an arbitrary ministry; and if the governor be- haved ill, we could not by any peaceable means procure redress. But under our present happy constitution, our executive m.igistrate arises according to the spirit and letterof holy writ — " ihez'r governors shall proceed from the midst SOUTH CAROLINA. 333 of thetn." Thus, the people have an opportu- nity of choosing a man intimately acquainted with their true interests, their genius, and their laws : a man perfectly disposed to defend them against arbitrary ministers, and to promote the happiness of that people from among whom he was elevated ; and by whom, without the least difficulty, he may be removed and blended in the common mass. Again, under the British authority it was in effect declared, that we had no property ; nay that we could not possess any ; and that we had not any of the rights of humanity. For men who knew us not, men who gained in proportion as we lost, arrogated to themselves a right io bind us in a// cases whatsoever ! — But, our constitution is calculated to free us from foreign bondage ; to secure to us our prop- erty ; to maintain to us the rights of humanity, and to defend us and our posterity against Bri- tish authority, aiming to reduce us to the most abject slavery ! Again, the British authority declared, that we should not erect slitting-mills — and, to this unjust law, we implicitly and respectfully sub- mitted as long as, with safety to our lives, we could yield obedience to such authority — but a resolution of congress now grants a premium to encourage the construction of such mills. The British authority discouraged our at- tempting to manufacture for our own con- sumption — but the new constitution, by author- izing the disbursement of large sums of money by way of loan, or premium, encourages the making of iron, bar-steel, nail-rods, gun-locks, gun-barrels, sulphur, nitre, gun-powder, lead, woolens, cottons, linens, paper and salt. Upon the whole, it has been the policy of the British authority to oblige us to supply our wants at their market, which is the dearest in the known world, and to cramp and confine our trade so as to be subservient to their com- merce, our real interest being ever out of the question. — On the other hand, the new consti- tution is wisely adapted to enable us to trade with foreign nations, and thereby to supply our wants at the cheapest markets in the universe ; to extend our trade infinitely beyond what it has ever been known ; to encourage manufac- turers among us ; and it is peculiarly formed, to promote the happiness of the people, from among whom, by virtue and merit, the poorest man may arrive at the highest dignity. — Oh Carolinians ! happy would you be under this new constitution, if you knew your happy state. Possessed of a constitution of government. founded upon so generous, equal and natural a principle, — a government expressly calculated to make the people rich, powerful, virtuous and happy, who can wish to change it, to return under a royal government ; the vital princi- ples of which are the reverse in every particu- lar ! It was my duty to lay this happy constitu- tion before you, in its genuine light — it is your duty to understand — to instruct others — and to defend it. I might here with propriety quit this truly important subject, but my anxiety for the pub- lic weal compels me yet to detain your atten- tion, while I make an observation or two upon one particular part of the constitution. When all the various attempts to enslave America by fraud, under guise of law ; by mili- taiy threats ; by famine, massacre, breach of public faith and open war. I say, when these things are considered on the one hand, and on the other, the constitution, expressing that some mode of government should be estab- lished, " until an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained, an event which, though tra- duced and treated as rebels, we still ardently desire." I say when these two points are con- trasted, can we avoid revering the magnanimity of that great council of the state, who after such injuries could entertain such a principle ! — • But, the virtuous are ever generous : We do not wish revenge : We earnestly wish an accommodation of our unhappy disputes with Great Britain ; for, we prefer peace to war. Nay, there may be even such an accommoda- tion as, excluding every idea of revenue by taxation or duty, or of legislation by act of par- liament, may vest the king of Great Britain with such a limited dominion over us as may tend, bona fide, to promote our true commer- cial interests, and to secure our freedom and safety — the only just ends of any dominion. But, while I declare thus much on the one side, on the other it is my duty also to declare that, in my opinion, our true commercial inter- ests cannot be provided for but by such a ma- terial alteration of the British acts of naviga- tion as, according to the resolve of the honora- ble the continental congress, will " secure the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial bene- fits of its respective members." And that oui liberties and safety cannot be depended upon, if the king of Great Britain should be allowed to hold our forts and cannon, or to have au- thority over a single regiment in America, or a single ship of war in our ports. — For if he hold our forts, he may turn them against us. as he did Boston against her proprietors. If he 334 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. acquires our cannon, he will effectually disarm the colony. If he has a command of troops among us, even if we raise and pay them, shackles are fixed upon us — witness Ireland and her national army. — The most express act of parliament cannot give us security, for acts of parliament are as easily repealed as made. Royal proclamations are not to be depended upon, witness the disappointments of the inhabi- tants of Quebec and St. Augustine. Even a change of ministry will not avail us, because notwithstanding the rapid succession of minis- ters for which the British court had been famous during the present reign, yet the same ruinous policy ever continued to prevail against Amer- ica. — In short I think it my duty to declare in the awful seat of justice and before Almighty God, that in my opinion, the Americans can have no safety but by the Divine favor, their own virtue, and their being so prudent as not to leave it hi the power of the British rulers to injure them. Indeed, the ruinous and deadly injuries received on our side ; and the jealous- ies entertained and which, in the nature of things, must daily increase against us, on the other ; demonstrate to a mind, in the least given to reflection upon the rise and fall of em- pires, that true reconcilement never can exist between Great Britain and America, the latter being in subjection to the former. — The Al- mighty created America to be independent of Britain. Let us beware of the innpiety of being backward to act as instruments in the Almighty hand, now extended to accomplish his purpose ; and by the completion of which alone America, in the nature of human affairs, can be secure against the craft and insidious designs of her enemies who think her prosper- ity and power already by far too great. In a word, our piety and political safety are so blended, that to refuse our labors in this Divine work, is to refuse to be a great, a free, a pious and a happy people ! And now having left the important alterna- tive, political happiness or wretchedness, under God, in a great degree in your own hands, I pray the Supreme Arbiter of the affairs of men, so to direct your judgment, as that you may act agreeable to what seems to be his will, revealed in his miraculous works in behalf of America, bleeding at the altar of liberty ! THE PRESENTMENTS OF THE JURY. At a court of general sessions of the PEACE, OYER AND TERMINER, ASSIZE AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, begun tO be Iwlden in and for the district of Charleston at Charleston, in the colony aforesaid, on Tuesday, the 22,d day of April, in the year of our Lord one thottsattd seven hundred and sevejzty-six. The presentments of the grand jury for the said district. I. Fully sensible and thoroughly convinced, that to live in society without laws or a proper execution of them, to restrain the licentious nature of mankind, is the greatest misery that can befal a people, and must render any body of men, in such a situation, but little superior to a herd of brutes : and being no less sensible that it was the scheme of a corrupt, nefarious administration in Great Britain to reduce the good people of this colony to that wretched situation, from a want of officers to execute the laws, those whom they had appointed having refused to act in their respective stations, that, through the evil effects of anarchy and con- fusion, the people might become an easy prey to the cruel designs of their insidious enemies; while we lament the necessity which has obliged the people to resume into their hands those powers of government which were origin- ally derived from themselves for the protection of those rights which God alone has given them, as essential to their happiness, we can- not but express our most unfeigned joy in the happy constitution of government now estab- lished in this colony, which promises every blessing to its inhabitants, which a people, endued with virtue, and a just regard to the rights of mankind, could desire. With grati- tude to the Divine Ruler of human events and with the most pleasing e.xpectations of happmess from a constitution so wise in its nature, and virtuous in its ends, being founded on the strictest principles of justice and human- ity, and consistent with every privilege inci- dent to the dignity of a rational being, we cannot but declare we think every opposition to its operations, or disregard to its authority, the foulest criminality a mortal can be guilty of, highly offensive in the eyes of God and of all just men, and deserving the most exem- plary punishment. We cannot but deplore the unhappy situa- tion of any few amongst the people of this colony who through an ignorance of their true interests and just rights, and from a want of SOUTH CAROLINA. 335 proper information of the real truth, may be misled by the artifice and cunning of their false and designing enemies, from a real sense of those benefits which our present constitution has so amply provided for ; benefits which are not confined or limited to any ranks or degrees of men in particular, but generally, equally and indiscriminately extending to all, from the rich- est to the poorest, and which time and a little patient experience must soon evince. Every good citizen must be happy in the con- sideration of the choice of those officers, ap- pointed in the administration of our present government, as well in the impartial mode of an appointment arising from the people them- selves, and the limited duration of their power as in their personal characters as men, justly beloved and revered by their countr)', and whose merits and virtues entitle them to every pre-eminence. Filled with these sentiments, arising from mature deliberation, and the most impartial enquiry, we must further declare, that blessings such as these we have enumerated, are too inestimable to be lost, and that nothing in nature can repay the least violation of them; and although an accommodation with the power which attempts to destroy them 7>!ay be highly worthy of attention, and upon principles truly honorable, of obtaining, yet we think it a sacred duty incumbent upon every citizen to maintain and defend, with his life and fortune, what is given and entrusted to him by the hand of Providence, not for his own good only, but for the lasting happiness of posterity : A trust which no law can ever annul, which is the grand principle of existence, and the source of every social virtue. II. We present as a grievance intolerable to the spirit of a people born and nurtured in the arms of freedom, and (though ever submissive to the just mandates of legal authority) holding every oppression as destestable, the unjust, cruel and diabolical acts of the British parliament, not only declaring the good people of the united colonies of North America rebels, for defend- ing those invaluable rights which no human power can lawfully divest them of. by making all murders, rapines, thefts, robberies, and other inhuman oppressions, done before the passing of those acts without authority, and which w-ere, after the passing the said acts, to be done by the British forces in these colo- nies, legal and warrantable, to the eternal dis- grace and indelible infamy of a kingdom, once renowned for her justice, honor and humanity, but now meanly descending to that wanton pro- fligacy which even savages abhor. III. We present as a very great grievance, the indulgence allowed to all those who are inimical to the liberties of America and the operations of the united colonies among us in suiTering them to reside here, and be admitted to intercourses dangerous to the peace and welfare of this colony. IV. We present that the public oaths directed by an act of the general assembly, passed since the forming of our present constitution, to be administered to those exercising public offices, trusts, and professions, are not administered to such of the clergy as are included in the same. V. We present that the times at which the several parochial committees meet or are ap- pointed for their meeting, are not made public ; and we do recommend that they do publish the same in the public papers, that all persons who are desirous of obtaining leave to sue for debts, may know when to apply. VI. We present as a great grievance, more particularly at this time, the want of due atten- tion to the roads and ferries in this colony; many of the roads not being sufficiently wide and worked upon agreeable to law, and the ferries in general not having boats sufficient to forward passengers upon any emergent oc- casion. VII. We present as a grievance the too frequent forestalling out of the wagons, coming from the back parts of the country, the many necessaries of life, by which the good inhabit- ants of this town are obliged to pay most ex- orbitant prices for the same ; and with submis- sion would recommend a place to be ap- pointed for the sale of bacon, flour, butter, and other such necessaries brought to town in carriages, to be regulated by the market act. VIII. We present the want of a proper per- son by law to oblige the sellers of blades and hay, to weigh the same at a public scale. Jonathan Scott, foreman [L. S.] George Cooke, [L. S.] Thomas Jones, [l. S.] John Lightwood, [L. S.] Peter Leger, [l. S.] Philip Meyer, [l. S.] Isaac Mazyck, [l. S.] John Owen, [l. S.] John Smyth, [L. S.] Joseph Jenkins, [l. S.] Joseph Cox, [L. S.] Daniel Lessesne, [L. S.] Lewis Diitarque, [L. S.I John Singletary, [L. S.1 336 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. JUDGE DRAYTON. At a court of general sessions of the PEACE, OYER AND TERMINER, ASSIZE AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, begun and hol- den at Charleston, for the district of Charles- ton, on Tuesday, October 15th, in the year of our Lord, 1776 — Before the hon. Wil- liam Henry Drayton, esq. chief justice, and his associates, justices of the said court. Ordered, That the charge delivered by his honor, the chief justice, to the grand jury, and their presentments at this sessions, be forthwith published. By order of the court, John Colcock, C. C. S. the charge to the grand jury. Gentlemen of the grand jury. — The last time I had the honor to address a grand jury in this court, I expounded to them the constitution of their country, as estabhshed by congress on the 26th day of March last, independent of royal authority. I laid before them the causes of that important change of our government — a comp.irison of these, with those that occa- sioned the English revolution of 1688 — and the law resulting from the injuries in each case. I spoke to that grand jury of the late revolution of South Carolina. I mean to speak to you upon a more important subject — the rise of the American empire. The great act in March last upon the mat- ter, constituted our country totally independent of Great Britain. For it was calculated to place in our hands the whole legislative, exe- cutive and judicial powers of government ; and to enable us, in the most effectual manner, by force of arms, to oppose, resist and war against the British crown. The act naturally looked forward to an accommodation of the unhappy differences between that power and America : In like manner every declaration of war be- tween independent states, implies a future ac- commodation of their disputes. But, although by that act we were upon the matter made independent, yet there were no words in it specially declarative of that independency. Such a declaration was of right to be made only by the general congress : because the united voice and strength of America were necessary to give a desirable credit and pros- pect of stability to a declared state of total separation from Great Britain : And the general congress, as the only means left by which they had a chance to avert the ruin of America, have issued a declaration, by which all politi- cal connection between you and the state of Great Britain is totally dissolved. Carolinians : heretofore you were bound — by the American revolution you are now free. The change is most important — most honora- ble — most beneficial. It is your birthright by the law of nature — it is even valid by the fun damental laws of your country — you were placed in possession of it by the hand of God ' — particulars evidencing a subject of the high- est import. — Gentlemen of the grand jury ; it is my duty to mark to you the great lines of your conduct ; and so to endeavor to explain the nature of each, that you may clearly see your way, and thereby be animated in your progress to discharge those ser\'ices which are required at your hands. And hence, it is necessary for me to lay before you some observations upon the nature of the American revolution, which by every tie, divine and human, you are bound to support. I shall therefore endeavor to draw your attention to this great subject, necessarily including the lines of your particular conduct. It is but to glance an eye over the historic page, to be assured that the duration of empire is limited by the Almighty decree. Empires have their rise to a zenith — and their declen- sion to a dissolution. The years of a man, nay the hours of the insect on the bank of the Hypanis, that lives but a day, epitomize the advance and decay of the strength and dura- tion of dominion ! One common fate awaits all things upon earth — a thousand causes accelerate or delay their perfection or ruin. To look a little into remote times, we see that, from the most contemptible origin upon re- cord, Rome became the most powerful state the sun ever saw : The world bowed before her imperial Fasces ! — yet, having run through all the vicissitudes of dominion, her course was finished. Her empire was dissolved, that the separated members of it might arise to run through similar revolutions. Great Britain was a part of this mighty em- pire. But, being dissolved from it, in her turn she also extended her dominion : — arrived at, and passed her zenith. Three and thirty years numbered the illustrious days of the Roman greatness — Eight years measure the duration of the British grandeur in meridian lustre ! How few are the days of true glory. The extent of the Roman period is from their complete- con- quest of Italy, which gave them a place where- on to stand, that they might shake the world, to the original cause of their declension, their introduction of Asiatic luxury. The British period is from the year 1758, when they victo- riously pursued their enemies into every quar- ter of the globe, to the immediate cause of their decline — their injustice displayed by the SOUTH CAROLINA. 337 stamp act. — In short, like the Roman empire, Great Britain in her constitution of govern- ment, contained a poison to bring on her decay, and in each case, this poison was drawn into a ruinous operation by the riches and luxuries of the east. Thus, by natural causes and common effects, the American states are become dissolved from the British dominion. And is it to be wondered at that Britain has experienced the invariable fate of empire ! We are not surprised when we see youth or age yield to the common lot of humanity — Nay, to repine that, in our day, America is dissolved from the British state, is impiously to question the unerring wisdom of Providence. The Almighty setteth up, and he casteth down : He breaks the sceptre, and transfers the dominion : He has made choice of the present generation to erect the American em- pire. Thankful as we are, and ought to be, for an appointment of the kind, the most illustrious that ever was, let each individual exert himself in this important operation di- rected by Jehovah himself — From a short retrospect, it is evident the work was not the present design of man. Never were a people more wrapped up in a king, than the Americans were in George the third in the year 1763. They revered and obeyed the British government, because it pro- tected them — they fondly called Great Britain ■ — home ! But, from that time, the British counsels took a ruinous turn ; ceasing to pro- tect — they sought to ruin America. The stamp act, declaratory law, and the duties upon tea and other articles, at once proclaimed their in- justice, and announced to the Americans, that they had but little room for hope ; infinite space for fear. — In vain they petitioned for redress ! — • Authorized by the law of nature, they exerted the inherent powers of society, and resisted the edicts which told them that they had no pro- perty ; and that against their consent, and by men over whom they had no control, they were to be bound in all cases whatsoever. Dreadful information ! — Patience could not but resent them. However regardless of such feel- ings, and resolved to endeavor to support those all grasping claims, early in the year 1774, the British tyranny made other edicts — to overturn American charters — to suspend or destroy, at the pleasure of the crown, the value of private property — to block up the port of Boston, in ierrorem to other American ports — to give murder the sanction of law— to establish the Roman Catholic religion, and to make the king of Great Britain a despot in Canada ; and as much so as he then chose to be in Massa- chusetts Bay. And general Gage was sent to Boston with a considerable force to usher these edicts into action, and the Americans into slavery. Their petitions thus answered, even with the sword of the murderer at their breasts, the Americans thought only of new petitions. It is well known there was not then even an idea that the independence of America would be the work of this generation : For people yet had a confidence in the integrity of the British monarch. At length subsequent edicts being also passed, to restrain the Americans from enjoying the bounty of Providence on their own coast, and to cut off their trade with each other and with foreign states — the royal sword yet reeking with American blood, and the king still deaf to the prayers of the people for •' peace, liberty and safety ; " it was, even so late as the latter end of the last year, before that confi- dence visibly declined ; and it was generally seen that the quarrel was likely to force America into an immediate state of indepen- dence. But such an event was not expected, because it was thought the monarch, from motives of policy, if not from inclination, would heal our wounds, and thereby prevent the separation ; but it was not wished for, because men were unwilling to break off old connec- tions, and change the usual form of govern- ment. Such were the sentiments of America until the arrival of the British act of parliament de- claring the .'\niericans out of the royal protec- tion, and denouncing a general war against them. But counsels too refined, generally produce contrary" and unexpected events. So the whole system of British policy respecting America, since the year 1763, calculated to surprise, deceive, or drive the people into slavery* — urged them into independence ; and this act of parliament, in particular, finally re- leased America from Great Britain. Antece- dent to this, the British king, by his hostilities, had, as far as he personally could, absolved America from that faith, allegiance and sub- jection she owed him ; because the law of our land expressly declares these are due only in return for his protection, allegiance being founded on the benefit of protection. But God knowing that we are in peril by false brethren as well as by real enemies, out of his abundant mercy has caused us to be released from sub- jection, by yet a better title than the mere op- pressions of a man in the kingly office. — This title is singular in its kind. — It is the voluntar)- and joint act of the whole British legislature, on the twenty-first day of December, 1775, re- 338 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. leasing the faith, allegiance and subjection of America to the British crown, by solemnly de- claring the former out of the protection of the latter : and thereby, agreeable to every prin- ciple of law, actually dissolving the original contract between king and people. Hence, an American cannot, legally, at the suit of the king of Great Britain, be indicted of high treason ; because the indictment cannot charge him with an act contra ligeantics sua debitum ; for, not being protected by that king, the law holds that he does not owe him any faith and allegiance. So an alien enemy, even invading the kingdom of England, and taken in arms, cannot be dealt with as a traitor, be- cause he violates no trust or allegiance. In short, this doctrine, laid down in the best law authorities, is a criterion whereby we may safely judge, whether or not a particular people are subject to a particular government. And thus upon the matter, that decisive act of parliament ipso facto created the united colonies free and independent states. These particulars evidence against the royal calumniator in the strongest manner. Let him not with unparalleled effrontery from a throne continue to declare, that the Americans, " meant only to amuse, by vague expressions of attachment and the strongest professions of loyalty, whilst they were preparing for a general revolt, for the purpose of establishing an inde- pendent empire." On the first of September, 1775, Richard Penn and Arthur Lee, esquires, delivered to lord Dartmouth, he being secre- tary of state, a petition from the congress to the king, when lord Dartmouth told them, " no answer would be given." The petition con- tained this remarkable passage, that the king would •• be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of his faithful colonists to the throne, in presence of their common councils, might be improved into a PERMANENT AND HAPPY RECONCILIATION ; and that in the mean time, tneasures might be taken for pre- venting the further destruction of the lives of his majesty's subjects." Yet, notwithstanding this, on the 26th of October following, from the throne the king charged the Americans with aiming at independence ! The facts I have stated are known to the world ; they are yet more stubborn than the tyrant. But let other facts be also stated against him. — There was a time, when the American army before Boston had not a thousand weight of gunpowder — the forces were unable to advance into Canada, until they received a small supply of powder from this country, and for which the general congress expressly sent — and when we took up arms a few months before, we begun with a stock of five hundred weight ! — These grand magazines of ammunition demonstrate, to be sure, that America, or even Massachusetts Bay, was preparing to enter the military road to in- dependence ! — On the contrary, if we consider the manner in which Great Britain has con- ducted her irritating and hostile measures, we cannot but clearly see, that God has darkened her councils ; and that with a stretched out arm, he himself has delivered us out of the house of bondage, and has led us on to empire. In the year 1774, general Gage arrived at Boston to awe the people into a submission to the edicts against America. The force he brought was, by the oppressors, thought not only sufficient to compel obedience, but that this would be effected even at the appearance of the sword. But, the continent being roused by the edicts, general Gage, to his surprise, found that he had not strength sufficient to carry them into execution. In this situation things continued several months, while, on the one hand, the general received reinforcements, and on the other, the people acquired a contempt for the troops, and found time to form their militia into some order to oppose the force they saw accumulatmg for their destruction. Hence, in the succeeding April, when the gen- eral commenced hostilities, he was defeated. The victory produced the most important ef- fects. — The people were animated to besiege Boston, where it soon appeared, that the British troops were too weak to make any impression upon them, thus acquiring military knowledge by the actual operations of war. —The united colonies were roused to arms. — They new modelled their militia — raised regular troops — fortified the harbors — and crushed the tory par- ties among them. — Success fired the Americans with a spirit of enterprise. In the mean time, the king passed such other edicts as, adding to the calender of injuries, widened the civil breach, and narrowed the band of the American union. And such sup- plies were, from time to time, sent for the relief of Boston, as not in any degree sufficient to enable general Gage to raise the siege ; an- swered no other ends but to increase the num- ber, heighten the spirit, advance the discipline of the American army, and to cause every member of the union to exert every ability to procure arms and ammunition from abroad. Thus trained on evidently by the Almighty, these troops, reproached by general Gage, when they first sat down before Boston, that " with a preposterous parade of military arrangements, they affected to hold the army besieged," in SOUTH CAROLINA. 339 less than eleven months compelled that British army, although considerably reinforced, to abandon Boston by stealth, and to trust their safety, not to their arms, but to the winds. The British ministry have attempted to put a gloss upon this remove of their army. How- ever, the cannon, stores and provisions they left in Boston, are in our hands, substantial marks of their flight. Thus there appears to have been a fatality in their counsels respecting Boston, the grand seat of contention ; their forces being inade- quate to the enterprise on which they were sent. And under the same influence have their attacks been directed against Virginia and North Carolina, Savannah and this capital. Such a series of events is striking ! It surely, displays an over-ruling Providence that has confounded the British counsels, to the end that America should not have been at first shackled, and thereby prevented from acquiring a knowledge of, and confidence in her strength to be attained only by an experimental trial and successful exertion of it, previous to the British rulers doing acts driving her, either into slavery or independence. The same trace of an over-ruling Providence is evident throughout the whole transaction of the English revolution of 1688. King James received early informa- tion of the prince of Orange's intention to invade England ; and Louis the XIV. offered the king a powerful assistance. Rut his coun- sels were confounded from on high ; He paid little attention to the first — he neglected the last. The winds blew, and how opportunely have they aided us ; the winds detained James" fleet at anchor ; while they, directing the course of the prince, enabled him without any loss to land in England, at a time when no person thought of a revolution, which was destined to take place within but a few weeks. Unex- pected, wonderful and rapid movements, char- acterized the British and American revolutions : They do not appear to have been premeditated by man. And from so close a similitude in so many points, between the two revolutions, we have great reason to hope that the American, like the British, will be stable against the tyrant. As I said before, in my last charge, I drew a parallel between the causes which occasioned the English revolution, and those which occa- sioned our local revolution in March last ; and I examined the famous resolution of the lords and commons of England at Westminster, declaring the law upon James's conduct. The two first points of it applied to our own case in the closest manner, and in applying the third, treating of James's withdrawing, I pointed out that the abdication of the regal government among us, was immediately effected, not only by the withdrawing of the regal substitute, with the ensigns of government, but that king George had withdrawn himself, " by withdraw- ing the constitutional benefits of the kingly office, and his protection out of this country." Thus couching my thoughts upon the article of the withdrawing, in order that the parallel should be continued throughout as close as the subject would admit, without attempting to extract the essence from the substance of the resolution, to demonstrate that such a parallel was not necessar)' : A mode which the subject being new, might not then perhaps have been so generally satisfactory. But, as the Ameri- can revolution leads me again to mention that resolution, which in the strongest manner jus- tifies it, I make no scruple now to say, that the resolution, though appearing to point out seve- ral kinds of criminality, yet has only one idea thus variously represented. " Resolved, That king James the second having endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original con- tract between king and people ; and by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." But, before 1 make any further obsen-ation upon this resolution, allow me to show you the sense of Scotland in the last, and of America in the present century, touching an abdication of government : and you will find, that the voice of nature is the same, in either extremity of the globe, and in different ages. The estates of Scotland having enumerated king James's mal-administration, and in which there was no article of withdrawing, they declared, that " thereby he had forefaulted the rights of the crown, and the throne was become vacant." And the representatives of the United States of America, stating their griev- ances under king George the third, decreed, that " he has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us." And 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." Thus in each case it is apparent, the abdi- cation or forefaulting took place from but one and the same cause — the failure 0/ protection : And this is the single idea that, I apprehend, is in the resolution of Westminster. Search to understand, what is a breach of the original 340 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. contract — what a violation of the fundamental laws wherein consisted the criminality of James's withdrawing ? Your enquiry must terminate thus — a failure of protectiott.— Independent of the nature of the subject, the history of that time warrants this construction upon the with- drawing in particular. For, upon James's first flying from Whitehall, quitting the administra- tion without providing a power to protect the people, he was considered by the prince of Orange, and the lieads of the English nation as having then absolutely abdicated the govern- ment, and terminated his reign ; and they treated him accordingly upon his sudden return fo Whitehall, from whence he was immediately ejected. In short, a failure of protection being once established, it necessarily includes, and implies a charge of a breach of original con- tract — a violation of fundamental laws — and a withdrawing of the king : I do not mean the individual person, but the officer so called. For the officer being constituted to dispense protection, and there being a failure of it, it is evident, /r/>«a facie, that the officer is with- drawn ; and in reality, because the law will not admit that the officer can be present and not dispense protection, as the law ascribes to the king in his political capacity absolute perfec- tion ; and therefore it will intend a withdrawing and abdication, in exclusion of any idea of his being present and doing wrong. Protection was the great end for which mankind formed socie- ties. On this hang all the duties of a king. It is the one thing needful in royalty. Upon the whole, what is civil liberty, or by what conduct it may be oppressed, by what means the oppression ought to be removed or an abdication or forefaulting of the govern- ment may be induced, cannot precisely be as- certained, and laid down as rules to the world. Humanity is interested in these subjects. Na- ture alone will judge ; and she will decide upon the occasion without regard to precedent. In America, nature has borne British oppression so long as it was tolerable ; but there is a load of injury which cannot be endured. Nature felt it. And the people of America., acting upon natural principles, by the mouths of their repre- sentatives in congress assembled, at Philadel- phia, on the fourth day of July last, awfully declared — and I revere the sentence ! — " 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." A decree is now gone forth, nty evil design, the dictate of a wicked and malignant heart. — The discovery of this secret inclination of the mind must arise, because it cannot any otherwise, only from the external effects of it ; and by such evidence, the malig- nity of the mind is held either express in part or implied in law. — Thus, malice prepense is held to express in fact, when there is evidence of a lying in wait ; or of menacings antece- dent, grudges, or deliberate conipassings to do some bodily harm. Even upon a sudden pro- vocation, the one beating or treating another in an excessive and cruel manner, so that he dies, though he did not intend his death, the slayer displays an express evil design, the genu- ine sense of malice. This is evidence of a bad heart ; and the act is equivalent to a deliberate act of slaughter. So any wilful action, likely in its nature to kill, without its being aimed at any person in particular : For this shews an enmity to all mankind. So if two or more come to any felony, or any unlawful act, the probable consequence of which might be bloodshed, and one of them kills a man, it is murder in them all, because of the unlawful act, the malitia prcecognitata or ct'il intended. But malice prepense is held to be implied in law, when one kills an officer of justice in the execution of his office, or any person assisting him, though not specially called. Or when without sufficient provocation, and no affront by words or gestures only is a sufficient provo- cation, a man suddenly kills another. Or when, upon a chiding between husband and wife, the husband strikes the wife with a pestle or other dangerous weapon, and she presently dies. These and similar instances, are evi- dences of a malice prepense on the part of the slayer ; and he shall be held guilty of murder. In cases of self-murder, there must be a volun- tary and deliberate putting an end to one's existence ; or doing some unlawful malicious act, the consequence of which is his own death. In a word, all homicide is presumed to be malicious, until the contrary is made to appear in evidence. There is a regular gradation of importance in the component parts of the universal sys- tem ; and, therefore there must be a scale marking the degrees of injury. We have ex- amined the highest injui"y that can be com- mitted or perpetrated upon the person of an individual — let us now turn our attention to such injuries against the person, as are of an inferior nature. Of these the first in degree is mayhem, which is the cutting out, with malice prepense, or disabling the tongue, putting out an eye, slit- ting the nose, cutting off a nose or lip, or de- priving another of the use of such of his members as may render him the less able to defend him- self, or annoy his adversary. The next is rape. Then the infamous crime against nature. These are felonies. But there are yet other injuries against the person which, being of a less flagrant degree, are, by the tenderness of the law, described under the gentler terms of misdemeanors. Such are assaults, batteries, wounding, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. Here, in a manner, terminates the scale of in- juries against the person. We will now state such as may be perpetrated against his man- sion, or habitation. By the universal consent of all ages, the dwelling house of man, was and is endowed with peculiar immunities and valuable privi- leges. Among the ancients, if even an enemy reached the tire-place of the house, he was sure of protection. Thus we find Coriolanus at the fire-place of TuUus Aufidius, chief of the Volscian nation, discovering himself to Au- tidius, his public and private enemy, and sup- plicating and receiving his protection against Rome from whence he was banished. And, on this subject of a dwelling, Cicero, the great Roman lawyer, orator and statesman, thus pa- thetically expresses himself: "What is more inviolable, what better defended by religion than the house of a citizen ? Here are his al- tars, here his fire hearths are contained — this place of refuge is so sacred to all men, that to be dragged from thence is unlawful." In like manner we find, that at Athens the habitation was particularly protected by the law : Burglary was there punished with death, although theft was not. And our law hath so special a re- gard to a man's dwelling house, that it terms it his castle, and will not suffer it to be vio- lated with impunity. The law ranges the in- juries against it under two heads — arson, and hamesecken or housebreaking. And, this last it divides into legal or proper burglary, which is nocturnal house-breaking, and house-break- ing by day. Arson is an injury that tends by fire to anni- hilate the habitation of another person, or other 344 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. house, that being within the curtilage or home- stall, may reasonably be esteemed a parcel of it, though not contiguous. So a bam in the field, with hay or corn in it. But this injury by fire, must be done with a malicious intent, otherwise it is only trespass. Burglary, is a breaking and entering in the night time, the mansion house of another, with intent to commit some felony therein, whether the felonious intent be executed or not : And all such houses are the objects of burglary, and of housebreaking, as are described in the case of arson. But, to violate this place of protection in the day, by robbing therein, and putting any dweller in fear, although there be no actual breach of the house ; or by breaking and rob- bing in the house, a dweller being therein, and not put in fear ; or by robbing and breaking the house, actually taking something, none being in the house ; or by feloniously taking away something to the value 35/. currency, or upwards, no person being in the house ; or by breaking the house with intent to commit a felony, any person being in the house and put in fear, though nothing be actually taken — any such violation is called house-breaking — a crime not of so atrocious a nature as burglary. For, in the contemplation of our law, as well as of all others, violency perpetrated in the night, are of a more malignant tendency than similar ones by day : Because, attacks in the night occasion a greater degree of terror ; and be- cause, they are in a season by nature appropri- ated to the necessary rest and refreshment of the human body, which is then, by sleep dis- armed of all attention to its defence. With respect to injuries against a man's personal property, they are to be considered under three heads. Larceny, malicious mis- chief, forgery. And larceny, the first of these, is either simple or mixed. Simple larceny, or common theft, is a felo- nious and fraudulent taking and carrying away the mere personal goods of another — here no violence or fear is implied. If goods so taken are above the value of seven shillings currency, the offence is termed grand larceny ; But if they are not exceeding that value, the act is petit larceny. Mixt larceny has in it all the ingredients of simple larceny, but it is aggra- vated by a taking from the house or person ; and this taking is yet aggravated if it is under the impression of violence or fear. Such a taking in the house, with or without violence or fear, may or may not fall within the crimes of burglary or house-breaking, according to the circumstances. And such a taking from the person, without, or with violence or fear, will be but simple larceny in the first case ; in the other, it is a robbery, and the value is of no consideration. Malicious mischief is a species of injury that bears a near relation to the crime of arson. A dwelling is the object of arson ; but other property is the subject for malicious mischief to operate upon ; and indeed this spirit of wanton cruelty has a wide field of action. This horrible spirit displays itself by burning or destroying the property of another, as a stack of rice, corn or other grain ; or any tar kiln, barrels of pitch, turpentine, rosin or other growth, product or manufacture of this state : or killing or destroying any horses, sheep or other cattle. At length the crime of forgery, concludes the calender of public offences against the property of an individual ; I need only define the crime : It is a fraudulent making or alter- ation of a writing to the prejudice of another person. Having, in this manner marked out to you the distinguishing features of the principal crimes and injuries against the person, habita- tion and property of an individual, I now de- sire your attention, and I shall not long detain it while I delineate those against the state ; objects which ought most carefully to be ob- served wherever they appear. I have pur- posely thus reserved this subject, as well be- cause it is of the most important nature, and virtually includes the other, as that by being the last described, you may be the more likely to retain the impression of it. Every outrage and violence against the person, habitation or property of an indi\idual, is a crime, a misde- meanor, or a contempt, and therefore an injury against the state, bound by original compact to protect the individual in his rights. For no man, conceiving himself injured, has any au- thority, or shadow of it, to redress himself ; because the state has established courts which are vindkes iiijuriarum. Hence, every crimi- nal injury against the individual must ulti- mately wound the state ; and be included in the offences against the body politic, which must be more important in their nature than those relating to the individual, because they are more extensive, and of a higher degree of criminality. It behoves you therefore to watch for the public safety ; for this is to be attentive to your private security. It is not by any means necessary that I trace these crimes, as they are branched by the law. The present public service requires your im- mediate particular attention to offences done SOUTH CAROLINA. 345 against only four acts of assenibly — the patrol and negro laws — the law against counterfeit- ing the certificates issued by the late houses of assembly, or the currency issued by the con- gress of the continent or of this countr)- — and the law to prevent sedition, and to punish insurgents and disturbers of the public peace. The two first l.iws are calculated to keep our domestics in a proper behavior. The two last were expressly formed as two pillars to support our new constitution ; and therefore, these last are your most important objects. — I shall fully explain them. The act against counterfeiting extends to all persons who counterfeit, raze or alter, or utter, or offer in payment, knowing the same to be counterfeited, razed or altered, any certificate or bill of credit, under the authority of the late commons house of assembly, or the congresses of this country, or of the continent. The law to prevent sedition guards against those actions as, in such a crisis as this, might reasonably be expected to operate against our present honorable and happy establishment. And the variety and importance of those actions, make it necessary for me to particu- larize them to you. This salutar>' act touches all persons taking up arms against the authority of the present government ; or who by violence, words, deeds or writing, cause or attempt to cause, induce, or persuade any other person to do so. In like manner, all persons who give intelligence to, or hold correspondence with, or aid or abet any land or naval force sent by Great Britain, or any other force or body of men within this state with hostile intent against it. So those who compel, induce, persuade or attempt to do so, any white person, Indian, free negro, or slave, to join any force under authority derived from Great Britain. And so all persons who collect, or procure them to be assembled, with intent in a riotous and seditious manner, to disturb the public peace and tranquility ; and by words, or otherwise, create and raise trai- torous seditions or discontents, in the minds of the people against the public authority. Thus having stated to you such criminal in- juries against an individual, or the state, as may be most likely to come within your notice, it is a natural consequence, that I describe the person by law held capable of committing such injuries. In the first place, the party must be of sound memory at the time of committing the offence, and it is the leading principle in every case. If the party is under seven years of age, no evidence can possibly be admitted to criminate ; because, the law holds, that the party cannot discern between good and evil. But if the ac- cused is above seven and under fourteen, he is liable to be criminated, if at the time of his committing the injur)', his understanding was so ripe as to occasion him to shew a conscious- ness of guilt, the rule being malitia supplet atateni. And if the party is of the age of four- teen, which is the age of discretion, the law prima facie considers him capable of commit- ting offences as a person of full age. Also a lunatic for crimes perpetrated in a lucid in- terval. Also a man for crimes done in a state of drunkenness voluntarily contracted ; and so far is this artificial insanity from excusing, that it tends to aggravate the offence. All those particulars relating to the person, habitation and property of an individual ; those respecting the safety, peace and tranquility of state ; and these describing the perpetrator of criminal injuries, are so many proper heads for your diligent enquiry : And such offenders and offences being within your knowledge, you must make due presentment of them. You are to hear evidence only on the part of an in- formation to you of an offence : for an indict- ment by you is only in the nature of a solemn and public accusation, which is afterwards to be tried and determined by others ; You are only to examine, whether there be sufficient cause to call upon the party to answer. Twelve of you. at least must agree in opinion, that the accused ought to undergo a public trial — so twelve other jurors are to declare him innocent or guilty. — Happy institutions ! where- by no man can be declared a criminal, but by the concurring voices of at least four and twenty men, collected in the vicinage by blind chance, upon their oaths to do justice ; and against whom, even the party himself has no exception ! Thus, gentlemen of the grand jury, with the best intentions for the public sen'ice, however executed, having declared to you, that you are not bound under, but freed from the dominion of the British crown, I thought myself neces- sarily obliged, and I have endeavored to de- monstrate to you, that the rise and fall of em- pires are natural events — that the independence of America was not, at the commencement of the late civil war, or even at the conclusion of the last year, the aim of the Americans — that their subjection to the British crown, being re- leased by the action of British oppression, the stroke of the British sword, and the tenor of a British act of parliament, their natural rise to empire was conducted by the hand of God ! — that the same strong hand, by proceedings 346 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. equally unexpected, wonderful and rapid as in our case, conducted the English revolution of 1688 — that the revolutions in England and Scotland at that period, and in America now, giving a new epocha to the history of the world, were founded in the same immediate cause ; a failure of protection — that those re- volutions concurred in one grand evidence of the feelings of nature on such a subject — that every species of mal-administration in a king is to be traced to a failure of protection, which is the only instrument working his abdication — that the object for which we contend, is just in its nature and of inestimable value — that the American revolution may be supported with the fairest prospect of success by arms — and that it may be powerfully aided by a grand jury. Gentlemen, I do most cordially congratulate you, placed as you are in a station, honorable to yourselves, and beneficial to your country. Guardians of the innocent, you are appointed to send the robber, the murderer, the incendiary and the traitor to trial. Your diligence in inquiring for such offenders, is the source of your own honor, and a means of your country's safety, and although no such offenders be found, your laudable search will yet tend to curb a propensity to robbery, murder, sedition and treason. See, gentlemen, what great ad- vantages may result from your vigilant and patriotic conduct ! Your ears ought to be shut to the petitions of friendship, and to the calls of consanguinity — but they ought to be ex- panded to receive the complaints of your injured country, and the demands of impartial justice. Brutus inflicted upon his sons the tilli'muni suppliciiim for conspiring to re-estab- lish the regal government in Rome. And, if a similar occasion should arise in America, which God forbid, I trust a Brutus will not be wanting ! Let those, if there are any such, who treacherously or pusillanimously hanker after a return of regal government, remember such things and tremble. Let us ever remember, rejoice and teach our children, that the Ameri- can empire is composed of states that are, and of right ought to be, free and independent ; " 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. THE PRESENTMENTS OF THE JURY, At a court of GENERAL SESSIONS OF THE PEACE, OVER AND TERMINER, ASSIZES AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, begttn to be held at Charleston, for the district of Charleston, on Tuesday, October 1 5///, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six. Presentments of the grand jury for the said district. I. It is with most cordial satisfaction we embrace this opportunity of offering our con- gratulations on the late declaration of the con- tinental congress, constituting the united colo- nies of North America independent states ; an event, however once dreaded as repugnant to those hopes of peace and friendship with the British state, which was then ardently enter- tained, yet which every American must now most joyfully embrace, as the only happy means of salvation and security, and the surest pre- vention to the treacherous and cruel designs of a wicked and detestable enemy. II. As the kind and beneficent hand of a wise and bounteous Providence has so ordered and disposed of human events that, from calamities which were dreaded as the most miserable and destructive to America, benefits, the most advantageous, honorable and desir- able have arisen to her, which now gives a very joyful prospect to liberty and hap- piness — we think our grateful sense of such peculiar care and protection cannot be mani- fested in a way more acceptable and proper than in a strict regard to the duties which man- kind owe to their God. in. We present the growing evil of many churches established by law falling to decay, and some remaining without ministers to per- form divine ser\'ice, in divers parishes in this district, by which means the spirit of religion will decline, and become prejudicial to the manners of the peoele. IV. We present and recommend a proper militia law to be made, in such manner as to compel impartially and equally all degrees of persons liable to do the duty therein required, so as to enable the good people of this state (who are now become principally the guardi- ans thereof) to repel any domestic or foreign enemy as far as possible. V. We present and recommend, that care may always be had, that none but gentlemen of weight and influence, and good example be prevailed on to qualify and act in the commis- SOUTH CAROLINA. 347 sion of peace, by whose influence licentiousness, sedition and profligacy may be suppressed, and good order maintained. VI. We present and recommend, that some office may be created in this district, whereby executions and sales by the sheriff may be recorded, so that, on the death or removal of the sheriff, recourse may be had to such rec- ords by those concerned. VII. We present and recommend, that Jews and others may be restrained from allowing their negroes to sell goods in shops, as such a practice may induce other negroes to steal and barter with them. VIII. We present the ill practice of Jews opening their shops and selling of goods on Sunday, to the profanation of the Lord's Day. IX. We present the barrack master Philip Will, for seizing of firewood on the wharves, under pretence of the public, when he applies the same to his own use, to the distressing of the inhabitants. By information of Mr. Pat- rick Hinds, one of the grand jurors. X. We present the want of more constables in this district, we being informed that there are only four in this town. XI. We return our thanks to his honor, the chief justice, for his excellent charge delivered at the opening of the sessions, and desire that the charge and these presentments be forthwith printed and published. Joseph Glai'er, foreman, Benjamin Baker, Benjamin Dart, John Jidlerton, Christopher FitzstJnons, William H opt on, William Hale, Patrick Hinds, Charles Johnston, Andrew Lord, John Miles, William Riissel, Stephen Towttsend, [L. S.] [I.. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.l [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] JUDGE DRAYTON. At a court of general sessions of the PE.\CE, OYER AND TERMINER, ASSIZE AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, begun and holden at Charleston, for the district of Charleston, the list of October, 1777, before the honorable William Henry Drayton, esq. chief justice, and his asso- ciates, justices of the said court. Ordered, That the political part of his honor, the chief justice's charge to the grand jury, together with their presentments be forth- with printed and published. By the court, John Colcock, C. C. S. the political part of the charge. Gentlemen of the grand jury. — Being but just returned from the house of God, we are, I trust, sanctified to enter upon the most im- portant civil duties, and possessed of the favor of Heaven, to aid us in our endeavors faith- fully to discharge our respective functions. At present, it is your part attentively to listen to me — it is mine to discourse of those points im- mediately relative to your duty in this court, and of such things as may enable you, when you shall return into your vicinage, in a more en- larged manner to support the laws and free- dom of your country. The occasion of our meeting demands the first — the present crisis of public affairs requires the last, and I flatter myself your time will neither be disagreeably nor unprofitably occupied. Let me therefore begin with laying before you some considera- tions aimed to support the freedom of your country ; such are ever uppermost in my thoughts. Do you seriously think of the great work in which you, in conjunction with the rest of America, are engaged ? You ought to do so without ceasing, and to act with a correspond- ing vigor. For, beyond all comparison, the work is the most stupendous, august, and ben- eficial of any extant in history. It is to estab- lish an asylum against despotism : of an entire world to form an empire, composed of states linked together by consanguinity, professing the same religion, using the same language and customs, and venerating the same princi- ples of liberty. A compounded political cement, which, in the formation of the grand empires upon record, no political architects but ourselves ever possessed — a cement pre- pared to our hand by the Great Constructor of the universe ; and for the best of purposes. Formed to enjoy, " among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle us," by an unexpected and unprovoked declara- tion of the king and parliament of Britain, that the inhabitants of America, having no property nor right, were by them to be bound in all cases whatsoever — by their sending a military force to compel us to submit to that declara- tion — by their actual seizure of our property — by their lighting conflagrations in our land — 348 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. perpetrating rape and massacre upon our peo- ple, and finally releasing us from our allegiance, by announcing to us, on the twenty-first day of December, 1775, that we were by themselves placed out of their protection, — America has been compelled to step into that station which, I trust, we are willing, and which, I am con- vinced, with the blessing of God, we are able to maintain. — My dear countrymen, turn your attention to the transactions of the last twelve months, and be convinced, that our cause is the peculiar care of Heaven. Human policy at best is but short-sighted ; nor is it to be wondered at, that the original formation of the continental army was upon an erroneous principle. The people of America are a people of property ; almost every man is a freeholder. Their supreme rulers thought such men, living at ease in their farms, would not become soldiers under long enlistments ; nor, as all that was then aimed at was a redress of grievances, did they think there w-ould be occasion for their military services, but for a few months. Hence the continental army was formed upon short enlistments — a policy that unexpectedly dragged America back to the door of slavery. As the times of enlist- ments expired the last year, the American army decreased in power, till it possessed scarce any thing but its appellation. And Washington, a name which needs no title to adorn it, a freeman above all praise, having evacuated Long Island and New York, to a far superior force, having repeatedly baffled the enemy at the White Plains, who, quitting that scene of action, suddenly took fort Washing- ton (Nov. 16) and bending their course to Phil- adelphia, he, with but a handful of men, boldly threw himself in their front, and opposed their progress. — With a chosen body of veterans, who had no near prospect of discharge, it is a difficult operation to make an orderly, leisurely and effectual retreat before a superior enemy ; but with Washington's little army, not exceed- ing four thousand men, raw troops, who had but a few weeks to serve, to make such a retreat, for eighty miles, and through a popu- lous country, without being joined by a single neighbor, a most discouraging circumstance, nothing in the whole science of war could be more difficult ; yet it was most completely per formed. Washington caused the Delaware to bound the enemy's advance. He summoned general Lee with the corps under his command to join him. That veteran, disobeying his repeated orders, for which I presume rigid In- quisition is yet to be made, loitering when he should have bounded forward — he allowed himself to be surprised and made a prisoner, (Dec. 13,) at a distance from his troops. Washington, in the abyss of distress, seemed to be abandoned by his officer next in com- mand — by the Americans themselves, who seemed appalled at the rapid progress of the enemy. Rape and massacre, ruin and devas- tation indiscriminately overwhelmed whigs and tories, and marked the advance of the British forces. The enemy being but a day's march from Philadelphia, the quakers of that city, by a public instrument, dated the 20th of Decem- ber, declared their attachment to the English domination — a general defection was feared — the congress removed to Baltimore — American liberty evidently appeared as in the last con- vulsive agony ! Washington was now at the head but of about 2,500 men; their time of service was to expire in a few days, nor was there any prospect that they could be induced to stay longer. This, such as it was, appeared the only force that could be opposed to the British, which seemed to halt only to give time to the Ameri- can vigor to dissolve of itself and display us to the world as an inconstant people, noisy, void of public virtue and even shame. But, it was in this extremity of affairs, when no human resource appeared in their favor, that the Almighty chose to manifest his powers to shew the Americans that he had not forsaken them ; and to convince the states that it was by him alone they were to be maintained in their independence, if they deserved to pos- sess it. Like Henry the fourth, of France, one of the greatest men who ever lived, Washington, lay- ing aside the generalissimo, assumed the par- tisan. He had but a choice of difficuhies. He was even in a more desperate situation than that in which the king of Prussia was before the battle of Torgau ; when there was no step which rashness dictated, but prudence advised him to attempt. The enemy were now in full possession of the Jerseys. A principal body of them were posted at Trenton on the Delaware : Washington occupied the opposite banks. His army, our only apparent hope, now some- what short of 2,500 men, was to be disbanded in a very few days : he resolved to lead it to battle before that fatal period ; and at least afford it an opportunity of separating with honor. He prepared to attack the enemy at the dawn of day, on the 26th of December. The weather was severe. The ice in the river prevented the passage of a part even of his small force. But with those (1,500 men) that he transported across the river through a vie- SOUTH CAROLINA. 349 lent storm of snow and hail, he marched against the enemy. The unavoidable difficulties in pass- ing the river, delayed his arrival at their ad- vanced posts till eight in the morning. The conflict was short. About thirty of the British troops were killed ; 600 fled, 909 officers and privates surrendered themselves prisoners, with six pieces of brass artillery and four pair of colors. This brilliant success was obtained at a very small price — only two officers, and one or two privates wounded. In a word, the victory in effect re-established the American affairs. The consent of the victors to continue six weeks longer under their leader — and the elevation of the spirits of the people were its immediate consequences— most important acquisitions at that crisis. The enemy, roused from their inactivity, and with a view of allowing Wash- ington as little time as possible to reap other advantages, they in a hurry collected in force, and marched against htm. He was posted at Trenton. On the second of January the front appeared in the afternoon — they halted with design to make an attack in the morning ; and in the mean time, a cannonade was begun and continued by both parties till dark. Sanpick creek, which runs through Trenton, parted the two armies. Our forces occupied the south bank, and at night fires were lighted on both sides. At twelve, Washington having renewed his fires, and leaving guards on the passages over the creek, and about 500 men to amuse the enemy, with the remainder of his army, about one in the morning, he marched to Princetown to cut off a reinforcement that was advancing. He arrived at his destination by sunrise, and dislodged them : they left upwards of 100 men dead on the spot, and near 300 more as prisoners to the victors. It was by such a decisive conduct that the king of Prussia avoided being overwhelmed by a combined attack upon his camp at Lignitz, on the morning of the 15th of August, 1760, by three armies, led by Daun, Loudohn and Czernichew, who were advancing against him from different quarters. In the night the king marched, and in the morning, by the time Daun arrived at his empty camp, he had defeated Loudohn in his advance. So the Roman con- sul, C. Claudius Nero, dreading the junction of Hannibal and his brother Asdrubal, who was in full march to him with a powerful reinforce- ment, left his camp before Hannibal with such an appearance as to persuade him he was present, and with the nerves and sinews of his army privately quitting it, he rapidly marched, almost the whole length of Italy, while Rome trembled at his steps, and joining the other con- sul, he defeated Asdrubal, who, had he with his force joined his brother, had made him in all probability an over match for the Romans. Thus equal geniuses prove their equality, by wisely adapting their conduct to their circum- stances. The action at Trenton was as the making of the flood. From that period success rolled in upon us, with a spring tide. That victory gave us an army — the affair of Princetown procured us a force, and the re-possession of all the Jerseys but Brunswick and Amboy. For the enemy, astonished at Washington's vivacity, dreaded the loss of those posts in which they had deposited their stores, and ran back to hide themselves behind the works they had thrown up around them. Washington pursued, and by the fifth of January those forces which, but a few days before, were in full possession of the Jerseys he had closely confined to the environs of Brunswick and Amboy. In this situation both armies continued until the 13th of June last, when general Howe made an attempt to proceed to Philadelphia ; but being baffled, he suddenly abandoned Brunswick (June 22) and in a day or two after Amboy, and retired to Staten island. In the mean time general Burgoyne was advancing from Canada against Ticonderoga. He appeared before the place on the 28th of June — a day glorious to this country — and gen. St. Clair, who commanded in that important post, without waiting till the enemy had com- pleted their works, or given an assault, to sustain which, without doubt, he had been sent there, suddenly abandoned the fortress and its stores to the enemy, (July 6th.) The public have loudly condemned this evacuation ; and the congress have ordered strict enquiry to be made into the causes of it. Gen. Burgoyne having thus easily possessed himself of Ticonderoga, immediately began to measure the distance to New-York. But being destitute of horses for his dragoons, wagons for the conveyance of his baggage, and in urgent want of provisions, he halted near Saratoga, to give time for the operation of the proclamation he had issued (June 23) to assure the inhabi- tants of security, and to induce them to con- tinue at home with their effects. But regard- less of public engagements (August gth) he suddenly detached lieutenant col. Baum, with 1,500 men and private instructions to strip the people of their horses, wagons and provisions ; and give " stretch " to his Indians to scalp those whom he had exhorted to " remain quietly at their houses." 3SO PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Things now wore a dreadful aspect in that part of America : but general Stark soon changed the countenance of affairs. With a body of 2000 men, principally militia, he at- tacked (August 1 6th) lieutenant col. Baum at Bennington, stormed his works, killed about 200 of his men, took 656 prisoners, together with four brass field pieces and a considerable quantity of baggage ; losing only about 30 men killed and 50 wounded. This successful attack at once rescued the country from massacre and ruin ; and deprived general Burgoyne of those supplies that alone could enable him to ad- vance ; nor was it less important in respect to the time at which it was made. For at this juncture, fort Stanwix was hard pressed by gen. St. Ledger who, having advanced from lake Ontario, had laid siege to it on the second of August. Gen. Arnold had been preparing to march to its relief, and he had now full liberty to continue his route. His near approach com- pelled the enemy with precipitation to raise the siege, (Aug. 22) leaving their tents, and a large part of their ammunition, stores, provision and baggage, nor did he lose any time in setting out in pursuit of them. Such unexpected strokes utterly disconcerted general Burgoyne. Our militia began to as- semble in considerable numbers. He now anxiously cast his eye behind to Ticonderoga ; and wished to trace back his steps. But while gen. Gates was advancing against bis front, at Still-water, with a superior force, the fruit of Bennington and Stanwix, a part of the Amer- ican troops had occupied the posts in his rear, and were penetrating to Ticonderoga. In their advance they took 200 batteaux and 293 pris- oners ; and having seized the old French lines near that fortress, on the i8th September they summoned the place to surrender. Later advices which, though not indisputable, yet well authenticated, say, gen. Burgoyne is totally defeated and taken prisoner, and that Ticon- deroga with all its stores is in our possession. Indeed, from the events we already know, we have every reason to believe that the Ameri- can arms are decisively triumphant in that quarter. As to general Howe, at the head of the grand British army, even when the campaign was far advanced, he had not done any thing in aid of his master's promise, in June last, to his parliament, that his forces would " effec- tually crush " America in the course of "the present campaign." Driven from the Jerseys, and having embarked his troops on the 23d of July, he put to sea from Sandy-Hook with 226 sail ; and having entered the Chesapeake, he landed his army (about 12,000 men) the 30th of August, on Turkey-point, at the head of the bay. Skirmishing with the American light troops he pushed on to Brandy-wine creek, behind which Washington was posted to ob- struct his passage. By a double onset on the nth of September, at Chad's ford and Jones' six miles above, where, because of uncertain and contradictory intelligence, Washington had not made a disposition adequate to the force with which the enemy attacked, they crossed, first at Jones' and then at Chad's. The engage- ment was long and obstinate. The highest account does not make our whole loss exceed 1000 men and 9 field pieces; the lowest statement of the enemy's is not so low as 1,000 killed— a slaughter from which we may form some idea of the proportion of their wounded. Not hav- ing made good the defence of the Brandy- wine the American army fell back six and twenty miles to the Schuylkill : nor did gen. Howe derive any advantage from the posses- sion of the field of battle. This is the 40th day since the engagement, and we have heard from Philadelphia, in less than half the time, circum- stances furnishing reasonable ground to con- clude, that for at least three weeks after his victory, gen. Howe made no impression upon the army of the United States ; and that he purchased his passage of the Brandy-wine at no small price. He carried Bunker's hill, but he lost Boston. I trust he has passed the Brandy-wine but to sacrifice his army, as it were in presence of our illustrious congress, as an atonement for his ravages and confiagation in America. Having thus taken a general and concise view of the progress of the war in the north, let us now turn our attention to our situation at home. In respect of our government, it is affectionately obeyed. With regard to cannon, arms and ammunition, we are in a truly respect- able condition. As to trade, we are the grand emporium for the continent. Oh ! that I could but give as good an account of the public vigor of the people. Alas ! it seems to have been exported in the same bottoms with the growth of their lands. What ! are we sensi- ble that we are yet at war with Great Britain .' We proceed as if we had totally vanquished the enemy. Are we aware, that to continue such a conduct is to allure them to act in this state, that tragedy they performed the last win- ter in the Jerseys ? Do we intend to acquire an experimental knowledge of the horrors of war ? Do we desire to be driven from this beautiful town^to be dispossessed of this valuable seat of trade — to see ourselves flying we know not SOUTH CAROLINA. 351 whither — our heirs uselessly sacrificed in our sight, and their bodies mangled with repeated stabs of bayonets ? Tell me, do you mean that your ears shall be pierced with the una- vailing shrieks of your wives, and the agoniz- ing screams of your daughters under the brutal violence of British or Brunswick ruffians? Rouse, ROUSE yourselves into an activity capa- ble of securing you against these horrors. In every quarter the enemy are vanquished or baffled. They are at a stand ; cease, my be- loved countrymen, cease, byyour-languor in the public, defence, and your ardor after private gain, to invite them to turn their steps this way and seize your country as a rich and easy prey. The states of America are attacked by Britain. They ought to consider themselves as an army drawn up to receive the shock of assault, and from the nature of their ground, occupying thirteen towns and villages in the extent of their line. Common prudence dic- tates that the several corps, in their respective stations, during the whole time they are in battalia, should use the utmost vigilance and diligence, in being on their guard, and in adding strength to strength for their secu- rity. We are in the right wing of the Ameri- can line, and at a distance from the main body — are we doing our duty ? No ! we have in a manner laid up our arms — nay, even prizes are prepared for the horse-race ! we can spare no laborers to the public, because we are em- ploying them to collect on all sides articles for private emolument. We amuse ourselves with enquiries into the conduct of those who per- mitted the loss of Ticonderoga, nor do we appear to have an idea that others will, in their turn, scrutinize our conduct at this juncture — a crisis when we know that the enemy have collected their force, and are actually advanced against the main battle of America ; where, if they shall find they can make no impression, and we have not a flattering prospect, they will find their efforts abortive, it is but rea- sonable to imagine they will recoil upon our post. They will sail faster against, than aid can be marched to us. Their arrival will be sudden — shall they find us shamefully occupied in the amusements and business of peace? Why has the Almighty endowed us with a rec- ollection of events, but that we may be enabled to prepare against dangers, by avoiding the errors and follies, the negligence and supine- ness, by which others have been ruined. If a sense of our duty to our country, or of safety to posterity, is too weak to rouse us into action ; if the noble passions of the mind have not force to elevate us to glory — the meaner ones, perhaps, may drive us into a state of se- curity. The miser, amidst all his anxiety to add to his heap, is yet careful to provide a strong box for its safety. Shall we neglect even such an example of prudence ? Pride raised Cassius's dagger against Csesar, and procured him the glorious title of the last of the Romans. We were the first in America, who publicly pronounced lord North's famous conciliatory motion, inadmissible — we raised the first regu- lar forces upon the continent, and for a term of three years — we first declared the causes of taking up arms — we originated the councils of safety — we were among the first, who led the way to independence, by establishing a constitu- tion of government — we were the first who made a law authorizing the capture of British vessels without distinction — we alone have defeated a British fleet — we alone have victoriously pierced through and reduced a powerful nation of Indians, who, urged by Bri- tain, had attacked the United States. But such brilliant proceedings, unless supported with propriety, will cover us with infamy. They will appear as the productions of faction, folly and temerity : not of patriotism, wisdom and valor. What a contrast ! how humilia- ting the one — how glorious the other ! Will not pride spur us on to add to the catalogue ? Will you not strive to rival the vigor of the North ? Do we admire the great names of antiquity ? Do we wish for an opportunity to be equally celebrated by posterity ? — Than the present, there never was a more inviting or certain opportunity of acquiring an immortal name. A world to be converted into an empire, is the work now at hand — a work whereon the names of the workmen will be engraved in indelible characters. Shall we not exert ourselves to be ranked in this most illus- trious list ? Nor is it so difficult a thing to acquire place in it, as may be imagined : it is in every man's power to exert himself with vigor and constancy. My dear countrymen, trifle not with an opportunity unexampled, and not to be recalled — it is passing with rapidity. Let us put our hands to our breasts, and exam- ine what we have done in forwarding this im- perial structure. How many must say, I have youth — strength — activity — an abundant for- tune, learning — sense, or some of these blessings ; but — I have shewed my attachment to America only by- a momentary vigor, to mark my inconstancy — scrutinizing the con- duct of others— good wishes, and enquiring the news of the day. Such men must be sensi- ble of a disgraceful inferiority, when they hear those American names, which the trumpet ot 352 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. fame now sounds through the world ; a blast, that will reach the ears of the latest pos- terity. Surely such men may have a desire to be re- lieved from so oppressive a sensation : the remedy is within their own power ; and if they will use it, while it throws off their disgrace, it will operate for the benefit of their country. Let them enquire of the president, what service they can render the state. To a rich planter, he would say, if you will send 2C, 30, or 40 laborers to the public works, and for whom you shall be paid, you will do an essential service in a critical time. To another, if you will dili- gently overlook and push on the construction of such a battery, or line, you will merit the thanks of your fellow-citizens. To a third, if instead of hunting you will ride about your neighborhood, or a little beyond, and endeavor to instruct those who are ignorant of the im- portance of the public contest — reclaim the deluded, animate the timid — rouse the languid — and raise a spirit of emulation who shall exert himself most in the cause of freedom and America : you will deserve the applause of the continent. How many opportunities are there, for a man to distinguish himself; and to be beneficial to his country ! Nor ought those who have labored much in the public defence, to sit down at ease, if they can perform other ser\'ices. The enemy are repulsed in their attacks — they are at a stand — they seem stunned. Let us now collect our whole strength — one effort more and they must be crushed. We are warned to e.\pect the enemy ; and it is probable, the back country militia may be called to do duty in this town, during the ensuing winter. I wish to extend some aid to such of their fami- lies, as may be most distressed by their ab- sence from home ; and I do therefore declare, that I appropriate my last year's salary for that ser\'ice. I am endeavoring to raise a spirit of emulation among my countrymen — the ungen- erous will attribute this appropriation to other motives — I know the world too well to doubt it. But, let such follow their inclinations — I rely upon the integrity of my conduct. I ought to endeavor to discharge my duty to the public ; nor is it a consideration with me, that my conduct in the prosecution of my duty, may expose me to a reproach of vanity or in- gratitude , a want of sympathy for those in distress or natural affection ; I am always satisfied, when I know that I do not deserve such censures. I feel for those, who feel disagreeable effects from my conduct : but, among the many things I regret, I cannot but thus publicly lament, that not the least atten- tion is paid to two important resolutions of our congress in June, 1775. 0"e, that all absen- tees holding estates in this country, except the sick, and those above sixty, and under twenty- one years of age, ought forthwith to return — the other, that no person holding property in this country ought to withdraw themselves from its service, without giving good and suffi- cient reasons for so doing. The gentle voice of legislative recommendation is not regarded — must the legislature, in order to be heard, raise its voice to the tone of forfeiture .' Our coun- try stands in need of the advice, the counte- nance, the personal support of all those who have property in it. Nor is it just or reasona- ble, that any should enjoy ease and safety by continuing at a distance, while the people here have put their all at hazard. If we fail, they continue secure in life and estate ; if we suc- ceed, they, without toil or danger, reap every benefit we shall procure. I know some of those, who are absent, contrary to the recom- mendation of their country, nor am I so un- generous as to attribute their absence to a disgraceful policy. But, even they must be so ingenuous as to admit that those who do not know them, have room to cast this reproach upon them, and to be dissatisfied at their conduct. It is necessary that I speak with boldness and plainness. In a time like this, that lan- guage should be as the thunder — not as the music of the spheres — and that I discourse to grand jurors of other things, besides their mere duties in a court of justice. Hence, upon other occasions have I reasoned upon the pro- priety of our revolution in March, 1776 — upon the legal necessity of the American independ- ence — and now, upon the situation of affairs. I do most earnestly recommend, that you urge these topics, when you blend yourselves again among your neighbors. In every station that I have had the honor to fill, I have counselled the most decisive measures ; nor have I been sparing of my personal assistance in their exe- cution ! The public service requires an un- wearied application, unabating vigor, and a readiness to make the greatest sacrifices. I firmly trust, that we shall act as men ; and that posterity will have no just cause to re- proach our conduct. SOUTH CAROLINA. 353 THE PRESENTMENTS OF THE JURY. At a court of general sessions of the PEACE, OYER AND TERMINER, ASSIZE AND GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, begun and /wi- den at Charleston, for the district of Charles- ton, the 2ist October, 1777, before the hon- orable William Henry Drayton, esq., chief justice, and his associates, justices of the said court. Presentments of the grand jury for the said district. I. We the grand jurors of said district, think it our duty to present as a great grievance, that most of the magistrates in the commis- sion of the peace for Charleston refuse to act, by means whereof many criminals, particularly slaves, escape punishment, to the great encour- agement of crimes and offences: And we are of opinion, that this remissness in the magis- trate, is owing to the law disallowing any fees for the most salutary services to the public. n. We present as a grievance, the number of voluntary absentees from this state now in Europe, men of large possessions, that they are not particularly ordered to return, and join their countrymen, in the present contest for liberty and independence. in. We present, by the information of Mr. Benjamin Edings, that the public road lead- ing from Slann's island to Edisto island, has never been finished, (for want of commis- sioners) and is now in such bad order, that it is very difficult for the inhabitants to pass over, and which may be very detrimental in case of any invasion or other emergency, and hope that due attention may be had in remedying this evil. IV. We return our thanks to his honor the chief justice, for his excellent and patriotic charge delivered at the opening of this ses- sions, and beg the same, with our present- ments, may be forthwith printed and published. Edward Lightwood, foreman, [L. S.] Philip Tidyman, [L. S.] John Webb. [L. S.] fohn Creighton, [L- S ] Henry Samwayes, [L. S.] John Lyon, [L. S.] Satnitel Legare, [L. S.] Josiah Bonneau, [L. S.] Samuel Dunlap, [L. S.] John Rivers. [L. S.] Robert Murrell.jun. [L. s.] James Witter, jun. [l. S.] William Roy all. [L. S.] Benjamin Edings, [L. S.] 23 ADDRESS To THEIR EXCELLENCIES RICHARD VIS- COUNT Howe, admiral, and William Howe, Esq., general, of his britannic majesty's forces in America. Charleston, S. C-, October 33, 1776. Mv lord and sir — Your declaration at New York has reached this place. It has occasioned surprise and concern. The known honor and abilities of your excellencies, and your declara- tion, appear perfect contrasts. The latter is an unnatural production. Hurt, as I am to see your names so prostituted, I cannot restrain myself from making a few remarks to your excellencies upon a subject which, by endan- gering your reputation, distresses every gen- erous mind. I shall first state your declara- tion. "By Richard Viscount Howe, of the king- dom of Ireland, and Wl'LLlAU HowE, Esq. general of his 7najesfy's forces in America, the king's COMMISSIONERS for restoring peace to his majesty's colonies and planta- tions in North America, etc. etc. Declaration. " Although the congress, whom the mis- guided Americans suffer to direct the opposi- tion to a re-establishment of the constitutional government of these provinces have disa- vowed every purpose of reconciliation not con- sonant with their extravagant and inadmissible claim of independence, the king's commission- ers think fit to declare that they are equally desirous to confer with his majesty's well affected subjects upon the means of restoring the public tranquility, and establishing a per- manent union with every colony as a part of the British empire. The king being most gra- ciously pleased to direct a revision of such of his royal instructions to his governors as may be construed to lay an improper restraint on the freedom of legislation in any of his colo- nies, and to concur in the revisal of all acts by which his majesty's subjects there may think themselves aggrieved, it is recommended to the inhabitants at large, to reflect seriously upon their present condition and expectations, and judge for themselves, whether it be more consistent with their honor and happiness to offer up their lives as a sacrifice to the unjust and precarious cause in which they are engaged, or return to their allegiance, accept the bless- ings of peace, and to be secured in a free en- 354 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. joyment of iheir liberties and properties upon true principles of the constitutioii. " Given at New York, 19th September, 1776. •■ HOWE, " W. HOWE. " By command of their excellencies, Straghey." And now, not to detain your excellencies by making observations upon lord Howe's not assuming his military title, displaying the na- ture of his supreme hostile command in Amer- ica, by which unusual and designed omission, the ignorant, seeing his name contrasted with that of a general clothed in all his terrors, may be entrapped to believe that his lordship is to be considered in a more amiable point of view, a mere commissioner only for restoring peace, without any military command to intimidate and coerce. Not to wound your delicacy, by admiring the wisdom of your appealing from the congress to people confessed by you to be directed by that honorable assembly : My remarks shall be confined to the more material parts of your declaration, which I am sorry to say, are in every respect unworthy your good sense and high characters. Your excellencies " think fit to declare," that you are desirous " of restoring the public tran- quility." But is the end your excellencies aim at our honor and advantage ? Is it to give a free scope to our natural growth .' Is it to confirm to us our rights by the law of nature ? No ! — It is to cover us with infamy. It is to chill the sap, and check the luxuriance of our imperial plant. It is to deprive us of our natural equality with the rest of mankind, by " establishing " every state " as a part of the British empire." In short your excellencies invite men of common sense to exchange an independent station for a servile and dangerous dependence ! But, when we recollect that the king of Great Britain has. from the throne, de- clared his " firm and steadfast resolutions to withstand every attempt to weaken or impair the supreme authority of that legislature over all the dominions of his crown : " that his hire- lings in parliament and tools in office, abhorred by the English nation, have echoed the senti- ment ; and that America, for ten years has ex- perienced that king's total want of candor, humanity, and justice — it is, I confess, a matter of wonder, that your excellencies can submit to appear so lost to decency as to hold out sub- jection as the only condition of peace : and that you could condescend to sully your per- sonal honor, by inviting us to trust a govern- ment in which you are conscious we cannot in the nature of things place any confidence — a government that you are sensible has been, now is, and ever must be jealous of our pros- perity and natural growth — a government that you know is absolutely abandoned to corrup- tion ! Take it not amiss, if I hint to your ex- cellencies, that your very appearing in support of such a proposal, furnishes cause to doubt even of your integrity ; and to reject your allurements, lest they decoy us into slavery. The declaration says, " the king is most graciously pleased to direct a revision of such of his royal instructions to his governors," etc. " and to concur in the revisal of all acts by which his majesty's subjects may think them- selves aggrieved." But what of all this. Your excellencies have not told the people, who " think themselves aggrieved," that they are to be a party in the revision. You have not even told them who are to be revisors. If you had, it would be nothing to the purpose ; for you have not, and cannot tell them and engage that even any of the instructions and acts, be- ing revised, shall be revoked, and repealed ; particularly those by which people " may think themselves aggrieved." But, if such are not to be repealed, why have you mentioned " think themselves aggrieved .'' " If they are intended to be repealed, why did not your excellencies come to the point at once and say so .'' — It is your excellencies are by your superiors precipi- tated into a dilemma. You have not been ac- customed to dirty jobs, and plain dealing does not accord with your instructions ; otherwise, in the latter case, I think you are men of too much sense and honor to have overlooked or suppressed so material a point of information. However, you say instructions and acts are to be revised : We see that you have laid an am- buscade for our liberties ; the clause is care- fully constructed without the least allusion to the revisors, or to the words redress, revoke, repeal. In short, it appears to be drawn up entirely on the plan of a declaration by king James the Second after his abdication, as con- fidentially explained by James' secretary of state, the earl of Melford to lord Dundee, in Scotland. For Melford writes to Dundee " that notwithstanding of what was promised in the declaration, indemnity and indulgence, yet he had couched things so that the king would break them when he pleased ; nor would he think himself obliged to stand to them." And your excellencies have " couched things so," that more words upon this subject are unnecessary. " It is recommended to the inhabitants al large, to reflect seriously upon their present SOUTH CAROLINA. 355 condition." Is it possible your excellencies can be serious, and mean any thing by this re- commendation ? Can you be ignorant, that ever since the birth of the stamp act, the in- habitants at large have been reflecting upon their deplorable condition .' Can you have an idea that, after such a length of time, during which they have been continually kept to their reflections, by the declaratory law, the tea-act, the Boston port-bill, and those then passed to annihilate the charter of Massachusetts-Bay, the Quebec bill to establish popery, the fishery- bill to coerce by famine, the British commence- ment of the late civil war, and the act of parlia- ment in December last, declaring the inhabi- tants rebels — I say after such a series of causes for reflection, and that your excellencies now find us in arms against you, determined on in- dependence or death, can you possibly enter- tain an idea that we have not reflected seri- ously ? On the contrary you know, that we are prepared to offer up our lives in evidence of our serious reflections ! In addressing a world you ought to have some attention to the pro- priety of your recommendations, if only from a regard to your own reputation. You are pleased to term our cause " unjust." In this there is nothing so surprising, as your being lured to give such a sentiment under your hands — signing your own disgrace with posterity. You know, that the virtuous char- acters throughout Europe, on this point differ with your excellencies ; and I most respectfully submit, whether there is not some little degree of presumption in your signing an opinion, in contradiction to the opinion of thousands, who, without derogating from your excellencies, are at least as well able to judge upon the point as you are.' But you add, that our cause is " precarious." Allow me to make a proper return to your excellencies by informing you, that all the af- fairs of men are precarious, and that war is particularly so. However, if your excellencies meant to insinuate that our cause is precarious from an inability in us to maintain it, I beg leave to ask general Howe what progress his arms made during his command at Boston : And what shining victories, and important con- quests you have achieved since your junction at Staten Island ? The eulogium, -quo fulmina belli Scipiadas- cannot yet be applied to your excellencies. General Howe's repulse from the lines on Long Island, and his victory over the advanced guard of 3000 men, reflect no great degree of glor) on the corps of at least 12,000 that he commanded. Nor can you boast much of the action on New- York island on the 1 5th of Sep- tember, when a few more than 800 Americans, attacking three companies of light troops sup- ported by two regiments, the one Scotch, the other Hessian, drove them from hill to hill back to your lines, and carried off three pieces of brass cannon as trophies of their victory. And when general Washington, on the second of October, caused a large detachment to draw up to Harlaem plains to cover the inhabitants between the two armies, while they carried off their effects, the march and continuance of the British troops in order of battle, within long shot, without firing a gun to interrupt the ser- vice, is at least some slight degree of evidence that they respect and stand in awe of the American arms. In short, without being unrea- sonable, I think I may be allowed to say, that these particulars do not show, that our cause is so precarious as your excellencies would in- sinuate it to be ; and to recommend that your excellencies " reflect seriously upon your pres- ent condition," and abandon " the unjust cause in which you are engaged " while you yet may preserve your reputation from the reproaches of posterity. Your excellencies call upon the inhabitants at large " to return to their allegiance." It is as if you had commanded a body of troops to advance to the assault, before you had put them in order of battle. I tell your excellencies, that protection must precede allegiance ; for the lat- ter is founded on the benefit of the former. That the operations of the forces by sea and land under your orders, demonstrate that your king is not our protector. And, that the alle- giance of America to the king of Great Britain is now utterly out of the question. But you attempt to allure the inhabitants by telling them they may " be secured in a free enjoyment of their liberties and properties, upon the true principles of the constitution." Will your excellencies tell us where those principles are to be found ? You must say they are not to be found in the present British government. Do we not know that the majority of the two houses of parliament are absolutely under the king of Great Britain's direction ? — They make and repeal laws ; they agree with or reject mo- tions ; they vote money even without limitation of sum at the pleasure of that king's minister, in whose pay they actually are ; and your ex- cellencies as men of honor dare not deny these things. Will you then say that, where there is such a dependence, the true principles of the constitution operate ? The history of the present reign, all Europe, would witness against you. 356 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Those principles have been long despised by the rulers, and lost to the people — otherwise, even at the commencement of the present reign, we should not have seen the dismission of the virtuous chancellor of the exchequer, Legge, because he would not quit his seat in parlia- ment at the instigation of the last prince of Wales ; nor the massacre in St. George's fields and the royal thanks to the assassins; nor the repeated and unredressed complaints to the throne ; nor the unheard of profusion of the public treasure, far e.xceeding the extravagance of a Caligula or a Nero ; nor the present ruin- ous situation of Great Britain ; nor the present war in America, for the worst of purposes kin- dled by your king. Can your excellencies be so wanting to yourselves, as, at this time of day, on the part of your master, seriously to talk to us of a security upon the true principles of the constitution. Did it never strike you that the Americans would expect to see such prin- ciples operating in England, before they could be duped into a belief that America could pos- sibly feel their effects from the dark recess of the royal palace .■" The lord mayor of London has openly charged lord North, and the lords of the admiralty, with licensing ships to trade to all parts of America, in direct disregard, contempt, and defiance of an act of parliament to the contrary, passed so late as December last. And yet your excellencies do not scruple to talk to us of a security upon the true princi- ples of the constitution ! — Let the fountain be sweet, and then its stream may be salutary. Your excellencies say "the king is most gra- ciously pleased to direct a revision " of instruc- tions and acts. If you really mean to con- ciliate, why will you insult the inhabitants at large. It was "the king's" bounden duty to have directed, not only a revision, but an amendment to his instructions ; and to have recommended a repeal of the acts when the people first complained of them. But he, having been criminally deaf to the cries of the injured, to terrify them into silence, having burnt their towns — restrained their trade — seized and confiscated their vessels — driven them into enormous expenses — sheathed his sword in their bowels — and adorned the heads of their aged women and children with a cinc- ture mad'e by the scalping-knife of his ally, the Indian sa\'age — you now tell these injured peo- ple, that " the king is graciously pleased to di- rect a revision ? " — His very mercies are insults ! And so your excellencies, besides your mili- tary commands as admiral and general, are also " commissioners for restoring the peace." Is there not some error in this title ? Ought we not instead of "peace" to read tyranny i You seem armed at all points for this purpose ; and your very language detects the latent design. But you are commissioners, and for the important purpose of " restoring peace," you are honored with a power — " to confer." And you have condescended to be mere machines through which, as through speaking trumpets, words are to be sounded from America to Bri- tain ! How much lower is it possible for your excellencies to degrade yourselves in the eyes of the world ! By this it is most evident, the British king has not one generous thought respecting America. Nor does he mean to grant terms upon the true principles of the constitution . For, if to grant such terms was bona fide the intention of your master, without doubt YOU would have been vested with competent powers. But he plainly means to grant nothing he can possibly avoid ; and therefore he would have the matter of negotiation drawn into length under his own eye. Can we place any confidence in such a prince? His aim is to divide, not to redress and your excellencies, declaration is but a con- tinuation of lord North's conciliatory plan. Thus, while we remember that lord North declared, on the 20th of February, 1775, that his famous conciliatory plan was rather calcu- lated to break a link in the American chain of union, than to give satisfaction to the people : and that the exercise of the right of taxing every part of the British dominions must by no means be given up ; that lord Mansfield, on the third reading of the bill declaring war against the united colonies, affirmed that he did not consider who was originally in the wrong, they were now to consider only where they were, and the justice ot the cause must now give way to their present situation : w-hen we consider the king of Great Britain's speech to the parlia- ment on the last of November, and the com- mons' address and his answer on the 7th of December. 1774 — the commons' address of the 9th of February, 1775, ''"d the royal answer: and the speech from the throne at the last opening of the parliament, October the 26th, 1775 — all declaring an unalterable purpose to maintain the supreme authority of that legisla- ture over all the dominions of the crown — in other words, their unalterable purpose, to bind us zn all cases "whatsomier : when we see your hostile array and operations, in conse- quence of those declarations : I say, when we consider these things, we can be at no loss to form a just idea of the intentions of your king ; or to conceive what your excellencies me.an, by " the true principles of the constitution." Nor are we to be caught by any allurements your SOUTH CAROLINA. 357 excellencies may throw out — you confess, and we know that you as commissioners, have not any power to negotiate and determine anything. But, unanswerable as the reasons are against America returning to a subjection under the British crown, now in fact become despotic — and America, after unheard of injuries, infinite toil, hazard and expense, her inhabitants called cowards by your master's servants, civil and military, having declared herself independent — did not your excellencies feel a little for our honor, when you at the head of your armies, held out to us, subjection and peace ! Did not you feel the dignity of your characters affected when you, under the guise of a security upon the true principles of the constitution, recom- mend to " the inhabitants at large " to rescind their decree, and by their own mouths declare themselves the most contemptible people in history, which gives no example of such base- ness — render their name a term of reproach among all nations — and forbid each other from placing any, the least degree of confidence in, and all foreign states from paying the least degree of credit to their most solemn declara- tions ! In short, to submit to a government abandoned to corruption, lost to a sense of justice ; and already but a step behind abso- lute despotism — a government that has long been and ever must be jealous of our rise, and studious to depress our natural growth ! Did not your excellencies blush and shrink within yourselves, when you asked men, who had been almost ruined by your gracious master, to abandon the honorable and natural station of independence, and stoop to kiss his hand, now daily bathed in, and which ever must con- tinue stained by the blood of a friend ! a bro- ther ! a son ! a father ! That your excellencies may " reflect seri- ously " upon "the unjust cause in which you are engaged : " and that the name of Howe may be enrolled with the names of Marlbor- ough and Effingham, are the wishes of, A CAROLINIAN.* Charleston, October 22d, 1776. JUDGE DRAYTON'S SPEECH. The speech of the hon. William Henry Dray- ton, esq. chief justice of South Carolina, de- livered on the twentieth January, 1778, in the general assejnbly — resolved into the com- rmttee of the whole upon the articles of the con- federation of the United States of America. Mr. Chairman — A plan of a confederation * Judge Drayton." Editor. of the United States of America, is at length by congress, given to the continent : A subject of as high importance as can be presented to their attention. Upon the wise formation of this, their independence, glory and happiness ultimately depend. The plan is delivered abroad for private and public information : It is sent to us for consideration. Sir, my mind labors under the load that is thus thrown upon it. — Millions are to experience the effects of the judgment of those few, whom the laws permit to think and to act for them in this grand busi- ness. Millions — posterity innumerable, will bless or curse our conduct ! — Their happiness or misery depend upon us — their fate is now in our hands ! I almost tremble, while I assist in holding the important balance ! — But sir, the great Disposer of all things, has placed us in this important period, pregnant with vast events. He has called us forth to legislate for the new world ; and to endeavor to bind the various people of it in durable bands of friend- ship and union. We must obey : and I trust we shall obey, with courage and integrity. Actuated by these principles, I am incapable of receding from my duty. And conscious that I am bound to consider the subject of a confed- eration of the United States, upon the broad basis of equality, I shall endeavor to discharge this obligation, first, by viewing the plan before us, with liberality, and with that decency and respect, due to the high authority from which it is derived ; and then, by taking the liberty of throwing out my ideas of such terms, as in my opinion are desirable, attainable, and likely to form a beneficial confederation. The best writers upon government, agree in this as a political truth ; that where the liberties of the people are to be preserved, the legislative and executive should ever be separate and dis- tinct ; and that the first should consist of parts mutually forming a check upon each other. The consuls, senate and people, constituted such a government in Rome. The kings, lords and commons, erected such a government in Britain. The first, one of the best of antiquity — the last, the most perfect system, the wit of man ever devised : But both, as it is the case with all things temporal, lost their capability of action, and changed their very nature. We are about to establish a confederated government which I religiously hope will last for ages. And, I must be pardoned when I say, that this government does not appear likely to be formed upon those principles, which the wisest men have deemed, and which long and invariable experience prove, to be the most secure defences to liberty. The 358 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. congress seem to have lost sight of this wise mode of government. At least it is certain, that they have rejected it. I lament their decision : I have apprehension for the conse- quences. Into their own hands, they appear inclined to assume almost all the important powers of government. The second article speaks of the sovereignty of the respective states, but by the time we arrive at the last, scarce the shadow of sovereignty remains to any. " No two or more states shall enter into any treaty," but by consent of congress — " nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any state, in time of peace, except such number only,". as congress shall deem requisite — "no vessels of war, shall be kept up in time of peace by any state, e.xcept such number only," as congress shall deem necessary — " nor shall any state grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, e.xcept it be after a declaration of war by," Congress — and, these are great and humiliating restrictions upon their sov- ereignty. It is of necessity, that the sover- eignty of the states should be restricted — but I would do this with a gentle hand. Cannot a good confederation be had, without these hu- miliating restrictions .' I think it may. How- ever, independent of the setilenient of this point ; the two last restrictions require another observation. From the first of them it ought to be presumed, that upon a vacancy in any of the vessels of war, kept up by any state in the time of peace by the permission of congress, the state to which they belong shall in time of peace, be at liberty to issue a new commis- sion. But if this is to be presumed, the senti- ment ought to have been precisely expressed ; for it is obvious, a doubt upon this matter, may arise from the restriction, that no state shall grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, except it be after a declaration of war. These clauses, if we give due efficacy to the signification of words, really clash — at least disp'aying an ambiguity, they require a rule of constniction,that must destroy the peremptori- ness of words. A rule which ought not to be admitted into an instrument of this kind ; for it should be maturely considered ; and it may be precisely worded, without the formality of a statute law. There seems to be a dangerous inaccuracy in that part of the sixth article, prohibiting the states respectively from entering into any con- ference with any king, prince or state. I pre- sume this ought to be understood, to respect a foreign state only : But it maybe insisted upon, that the prohibition includes even the United States. And why should not two or more of these have any conference ? I would have the doubt absolutely destroyed. The third section of the article now under my observation, declares, that " no state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by congress with any king, prince or state, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by congress to the courts of France and Spain : " And I must contrast this with the provision in the ninth article, " that no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective states shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subject to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatso- ever." — -I am of opinion, we are to understand from the first of these clauses, that no state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with the present foreign stipulations of congress, in treaties already proposed ; and that such stipulations, free of such interference, may be concluded by treaty : But this latter meaning is not expressed. Indeed a great doubt arises, whether this be the true intent of that clause, when we consider the subsequent proviso, worded in these most peremptory terms, that " no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective states shall be restrained from im- posing such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subject to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatso- ever." I know, that the rule of construction in law, is capable of warranting the meaning I have extended to the first clause, and of giv- ing efficacy to both : But then it must destroy the positive terms in the second, qualifying by giving them an operation only respecting trea- ties of commerce, which shall be made exclu- sive and independent of the foreign stipulations of congress in treaties already proposed. And unless this rule takes place, the first clause is absolutely in effect repealed, by that which is subsequent. We experimentally know, that men will not always admit that to be reason, which really is so ; and that where there is a doubt, they will obstinately contend for, and persist in opposite constructions. Those two clauses will undoubtedly admit of contention ; and the least consequence that can arise, will be, either that the first clause must be consid- ered as repealed, or the natural import of the positive terms in the last must be destroyed, and qualified. And independent of these dis- agreeable alternatives, the last clause appears SOUTH CAROLINA. 3S9 to be an intolerable clog to foreign negotiation — I could wish here to finish particularizing matter of doubt : but it is necessary to select one instance more, and then I will shew the main tendency of these objections. In the fourth section of the ninth article, congress is vested with the power of " regela- ting the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the states, provided that the legislative right of any state within its own limits, be not infringed or vio- lated." I much approve the grant, but I con- fess I do not understand the grant and proviso combined. For I cannot conceive, in what manner the legislative right of a state within its own limits, can be infringed, by an act of congress relative to Indians not members of any state : and therefore not within the limits of any so as to be subject to the operation of its legislative right. It is of no moment with me, whether the doubts I have raised, are deemed obvious and important, or rather refined and of little conse- quence. Grant, and it must be admitted, that they have the appearance of doubts — I ask no more. The honor and interest of America require, that their grand act of confederation, should be a noble monument, free, as far as human wisdom can enable it to be from defect and flaw : Every thing unnecessary should be critically removed — ever)' appearance of doubt should be carefully eradicated out of it. It is not to be thought, but that the present congress clearly understand the confederation. But other congresses will look for the spirit of the law. This " will then be the result of their good or bad logic ; and this will depend on their good or bad digestion ; on the violence of their passions ; on the rank and condition of the parties, or on their connections with con- gress ; and on all those little circumstances, which change the appearance of objects in the fluctuating mind of man." Thus thought the illustrious marquis Beccaria, of Milan, a sub- lime philosopher, reasoning on the interpreta- tion of laws. — I must be permitted to continue his ideas, yet a little further upon this subject — they are so exactly in point. He says, " there is nothing more dangerous than the common axiom : The spirit of the laws is to be consid- ered. To adopt it, is to give way to the torrent of opinions." " When the code of laws is once fixed, it should be observed in the literal sense." "When the rule of right which ought to direct the actions of the philosopher, as well as the ignorant, is a matter of controversy, not of fact, the people are slaves to the magis- trates." — Is it not the intention of the confed- eration, that the people shall be free ? — Let it then be adapted to the meanest capacity — let the rule of right be not matter of controversy, but of fact — let the confederation be understood according to that strict rule by which we un- derstand penal laws. The confederation is of at least as much importance to America, as penal laws are in a small society — safety to the people is the object of both. In a word, the spirit of laws, lays down this maxim, that " in republics, the very nature of the constitu- tion requires the judges to follow the letter of the law." The fourth article declares, " that the free inhabitants of each of these states, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immuni- ties of free citizens in the several states : " A position, in my opinion, absolutely inadmissible. Would the people of Massachusetts have the free negroes of Carolina eligible to their gen- eral court .' Can it be intended, that the free inhabitants of one state shall have power to go into another, there to vote for representatives in the legislature ? — And yet these things are clearly included in that clause. I think there ought to be no doubt, but that the free inhabi- tants should be white, and that such of one state, should be entitled to the privileges and immunities in another, only by the same means through which the free white inhabitants of that state are by law entitled — This article also provides for the " removal of property imported into any state ; " but the removal of property acquired in it, into that " of which the owner is an inhabitant," is neglected. Has not the owner an equal right to enjoy at home, the last kind of property as the first ? The provision in behalf of the congress, or a state, is manifestly in contradistinction to that in favor of a private owner. The fifth article directs, that delegates shall be annually appointed to meet in congress, on the first Monday in November ; and this is a matter requiring particular attention. Our cli- mate instructs us, that the general assembly should make their long and important session in winter ; and but a short one in summer, rather to finish than begin even common busi- ness. Indeed this is assented to by the mem- bers, and of course but few, and those too, in the vicinity of Charleston, attend the summer sitting, which cannot even with prudence be had between the months of July and Novem- ber. When then, sir, are the delegates to be elected for the November congress .' Are they to be chosen in the summer session ; and in a very thin house of course ? Congress cannot 36o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. intend this — our country cannot admit of it ; because such delegates, a representation of the highest nature, should ever be chosen in a full house, as the most obvious sign that they are the real delegates of the people. Nor can it be ex- pected they should be chosen in January, the time which the climate and local circumstances point out, as the most proper for beginning our long and important session. For this would be reducing us to the necessity of appointing delegates, almost twelve months before they were to serve — a measure neither necessary, nor to be admitted, if we can avoid it. Those months comprehend an inclement summer and autumn ; and death or sickness may destroy the intended representation : In which case the state may not, by the united voice of the peo- ple, be represented in congress from the begin- ning of November to the middle of February — an event, that might be of fatal consequences. I shall therefore be very glad to see, either the month of February, March or April substituted instead of November. These reasons will also support me, in objecting to that part of the same article, relative to the recall of delegates, with- in their year. A thin house may cast an un- merited censure upon a worthy delegate. I do not wish to see such a power existing. Not that I expect if there was such, that it would be abused, but we ought, as far as we can, to guard against the possible abuse of power. And, in addition to these principal objections against the fifth article, I must add, that I think it is utterly impolitic, to exclude a mem- ber of congress from being nominated to a commission under the United States : The clause upon this subject is rather dark. Many a delegate, may be able to render much more important service to the confederacy, in such a station, than in congress — the occasion of such service may be pressing — as fit a person out of congress may not then be known — a member of congress may be most capable of the station because possessed of the secrets of congress — and shall, the service of such a man be lost to the confederacy, merely because he is a mem- ber of congress ? The answer is obvious, I think — No, but let his acceptance of the commission vacate his seat and render him incapable of a re-election during the time he holds it. I have already said, the sovereignty of the states should be restricted with a gentle hand : I now add it ought to be restricted, only in cases of absolute necessity. — What absolute necessity is there, that congress should have the power of causing the value of all granted land, to be " estimated according to such mode, as they shall from time to time direct?" Congress should have no power, but what is clearly de- fined in the nature of its operation. — But I am absolutely against the position, that the public aids shall be raised by the several states, in proportion to the value of their granted lands, buildings and improvements. At the first blush of this proposition, nothing seems more equita- ble. But viewing the subject with more atten- tion, I think I see, that it is unequal, injurious and impolitic. It is unequal, because it seems to be in vain to expect, that such lands, etc. will be equally assessed in their true value. To have any chance of doing this, the assessors must actually know every acre ; and the multi- tude of them must have an equal judgment : But can either be even hoped for .' Do we not positively know, that this mode of assessment does not answer the end — an equal and just assessment of the value? The assessors in Charleston, are men of knowledge, diligence and integrity, and is it not notorious, that the landed property in Charleston, although mi- nutely known, and within a small circle, is un- equally valued. Shall we, with our reason in full vigor, wish to extend to an immense circle, a principle that we are sensible fails us even in a small one? Is there any certain criterion of value ? Does not value altogether depend on opinion, imagination, caprice ? Hence it is, that we see the ideas of men upon this matter, infinitely wide. How then can it be expected, that a general assessment will ascertain, the true value ? More or less than this, ought not to be rated : In the first case, the state would be injured — in the last, the other states would be defrauded; and that course should be taken, which seems most likely to avoid this Scylla and Charybdis. All movements in politics, as in mechanics, are difficult and haz- ardous in proportion to their complexedness. Now, in order to raise the general aid, a com- plex motion of government is necessary. First to assess the value of the land — then to ascer- tain the sum to arise from it — and then, to raise the sum, by a variety of taxes, according to the discretion of the legislature. Is such a compli- cated motion to raise the aid desirable, especially when it cannot possibly be done with equality to the several states ; and also when another principle is at hand, perfectly simple in its nature, just and equal in its operation, and is the allowed criterion to ascertain the proportion that is desired ? I have been given to under- stand, that a capitation throughout the United States, was in contemplation of congress; and I have ever understood from the most approved writers upon this subject, that the true riches and strength of a state were to be rated in pro- SOUTH CAROLINA. 361 portion to the number of people sustained in it. I would then have this the criterion of the public aid from each state. It is, in my humble opinion, in every respect preferable to the other. The criterion may be ascertained, and the tax raised by one act of government. Such a criterion and mode of taxation, has long been in use in some parts of this continent ; and it is best, under a new government, to continue customs in use under the old, as long as they are salutary and practicable — this is the north point in my political compass. If we can attach the people, by exempting them from old impositions, such as quit rents in particular, it is the soundest policy to do so ; for this in- terests them in support of the new establish- ment : But we cannot be too cautious in tr>'ing projects of a contrary- nature. I said, the capi- tation criterion of proportion, was in every re- spect preferable to the land assessment : I now add, that it will be an important check upon the numeration of the white inhabitants to be taken in order to rate the military quota of each state ; and this is a very material reason in support of the capitation criterion — we can- not well have too many proofs, to establish the true number of white inhabitants. The mode of trial of disputes between any two or more states seems full of delay, and therefore it ought to be amended. The fifth article provides, that the representation of each state, shall not be less than two delegates ; But the mode of trial specifies, that in a cer- tain case, " congress shall name three persons out of each of the United States, from whom the judges shall be selected. Now a state may be represented by only two delegates, and then, the trial cannot be had, and considering the expense of paying delegates — the incon- venience of their attendance upon congress at a distance from their private affairs, and from constant experience, a bare representation is oftener to be expected, than a supernumerary one. If it is meant, the three shall be taken from the people at large, which I will not imagine to be the case, a court may be picked ; and therefore, that plan ought not to be heard of — In this case, I would prefer judges during good behavior, eminent for their knowledge in the law of nations ; and who should be obliged to assign at large, the reasons upon which they ground their decrees. The congress would be vested with the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by the au- thority of the respective states ; and of fixing the standard of weights and measures through- out the United States : But I see no necessity for such delegation. To regulate the alloy and value of coin is one of the most distin- guished prerogatives of sovereignty, nor can any of the United States part with it without exposing itself to be drained of specie. Did we not a few years ago, increase the value of dollars and half Johanneses, in order to retain those coins ; and shall we now part with the very ability of retaining coin among us ? The balance of trade may be against us, then re- mittances will be made in coin, and our pro- duce will be left upon our hands. It is our business to endeavor to reverse the case, and I hope we shall, by refusing to vest the congress with a power that we have hitherto been able to e.xercise ourselves with advantage in a time of necessity. — Nor do I see any reason for our resigning the power of fixing the standard of our weights and measures. The states are very competent to this business. Let the weights and measures be ever so variable in the several states, the price of commodities will ever be adequate to the variation in the respective markets. Congress desire to be invested with the " ap- pointing all officers in the land forces, except- ing regimental officers." And far from seeing any absolute necessity for their having such a power, I can see no degree of common pro- priety to warrant the claim. The several states are to raise the regiments composing the land forces. Deputy staff officers in particular are absolutely necessary to each of the quotas ; and they rank with regimental officers. I cannot see the shadow of a good reason, why the states should not have the appointment of all officers necessary to complete their respec- tive quotas. Their honor, interest and safety are immediately and primarily affected, by the proper formation and regulation of their quo- tas. Their respective spheres of action, being within a very small circle, in comparison of that, in which the congress preside ; they must of consequence be enabled to view objects at a nearer distance — to penetrate into the charac- ters and abilities of candidates, and to make a proper choice with more accuracy and preci- sion, than congress can be supposed to do. They will have enough upon their hands, in actuating the great machine of government. Their attention necessarily engaged in general and important affairs, ought not to be per- mitted to be drawn off, by those inferior objects which can more minutely and there- fore better be examined by the respective states. This ought to be a fundamental max- im in the confederated policy. There is justice in it ; and I will be bold to say, it arises from 362 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. principles of true wisdom. It will display a confidence on the part of congress in the sev- eral states ; and this must be the grand basis of their independency and freedom. We do not mean, unnecessarily to delegate any part of our sovereignty : We are willing to sacri- fice only such parts of it, as are necessary to be sacrificed for the general safety. In short, we enter into this confederacy, on the same principle only, that men enter into society. But independent of this position, as a matter of right, I will consider the claim upon the footing of common prudence and e.xperience. Whenever congress sit, there will be a number of persons, especially from the nearer states, soliciting offices ; They will form acquaint- ances with the members ; and we know the common effect of such connections. In con- sequence, congress 'may appoint even an un- exceptionable person, as to his character and capacity, to a post in a state in which he has no connections, and of which he is not a mem- ber : This may occasion an envy against the officer, even to the detriment of the public ser\'ice ; and a displeasure against congress, for having made, as it may be deemed, an ap- pointment injurious to those individuals of that state, who were in every respect capable of the office, and whom the public would wish to see in it. Or congress may be induced to appoint a member of the state, but such a one as the people never would have chosen, because they know him to be unequal to the trust. To say such things ought not to be supposed, is to say but little : Every page in history — the known disposition of the human heart inform us, that nothing is more likely to happen. I am there- fore clearly against the clause — all officers ex- cepting regimental officers. And indeed I am of opinion, that of as many brigades as the quota of any state may consist, so many bri- gadiers general should that state nominate ; the eldest of whom should command the whole, while in the state, and not therein actually assisted by the major part of another quota, commanded by a superior officer. Let congress appoint a generalissimo and major gen- erals — these are proper to command two or more quotas when in conjunction : And the states being divided into departments, a proper num- ber of major-generals may command in them. In a confederacy of states, for the purpose of general security of arms, I cannot but con- ceive that there ought of prudence and neces- sity, to be a clause, at least obliging the parties to furnish their respective quotas, beyond the possibility of a neglect or evasion with impunity. But, I see no such clause in the confederation before us — the main pillar of security therefore is not in it. It is true, there is a long clause respecting quotas. But, it is only directory. And how many such laws are there, which are regarded as nugatory, merely for the want of a penal clause ? Have we not had sufficient ex- perience, of the inefficacy of that clause relating to quotas ? Before it was inserted in the plan of confederation, did not congress act upon the very principles contained in it .' The present quotas of the respective states were arranged upon a computation of their respective abilities. The numbers were sufficient, with the favor of Heaven, nay abundantly sufficient almost with- out effusion of blood, to captivate all the British forces in America. But, when they ought to have crushed the ungenerous foe, they were not even raised in the most populous states. These principles, even in the hour of the most pressing necessity, have been neglected with impunity, at our hands, to the imminent hazard of the liberties of America. Are we not to be instructed, even by a bloody experience .' Shall we not receive light, even from the conflagra- tions spread over our land .' Oh ! why has our beneficent Creator endowed us with recollec- tion ! — Mr. Chairman, pardon me ; I am hurt — pierced to the quick, at an omission of the most fatal nature. It is a symptom filling me with torturing apprehensions. Upon such principles was the allied army to be formed, under the great duke of Marlbor- ough. The quotas were specified, I may say even in a more positive manner. Yet the emperor and Holland were yearly more and more deficient. The war was of necessity to proceed ; and as the other allies failed in their quotas, so England was obliged to increase her exertions • and to such a degree was the one and the other, that at length England al- most entirely supported the war, while the em- peror had but little more than a single regiment at his own expense, that could be said properly to act against the common enemy. Mankind are not more honest in their principles, or faith- ful to their engagements than they then were nor will they be so. Honor, duty and our most essential interests, have loudly and in vain called upon the Americans to complete their quotas. They are as strongly bound by the principles upon which the quota clause is formed as they can possibly be, if that clause without aid, become a part of the confederation. Shall we shut our eyes, and absolutely trust our liberties and safety to a clause, that as it stands, we experimentally know will fail us in the hour of necessity.' While I retain my proper senses, I cannot. SOUTH CAROLINA. 363 Nor are these my only objections against that clause in its present state. There is a de- gree of injustice in its tendency. I do not mean that it was designed. By there not being any thing compelling in it, it has a tendency to expose an unequal proportion of the strength of some states, to the hazards of war in defence of the confederation. And the first principles of justice direct, that this danger should be provided against as far as may be. We well know, that man is so selfish and ungenerous a being, that he will, when he can, throw his load upon the shoulder of his neighbor. Men form states — these act upon the same princi- ple ; and accordingly we find, that the emperor and Holland unjustly placed a load upon Eng- land, that almost crushed her. It is against such an evasion of duty, and such a forced assumption of burden, that I wish to provide — and they ought to be guarded against by every possible means. Let it not be said, the con- federated treasury is to pay the whole expense incurred — that is not the point. But if it was, is there the least security that there shall be money in that treasury .' — My aim is to pro- tect the states from a more fatal injury — to preserve them from the necessity of sacrificing an unreasonable proportion of the flower of their people. An ardor for the public weal, may involve generous states, in the utmost dis- ' tress ; and throw them a century or two behind those ungenerous ones they saved. Nor can the confederation make them amends for that loss, which, of all that can happen is the great- est. Valerius Maximus said, severity is the sure preserver and avenger of liberty. Sir, when I consider the extent of territory possessed by the thirteen states — the value ol that territory ; and that the three most southern, must daily and rapidly increase in population, riches and importance. When I reflect, that from the nature of the climate, soil and pro- duce of the several states, a northern and southern interest in many particulars naturally and unavoidably arise ; I cannot but be dis- pleased with the prospect, that the most im- portant transactions in congress, may be done contrary to tlie united opposition of Virginia, the two Carolinas and Georgia : States possessing more than one half of the whole territory of the confederacy ; and forming, as I may say, the body of the southern interest. If things of such transcendent weight, may be done notwith- standing such an opposition ; the honor, interest and sovereignty of the south, are in effect de- livered up to the care of the north. Do we intend to make such a surrender ? I hope not, there is no occasion for it. Nor would I have it understood, that I fear the north would abuse the confidence of the south : But common prudence, sir, admonishes me, that confidence should not wantonly be placed any where— it is but the other day, that we thought our liber- ties secure in the care of Britain. I am assist- ing to form the confederation of the United States : It is my duty to speak, and to speak plainly : I engage in this great work with a determined purpose, to endeavor, as far as my slender abilities enable me, to render it equal, just and binding. I presume, that all my coadjutors in the several states, in and out of congress, act upon this sentiment ; nor can I admit a contrary idea. When all mean fair, equitable terms are not difficult to be adjusted. I therefore hope, I shall not be thought unrea- sonable, because 1 object to the nine voices in congress ; and wish that eleven may be substi- tuted, to enable that body to transact their most important business. The states general of Holland must be unanimous : Their govern- ment is accounted a wise one ; and although it causes their proceedings to be slow, yet, it secures the freedom and interest of its respec- tive states. Is not this our great aim .'' For the present, I here, sir, limit my partic- ular objection to the plan under consideration : I have made these with the highest reluctance. In a word, I cannot admit of any confederation that gives congress any power, that can with propriety, be exercised by several states — or any power, but what is clearly defined beyond a doubt. Nor can I think of entering into any engagements, which are not as equal as may be, between the states — engagements of a com- pelling nature, and the whole to be understood according to the letter only. Without these five leading principles, a confederation is not a desirable object in my opinion. Thus, Mr. Chairman, have I complied with the first division of my subject — to perform the second is a much more arduous task : But before I proceed I must crave the kind indul- gence of your honor, and the house ; I fear I have too long intruded upon your attention. It is with the greatest diffidence, sir, that I presume to throw out my ideas of such terms as in my opinion are desirable, attainable and hkely to form a beneficial confederation. In doing this, I flatter myself, it will not be under- stood, that I am so weak as to think them un- exceptionable. Indeed I declare, that sketch I shall draw, will not be such an one, as I would prefer, and think the most perfect. From the complexion of the present plan, and the labor and time spent upon it, I fear, that which I would wish, cannot be attained : And hence, 364 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. I mean to conform my ideas to the scheme laid down by congress ; with design respectfully and zealously to endeavor to render as little liable to objection as I can, the scheme likely to take effect. I shall therefore sketch the plan of a confederation in the following order. The appel- lation of the country in which the confederacy is formed — a confederated union, and its objects declared — the style of the confederacy — the con- stitution of its legislature and executive — the powers of each described and limited, and their respective duties pointed out — the public faith plighted for past engagements of congress — the engagements of the several states to each other, and declaration of their rights, a declaration of the capability of admission into the confederacy — the penalty of violating the articles of confed- eration — the obligatory nature of the confedera- tion ; and in what manner only it is capable of alteration — the rule by which the confederation shall be understood. AMERICA. THE CONFEDERATION OF THE UNITED STATES. A cotifederated union and its objects declared. Art. I. A confederation between the inde- pendent, free and sovereign states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut. New- York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, is hereby solemnly made, uniting them together under one general su- perintending government, for their common defence and security, against all designs and leagues that may be detrimental to their inter- ests ; and against all force and attacks offered to or made upon them or any of them. The style of the confederacy declared. Art. 2. The style of the confederacy shall be, the United States of America. The legislative and execittitie constituted. Art. 3. The legislative for the confederacy shall be in a congress composed of delegates from each of the United States^the congress shall be styled. The congress of America, and one of the delegates shall, by the others, be elected to preside in it. The delegates shall be annually nominated by their respective legislatures, to meet in the congress of America, on the fifteenth day of March in every year. Each state shall be represented in congress by not less than three, nor more than seven dele- gates and shall have one vote in congress, where all questions shall be determined by a majority of votes, except such as shall be here- inafter mentioned. Any state neglecting to have a representation in congress, shall never- theless be bound by the act of congress, as if its representation was present. Each state shall maintain its own delegates. No delegate shall be a member of congress for more than three years, in any term of six years. Nor shall any member of congress be capable of holding any office under the United States of America, for which he, or any other for his benefit, receives any salary or emolument of any kind ; for his acceptance of any such office shall vacate his seat in congress ; nor shall he be re-elected as a member while he holds such office. Freedom of debate and speech shall be allowed in congress, nor shall any thing done in congress be impeached or questioned out of it. The delegates shall be protected in their persons from arrests and imprisonments, except for treason, felony or breach of the peace. The executive for the confederacy shall be in the congress, and during its recess in a committee of their body, which shall be styled. The committee of the United States of America. This committee shall consist of one delegate from each state, the president of the congress being one, and he shall preside in it — all questions therein shall be determined by a majority of votes, and their acts shall be bind- ing upon the United States, notwithstanding the absence of any member of it. The powers of the congress and the committee of the United States of America described and limited, and their respective duties pointed out. Art. 4. The congress shall have power to appoint one of their number to preside in it — to make rules for regulating their proceedings — to declare what shall be deemed treason against the United States of America, and in what manner such treason shall be punished — the congress shall have the sole power of de- claring war and peace — sending ambassadors to, and receiving them from, foreign princes and states — entering into and concluding trea- ties and alliances with foreign powers — ascer- taining the military land quota of each state in proportion to the number of white inhabitants therein respectively — building, purchasing and equipping a naval force, in the ser\"ice of the United States of America — rating and causing taxes to be levied, throughout the United States, for the senice of the confederacy — appointing a generalissimo and commander in chief of the land forces, major generals, principal staff offi- SOUTH CAROLINA. 36s £ers, and the war-office, styled The war office of America — nominating an admiralissimo and commander in chief of the naval forces, all sub- ordinate officers in the naval force in the service of the United States, and an admiralty-office, styled The admiralty-office of America— estab- lishing a treasury office, styled The treasury office of America — supplying and filling up all vacancies in the said military and naval estab- lishments ; and in the said war, admiralty and treasury offices — making rules for the govern- ment of the said military quotas, naval force, war, admiralty and treasury offices — directing, ordering and commanding the said military quotas, naval force, generalissimo, major gen- erals, principal staff officer, admiralissimo, sub- ordinate officers, war, naval and treasury offices, in all their operations and proceedings — emit- ting and borrowing money upon the credit of the United States, from time to time, not exceeding the sum ascertained as necessary to be raised for the service of the confederacy ; transmitting to the several states, half yearly, an account of the sums of money so emitted and borrowed — applying the said sums of money ascertained to be raised, and allowed to be emitted and borrowed, for defraying the public expense — collecting military stores and provisions, and issuing them for the service of the United States — granting letters of marque and reprisal — declaring what captures on land and on water shall be legal ; and in what man- ner such captures, by the land and naval forces in the service of the United States, shall be divided and appropriated — appointing courts in the several United States for trial of piracies committed on the high seas, and for deciding finally appeals in all cases of capture arising in such states respectively — appointing all such civil officers as may be necessary for transacting and managing the general affairs of the United States; ascertaining their duties, and, except judicial officers, directing their proceedings — regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their authority — establishing and regulating post offices throughout the United States ; exacting such postage as may be necessary to defray the expense of the said offices, or any part thereof — regulating the affairs and trade of the Indians, not members of any state — being the dernier resort, on appeal in all cases of dispute, between any two or more of the United States, and this power shall be exercised in the following manner, that is to say — whenever the legislative or exe- cutive authority, or lawful agent, thereunto legally required, of any state in controversy with another or others, shall present a petition to the congress, stating the matter in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall, within ten days, be given, by order of congress, to the legislative or executive authority of the other state or states in controversy, assigning a day, not sooner than six months, nor later than nine months, to the parties to appear before them, by their lawful agents : who shall in their presence, on the day assigned, be by them directed to appoint, by joint consent within ten days thereafter, seven judges to con- stitute a court for hearing and finally determin- ing the matter in question, according to the law of nations : who shall sit, if it be necessary, from day to day, not exceeding ten days, Sun- day excepted, and give their final decree by a majority of voices, with the reasons at large upon which they found it ; which decree and reasons shall be by them returned to the con- gress, and by them be deposited among their acts, for the security of the parties concerned ; the congress causing the decree to be peremp- torily executed without loss of time. But, if the said lawful agents shall not, within the said ten days, agree in a nomination of the seven judges, congress shall, within three days, name three delegates of the representation of each ot the United States, (provided the presi- dent of the congress shall not be one. and that if such a nomination of three delegates cannot otherwise be made, that congress shall have power, of their body, to elect a person to represent the state in his room) and from the list of such persons, each party in controversy shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine, as congress shall direct, shall, in presence of the congress, and the said lawful agents, be drawn out by lot, by the secretary of the congress, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be judges to hear and finally deter- mine the controversy in the manner, and the proceedings thereupon shall be the same as specified relative to the court chosen by the said lawful agents. And if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, or being present, shall refuse to strike, the congress shall proceed to nominate three persons of the representation of each of the United States, in manner already specified and provided, and the secretary of the congress shall strike in behalf of such party 'absent or refusing —the judges shall be drawn — their powers and duties shall be the same, as shall be the proceedings of congress, as are speci- fied relative to the court formed by the joint 366 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. choice of the lawful agents. And in any court so provisionally directed to be constituted, if either of the parlies shall refuse to submit to the authority of the court, or shall not appear therein to support or defend their cause, the court shall, notwithstanding, proceed to hear and to pro- nounce its decree, which shall be attended with the same effects, as are above specified, relative to the court chosen by joint consent. Every judge, before he sits in judgment in any such case, shall take an oath, to be administered by any one of the judges of the supreme or super- ior court of the state, in which the cause shall be tried, " well and truly to hear and determine the present matter in question between and according to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, fee or hope of reward ; " the blanks being supplied with the description of the parties. And all con- troversies concerning the private right of soil, claimed under the different grants, of two or more of the United States, whose jurisdictions, as they may respect such soil, and the states which passed such grants, the grants of either of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall be proceeded in, as nearly as may be, agreeable to the trial specified to be had in controversies between any two or more of the United States. The congress shall further have the power of adjourning to any time, not exceeding six months, and to any place within the United States of America — appointing the committee of the L-nited States of America — vesting them with such of their powers according to their authority and discre- tion ; examining into their journals and proceed- ings. But the congress shall not declare what shall be treason against the United States, nor the punishment of it, but by the voice of each of the United States in congress — nor shall the congress engage in war — nor enter into or con- clude any treaty or alliance — nor ascertain the military land quota of the states — nor build, furnish or equip a naval force — nor rate or cause a general tax to be levied — nor ap- point a generalissimo— nor nominate an admir- alissimo — nor emit or borrow money — nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, except by the consent of eleven votes in the congress — nor shall the congress vest any of these powers in the committee of the United States — nor shall any person officiate as presi- dent of the congress, longer than one year in any term of three years — nor shall the con- gress exercise any power, but what is hereby expressly delegated to them. The congress, and the committee of the United States, shall respectively publish the journal of their pro- ceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances and military oper- ations, as they respectively shall think require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the several delegates in the congress, and in the committee of the United States, shall be entered on their respective journals, when desired by any dele- gate present, who at his request, shall be fur- nished with a transcript of the said journals respectively, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the legislature of the several states. The committee of the United States shall at all times lay their journals and proceedings before the congress, when by them required. And with the powers herein delegated to the congress, and that may by them be delegated to the committee of the Uni- ted States of America, they and each of them shall endeavor, that the confederacy receive no detriment. The public faith pledged for past engagements of congress. Art. 5. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by the con- gress of the LInited States, or under their au- thority, before this confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States of America ; for full payment and satisfaction whereof, the said United States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. T/te engagement of the several states to each other, and declaration of their rights. Art. 6. There shall be a mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the several states in this union — the free white inhabitants of each of these states, (those who refuse to take up arms in defence of the confederacy, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted) shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states, according to the laws of such state respec- tively, for the government of their own free white inhabitants — having uninterrupted in- gress and regress, together with their property, to and from any other of the United States ; subject nevertheless to the duties, impositions and restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively ; provided, that such restrictions shall not extend to defeat the articles of this confederation, or any part thereof. Provided also, that no duty, imposition or restriction shall be laid by any state, on the property of the United States, or of the government, in either of them, except in cases of embargo. If any person charged with, or guilty of trea- SOUTH CAROLINA. 367 son, felony or other high misdemeanors in any of the respective states, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the states, upon the demand of the executive power in the state from which he fled, he shall be delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction of the offence, that state defraying the expense of the removal. And full faith and credit shall be given throughout the United States to the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates in each. No state shall lay or allow to continue any prohibition, impost or duty, which may inter- fere with any treaty, which shall be made by the congress with any foreign power — no state shall engage in any war, without the consent of the congress, unless such state be actually invaded by an enemy ; or shall have received certain intelligence of such hostile design, formed by some nation of Indians, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay ■ — no state shall grant letters of marque and reprisal, but after a declaration of war by the congress ; and then only against the power against whom the war has been so declared, except such state be infested by piracies, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out by that state for the occasion only — no state shall enter into any conference, agreement, treaty or alliance with any king, prince or foreign states — nor shall any person, holding any office under the United States, or under any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, from any king or foreign state, without being thereby absolutely rendered forever incapable of any public trust, under the United States, or any of them — nor shall any of these states grant any title of nobility : But precedence and rank shall be thus established : The president of the congress of America — the supreme civil officer of a state while in it — the generalissimo and admiralissimo, and they according to seni- ority — the regular forces by land and sea. in the service of the United States — the regular forces by land and sea, in the ser\ice of a particular state, ranking with such forces in the service of any other state — the militia of a state, rank- ing with the militia of any other — officers of equal degree, shall command according to the rank hereby laid down for their respective corps : and officers of the same corps being of equal degree, shall command by seniority of commission. The militar)- land quota of each of the United States shall be in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in each — the legislature in the several states shall, from time to time, cause all the white inhabitants therein, to be numbered as nearly as may be — the persons appointed to number them, shall be sworn to make the most diligent and accurate enquiry that they can, and to return to the executive power in the state, the true number they shall so find — ■ they shall be paid for their trouble, and punished for their neglect, if any there shall be — the ex- ecutive authority in each state, having received such a return, shall without loss of time send it, or an exact copy of it, to the congress — such a return to the congress shall be made before the first day of January next, and in every seventh year thereafter — the several states shall, in due time, embody the several mili- tary quotas required by the congress, and shall raise, clothe, arm and maintain them, at the general expense, rated by the congress — the several states shall appoint all the regimental and deputy staff officers incidental to their quotas ; and into as many brigades as the congress shall brigade their respective quotas, so many brigadier-generals, shall such respec- tive state nominate, the whole to be commis- sioned by the congress — all vacancies in a quota shall be supplied by its state — the execu- tive power in each state, except that in which the congress be sitting, shall, under the au- thority and control of the congress, direct the land forces, ships and vessels of war, and all officers incidental thereto, in the sen-ice of the United States, within such state — the propor- tionate pecuniary quotas of the several states shall be regulated in proportion to the number of inhabitants in each state respectively — when- ever such pecuniary quotas for the seri'ice of the United States shall be required by con- gress, they shall state the capitation rate — each state shall then appoint persons to number its whole inhabitants, according to the mode stated to ascertain the number of white in- habitants in each state, such persons being also caused to specify the number of white, mustizo, mulatto and negro inhabitants respec- tively — such a numeration being duly returned, the legislature in each state shall levy the sum of money to arise therefrom, in such mode as they shall deem expedient ; and a true copy of the said return shall, without loss of time, be sent to congress —the several states shall duly pay their pecuniar)' quotas into the treasury office of America, by the time mentioned by the congress for such payment, unless to the contrary directed for the good of the public ser\-ice ; in which case, such state so directed shall, within twelve months, duly account with the said treasur)'-office for the pecuniary quota, or part thereof so directed to be retained — each state shall, within five years, establish a 368 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. foundation for a naval seminary, making suita- ble provision for the constant maintenance, education and fitting for sea, five youths for every thousand white inhabitants within such state ; Every such youth shall be admitted upon such establishment, at ten years of age : At the age of fourteen, he shall be bound an apprentice in the sea service for seven years, completely furnished with necessary clothes and bedding. At the expiration of that term, he shall be liable for a term of seven years, in time of war, to do duty, or to find a seaman to do duty in his room, on board the naval force in the service of the United States, or in that of the state in which he was so educated : And he or his substitute, as the case may be, shall for such service be free from every tax ; and losing the use of a limb in the public service, shall be maintained ever after at the expense of the United States, or of that state in whose particular ser\'ice he was so maimed. Each state shall make suitable laws for render- ing this naval establishment a public benefit — all general officers, flag officers and commo- dores, shall be created by election only, nor shall the principle of seniority give any title to such promotion — no state shall exercise any power hereby delegated to the congress : But it is declared, the several states do possess and enjoy all those natural rights and powers of sovereignty, not by this act delegated : And it is also declared, that whenever the congress shall cease to obser\'e these articles of confed- eration, the several states shall be at liberty to declare themselves absolved from all obedience to that government.* A declaration of the capability of admission into the confederacy. Art. 7. Canada, acceding to this confedera- tion, and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this union ; and shall be equally, with any other of the United States, solemnly bound to a strict observance of and obedience to these articles : as shall be also, any other colony which shall be admitted into this confederacy. The eleven votes in congress shall be increased in proportion as the confed- eracy is extended : But, except Canada, no other colony shall be admitted into the con- federacy without the assent of eleven or more votes, as the case may require, by the confed- eration being extended. • For whenever a question arises between the society at large and any magistrate vested with powers originally delegated by that society, it must be decided by the voice of that society itself ; there is not upon earth any other tribunal to resort to. — i Blackstone, 212. 77;;? penalty of violating ike articles of con- federation. Art. 8. For the better assurance of the benefits expected from this confederation, vol- untarily entered into by the several states ; to guard, as far as may be, against the negligence and weakness of men ; and to stimulate the several states to a due, regular and punctual obedience to this confederation, and perform- ance of their several duties herein expressed, it is declared, that if any state shall fail in causing its military quota to be duly embodied : or fail in causing its pecuniary quota or proportion of the general tax throughout the United States to be duly levied and paid, in either of such cases the state, so making default, shall, within twelve months thereafter, pay into the treasury office of America for the use of the United States, in the first case, double the sum of money necessary to its military quota, at the time it should have been embodied ; in the second case, double the sum of money its pecu- niary quota or proportion of the general tax would have amounted to, if due payment had been made, and which shall be estimated from its last return of inhabitants : And in default of the due payment of either of such penalties, or in case any of the United States shall in any other respect violate any of the articles of this confederation, the congress shall, within one year thereafter, declare such state under the ban of the confederacy, and by the utmost vigor of arms shall forthwith proceed against such state, until it shall have paid due obedi- ence, upon which the ban shall be taken off and the state shall be restored to the benefits of this confederacy. A declaration of the obligatory nature of the confederation, and in what manner it is capable of any alteration. Art. 9. The articles of this confederation shall be strictly binding upon, and inviolably observed by the parties interested therein : Nor shall any alteration be made in them, or any of them, unless such alteration shall be agreed to in the congress, and allowed by the legislature of every state in the confederacy. The rules by -which the confederation shall be understood. Art. 10. To avoid, as far as may be, the dangers that may arise from an erroneous con- struction of the articles of this confederation, and to prevent a contrariety of opinion upon them, they shall be understood according to the expression and not otherwise. And all acts of the congress and of the committee of SOUTH CAROLINA. 369 the United States, shall be taken only in the same manner. In solemn confirmation and testimony where- of, we, the delegates for the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, in congress of the United States, being duly anthorized thereunto by acts of the legislature of our respective states, for them and on their behalf, do hereun- to sign our names and affix our seals at arms. Done at in the state of this day of in the year of our Lord and in the year of the sovereignty of America. You must have observed, Mr. Chairman, that my ideas have been collected but to one point — an endeavor to render the plan before us as little liable to objection as I can — I have not presumed to touch its general scheme. I wish to have the opening of a congress altered from November to February, March or April, for the reasons I have assigned : I have chosen March, a month particularly distinguishing the laudable exertions of this state ; a month, re- markable for great events respecting the liber- ties of America ; a month, including the date of the declension of Great Britain ; a month, that ever will be famous for the patriotic execu- tion of a Roman tyrant — but I am not obstinate in this choice. I should most readily admit the famous 19th of April — the commencement of the civil war : Or the 4th of July, the illus- trious epocha of the sovereignty of America ! A day that ought to be held in everlasting re- membrance — a day that naturally points out the time for the annual meeting of the congress of America, to watch for the permanency of its independence. I have increased the least representation in congress, in order to procure a more numerous representation of the states, and to give effi- cacy to the mode of trial of disputes between the states : for a numerous representation is a guard against corruption : and nothing should be left at hazard that can be avoided — it seems requisite to declare, that a state shall be bound by the act of the congress, or the committee of the United States, although its representation shall not be present : for this will have a ten- dency to urge the state to preserve their rep- resentation. I think it is utterly impolitic to exclude a member of congress from being nom- inated to an office, under the United States ; for many a man, may be capable of performing 24 much more important service in such a station than in congress. But I have already given my opinion fully on that subject. It seems necessary to the dispatch of business, that the president of congress should also be the presi- dent of the committee of the United States : For this body is to proceed in the business begun by the other — congress ought to have the power of declaring treason. For the power is a great means of guarding against internal machina- tions : and it naturally appertains to such a body — An admiralissimo is necessary ; for the navy should be of right put upon an equal footing with the army, in point of rank : Amer- ica must be a great naval power ; and every encouragement should be given that she should be soon so. — I have mentioned a war and ad- miralty-office. For such establishments do not seem to be regularly comprehended in the clause, " other committees and civil officers ;" the copulative creating an idea of civil commit- tees — The restriction upon the congress nomi- nation to military offices, is grounded upon the reasons I have assigned upon that head — It does not seem any way expedient that congress should have a power of emitting or borrowing more money than the sum they rate as neces- sary to be raised. And, therefore, they ought to be limited in that point— courts for the trial of piracies, and receiving appeals in cases of capture, should be erected in each state. Be- cause people should not be obliged to seek justice at a distance, when they can with pro- priety be allowed to procure it at home. This IS a fundamental principle of natural right, s.inctioned by common law and usage — The law by which the right between states in con- troversy is to be determined, ought to be speci- fied ; and the rule of right not left to the caprice of judges — we cannot but remember the high authority which says, " Misera senn'lus esi, ubi jus est, vagum aid lucognitxim!'* The eleven votes seem absolutely necessary, and perfectly equitable. Can it possibly be thought rea- sonable, that the southern interest should be judged of and determined upon, without the consent of, at least, half the states principally forming that interest? — it appears evident that the free white inhabitants only of each of the states, should be entitled to the privileges and immunities of free citizens in the others ; and that according to the law respecting free white inhabitants in such states respectively —the commercial negotiations of congress, must ever be dilatory in their progress, and their views often unattainable, while exposed to a power, ♦Woful is that subjection where the law is uncertain or unknown.— 4 Fuit. 346. 370 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. in any of the United States, to lay duties and impositions contrarj' to the spirit of negotia- tions manifestly to the general advantage. Such a power therefore should not exist — The greatest obstacles should be laid in the way of public officers receiving any douceur from a loreign prince — It seems absolutely necessary, that precedence and rank should be established ; for without it jealousies and confusions may arise — The numeration of the white inhabitants cught to be frequently made, and with the ut- most accuracy. This being the best means of enabling the congress to wield the strength of America with equal justice to the several states, and with vigor in defence of the confederacy. And the mode in which this numeration shall be made, and the general tax shall be raised, ought to be specified. These things are capa- ble of being regulated in an easy, plain, equita- ble and punctual manner — The unanimous vote is highly expedient in the case of treason. For this is a matter of the most serious importance — The eleven voices should be increased as the confederacy is enlarged. For neither the northern nor southern interest should be af- fected, but by the consent of at least half the states in such interests respectively — The penal article justifies itself — as does that upon the construction of the confederation, and of the acts of congress and of the committee of the United States. In addition, sir, to this concise state of my reasons for some of the principal alterations I have made, I must beg leave to be more par- ticular in my arguments in support of others, which I have much at heart and wish to make ; because I have not had an opportunity of intro- ducing them with propriety. I will endeavor to be as short as the importance of the subject will admit. I have excluded those from the privileges of free white inhabitants in the several states who refuse to take up arms in defence of the con- federacy — a measure in my opinion perfectly just. It is said, example before precept. Let the Quakers take shelter under any text in scripture they please — the best they can find, is but a farfetched implication in their favor. How- ever, had their precept been in more positive terms, 1 think I have an example at hand cap- able of driving them from such a cover. We read that " Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers." Here we see the arm of the flesh raised up, and a degree of hostile violence exer- cised, sufficient to the end in view: And shall it be said violence is not justifiable ? Did not God command Moses to number " all that were able to go forth in war in Israel ? " Did not Moses, by the Divine order, send 1 2,000 men to cut off the Midianites : And, although " they slew all the males," were they not reprehended for having ■' saved all the women alive ? " Did not the Almighty command the children of Israel that, when they had passed into Canaan, " then they should drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before them ? " Did not Moses direct that, when the people were " come nigh unto the battle," the priests should encourage them, declaring that the Lord their God was with them " to fight for them against their enemies ? " And yet the Quakers have sagaciously found out a few words which, by implication, they contend* restrain from doing now, what God then commanded as just. The grand principles of moral rectitude are eternal. Dare the Quakers contend that the myriads, who have drawn the sword since the christian aera are damned for ha\ing done so ? And unless they maintain this position, they seem to have no reasonable excuse for their creed and conduct. They seem to have forgot that it is written, " how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." Are there any people upon the face of the earth more diligent after riches than Quakers ? We in this time of calamity, know it to our cost. Without doubt there are many valuable men of that sect : Men of that persuasion are very good citizens in time of peace ; but it is their princi- ple in time of war that I condemn. Is there a Quaker who will not bring his action for tres- pass ? Is not this an opposition to force. Here they forget their principle of meekness and non resistance. The great lord Lyttleton, in his dialogues of the dead, tells us, "it is blas- phemy to say that any folly could come from the fountain of wisdom. Whatever is incon- sistent with the great laws of nature, and with the necessary state of human society, cannot be inspired by the divinity. Self-defence is as necessary to nations as men. And shall par- ticulars have a right which nations have not .' True religion is the perfection of reason. Fanaticism is the disgrace, the destruction of reason." Than all this nothing can be more just, certain and evident. Can those men rea- sonably claim an equal participation in civil rights who, under any pretence whatsoever, will not assist in defending them .' Shall there be a people maintained in the possession of their riches by the labor and blood of other • Notwithstanding the precept, " he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." St. Luke^ xxii. a6. SOUTH CAROLINA. 371 men ? Are not the Quakers, some few excepted the most inveterate enemies to the independ- ence of America ? Have they not openly taken part with those in arms against us ? I con- sider them not only as a dead weight upon our hand, but as a dangerous body in our bosom ; I would therefore gladly be rid of them. I al- most wish to "drive out all such inhabitants of the land from before us." The Canaanites knew not God. But the Quakers say they know him and yet, according to the idea of lord Lyttleton, would have gross folly and injustice to proceed from the fountain of wisdom and equity. I entertain these sentiments with a conscience perfectly at ease on this point. If such treat- ment shall be termed persecution, the con- scientious Quakers can never take it amiss, when they recollect that it is said, " blessed are they who are persecuted for Christ's sake." I do not consider this as such a persecution : But if they should, can they be displeased at being placed in a situation to be blessed .' And I would lay it down as a truth, that whoever of that sect should be offended at such treatment would deser\'e to be expelled our society, as the buyers, sellers and money changers were cast out of the temple. I am not afraid of any resentment, when it is my duty to act in behalf of the rights and interests of America : I trust I fully demonstrated this resolution when, on the 25th of April, 1776, I had the honor, in the supreme seat of justice, to make the first public declaration in America, that my countr>'men owed no allegiance to the king of Great Britain. I would have it a point settled in the con- federation, that all general officers shall be elected — eradicating the idea of promotion to that rank by seniority. The idea is monarchi- cal — I do not recollect that it was admitted in the ancient and wise republics. The great Hannibal, when ver)' young, commanded the Carthagenian army in Spain over the heads of much older officers — and the first Africanus thought it no diminution of his honor to serve under his brother Asiaticus. These are illus- trious instances of wise policy and honorable moderation — it is needless to give others to the same point. But, at present, officers expect to rise by seniority to a general command ; and although it is declared that a generalissimo shall be elected, yet there is but too much rea- son to apprehend, as this is only a positive exception to the idea of seniority, and therefore scarce sufficient to eradicate the idea of pro- motion according to seniority, that the next in rank will always expect the election, and will be but too apt to considerhimself as ill treated, if passed by. Men, now a days, are fond of being the only judges of their own importance and merit — they generally overrate both. They seem to have forgot that a knowledge of one's-self is the greatest and most difficult that can be acquired ; and that it scarcely ever was obtained with any degree of precision. Men are not called into public stations for their own honor or advantage — but merely for the public benefit. The public are therefore the only proper judges who shall serve them, and in what posts particular men shall be placed : And besides they have a natural right to the service of every man in the community. It was, I think, a Spartan maxim, that a man was not born for himself, but for his country : Were we but actuated by this just and noble idea, we might be serenely calm and perfectly safe amidst all the venial exertions of Britain — nay, of the rest of the world combined against us ! It is upon this principle the aborigines of America act. They rise to authority and com- mand by merit alone : And shall Americans extirpate a glorious plant, the natural product of their country ? Shall the uncultivated and rude Indians, think more justly and act with more dignity than we, with our improved understand- ings and boasted civilization ? This very ques- tion alone should, I think, recal us to the proper line of action, and force us to abandon notions which at once disgrace our country, and ex- pose it to ruin. A colonel of small abilities can do but little harm, in comparison of a weak general at the head of a division of the army, leading on the principal attack, or covering a precipitate retreat. — Marshal Sa.\e, and we need no better authority, says. " he has seen very good colonels become very bad generals." Can we then expect to see bad colonels become able generals ! But it is a point admitted by congress, that election is the best means of procuring an able commander in chief. And why should not this principle equally hold with respect to general officers .' Can the generalis- simo be so well enabled to defend the confed- eracy, as by being furnished with those men who are most capable of executing his designs ? It was upon this principle the invincible Roman armies were formed. That government was republic — ours is the same : I would most eagerly adopt a principle, sanctioned as it is by the happy experience of ages. Montesquieu expressly says, " the people are very capable of electing generals." Of right they ought to be permitted to exercise all those powers which they are capable of exercising with propriety. According to the plan before us, the quotas of the respective states, which I would term the American forces, are to be directed in 372 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. their operations by congress. — If it is meant, as I suppose it is, that there shall be a body of troops in a state, entirely independent of the command of the civil power, I shall, with the utmost reluctance, yield my assent to the pro- position ; which, to me, appears dishonorable to the sovereignty of the state, dangerous to its welfare, and inconsistent with the superiority of the civil power. I well remember the feelings of the general court of Massachusetts Bay, when governor Barnard told them he had no authority to order the king's ships to quit the harbor of Boston. If he. who was but a repre- sentative, ought, as the supreme civil officer, to have a power directing the military within his government a fortiori, the several states should possess that power — they are sovereign states. I do not desire that they should abso- lutely direct such troops : But the executive in each state may, for this purpose, be at least the representative of congress. If the people are to be ruined by a blunder, it will be more natural that they should be ruined by the mis- take of their confidential men, than by that of an officer, perhaps a stranger. We have seen a day, when the salvation of this capital, under God, depended, in a manner, upon the autho- rity of the civil power over the troops in garri- son : I cannot but wish for a continuance of that command which once has saved us ; and which is, as it were, inseparable from the civil power. — I cannot bear the idea of surrender- ing it so totally as the congress seem to require. The establishment of a basis for the Ameri- can naval force is an object of the first impor- tance ; and it ought not to be omitted in the articles of confederation. Congress have en- deavored to establish a land force ; but this, which is of superior consequence, has been passed over almost in silence. ' For the first, they have provided even in detail ; but for the other only in five words — " to build and equip a navy " — never was so important a subject more expeditiously dispatched. The Roman decree, " Datit operant consuhs, ne quid detri- menti capiat respiiblica," was a singular model of concise energy : But it must now cease to be so. However, I should have been better pleased had there been a clause added to our maritime provision for manning the navy : This is the grand point — Britain finds it to be so. She can equip ships with ease from her yards : But the great difficulty is to man them. It is not with the phalanx that Greece kept the great king at arm's length — it was not with the legions that Rome acquired Sicily and con- quered Carthage — it was not with her battal- ions that Britain awed Europe : But Salamis, Ecnoma, and La Hogue, were naval actions that decided the superiority of nations. If America is to be secure at home and respected abroad, it must be by a naval force. Shall we then, scarce bestow a thought upon this palla- dium of our safety ? Nature and experience in- struct us, that a maritime strength is the best defence to an insular situation. Is not the sit- uation of the United States insular with respect to the powers of the old world : the quarter from which, alone, we are to apprehend dan- ger.' Have not the maritime states the great- est influence upon the affairs of the universe? Do not the powers of Europe strain their nerves to render themselves formidable at sea? This, then, is the theatre, as I may say, on which America must appear, if she intends to appear any where, with dignity and importance. Can the proper means of her doing so, be bet- ter provided for, than in the confederation of her United States ? This act ought to contain all the great lines of her general polity ; other- wise it must be imperfect. The nursery of her naval power cannot be better established, than by having it made uniform in all the states. What advantage does not Britain expect from her marine society ? What op- pression does not her people suffer from the practice of pressing, to man the royal fleets ? An absolute outrage upon civil liberty, and yet often inadequate to the end. The plan I have hinted seems calculated to avoid these evils. The proportion of five in a thousand is small — • the allurements are considerable and not ex- pensive — the sen'ice is but short. And yet, only estimating the white inhabitants at two millions, after the first sixteen years, ten thousand seamen will annually be created, to give security and importance to America ; and in other seven years, in all probability we should have more than double the number of seamen, whose bounden duty it would be to man our fleets, that Britain in her most formi- dable hour ever collected, even with the aid of press gangs. The object seems easy to be obtained — the view is magnificently great — surely it is worthy of being seriously contem- plated. The due settlement of the importance of the several states respecting each other, is a mat- ter of capital moment. In congress each state, ought of natural right, to have a weight in pro- portion to its importance. Can any state be justly entitled to a greater degree of weight? Can any state honestly desire to figure in plumes at another's expense ?— What is un- derstood by representation ? Is it not a sign of the reality? Ought such a representation SOUTH CAROLINA. 373 to be greater than the reality ? Is it not upon this principle, however abused, that the Eng- lish parliament was formed ? Has not this principle been adopted in all the houses of assembly that ever sat upon this continent ? Why are we now to deem that unjust, which till now, we universally acknowledged as a certain and beneficial truth ? What is called the rotten part of the English constitution — is it not an unequal, and therefore an unjust re- presentation of its territory and wealth ? Has not lord Chatham been censured for not hav- ing, during his all-powerful administration, at- tempted to cut off that rotten member from the body politic — an amputation which was thought could scarce fail of being performed when undertaken by the hand of so great a man.^ Can ingenuity itself find an important distinction between the two cases ? In both, the great states on the one hand, and the great counties, cities and boroughs on the other, have less weight ; and the small states, counties, cities and boroughs, have more than they ought — such is the point in question. And shall we designedly contract a fatal dis- ease which we know has long been consuming the vital vigor of the English constitution, and is but too likely to destroy it ? Shall our wise men persist in endeavoring to create that which it would have been, illustrious as he is, lord Chatham's greatest glory to have endeavored to destroy ? — I am hurt by the idea — the con- trast fills me with pain and anxiety — however, I do not despair of relief. There is a resolu- tion of the first congress that was held after the British blockade of Boston, from which I have great expectation. It was the first re- solve passed by that venerable body ; and it is couched in these terms : " Resolved, that, in the determining questions in this congress each colony or province shall have one vote — the congress not being possessed of, or at pre- sent able to procure proper materials for as- certaining the importance of each colony." Hence, it is evident, what was their idea of a just representation ; and I hope it will yet be adopted. The Lycian republic was a confed- eration of three and twenty towns : The great ones had three voices — the middling two — and the small, one : contributing to the public expense in proportion to their representation. We are to contribute according to our abilities, and why should we not have a weight in pro- portion to our importance .' — If each state must have the same weight, let each contri- bute the same sum. We are infant states, but we have the wisdom of ages before our eyes. Let us not despise what is invaluable. It is the best chart by which we can steer along the difficult coast of government, and venture to run our ship of state into safe port. By this we may probably find an haven, that will in- vite the people of all nations to take shelter in it against the furious storms of tyranny. But, without it, we shall be but too likely to be ship- wrecked. Let us therefore adopt uniform and experienced principles throughout our voyage : Let us not trust to principles which clash and cannot form a perfect system. In the present case, either contribute to the public aid, ac- cording to ability, and have a corresponding weight — or, have equal weight, and contribute the same sum : Either is a perfect system : But the first part of each must ever continue irreconcilable to justice, and the known rule of right. The sage Montesquieu, having ma- turely considered the nature of a confederated government, particularly the Empire and Hol- land, says, "were I to give a model of an ex- cellent confederate republic, I would pitch upon that of Lycia." Can we do better, sir, than adopt the governing principle in the most perfect model of a confederacy ? I now beg leave to apply this principle to the rate for the public aid, established by congress on the 22d of November last. New Hampshire . . 200,000 Massachusetts Bay . 820,000 Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . 100,000 Connecticut 600,000 New York . . 200,000 New Jersey 270,000 Pennsylvania . 620,000 Delaware , , 60.000 Maryland . 520,000 Virginia 890,000 North Carolina . . 250,000 South Carolina 500,000 Georgia . 60,000 5,000,000 These states I would class in three divisions. The small ones should be those not, by a com- plete proportion, exceeding four proportions of the smallest. This class would, for the present contain Georgia, North Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The middling should be those states, by a complete proportion, exceeding four, and not in the same manner exceeding ten proportions : This class would comprehend South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The great states should be as- certained by their e.xceeding eleven proportions 374 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of the smallest : This third class would include Virginia and Massachusetts-Bay. The first class should have three delegates to each state — the second, six — the third, nine — making a congress of sixty-nine delegates, who should by a majority determine all questions except those contained in the restrictions, which should be determined by the voices of the states. The representation of each state be increased or lessened in proportion to the aid actually paid ; and this ought to be the barometer of import- ance, stimulating each state to its utmost con- tribution. These sentiments upon the subject of a con- federacy, sir, are the result of a few days' re- flection, amidst a variety of business, public and private : It is, indeed, not long since the plan from the congress has been received. I am fully sensible, that my ideas, now thrown out, will admit of important amendments, and therefore I do not presume to offer them for consideration. 1 have taken the liberty to drop them only because it was my duty to do so; and I think, if the states shall be allowed to vote according to their importance, the sketch I have drawn might form a beneficial confede- ration. I observe the plan before us contains thirteen articles : I can have no objection to a number allusive to the confederacy proposed. My sketch contains ten articles. Nor can I suppose that number will be a matter of diffi- culty. In collecting the materials, I arranged them under sixteen articles ;. but in condensing the subject, it accidentally was comprised in ten, although I strove to reach the confederated number. However, the accident instantly made me recollect, that the divine law to man was in ten articles — and that the Roman law was originally written on ten tables. 1 confess, sir, I was not displeased — I am sure the pious men of antiquity would have considered the acci- dental ten articles of confederation, as an omen of the beneficial nature of their contents. I may add, the number thirteen may, and we all hope will, cease to be allusive to the existing confederacy : But the number ten will ever allude to the eternal monuments of Divine justice, and human wisdom. Excuse, sir, this excursion to Sinai and Rome, I will return to my proper subject ; nor will I detain your at- tention but a moment. I have now, Mr. Chairman, with profound humility, given my thoughts upon the con- federation of the United States. Thoughts intent upon promoting and securing the inter- ests of my native country — thoughts equally solicitous for the grandeur of America. — In de- livering them, I trust I have, on that point, fully discharged my duty to my constituents — to the state — to the continent — to posterity. I have no intention to derogate from the dignity or the merit of congress : I have zealously supported the one, and I shall ever be ready, gratefully to pay any tribute of applause to the other. It is my undoubted privilege as a freeman to speak plainly — it is my bounden duty to do so — nor can our supreme rulers, constituted only for the purpose of preserving to us our civil rights, be displeased at such a conduct. The occasion is of the first importance. I meant to speak in terms of respect : if any thing of a contrary na- ture escapes me, I am sorry and beg pardon for it — it is not my intention to offend any in- dividual, especially the supreme authority. But, sir, I scarce think the moment is at hand, for the ratification of a confederacy. Rather than adopt the articles before us, I would yet a little longer trust to the ties that now bind America in union. The American confederacy should be the effect of wisdom, not of fear, an act of deliberation, not of hurry. It should be a noble monument attracting the respect of the world and capable of drawing forth the admiration and gratitude of our posterity. — Upon the whole, sir, this is scarce a time to deliberate, but it is certainly a time to act — it is my great aim, that America shall be independent — free — illustrious and happy ! I cannot now, sir, sit down without express- ing to the committee, the concern I feel for having taken up so much of their time as I have. I am sensible long discourses are often heard with impatience. But the stupendous importance of this subject, and my zeal in en- deavoring to discharge my duty, will I hope plead in my favor. I beg leave to return my most respectful thanks, for the attention and patience with which I have been heard. DR. RAMSAY'S ORATION. An oration on the advantages of American independence, spoken be- fore A public assembly of the in- habitants OF Charleston, in South Carolina, on July 4TH, 1778. by david ramsay, m. b. Mafjnus ab integro seculonam nascitur ordo. Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna : Jam nova progenies, coelo dimittilur alto. Huic ego nee metas rerum, nee tempora pono : Imperium sine fine dedi. Virgil. To the honorable CHRISTOPHER GADS- DEN, esq., lieutenant governor of the state SOUTH CAROLINA. 375 of South Carolina ; who. fearless of danger, undaunted by opposition, uninfluenced by the hope of reward, in the worst of times, has stood among the foremost, an early, actizie. zealous, disinterested champion, in the cause of American liberty and independence — the following oration, originally drawn up at his request, is respectfully inscribed by his humble servant the author. Friends and fellow-citizens — Impressed with the deepest sense of my insufficiency, I rise to address you with peculiar diffidence. When I consider the knowledge and eloquence necessary to display the glorious prospects which independence opens to this continent, I am stung with a degree of self-reproach for undertaking the important task. But your known attachment to the cause of America en- courages me to hope, that you will receive with indulgence, a well intended exertion to promote her welfare ; and emboldens me to cast myself on that candor, which looks with kindness on the feeblest efforts of an honest mind. We are now celebrating the anniversary of our emancipation from British tyrrany ; an event that will constitute an illustrious Eera in the history of the world, and which promises an extension of all those blessings to our country, for which we would choose to live, or dare to die. Our present form of government is every way preferable to the royal one we have lately renounced. It is much more favorable to purity of morals, and better calculated to pro- mote all our important interests. Honesty, plain-dealing, and simple manners, were never made the patterns of courtly behavior. Arti- ficial manners always prevail in kingly govern- ments ; and royal courts are reservoirs, from whence insincerity, hypocrisy, dissimulation, pride, luxury, and extravagance, deluge and overwhelm the body of the people. On the other hand, republics are favorable to truth, sincerity, frugality, industry, and simplicity of manners. Equality, the life and soul of com- monwealths, cuts off all pretensions to prefer- ment, but those which arise from extraordinary merit : Whereas in royal governments, he that can best please his superiors, by the low arts of fawning and adulation, is most likely to obtain favor. It was the interest of Great Britain to encour- age our dissipation and extravagance, for the two-fold purpose of increasing the sale of her manufactures, and of perpetuating our subordination. In vain we sought to check the growth of luxury, by sumptuary laws ; every wholesome restraint of this kind was sure to meet with the royal negative. While the whole force of example was employed to induce us to copy the dissipated manners of the country from which we sprung. If, there- fore, we had continued dependent, our frugal- ity, industry, and simplicity of manners, would have been lost in an imitation of British extra- vagance, idleness, and false refinements. How much more happy is our present situa- tion, when necessity, co-operating with the love of our country, compels us to adopt both public and private economy ? Many are now industriously clothing themselves and their fam- ilies in sober home-spun, who, had we remained dependent, would have been spending their time in idleness, and strutting in the costly robes of British gaiety. The arts and sciences, which languished under the low prospects of subjection, will now raise their drooping heads, and spread far and wide, till they have reached the remotest parts of this untutored continent. It is the happi- ness of our present constitution, that all offices lie open to men of merit, of whatever rank or condition ; and that even the reins of state may be held by the son of the poorest man, if possessed of abilities equal to the important station. We are no more to look up for the blessings of government to hungry courtiers, or ,the needy dependents of British nobility ; but must educate our own children for these exalted purposes. When subjects, we had scarce any other share in government, but to obey the arbitrary mandates of a British parlia- ment : But honor, with her dazzling pomp, interest, with her golden lure, and patriotism, with her heart-felt satisfaction, jointly call upon us now to qualify ourselves and posterity for the bench, the army, the navy, the learned profes- sions, and all the departments of civil govern- ment. The independence of our country holds forth such generous encouragement to youth, as cannot fail of making many of them despise the syren calls of luxury and mirth, and pursue hea- ven-born wisdom with unwearied application. A few years will now produce a much greater number of men of learning and abilities, than we could have expected for ages in our boyish state of minority, guided by the leading strings of a parent country. How trifling the objects of deliberation that came before our former legislative assemblies, compared with the great and important mat- ters, on which they must now decide ! They might then, with the leave of the king, his gov- ernors and councils, make laws about yoking hogs, branding cattle, or making rice ; but 376 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. they are now called upon to determine on peace and war, treaties and negotiations with foreign states, and other subjects interesting to the peace, liberty, sovereignty, and independ- ence of a wide extended empire. No wonder that so little attention has been paid to learn- ing ; for ignorance was better than knowledge, while our abject and humiliating condition so effectually tended to crush the exertions of the human mind, and to extinguish a generous ardor for literary pre-eminence. The times in which we live, and the govern- ments we have lately adopted, all conspire to fan the sparks of genius in every breast, and kindle them into flame. When, like children, we were under the guardianship of a foreign power, our limited attention was naturally en- grossed by agriculture, or directed to the low pursuit of wealth. In this state, the powers of the soul, benumbed with ease and indolence, sunk us into sloth and effeminacy. Hardships, dangers, and proper opportunities give scope to active virtues, and rouse the mind to such vigor- ous exertions, as command the admiration of an applauding world. Rome, when she filled the earth with the terror of her arms, sometimes called her generals from the plough. In like man- ner, the great want of proper persons to fill high stations, has drawn from obscurity many illus- trious characters, which will dazzle the world with the splendor of their names. The neces- sities of our country require the utmost exer- tions of all our powers ; from which vigorous, united efforts, much more improvement of the human mind is to be expected, than if we had remained in a torpid state of dependence. Eloquence is the child of a free state. In this form of government, as public measures are determined by a majority of votes, argu- ments enforced by the arts of persuasion, must evermore be crowned with success. The rising patriot, therefore, who wishes the happiness of his country, will cultivate the art of public speaking. In royal governments, where the will of one or a few has the direction of public measures, the orator may harangue, but most probably will reap prosecution and imprison- ment, as the fruit of his labor. Whereas, in our present happy system, the poorest school boy may prosecute his studies with increasing ardor, from the prospect, that in a few years he may, by his improved abilities, direct the determinations of public bodies, on subjects of the most stupendous consequence. Thus might I go through the whole circle of the arts and sciences, and shew that while we remained British subjects, cramped and re- strained by the limited views of dependence. each one of them would dwindle and decay, compared with the perfection and glory ia which they will bloom and flourish, under the enlivening sunshine of freedom and inde- pendence. I appeal to the experience of all, whether they do not feel an elevation of soul, growing out of the emancipation of their country-, while they recollect that they are no longer subject to lawless will, but possess the powers of self- government, and are called upon to bear an active part in supporting and perpetuating the sovereignty of the United States; and in organ- izing them in such a manner, as will produce the greatest portion of political happiness to the present and future generations. In this elevation of soul, consists true genius ; which is cramped by kingly government, and can only flourish in free states. The attention of thousands is now called forth from their ordinary employments to sub- jects connected with the sovereignty and hap- piness of a great continent. As no one can tell to what extent the human mind may be culti- vated, so no one can foresee what great events may be brought into existence, by the exertions of so many minds expanded by close attention to subjects of such vast importance. The royal society was founded immediately after the termination of the civil wars in Eng- land. In like manner, may we not hope, as soon as this contest is ended, that the exalted spirits of our politicians and warriors will en- gage in the enlargement of public happiness, by cultivating the arts of peace, and promoting useful knowledge, with an ardor equal to that which first roused them to bleed in the cause of liberty and their country ? Their genius, sharpened by their present glorious exertions, will naturally seek for a continuance of suitable employment. Having, with well tried swords and prudent councils, secured liberty and inde- pendence for themselves and posterity, their great souls will stoop to nothing less than concerting wise schemes of civil polity and hap- piness — instructing the world in useful arts — and extending the empire of science. I foresee societies formed of our heroes and statesmen, released from their present cares ; some of which will teach mankind to plough, sow, plant, build, and improve the rough face of na- ture ; while others critically examine the various productions of the animal, vegetable and min- eral kingdoms, and teach their countrj'men to " look through nature up to nature's God." Little has been hitherto done towards com- pleting the natural history of America, or for the improvement of agriculture, and the peace- SOUTH CAROLINA. 377 ful arts of civil life ; but who will be surprised at this, who considers that during the long past night of 150 years, our minds were depressed, and our activity benumbed by the low pros- pects of subjection ? Future diligence will convince the candid world, that past inatten- tion was the effect of our dependent form of government. Every circumstance concurs to make it prob- able, that the arts and sciences will be cultiva- ted, extended, and improved, in independent America. They require a fresh soil, and al- ways flourish most in new countries. A large volume of the book of nature, yet unread, is open before us, and invites our attentive peru- sal. Many uselul plants, unknown to the most industrious botanist, waste their virtues in our desert air. Various parts of our country, hith- erto untrod by the foot of any chemist, abound with different minerals. We stand on the shoulders of our predecessors, with respect to the arts that depend on e.vperiment and obser- vation. The face of our country, intersected by rivers, or covered by woods and swamps, gives ample scope for the improvement of me- chanics, mathematics, and natural philosophy. Our free governments are the proper nurseries of rhetoric, criticism, and the arts which are founded on the philosophy of the human mind. In monarchies, an extreme degree of politeness disguises the simplicity of nature, and " sets the looks at variance with the thoughts ; " in republics, mankind appear as they really are, without any false coloring. In these govern- ments, therefore, attentive observers have an opportunity of knowing all the avenues to the heart, and of thoroughly understanding human nature. The great inferiority of the moderns to the ancients in fine writing, is to be referred to this veil cast over mankind by the artificial refinements of modern monarchies. From the operation of similar causes, it is hoped, that the free governments of America will produce poets, orators, critics and historians, equal to the most celebrated of the ancient common- wealths of Greece and Italy. Large empires are less favorable to true philosophy, than small, independent states. The authority of a great author is apt, in the former case, to extinguish a free enquiry, and to give currency to falsehood unexamined. The doctrines of Confucius were believed all over China, and the philosophy of Descartes, in France. But neighboring nations, examining them without partiality or prepossession, ex- ploded them both. For the same reason, our separate states, jealous of the literary reputa- tion of each other, and uninfluenced by any partial bias, will critically pry into the merit of every new opinion and system, and naught but truth will stand the test, and finally prevail. In monarchies, favor is the source of prefer- ment ; but, in our new forms of government, no one can command the suffrages of the peo- ple, unless by his superior merit and capacity. The weight of each slate, in the continental scale, will ever be proportioned to the abilities of its representative in congress: Hence, an emulation will take place, each contending with the other, which shall produce the most ac- complished statesmen. From the joint influ- ence of all these combined causes, it may strongly be presumed, that literature will flour- ish in America ; and that our independence will be an illustrious epoch, remarkable for the spreading and improvement of science. A zeal for promoting learning, unknown in the days of our subjection, has already begun to overspread these United States. In the last session of our assembly, three societies were incorporated for the laudable purpose of erect- ing seminaries of education. Nor is the noble spirit confined to us alone : Even now, amidst the tumults of war, literary institutions are forming all over the continent, which must light up such a blaze of knowledge, as cannot fail to burn, and catch, and spread, until it has finally illuminated, with the rays of science, the most distant retreats of ignorance and bar- barity. Our change of government smiles upon our commerce with an aspect peculiarly benign and favorable. In a few years, we may expect to see the colors of France, Spain, Holland, Prussia, Portugal, and those of everj- other maritime power, waving on our coasts ; whilst Americans unfurl the thirteen stripes in the remotest harbors of the world. Our different climates and soils produce a great variety of useful commodities. The sea washes our coast along an extensive tract of two thousand miles ; and no country abounds in a greater plenty of the materials for ship-building, or has a better prospect of a respectable navy. Our stately oaks, the greater part of which would probably have withered in their native spots, had we remained subjects, will now be converted into ships of war, to ride triumphant on the ocean, and to carry American thunder around the world. Whole forests will be transformed into vessels of commerce, en- riching this independent continent with the produce of every clime and every soil. The wealth of Europe, Asia, and Africa, will flow in upon America : Our trade will no longer be confined by the selfish regulations of an 3/8 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. avaricious step-dame, but follow wherever interest leads the way. Our great object, as a trading people, should be to procure the best prices for our commodities, and foreign articles at the most reasonable rates : But all this was cruelly reversed by acts of the British parliament regulating our trade in a subservi- ency to their own emolument; our interest being entirely out of the question. It requires but a moment's recollection to convince us, that as we now have a free trade with all the world, we shall obtain a more generous price for our produce, and foreign goods on easier terms, than we ever could, while we were subject to a British monopoly.* The boasted act of navigation was not intended for our advantage, nor for the advantage of the whole empire : but was a glaring monument of the all-grasping nature of unlimited power. To enumerate all the ungenerous restrictions im- posed by the British government on American * That British merchants gave us a low price for our commodities, appears from this single consideration— they made money by exporting them from England. If they found it profitable to export tobacco, rice, indigo, etc. , from Britain, it must be in consequence of their allowing the American colonists less for those articles, than they would have brought in European markets. In this man- ner, much of our produce was sold to the consumers, loaded with double freight, insurance, and commission, over and above the additional expense of unloading and reloading in Great Britain. The industrious .\merican planter received no more for his produce than the pittance the British merchant, after reserving his own profit, was pleased to allow on the sale thereof, brought to market charged with this unnecessary expense. The distance from America to those places of Europe which consumed our staples, is generally less than to the British ports. From all which premises, it appears undeniably evident that .■American commodities, carried directly to the coun- tries where they are consumed, will produce much more clear profit to the planter, than when they arrived there by the circuitous way of Great Britain. The same reasoning holds good with respect to many articles imported from England, which were not of its own growth or manufacture ; for they would come much cheaper from the countries where they were made, than they ever could, while we were obliged to receive them through the hands of British merchants, loaded with double freight, insurance, commissions, and sometimes with duties. If interest had not silenced the voice of justice. Great Britain, while she obliged us to buy at her market, would have considered herself as bound to sup- ply our wants as cheap as they could be supplied else- where : But instead of this, she not only fixed exorbitant prices on articles of her own production, but refused us the liberty of buying from foreigners those articles which her own markets did not afford, and had also begun the fatal policy of super-adding additional duties. What a scene of oppression does this open to us? A great part of the price for which our commodities sold in Europe was lodged in British coffers ; and we were obliged to buy manufactures other production, at prices of her own fixing, and were restrained from buying even those arti- cles which she could not raise, where they could be got cheapest : Besides, as we durst not buy from any others, they had it in their power to fix any advance on the first cost that their avarice prescribed, and our necessities would permit. commerce, would be an outrage on patience. Time only will unfold the whole of this mystery of iniquity. A few years' experience will show such an amazing difference between the fet- tered trade of the British colonies, and the ex- tensive commerce of the free, independent states of America, as will cause us to stand amazed, that we so long and so patiently sub- mitted to so many and such cruel restrictions. In one word, so long as we remained depen- dent, the commerce of this great continent would have been sacrificed to the interest of a selfish European island. Carolina had particular reason to wish for the free trade of independence.* The whole island of Great Britain did not annually con- sume more than 5000 barrels of her staple commodity, rice, and yet it was an enumerated article. The charge on unloading, reloading, and shifting every cask, owing to this enumera- tion, was immense, though it sen'ed no other purpose, but to procure jobs for British coopers and wharfingers. So little regard was had to our interest, while dependent, that this enu- meration was obtained by the instigation of a captain Cole: Several vessels coming from England before him, and purchasing rice for Portugal, prevented the aforesaid captain of a loading : he returned, and in resentment said, carr)ing rice to Portugal was a prejudice to the trade of England : And on this single instance, so ill founded and supported, rice became an enumerated article.! How could our trade flourish, or our produce bring its full value, while restricted by a legislature so regardless of our interest, that a petty captain, to secure himself a cargo, could prevent our staple from being sent directly to a foreign market ? Union with Great Britain confined us to the consumption of her manufactures, and re- strained us from supplying our wants by the improvement of those articles which the bounty of Heaven had bestowed on our country. So numerous were the inhabitants of some pro- vinces, that they could not all find employment in cultivating the earth ; and yet a single hat, manufactured in one colony, and exported for sale to another, forfeited both vessel and cargo. The same penalties were inflicted for transport- * The tobacco colonies were also great losers by the British monopoly of trade. The duties on their staple, amounted to more than half the first cost. Tobacco, ex- ported from Britain, sold in European markets for more than double the sum the American planter received for it. If it should become a custom in the United States, to celebrate the anniversary of independence with an annual oration, it is hoped that some citizen of Virginia or Mary- land, will place the selfish restrictions on the exportatioc of this valuable commodity, in a proper light. t Gee on Trade, page 21. SOUTH CAROLINA. 379 , ing wool from one to another. Acts of parlia- ment have been made to prohibit the erection of slitting mills in America. Thus did British tyranny exert her power, to make us a needy and dependent people, obliged to go to her market, and to buy at her prices ; and all this at a time when, by her exclusive trade, she fixed her own prices on our commodities. How widely different is our present situation ? The glorious fourth of July, MDCCLXXVI, repealed all these cruel restrictions, and holds forth generous prices, and public premiums, for our encouragement in the erection of all kinds of manufactures. We are the first people in the world who have had it in their power to choose their own form of government. Constitutions were forced on all other nations, by the will of their con- querors ; or, they were formed by accident, caprice, or the over-bearing influence of pre- vailing parties or particular persons : But hap- pily for us, the bands of British government were dissolved at a time when no rank above that of freemen e.xisted among us, and when we were in a capacity to choose for ourselves among the various forms of government, and to adopt that which best suited our country and people. Our deliberations, on this occa- sion, were not directed by the over-grown authority of a conquering general, or the ambi- tion of an aspiring nobility, but by the pole- star of public good, inducing us to prefer those forms that would most effectually secure the greatest portion of political happiness to the greatest number of people. We had the ex- ample of all ages for our instruction, and many among us were well acquainted with the causes of prosperity and misery in other governments. In times of public tranquility, the mighty have been too apt to encroach on the rights of the many : But it is the great happiness of America, that her independent constitutions were agreed upon by common consent, at a time when her leading men needed the utmost support of the multitude, and therefore could have no other object in view, but the formation of such constitutions as would best suit the people at large, and unite them most heartily in repelling common dangers. As the strength of a people consists in their numbers, our separate states, sensible of their weakness, were actually excited by self- interest to form such free governments, as would encourage the greatest influx of inhabi- tants. In this manner, an emulation has virtually taken place in all the thirteen states, each contending with the others, who should form the freest constitution. Thus independ- ence has been the fruitlul parent of govern- ments formed on equal principles, more favora- ble to the liberty and happiness of the gov- erned, than any that have yet been recorded in the annals of history. While we were dependent on Britain, our freedom was out of the question ; for what is a free state, but one that is governed by its own will .' What shadow of liberty then could we possess, when the single NO of a king, 3000 miles distant, was sufficient to repeal any of our laws, however useful and salutary ; and when we were to be bound in all cases whatso- ever by men, in whose election we had no vote who had an interest opposed to ours, and over whom we had no control ? The wit of man could not possibly devise any mode that would unite the freedom of America with Britain's claim of unlimited supremacy. We were there- fore reduced to the alternative of liberty and independence, or slavery and union. We wisely chose to cut the Gordian knot, which tied old Britain to the new, and to assume our independent station among the empires of the world. Britain, had she honestly intended it, was incapable of governing us for the great purposes of government. Our great distance, and other local circumstances, made it impos- sible for her to be sufficiently acquainted with our situation and wants : But, admitting it was in her power, we had no reason to expect that she would hold the reins of government for any other end but her own advantage. Human nature is too selfish, too ambitious, for us to expect, that one country will govern another, for any but interested purposes. To obtain the salutary ends of government, we must blend the interests of the people and their rulers ; or else, the former will infallibly be sacrificed to the latter. Hence, the absurdity of our expecting security, liberty and safety, while we were subjects of a state a thousand leagues distant. Connection with Britain involved us in all her quarrels ; and such is the fluctuating state of her politics, that we could not long expect a political calm. In vain did the .Atlantic ocean interpose ; for, by our unnatural union, we were necessarily dragged into every war which her pride or ambition might occasion. Besides, as she considered the colonies as her property, what was to hinder her from ceding any or all of them to the different European states. Thus, while we had no independent government of our own, we might have been the support of various contending powers, and tossed about, like a foot-ball, from one to the other. Our independence will naturally tend to fill our 38o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. country with inhabitants. Where life, liberty, and property, are well secured, and where land is easily and cheaply obtained, the natural in- crease of people will much exceed all European calculations. Add to this, the inhabitants of the old world, becoming acquainted with our excellent forms of government, will emigrate by thousands. In their native lands, the hard- earned fruits of uninterrupted labor are scarcely equal to a scanty supply of their natural wants, and this pittance is held on a very precarious tenure : while our soil may be cheaply pur- chased, and will abundantly repay the toil of the husbandman, whose property no rapacious landlord dare invade. Happy America ! whose extent of territory, westward, is sufficient to ac- commodate with land thousands and millions of the virtuous peasants, who now groan be- neath tyranny and oppression in three quarters of the globe. Who would remain in Europe, a dependent on the will of an imperious landlord, when a few years' industry can make him an independent American freeholder .' Such will be the fruits of our glorious revolu- tion, that in a little time gay fields, adorned with the yellow robes of ripening harvest, will smile in the remotest depths of our western frontiers, where impassable forests now frown over the uncultivated earth. The face of our interior country' will be changed from a barren wilderness into the hospitable abodes of peace and plenty. Cities, too, will rise majestic to the view, on those very spots which are now howled over by savage beasts and more savage men. The population of this country has been heretofore very rapid ; but it is worthy of obser- vation, that this has varied, more or less, in proportion to the degrees of liberty that were granted to the different provinces, by their re- spective charters. Pennsylvania and New England, though inferior in soil, being blest originally with the most free forms of govern- ment, have outstripped others in the relative increase of their inhabitants. Hence I infer, that as we are all now completely free and in- dependent, we shall populate much faster than we ever have done, or ever would, while we were controled by the jealous policy of an in- significant island. We possess thousands and millions of acres, which we may sell out to new settlers, on terms very easy to them, and yet sufficient to defr.ay the whole expense of the present war. When the quit-rents, formerly paid to the king, shall be appropriated to the benefit of the inde- pendent states, they will fill our treasuries to so great a degree, that foreign nations, know- ing that we abound in the sinews of war, will be afraid to provoke us. In a few years, when our finances are properly arranged, the stop- page of those sums which were formerly drained from us, to support the pride and extravagance of the British king, will be an ample provision, without taxes, for defraying the expense of our independent governments. It is difficult to compute the number of advan- tages arising from our present glorious strug- gle ; harder still, perhaps impossible, precisely to ascertain their extent. It has attracted the at- tention of all Europe to the nature of civil lib- erty, and the rights of the people. Our constitu- tions, pregnant with the seeds of liberty and happiness, have been translated into a variety of languages, and spread far and wide. Who can tell what great events, now concealed in the womb of time, may be brought into existence by the nations of the old world emulating our successful efforts in the cause of liberty ? The thrones of tyranny and despotism will totter, when their subjects shall learn and know, by our example, that the happiness of the people is the end and object of all government. The wondering world has beheld the smiles of Heaven on the numerous sons of America, resolving to die or be free : Perhaps this noble example, like a wide spreading conflagration, may catch from breast to breast, and extend from nation to nation, till tyranny and oppres- sion are utterly extirpated from the face of the earth.* The tyrants and landlords of the old world, who hold a great part of their fellow men in bondage, because of their dependence for land, will be obliged to relax of their arbitrary treatment, when they find that America is an asylum for freemen from all quarters of the globe. They will be cautious of adding to the oppressions of their poor subjects and tenants, lest they should force them to abandon their country, for the enjoyment of the sweets of American liberty. In this view of the matter, I am confident that the cause of America * Britain will eventually lose less by our independence than is commonly supposed. The king and ministers may be cured of their lust of domination, and will be deprived of influence and the means of corruption. While she had a monopoly of our trade, it encouraged idleness and ex- travagance in her manufacturers ; because they were sure of a market for their goods, though dear and ill made. But, as independence will bestow our commerce on those who most deserve it, this will be the means of introducing frugality and industry among her laboring poor. Our population will be so much the more rapid for our free governments, that, in my humble opinion, that part of our trade which will fall to the share of Great Britain, if she has the wisdom to conclude a speedy peace, will be more to her advantage than a monopoly of the whole of it, if we had remained subjects. SOUTH CAROLINA. 38-1 is the cause of human nature, and that it will extend its influence to thousands who will never see it, and procure them a mitigation of the cruellies and oppressions imposed by their arbitrary task-masters. If such be the glorious consequences of inde- pendence, who can be so lost to every generous sentiment, as to wish to return under royal domination ? Who would not rather count it an honor to stand among the foremost, in doing and suffering in a cause so intimately con- nected with the happiness of human nature? Away with all the peevish complaints of the hardness of the times, and the weight of the taxes. The prize for which we contend, would be cheaply purchased with double the expense of blood, treasure and difficulty, it will ever cost us. Our independent constitutions, formed on the justest principles, promise fair to give us the most perfect protection to life, liberty and property, equally to the poor and the rich. As at the conflagration of Corinth, the various melted metals running together, formed a new one, called Corinthian brass, which was supe- rior to any of its component parts : in like manner, perhaps it is the will of Heaven, that a new empire should be here formed, of the dif- ferent nations of the old world, which will rise superior to all that have gone before it, and extend human happiness to its utmost possible limits. None can tell to what perfection the arts of government may be brought. May we not therefore expect great things from the patriots of this generation, jointly co-operating to make the new born republic of America as complete as possible.' Is it not to be hoped, that human nature will here receive her most finished touches.' That the arts and sciences will be extended and improved ? That relig- ion, learning, and liberty, will be diffused over this continent .' and in short, that the Ameri- can editions of the human mind will be more perfect than any that have yet appeared ? Great things have been achieved in the infancy of states ; and the ardor of a new people, rising to empire and renown, with prospects that tend to elevate the human soul, encourages these flattering expectations. Should any puny politician object, that all these prospects are visionary, till we are cer- tain of independence, I reply, that we have been in possession of it for two years, and are daily more able to support it, and our enemies less able to overset it. When we first dared to contend with Britain, we were a loose, dis- jointed people, under no other government but that of a well-regulated mob. If in these cir- cumstances, we were able to defend ourselves, what may we not expect, when we can draw forth our whole strength in a regular, constitu- tional manner? If the maiden courage of our new levies, has successfully withstood the well trained bands of our enemies, can we distrust, when three campaigns have made them equal in discipline, with those whom they are to con- tend ? Such is the situation of Britain that were we only able to keep up the appearance of an army, she could not afford to protract the war. But instead of this, our troops are more numerous, better disciplined, clothed and armed, than they ever were. The most timid may dismiss all their doubts, since Louis the XVI. of France, that illustrious protector of the rights of human nature, with a magnanimity worthy of himself, has guaranteed to us our independency. If Britain could not subdue America, when she stood single and alone, how abortive must all her attempts prove, when we are aided by the power of the great- est European monarch ? The special interposition of Providence in our behalf, makes it impious to disbelieve the final establishment of our heaven-protected in- dependence. Can any one seriously review the beginning, progress, and present state of the war, and not see indisputable evidence of an over-ruling influence on the minds of men, pre- paring the way for the accomplishment of this great event ? As all the tops of com, in a waving field, are inclined in one direction by a gust of wind, in like manner, the governor of the world has given one, and the same universal bent of in- clination to the whole body of our people. Is it a work of man that thirteen states, fre- quently quarreling about boundaries, clashing in interests, differing in policy, manners, cus- toms, forms of government, and religion, scat- tered over an extensive continent, under the influence of a variety of local prejudices, jeal- ousies, and aversions, should all harmoniously agree, as if one mighty mind inspired the whole ? Our enemies seemed confident of the impos- sibility of our union ; our friends doubted it ; and all indilTerent persons, who judged of things present, by what has heretofore hap- pened, considered the expectation thereof as romantic. But He, who sitteth at the helm of the universe, and who boweth the hearts of a whole nation as the heart of one man, for the accomplishment of his own purposes, has effected that, which to human wisdom and foresight seemed impossible. A review of the history of America, from its first discovery to 382 PRIN'CIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the present day, forces upon us a belief, that greater blessings are reserved for this conti- nent, than she ever could have possessed whilst lying low at the foot of an European island ? It has never yet been fairly tried how far the equal principles of republican government would secure the happiness of the governed. The ancients, unacquainted with the present mode of taking the sense of the people by rep- resentatives, were too apt. in their public meet- ings, to run into disorder and confusion. The distinction o{ patricians ^x\A plebeians, laid the foundation of perpetual discord in the Roman commonwealth. If the free states of Greece had been under the control of a common su- perintending power, similar to our continental congress,* they could have peaceably decided their disputes, and probably would have pre- served their freedom and importance to the present day. Happily for us, warned by expe- rience, we have guarded against all these evils. No artificial distinction of ranks has been suf- fered to take place among us. We can peace- ably convene a state in one small assembly of deputies, representing the whole in an equal proportion. All disputes between the different states, and all continental concerns, are to be managed by a congress of representatives from each. What a security for liberty, for union, for every species of political happiness ! Small states are weak, and incapable of defence, large ones are unwieldy, greatly abridge natural lib- erty, and their general laws, from a variety of clashing interests, must frequently bear hard on many individuals. But our confederation will give us the strength and protection of a power equal to that of the greatest ; at the same time * Their council of Amphictyones in some things, re- sembled our congress ; but their powers were too limited. This suggests a hint, that a consideration of the United States, on principles that vest the congress with ample powers, is most likely to perpetuate our republican gov- ernments and internal tranquility. The union of indepen- dent commonwealths, under one common head, is an application of the social compact to states, and requires powers proportionally enlarged. Treason in our govern- ments, puts on a new aspect, and may be committed by a state as well as an individual ; and therefore ought to be clearly defined, and carefully guarded against. To give permanency to our confederation on republican principles, the following regulations seem expedient. That congress should have a power to limit or to divide large states, and to erect new ones. To dispose of the money arising from quit-rents and vacant lands, at least till all the expenses of the war are sunk. To establish a general intercourse between the states, by assigning to each, one or more manufactories, with which it should furnish the rest ; so as to create a reciprocal dependence of each, upon the whole : To erect a great continental university, where gentlemen from all the states may form an acquaintance, receive the finishing touches of educa- tion, and be inspired with continental liberality of mind, superior to local prejudices, and favorable to a confedera- ted union. that, in all our internal concerns, we have the freedom of small independent commonwealths. We are in possession of constitutions that con- tain in them the excellencies of all forms of government, free from the inconveniences of each ; and in one word, we bid fair to be the happiest and freest people in the world forages yet to come. When I anticipate in imagination the future glory of my country, and the illustrious figure it will soon make on the theatre of the world, my heart distends with generous pride for being an American. What a substratum for empire ! compared with which, the foundation of the Macedonian, the Roman, and the British, sink into insignificance. Some of our large states have territory superior to the island of Great Britain ; while the whole, together, are little inferior to Europe itself. Our independ- ence will people this extent of country with freemen, and will stimulate the innumerable inhabitants thereof, by every motive, to perfect the acts of government, and to extend human happiness. I congratulate you on your glorious prospects. Having for three long years weathered the storms of adversity, we are at length arrived in view of the calm haven of peace and security. We have laid the foundations of a new empire, which promises to enlarge itself to vast dimen- sions, and to give happiness to a great conti- nent. It is now our turn to figure on the face of the earth, and in the annals of the world. The arts and sciences are planted among us, and, fostered by the auspicious influence of equal governments, are growing up to matu- rity ; while truth and freedom flourish by their sides. Liberty, both civil and religious, in her noon-tide blaze, shines forth with unclouded lustre on all ranks and denominations of men. Ever since the flood, true religion, literature, arts, empire and riches, have taken a slow and gradual course from east to west, and are now about fixing their long and favorite abode in this new western world. Our sun of political happiness is already risen, and hath lifted its head over the mountains, illuminating our hemisphere with liberty, light, and polished life. Our independence will redeem one quar- ter of the globe from tyranny and oppression, and consecrate it the chosen seat of truth, justice, freedom, learning and religion. We are laying the foundation of happiness for count- less millions. Generations yet unborn will bless us for the blood-bought inheritance, we are about to bequeath them. Oh happy times ! Oh glorious days ! Oh kind, and indulgent, bountiful Providence, that we live in this highly SOUTH CAROLINA. 383 favored period, and have the honor of helping forward these great events, and of suffering in a cause of such infinite importance ! AN ORATION Delivered by the late Dr. Ladd, Before his excellency the governor of South Carolina, and a number of other gentlemen, on Monday, the fourth of July, 1785, the celebration of American independence — al Charleston, Sottth Carolina. " Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation." A prophet divinely inspired, and deeply im- pressed, with the importance of an event which had just taken place, breaks into this exclama- tion — an exclamation happily adapted to the present occasion ; tending to "perpetuate the remembrance of an event which is written upon the heart of every true American — every friend to his country. When we consider this as the natal anniver- sary of our infant empire, we shall ever be led to call into grateful recollection the fathers of our independence : those to whom (under God) we are indebted for our political existence and salvation. A short eulogium upon them, their merits, and their honors, will be the sub- ject of the present discourse ; for what more happy subject can be chosen on this day, than the great authors of our liberty .' they ! who " digged it out with their swords ! " — who, in the grim face of death, amidst perils innumer- able, gave the purchase of their blood — who built it upon their tombs, and whose spirits, bending from the sky, point with pleasure to its foundation. But where am I ? Fairy scenes open around me, and I seem to press the ground of enchantment. Behold yon vast structure, which towers to the very heavens ! Is it not cemented with blood, and built upon the slaughtered carcass of many a gallant soldier? on its broad front, American inde- pendence shines conspicuous, in characters of crimson ! — surrounding nature appears ani- mated ! the very tombs accost the traveller, and seemingly repeat — " How beautiful is death when earn'd by virtue ! Who would not sleep with those ? what pity is it That we can die but once to save our country ! " Add. Cato. The eventful history of our great revolution, is' pregnant with many a source of sublime astonishment I Succeeding ages shall turn the historic page, and catch inspiration from the era of 1776; they shall bow to the rising glory of America ; and Rome, once mistress of the world, shall fade on their remembrance. The commencement of our struggles, their progress, and their periods, will furnish a use- ful lesson to posterity — they will teach them that men — desperate for freedom — united in virtue — and assisted by the God of armies, can never be subdued. The youthful warrior — the rising politician, will tremble at the retrospect, and turn pale at the amazing story. America — the infant America, all defenceless as she is, is invaded by a most powerful nation : her plains covered by disciplined armies, her har- bors crowded with hostile fleets. Destitute of arms ; destitute of ammunition ; with no dis- cipline but their virtue, and no general but their God, behold our brave countrymen aris- ing to resistance — see the first encroachments of hostility withstood at Lexington ; and O Britain ! write that page of thy history in crim- son, and margin it with black, for thy troops fled ! — routed with stones, with clubs, and every ignominious weapon — they fled from our women ; they were defeated by our children. At this very time, a member of the British parliament could assert in open day, that a single regiment of disciplined troops, would march through America, and crush the rebels to subjection. The experiment was tried ; it was reiterated, and the success was everj' way worthy of the rash attempt. Such has the in- consistency been of theory and practice, relative to American subjugation. But were freemen — were Americans to be intimidated by the military parade of hostile regiments .'' Answer, ye Britons ! for by a bloody experience, have ye been taught the re- verse ; by a bloody experience were ye taught never to oppose men desperate for their coun- try ; and by that bloody experience will your children, and your children's children acquire instruction. They will learn wisdom from the history of defenceless Americans, who when threatened with the loss of their liberties, (lib- erties ! which were coeval with their existence, and dearer than their lives) arose in resistance, and were nerved by desperation 1 what was the consequence? the invaders were repulsed, their armies captured, their strong works demolished, and their fleets driven back. Behold the terri- ble flag, that glory of Great Britain, drooping all tarnished from the mast, bewails its sullied honors. This, my countrymen, by assistance super- human, have we at length accomplished— I say superhuman assistance, for one of us has 384 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. " chased a thousand, and put ten thousand to flight. The Lord of hosts was on our side, the God of the armies of Israel ; " and at every blow we were ready to exclaim with glorious exultation, " The sword of the Lord and of Washington." Yet how did even America despair, when the protecting hand of her great leader was one moment withheld ! Witness our veteran army retreating through the Jerseys ; an almost total withering to our hopes, while America trembled with expectation — trembled ! though shielded and protected by the King of kings, and her beloved Washington. But brilliant, rapid, and successive have our conquests been : while the gloomy " times that try men's souls," were few, and of short duration. America, born to be independent, gathered strength amidst surrounding difficul- ties. She rose, like Antseus, vigorous from every fall. Her resentment was accompanied by the winged bolt of destruction. It flashed, like lightning from heaven, against her ene- mies, and blasted as it smote. Opposition like this, what mortals could withstand ? for it is written in the volumes of eternity, that even Britain, that hardy, that gallant nation, was unequal to the conflict. Yet, while we justly admire the valor and success of our veteran armies, let us shed one tear to the memory of those " unfortunately brave," who were martyrs in common cause ; and, while we celebrate their actions— while we glory in their virtues — let us deplore the catastrophe, and lament their misfortunes. What catastrophe .■■ what misfortunes ? Par- don me, my respected auditors. Let your indulgent bosoms plead in my favor ; and re- member, that the timid perturbation of a young orator, before so august an assembly, must lead him into frequent improprieties. I said we should lament their misfortunes. I beg leave to correct that too hasty expression ; for surely it is no misfortune to the brave man, that he has died for his country. Quite the reverse ; it is the highest acme of military ambition, and plays around the soldier's character with a sun-beam of never ending glorj'. " The gallant man though slain in fight he be, Yet leaves his country safe, his nation free ; Entails a debt on all the grateful state ; His own brave friends shall glory in his fate, His wife live honor'd, all his race succeed ; And late posterity enjoy the deed." Pope's Homer. The fall of the brave man is by no means the death of the \'ulgar: it is the birth-day of his glory, and opens to a blessed immortality. There the hoary warrior who has learned the rudiments of his profession under Washington or Wolfe, Montcalm or the great Montgomery, shall then commence his soldiership; then, en- listed in the armies of Michael, that archangelic chieftain, he shall fight the battles of the Lord : nor shall his earthly fame be unremembered, but, when the historic leaf shall shiver in the blaze — when all human work, the great Iliad itself, receive their finish from the fire, the soldier's memory must survive, for it is regis- tered in heaven. Yes ! ye shall live in fame, ye shades of Warren, of Mercer, of Laurens, and the brave Montgomery ! and when in remotest ages, pos- terity shall call forth every distinguishing char- acteristic of human excellence, the genius of your country shall bend his drooping head, and one tear, one grateful tear be shed to your re- membrance. Then the young warrior, emulous of your fates and your fame, shall in specula- tion.* It contradicts our habits and opinions in every other transaction of life. Do we feel his burning soul — and while he unsheaths the patriotic blade, he shall exclaim with tran- sport — • *' How beautiful is death when earn'd by virtue." But peace to your manes, ye dear departed brethren ! ye have trodden the path of honor before us ; and obtained the crown of glory. Brethren, it is all your own, for bravely did ye obtain it. May the green sod lie light on your breasts, and sweet your slumbers be in the dark house appointed for all living. *' So sleep the brave who sink to rest, With all their country's wishes blest ; When spring, with dewy fingers cold Returns to deck their hallow'd mould She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than fancy's feet have ever trod. By fairy hands their knell is rung ; By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; There honor coraes. a prilgrim grey. To bless the turf that wraps their clay, KnA /reedcim shall a while repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there." — Collins, But we turn to take a view of those worthy authors of our independence, who have sur- vived the contest. — A living patriot ! Where is the bosom that does not vibrate with pleasure at the sound i The dead can only receive the tribute of remembrance ; and long shall they possess it ; but the living are entitled to our warmest thanks, our united benedictions. — Here words must fail ; for who can duly praise * An omissioo in original print SOUTH CAROLINA. 385 the living patriots of America? Alas ! barely to recount their names, their merits, and their honors, would exhaust the powers of language ; to do them justice is above all Ciceronian rhetoric, and calls for the eloquence of angels. You, and you, with a very respectable part of my audience, have fronted danger in the bloody field. — With a truly masonic fortitude have we assisted in the structure of our inde- pendence ; and ye will tell the story to your children and your children shall tell their child- ren, and their children another generation. Thus shall your honors succeed with undiminished lustre to posterity ; and future writers shall praise the brave man, and crown their eulogium with — " his father was an American." Allow me, my auditors, one claim on your attention to the beloved name of Washington : for how, upon a celebration like this, can the name of Washington be distant.' he whose unbiassed virtue, firm patriotism, unequalled abilities, and steady perseverance, are written upon the hearts of his brethren. — Though retired from the theatre of action, in the full splendor of meridian glories, he can never be lost to his country — we see him in our liberties, and shall forever see him, while that opus mag- num, the independence of America, remains in existence. Where are those who admire the unexampled patriot, and " in whose ears the name of a soldier sounds like the name of a friend?" O that upon this day ye would join your friendly voices with mine, to eternize the name of Washington ! — The august veteran of Prussia has himself led the way, and left it upon ever- lasting record, that " Frederic was the oldest general in Europe, when Washington was the greatest general upon earth." But I proceed to pay that attention due to the memory of another distinguished character; For to what is America more indebted than to the gallant exertions of her beloved Greene ? in whose amiable character the great soldier and the good citizen are so conspicuously blended — Long shall this country in particular retain his memory — long as the palmetto, that emble- matic tree, shall flourish in Carolina. " To thee, O Greene, each muse her tribute pays, Great chieftain crown'd with never fading bays ; Thy worth, thy country, ever grateful, owns, Her first of warriors and her best of sons." ***** But see the long list ! upon which the names of Gates, Lincoln, the brave Stark, and the gallant Wayne are conspicuously lettered ! Men whose names shall descend to posterity with co-eternal honor ; among them shall the 25 brave Sullivan be often mentioned ; and the name of St. Clair though sullied by malign censure, will shine untarnished there ; and there shall the venerable name of Putnam be found, that hoary chieftain, who, " The fame of battle spread, When fourscore years had blanch'd his laurel'd head.* But there is no end of this ! the list of deserv- ing characters is swelling to my view, and I shall grow hoarse in repeating it ; I will there- fore quit the attempt, and hasten to conclude : " For should I strive to mention ev'ry name. With which my country swells the list of fame. Amidst the labor of the arduous tale, Mj' time, my periods, and my voice would fail." Previous to my quitting this subject, permit me, gentlemen of South Carolina, to observe, that the very man who fills the seat of your government for the present year, must long remain high in his country's honors — honors, which he has most bravely acquired. — The gallant defence of Fort Moultrie will decorate the page of many a future history, and give at once immortal fame to the hero and historian. And now, my most respected auditors, hav- ing in some measure paid our debt of acknowl- edgment to the visible authors of our independ- ence, let us lay our hands upon our hearts in humble adoration of that monarch, who (in the place of George the third) was this day chosen to reign over us : let us venerate the great generalissimo of our armies, from whom all triumphs flow : and be it our glory, that not George the Third, but Jehovah the first, and the last, is king of America — He who dwelleth in the clouds, and whose palace is the heaven of heavens : — For independent as we are with re- spect to the political systems of this world, we are still a province of the great kingdom, and fellow subjects with the inhabitants of heaven. PATRIOTIC CHARGE Of Judge Pendleton, to the grand Jurors of Georgetown, Cheraws, and Camden Districts, 1787, upon the Con- dition of Society. Gentlemen of the grand jury — Is this fatal passion for sudden riches, so generally pre- valent among us, to extinguish every sentiment of political and moral duty? Is it to be ex- pected, that one assembly after another will be on the side of the debtor? No, gentlemen: the period is not far distant, when the laws of the state must be voluntarily obeyed, or ex- ecuted by force. No society ever long en- 386 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. dured the miseries of anarchy, disorder, and licentiousness. The most vile despotism will be embraced in preference to it. The nations, from which we derive our origin, afford innu- merable examples of this. I will, however, mention but one. When the parliament of England had dethroned and beheaded that faithless tyrant, Charles the first — subdued all their enemies at home and abroad — and changed their monarchy into a republic — one would have supposed, that an assemblage of as great talents as ever adorned human nature, which so highly distinguished the patriots of that time, could not fail of forming a wise and just government, and of transmitting it to their ^sterity. But the event shewed that the dis- orderly temper of the people, occasioned by the civil war, would not bear the strong curb of legal authority. E.xpedient after expedient was tried : and government assumed many different shapes to humor their passions and prejudices, and lead them to a willing obedi- ence ; but all to no purpose. The public dis- orders daily increased. Every little club of politicians were for making laws for the whole nation. The fair form of equal and legal liberty became defaced by a thousand fanciful and impracticable whimsies, until the general distress became insupportable. What fol- tewed ? The very people, who, a few years before had dazzled the world with the splendor of their actions, invited back, and enthroned the son of that king, whom they had formerly put to death ; gave him carte blanche to do as he pleased : and seemed to have forgotten, that they had ever lost a drop of blood, or spent a shilling, in defence of their liberty. Gentlemen, let us not lose sight of this awful precedent. To acquire freedom is nothing, in comparison to a wise and profitable use of it. Nothing can be more certain, than that Great Britain would eagerly seize any opportunity to compass our destruction. She would, to-mor- row, pour her fleets and armies into this coun- try, particularly the southern states, if the great powers of Europe could be so allied and con- nected, as to secure her from a hostile confed- eracy. The history of those nations ever)' where shews us, what trivial causes occasion the most important changes in their political systems. Surely, then, it is wise to be on our guard, and in the first place to secure a free and just, but, at the same time, a strong government at home. Without this, the citizens are insecure in their persons and estates : that insecurity produces murmuring and discontent : and that discon- tent will ever produce a disposition favorable for trying new changes. In such a state, to be attacked by a formidable enemy, without sol- diers or military stores, and without authority to compel even our own citizens to obey the laws, we must fall a prey to any foreign power, who may think it worth the cost to subju- gate us. I have heard, gentlemen of the grand jury, great complaints against the illiberal and mo- nopolizing spirit of the British government, on the subject of commerce with America — her numerous duties on American produce — and her refusal to enter into treaties for mutual benefits in trade. It must surely be highly ridiculous to abuse one nation for profiting by the follies of another. Do we expect that Great Britain, as a trading nation, will not exert every nerve to hold fast the commercial advantages, which our avidity for her negroes and manufactures hath given her.' Is it not the steady policy of every nation in Europe, to promote and extend their own commerce by every possible means, let it be at the expense of whomsoever it will .' Yes, gentlemen : and let us act with such caution and punctuality, as to make it her interest to solicit, and we shall soon find her courting, with douceurs, those commercial compacts, which she now so con- temptuously declines. At the close of the war, indeed, she stood trembling with apprehension, lest our two allies, France and Holland, should monopolize our trade. A treaty, pressed at that moment, and properly urged — the sine qua non of all future amity and intercourse, would, in all probability, have produced an inlet of American built vessels into her islands, and an exemption from many other injurious restraints. But the favorable moment slipt through our hands unimproved, and (I fear) never to return. The only possible way left us to recover it, is, to live within our income ; to secure a balance of trade in our favor ; and to urge the federal government to such general regulations, as shall secure us from the infa- mous vassalage into which we are hurrying. If three or four thousand pounds sterling worth of merchandise, (annually) which sum will include a great many luxuries, be suffi- cient for all our rational wants, when our exports greatly exceed that sum, and are annu- ally increasing — is it not obvious to the mean- est capacity, that a large balance must yearly return to us in gold and silver .' which, in spite of all the paper-money casuists in the world, is the only wholesome political blood that can give union, health, and vigor to the body politic. If we do not curtail our expenses, and export more than we import, a general bank- ruptcy must be the inevitable consequence. SOUTH CAROLINA. S87 Many people cafl for large emissions of pa- per-money. For what .' — To shift the burdens, which they have incurred by their avarice and folly, from themselves to their better, and more deserving, creditors, whose property they choose to hold fast. Can anything be more fraudulent or astonishing? No, gentlemen; paper medium and sherifis' sale bills, are only temporary expedients, a repetition of which, in a ver>' short time, would be insupportable. They were intended, at a singular crisis, to open a retreat even to the foolish and ex- travagant, as well as the unfortunate debtor, by affording an opportunity to retrieve, but not to give impunity to the one, or a release to the other. The honest and industrious man will seize the opportunity to lay up against the day of account and payment, while nothing will correct or reclaim the indolent and fraudu- lent knave. But, as I said, the period is at hand, when the punctual payment of taxes and debts must take place voluntarily : or the unin- terrupted recovery- of them, in the courts of justice, be enforced. Palliatives are exhausted. We must either relinquish government, resign our independence, and embrace a military master — or execute our laws by force of arms, if no alternative is left us. But, before we are compelled to resort to this disgraceful and painful ultimahem, let us all exert ourselves, and support each other, as free citizens, ac- knowledging no master but the laws, which we ourselves have made for our common good — obeying those laws, and enforcing them, when and where we can. Let no man say, this or that is not my business. Whatever materially affects the honor and interest of the state, is every man's business ; because he must, in common with all others, share the good or evil brought upon his country. The man who re- fuses or evades the payment of taxes imposed by his immediate representative, or excites or co-operates in the resistance of lawful autho- rity, is the parricide of his country, as well as the voluntary assassin of his own interest ; since it is impossible he can be tranquil or hap- py, or enjoy his property in peace and security, while his country is convulsed and distracted. As grand jurors, gentlemen, the laws have selected you, as their principal auxiliary and most responsible guardians. On you, then, it is peculiarly incumbent to interest yourselves in the conduct of all around you. You have the greatest property to lose ; and your exam- ple, therefore, must be of the greatest weight. Investigate the police of your district : and, wherever any person has accepted a public trust, and neglects or abuses it, drag him forth, let his office, fortune, or character be what it may. If keepers of ferries, highways, or bridges, do not discharge their duty — if the officers of justice violate the trust reposed in them — you are bound, in duty to your country, to your- selves and to your children, as well as by the solemn oath you have just taken, to name them in your presentments, together with the names of such witnesses as can prove the charge. Even in your private capacity, as citizens, to inform against and prosecute all such offenders, is highly meritorious. The malevolence which may, for a time, be directed against an honest, spirited and patriotic citizen, is like the harm- less hissing of serpents, that cannot bite. He will soon triumph over their impotent clamor, and obtain the esteem and support of all good men. I have been actuated in the plain and pointed observations you have just heard, by an ardent zeal for the honor and prosperity of my coun- try. This is not a time to lessen or extenuate the terror, which the present dangerous crisis must inspire. To know our danger, to face it like men, and to triumph over it by constancy and courage, is a character this country once justly acquired. Is it to be sacrificed in the hour of peace, with every incentive to preserve it ? I repeat again, that, without a change of conduct, and an union of all the good men in the state, we are an undone people : the gov- ernment will soon tumble about our heads, and become a prey to the first bold ruffian, who shall associate a few desperate adventurers, and seize upon it. I confess the subject very deeply affects me. I shall, therefore pursue it no farther. I do not, however, despair of the republic. There are honest and independent men among us, to retrieve every thing, whatever may be op- posed by the vicious and unprincipled, if they will but step forth, and act with union and vigor. If they will not, the miseries resulting to their country from the utter destruction of all public and private credit, a bankrupt treasury, and the triumph of all manner of fraud, rapine-, and licentiousness, together with the scorn and derision of our enemies, if we should have any left, be on their heads ! GENERAL MARION. Interesting Sketches relating to his services. A biography of this revolutionary hero, it ap>- pears, by an article in the Southern Patriot, 388 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. has been written by Judge James, of South "^Carolina ; and the following extract has been given in that paper as a specimen of the work about to be published : " To people of good principles, particularly the religious, at this period (1780 and 1781), was truly distressing. Those fit for military- service, including men of sixty years of age and boys of fourteen, few of whom dared to stay at home, were engaged in active warfare, and had their minds in constant occupation, which, in whatever situation man may be placed, brings with it a certain degree of satisfaction, if not content. But to the superannuated and the female sex, no such satisfaction was afforded. Most of those had relatives to whom they were bound by the most tender and sa- cred ties, who were exposed to constant danger, and for whose fate they were unceasingly anx- ious. Asa comfort in this situation, they might employ themselves in household affairs, or re- sort to private devotion ; but those refined pleasures, which arise from social intercourse, were wanting ; and particularly that faint pic- ture of heaven, the consolation which is derived from meeting one's friends in public worship, was wholly denied them. Most of the churches in towns and in the country were burnt or made depots for the military stores of the enemy — some, in fact, were converted into stables ; and of the remainder, all in the coun- try were closed. In a war of such atrocity there was no safety, where members, however peaceful, were collected ; we have seen that the British tories* violated the sanctity of pri- vate dwellings by their murders, and how -could it be expected they would be awed by the holiness of a church .' In a camp where was no permanency, and but little rest, there was no place for chaplains — and at home there was no security, even for the pastors of the church ; consequently they were compelled to go into exile. Had they gone out of their own families to administer comfort, it would have been said they were stirring up sedition ; and, like some bigots of old, they would have made themselves voluntary martyrs. They took the wiser course of retiring with their families from the murderous rage of the times." • The British, under Tarleton, had already, (in May, 1780I, cut to pieces Mr. Samuel Wyley, in his own house, at Camden, whom they mistook for his brother, John Wyley, who was sheriff of the district ; and the tories, under Harrison, had murdered in their dwelling's, the two Mr. Bradleys, Mr. Roberts, and others, in that part of Salem which lies on Lynch's creek. Lord Cornwallis soon made Harrison a colonel. " Near the close of the year 1780, there took place a skirmish between a small patrol of whigs, under Captain Melton, and a large party of tories, under major Ganey, near White's Bridge two miles from Georgetown ; a few shots were exchanged, and Melton was obliged to re- treat. But, in this short affair, Gabriel Marion, nephew to the general, was first taken prisoner, and when his name was announced, inhumanly- shot. The instrument of death was placed so near that it burnt his linen at the breast. He was a young gentleman, who had received a good education — of whom high expectations were formed, and who was much beloved in the brigade. The general had no children, and he mourned over this youth, as would a father over an only child, and all his men con- doled with him, but he soon publicly expressed this consolation for himself that his nephew was a virtuous young man — that he died in de- fence of his country, and that he would mourn over him no more. " At that same place a worthy man, Mr. Swai- neau, was killed. Ere this he had been a schoolmaster, but, finding there was no em- ployment for men of his peaceful profession now, he boldly shouldered the musket and died a soldier. But so prone are mankind to pass over the merits of this useful class of citi- zens, that, had he not fallen by the side of a Marion, perhaps his memory would have been forgotten. About the same time Mr. Bently, another schoolmaster, was killed in action. The suspension of all public education, which led to the fate of such men, and the fact stated above, that all public worship w-as now at an end, most forcibly shewed the calamitous state of the counti;y during this eventful period." " Men at this time, and their generals too, had nothing but water to drink — they com- monly wore homespun clothes, which lacked warmth — they slept in damp places, according to their means, either with or without a blan- ket ; he was well off who had one to himself the one half of the general's had been burnt — they were content to feed upon sweet potatoes, either with or without beef; there being neither mills nor leisure to grind corn — but all sighed for salt — for salt ! that article of the first neces- sity to the human race. Little do the luxurious of the present day know of the pressure of such a want. Salt, when brought from the sea-shore off Waccanaw, where it was coarsely manufactured, brought at that time ten silver dollars, each more than ten at present ; thus bay salt, one half brine, sold for at least one hundred dollars value of this day. As soon as SOUTH CAROLINA. 389 General Marion could collect a sufficient quan- tity of this desirable article, he distributed it out from Snow's Island, on Pedee, in quantities not exceeding a bushel, to each Whig family, and thus endeared himself the more to his fol- lowers." Marion's Escape from the British Dragoons. General Marion was a native of South Caro- lina, and the immediate theatre of his exploits was a large section of maritime district of that state. The peculiar hardihood of his constitu- tion, and his being adapted to a warm climate, and low marshy countr}-, qualified him to endure hardships and subrnit to exposure, which, in that sickly region, few other men would have been competent to sustain. With the small force he was enabled to embody, he was continually annoying the enemy, cautious never to risk an engagement, till he could make victory certain. General Marion's per- son was uncommonly light, and he rode, when in service, one of the fleetest and most pow- erful chargers, the South could produce : — when in fair pursuit nothing could escape, and when retreating nothing could overtake him. Being once nearly surrounded by a party of British dragoons, he was compelled, for safety, to pass into a cornfield, by leaping the fence — • this field, marked with considerable descent of surface, had been in part a marsh ; Marion entered in at the upper side, the dragoons in chase, leaped the fence also, and were but a short distance behind him. So completely was he now in their power, that his only mode of escape was to pass over the fence at the lower side. To drain the field of its superfluous water, a trench had been cut around this part of the field, four feet wide, and of the same depth ; of the mud and clay removed in cutting it, a bank had been formed on its inner side, and on the top of this was erected the fence, the elevation amounting to nearly eight feet perpendicular height — a ditch four feet in width running parallel with it on the outer side, a foot or more intervening, between the fence and ditch. The dragoons, acquainted with the nature and extent of this obstacle, and considering it impos- sible for their enemy to pass it, pushed towards him with loud shouts of exultation and insult, and summoning him to surrender or perish by the sword ; regardless of their rudeness and empty clamor, and inflexibly determined not to be- come their prisoner, Marion spurred his horse to the charge. The noble animal, as if conscious that his master's life was in danger, and that on his exertions depended his safety, ap- proached the barrier in his finest style, and with a bound that was almost supernatural, cleared the fence and ditch completely, and recovered himself without loss of time on the opposite side — Marion instantly wheeled about and saw his pursuers unable to pass the ditch, discharged his pistol at them without eftect, and then wheeUng his horse, and bidding them good morning, departed. The dragoons, astonished at what they had witnessed, and scarcely believing their foe to be mortal, gave up the chase. MR. HUNTER, Of Darlington district. South Car- olina. Interesting account of his ESCAPE from the TORIES. The following fact, though altogether worthy of being remembered, has never, I believe, been reported by the pen of any historian. Lest it should be thought a mere fabrication to occupy a vacant column in the newspaper, I think it not unimportant to state, that the sub- ject of this memoir, Mr. Hunter, is well known in Darlington district. South Carolina ; and the following narrative, which I had from him- self, is familiar to his friends and acquaintances. Hunter, though a youth of perhaps eighteen years old, was very active in defence of his country's rights during the revolutionary war. It was the fate of this tyro in arms to fall into the hands of major Fanning, whose deeds as a cruel partisan leader in the service of Great Britain, are written in North and South Caro- lina, in characters of blood. Hunter, whose active ser\'ices had roused the ire of the major, was told upon the spot to prepare for his fate, which was nothing less than death, for which awful event a few minutes only were allowed him to prepare. A band of tories, thirsting for the blood of a patriot, instantly formed a circle round the boy, leaving him no reasonable chance for escape. At this moment thought followed thought in quick succession. His home, his friends, his country, and the circumstances under which he was about to be torn from them all, together with the reflection that he must quickly realize a state of untried being, crowded upon his mind, and called up feelings not to be described. For the first time he bent his knees to the 390 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. power which wields the destinies of man, and no sooner had he breathed a wish to the throne of mercy, than he felt a strong persua- sion that deliverance was possible. This im- portant point settled in his mind, he cast his eyes round in search of the means to be em- ployed. At the distance of a few paces from the encircling band stood a beautiful filly, fur- jiished with the major's riding establishment, complete. This animal, late the idol of sports- men in Virginia, had fallen into the hands of the present owner, and was highly prized as affording the means of escape from impending danger. " Cannot I," thought Hunter, " spring from my knees, gain the saddle, and under the favor of that power which has so fully assured my heart, escape this threatening death .' " Having resolved, if he must perish to perish in the at- tempt, he darted like lightning through his ene- mies, and seizing the bridle, which was held by a servant boy, as he vaulted into the saddle, he put the major's courser to the speed, and went off with his booty, to the no small disappoint- ment and mortification of the astonished be- holders. After gazing a while in stupid amaze- ment, the redoubtable Fanning recollected that his soldiers had guns, but it was too late ; and the order io " shoot at the rebel," yi3.s obeyed without effect. GEORGIA. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS Written by Sir James Wright, governor AND captain general OF GEORGIA. [The reviser of this work is indebted through the cour- tesy of the Governor of Georgia, to the Hon. H. R. Jack- son, President of the Historical Society of that State, for the following interesting extracts (furnished March 7th, *S76) from the correspondence of Sir James Wright, ^hen colonial Governor) with the Home government, relating to the Revolutionary movement in the colonies.'"] " Savannah in Georgia, the a4TH of Augi^si, 1774. I conceive that the licentious spirit in Ameri- ca has received such countenance and encour- agement from many persons' speeches, and declaradons at the time of the Stamp Act, and ever since, in Great Britain, and has now gone to so great a length, and is at such a height, that neither coercive nor lenient measures will settle matters, and restore any tolerable degree of cordiality and harmony with the Mother country ; and in short things and circumstances in America have increased so fast, and at this time so amazingly exceed what at the first set- tling and planting the colonies could probably have been supposed or expected, and America is now become, or indisputably ere long will be, such a vast, po^verful, and opulent country or dominion, that I humbly conceive, in order to restore and establish real and substantial harmony, affection and confidence, and that Great Britain may receive that benefit and advantage which she has a right to expect from the colonies, it may be found advisable to settle the line with respect to taxation, etc., by some new mode or constitution ; and without which my real and candid opinion is, that how- ever matters may be got over at present, and whatever appearance there may be of amity and union, the flame will only be smothered for a time and break out again at some future day with more violence. But be these things as they may, I doubt not but your Lordship will judge it is absolutely necessary that they are brought to a point and clearly settled and es- tablished somehow or other, and not suffered to remain as they are. Nothing but jealousies, rancor and ill-blood : law and no law, gov- ernment and no government, dependence and independence, if I may be allowed the expres- sions, and everything unhinged and running into confusion, so that in short a man hardly knows what to do or how to act ; and it's a most disagreeable state to one who wishes to support law, government and good order, and to discharge his duty with honor and integrity." '• 2oth June, \Tii . . . By the enclosed paper your lordship will see the extraordinary resolves by the people in Charlotte-town, Mecklen- burg county, and I should not be surprised if the same should be done every where else."* * This extract confirms the genuineness of the Declara- tion of Independence declared by the people of Mecklea- burg county, North Carolina, May 30th, 1775. See p. 313. GEORGIA. 391 ADDRESS From Provincial congress, requesting that a day may be appointed for fasting and prayer by the governor. Georgia, July 8, 1775. To his excellency, sir James Wright, Bart, captain-general, governor, and commander-in- chief in and over his majesty's said province, chancellor and ordinar}' of the same. May it please your excelleticy — The Provincial congress, deeply concerned at the present alarming state of affairs and dis- tresses of America, humbly request that your excellency would appoint a day of fasting and prayer, to be observed throughout this province. That a happy reconciliation may soon take place between America and the parent state, and that under the auspicious reign of his majesty and his descendants, both countries may re- main united, virtuous, free and happy until time shall be no more. By order of the congress. Arch. Bullock, President." Dated in provincial congress ) the 7th day of July, 1775." \ Answer of Governor Wright. Savannah, yuly 9, 1775. Gentlemen, — I have taken the opinion of his majesty's council relative to the request made by the gentlemen, who have assembled together by the name of a Provincial congress, and must premise that I cannot consider that meeting as constitutional. But as the request is expressed in such loyal and dutiful terms, and the ends proposed being such as ever/ good man must most ardently wish for, I will certainly appoint a day of fasting and prayer, to be observed throughout this province. Ja. Wright. To Stephen Drayton junior, and the other gentlemen who waited on the governor." GOVERNOR JAMES WRIGHT Relating to the action of the people in sympathy with the revolution. "\^h October, 1775. . . I wrote your lord- ship before in what manner the command of the militia was wrested from me ; they have not yet attempted to obstruct the court of Chan- cer)-, but except that I have scarce any power left, but proving wills and granting letters of administration." "id January, iTjt. . . They say that now they have gone so far, that neither fortune or lives are to be regarded, and that they will go every length. But still if we had proper sup- port and assistance, I think numbers would join the king's standard ; but no troops, no money, no orders or instructions, and a wild multitude gathering fast, what can any man do in such a situation .'' No arms, no ammuni- tion, not so much as a ship of war of any kind, and the neighboring Province at the same time threatening vengeance against the friends of government, and to send 1000 men to assist the liberty people if they want assistance, all these things my Lord are really too muc/t. They have also publicly declared that every man shall sign the association or leave the Province ; that is, private persons, but that no King's officer shall be suffered to go: they will take care to prevent any of them from stirring. Surely my Lord, His Majesty's officers and du- tiful and loyal subjects will not be suffered to remain under such cruel tyranny and oppression. "loth March, 1776 . . . Your Lordship will judge of the cruel state and situation we are reduced to ; the rebels encouraged and ex- ulting ; their numbers in and about town in- creased, according to the best information I can get, to about 800 men in arms ; about 200 of their regiment or battalion already enlisted and daily increasing ; a considerable part of my property seized upon, and the negroes employed in throwing up and making military works in and about the town ; the King's officers and friends to government, some seized upon and kept prisoners, and others hiding and obliged to desert their families and property to save their lives and liberties, and some threatened to be shot whenever met with : which distresses my Lord I humbly conceive would not have happened, had no King's ships or troops come here, until there was sufficient to reduce the rebels at once." SPEECH Of Governor Archibald Bullock to the provincial congress of Georgia. Savannah (Georgia) ^une 20, 1776. Our provincial congress met here on the 6th inst., when his excellency Archibald Bullock, esq. president and commander in chief of the province of Georgia, delivered the following speech : Mr. Speaker, and gentlernen of the congress — The state of the province at your last meet- 393 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ing made it absolutely necessary to adopt some temporary regulations for the preservation of the public peace and safety ; and your appoint- ment of me to carry these things into execution, at a time so practical and ijnportant to the wel- fare of this country, requires an exertion of the greatest prudence and abilities. At a time, when our rights and privileges are invaded, when the fundamental principles of the constitution are subverted, and those men whose duty should teach them to protect and defend us, are become our betrayers and mur- derers ; it calls aloud on every virtuous member of the community to stand forth, and stem the prevailing torrent of corruption and lawless power. The many and frequent instances of your attachment towards me, and an ardent desire to promote the welfare of my country, have induced me to accept of this weighty and im- portant trust ; for your interest only I desire to act ; and relying on your aid and assistance in every difficulty, I shall always most confidently expect it. Some venial disaffected men may endeavor to persuade the people to submit to the man- dates of despotism ; but surely every freeman would consider the nature, and inspect the designs and execution of that government, under which he may be called to live. The people of this province, in opposing the designs of a cruel and corrupt ministry-, have surmounted what appeared insuperable difficulties ; and not- withstanding the artifice and address that for a long time were employed to divert their atten- tion from the common cause, they, at length by imperceptible degrees, succeeded, and declared their resolutions to assert their liberties and to maintain them, at all events, in concurrence with the other associated colonies. — For my part, I most candidly declare that, from the origin of these unhappy disputes, I heartily approved of the conduct of the Americans. My approbation was not the result of prejudice or partiality, but proceeded from a firm persuasion of their having acted agreeable to constitutional principles, and the dictates of an upright disin- terested conscience. We must all acknowledge our great obliga- tions to our ancestors, for the invaluable liberties we enjoy ; it is our indispensable duty to trans- mit them inviolate to posterity ; and to be neg- ligent, in an affair of such moment, would be an indelible stain of infamy on the present a;ra. Animated with this principle, I shall thinl: my- self amply rewarded, if I can be so fortunate as to render any service to the cause of freedom and posterity. Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the congress — Being sensible that colony matters of great importance will claim your attention at this meeting, I will not take up too much of your time from the public business. Some further regulations respecting the courts of justice, the state of the continental battalions, and the better ordering of the militia of this province, will necessarily be the subject of your disquisi- tions. You must be convinced of the many difficul- ties we labor under, arising from the number that still remain among us, under the shelter of an affected neutrality. The arguments alleged for their conduct, appear too weak to merit a refutation. This is no time to talk of modera- tion ; in the present instance it ceases to be a virtue. An appeal, an awful appeal, is made to Heaven, and thousands of lives are in jeopardy every hour. Our northern brethren point to their wounds, and call for our most vigorous exertions ; and God forbid that so noble a con- test should end in an infamous conclusion. You will not, therefore, be biassed by any sug- gestions from these enemies of American lib- erty, or regard any censure they may bestow on the forwardness and zeal of this infant colony. — You must evidently perceive the necessity of making some further laws respect- ing these non-associates; and though there may be some who appear at present forward to sign the association, yet it becomes us to keep a watchful eye on the motive and conduct of these men, lest the public good should be en- dangered through this perfidy and pretended friendship. By the resolves of the general congress, the inhabitants of the united colonies are permitted to trade to any part of the world, except the dominions of the king of Great Britain and in consequence of which, it will be necessary to fix on some mode of proceedings, for the clear- ance of vessels and other matters relative there- to ; and perhaps you may think it further re- quisite, to appoint proper officers to despatch this business, that the adventures in trade may meet with as little obstruction as possible. And I would at the same time recommend to yout consideration, the exorbitant prices of goods, and other necessaries of life, in the town of Savannah, and every part of the province. This certainly requires some immediate regulations, as the poor must be greatly distressed by such alarming and unheard of extortions. With respect to Indian affairs, I hoped to have the pleasure of assuring you, from the state of the proceedings of the commissioners, that they were in every respect friendly and GEORGIA. 393 warmly attached to our interest, and that there was the greatest reason to expect a continu- ance of the same friendly disposition ; But I have received some accounts rather unfavor- able. As this is of the highest consequence to the peace and welfare of the colony, I would here suggest, whether it would not be neces- sary to enter into some resolves, in order to prevent any future misunderstanding between them and our back settlers ; and to this I think I may add, that the putting the province in the best posture of defence, would be an object very requisite at this juncture. The continental congress have always been solicitous to promote the increase and im- provement of useful knowledge, and with the highest satisfaction contemplating the rapid progress of the arts and sciences in America, have thought proper to recommend the en- couraging the manufactory of salt-petre, sul- phur, and gunpowder. — The process is extremely easy, and I should be very glad to see any of the good people of this province exerting themselves in the manufacture of these useful and necessary articles. If they once consider it is for the public good, they will need no other inducement. Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the congress — Remember in all your deliberations you are engaged in a most arduous undertaking. Gen- erations yet unborn may owe their freedom and happiness to your determination, and may bestow blessings or execrations on your memory, in such manner as you discharge the tnist reposed in you by your constituents. Thoughts like these will influence you to throw aside every prejudice, and to exert your utmost efforts to preserve unanimity, firmness and impar- tiality in all your proceedings. Archibald Bullock. SERGEANT JASPER. The following biographical sketch of sergeant Jasper, whose name has been given to one of the counties of Georgia, in commemoration of his gallant deeds and signal services during the revolutionary war, is extracted from the second volume of M'Call's history of Georgia. " The conduct of sergeant Jasper, meets par- ticular notice in the history of Georgia, and his name is entitled to a page in the history of fame, while many others, high in rank, might justly be forgotten. He was a man of strong mind, but as it had not been cultivated by edu- cation, he modestly declined the acceptance of a commission, which was offered to him. At the commencement of the war, he enlisted in the second South Carolina regiment of infantry, commanded by colonel Moultrie. He distin- guished himself in a particular manner, at the attack which was made upon fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, on the 28th of June, 1776. In the warmest part of that contest, the flag- staff was severed by a cannon ball, and the flag fell to the bottom of the ditch on the outside of the works. This accident was considered by the anxious inhabitants in Charleston, as put- ting an end to the contest by striking the American flag to the enemy. The moment Jasper made the discovery that the flag had fallen, he jumped from one of the embrasures, and mounted the colors, which he tied to a sponge-staff, and re-planted them on the para- pet, where he supported them until another flag-staff was procured. The subsequent ac- tivity and enterprise of this patriot, induced colonel Moultrie to give him a sort of roving commission, to go and come at pleasure, con- fident that he was always usefully employed. He was privileged to select such men from the regiment as he should choose to accompany him in his enterprises. His parties consisted generally of five or six, and he often returned with prisoners before Moultrie was apprised of his absence. Jasper was distinguished for his humane treatment, when an enemy fell into his power. His ambition appears to have been limited to the characteristics of bravery, hu- manity and usefulness to the cause in which he was engaged. When it was in his power to kill, but not to capture, it was his practice to permit a single prisoner to escape. By his cun- ning and enterprise, he often succeeded in the capture of those who were lying in ambush for him. He entered the British lines, and re- mained several days in Savannah, in disguise, and after informing himself of their strength and intentions, returned to the American camp with useful information to his commanding officer. In one of these excursions, an instance of bravery and humanity is recorded by the bi- ographer of general Marion, which would stag- ger credulity, if it was not well attested. — While he was examining the British camp at Ebenezer, all the sympathy of his heart was awakened by the distresses of a Mrs. Jones, whose husband, an American by birth, had taken the king's protection, and been confined in irons for deserting the royal cause, after he had taken the oath of allegiance. Her well founded belief was, that nothing short of the life of her husband would atone for the offence with which he was charged. Anticipating the 394 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. awful scene of a beloved husband expiring upon the gibbet, had excited inexpressible emotions of grief and distraction. " Jasper secretly consulted with his com- panion sergeant Newton, whose feelings for the distressed female and her child were equally excited with his own, upon the practicability of releasing Jones ft'om his impending fate. Though they were unable to suggest a plan of operation, they were determined to watch for the most favorable opportunity and make the effort. The departure of Jones, and several others (all in irons,) to Savannah, for trial, un- der a guard, consisting of a sergeant, corporal, and eight men, was ordered upon the succeed- ing morning. Within two miles of Savannah, about thirty yards from the main road, is a spring of fine water, surrounded by a deep and thick underwood, where travellers often halt to refresh themselves with a cool draught from this pure fountain. Jasper and his companion considered this spot the most favorable for their enterprise. They accordingly passed the guard and concealed themselves near the spring. When the enemy came up they halted, and only two of the guard remained with the pris- oners, while the others leaned their guns against trees in a careless manner and went to the spring. Jasper and Newton sprang from their place of concealment, seized two of the mus- kets, and shot the sentinels. The possession of all the arms placed their enemy in their power, and compelled them to surrender. The irons were taken off, and arms put in the hands of those who had been prisoners, and the whole party arrived at Purysburgh the next morning and joined the American camp. There are but few instances upon record, where personal exertions, even for self-preservation from cer- tain prospects of death, would have induced resort to an act so desperate of execution ; how much more laudable was this, where the spring to action was roused by the lamenta- tions of a female unknown to the adven- turers. " Subsequent to the gallant defence at Sulli- van's Island, colonel Moultrie's regiment was presented with a stand of colors by Mrs. Elliot, which she had richly embroidered with her own hands, and as a reward for Jasper's particular merits, governor Rutledge presented him with a very handsome sword. During the assault against Savannah, two officers had been killed and one wounded endeavoring to plant these colors upon the enemy's parapet of the Spring hill redoubt. Just before the retreat was or- dered, Jasper endeavored to replace them upon the works, and while he was in the act, received a mortal wound and fell into the ditch. — When a retreat was ordered he recollected the hon- orable conditions upon which the donor pre- sented the colors to his regiment, and among the last acts of his life, succeeded in bringing them off. Major Horry called to see him soon after the retreat, to whom, it is said, he made • the following communication : ' I have got my furlough. That sword was presented to me by governor Rutledge, for my services in the defence of fort Moultrie — give it to my fa- ther, and tell him I have worn it with honor. If he should weep, tell him his son died in the hope of a better life. Tell Mrs. Elliot that I lost my life in supporting the colors which she presented to our regiment. If you should ever see Jones, his wife, and son, tell them that Jasper is gone, but that the remembrance of the battle which he fought for them brought a secret joy to his heart, when it was about to stop its motion forever.' He expired a few minutes after closing this sentence." CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 395 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. INTERESTING PROCEEDINGS. Fragment of an eloquent Speech, iHade in the general congress of America, by one of the delegates in lyj^— author un- known. FROM ALMON's remembrancer. The great God, sir, who is the searcher of all things will witness for me, that I have spoken to you, from the bottom and purity of my heart. We have heard that this is an arduous consid- eration. And surely, sir, we have considered it earnestly. I may think of every gentleman here, as I know of myself, that, for seven years past, this question has filled the day with anx- ious thought, and the night with care. The God to whom we appeal, must judge us. If the grievances, of which we complain, did not come upon us unprovoked and unexpected — when our hearts were filled with respectful affection for our parent state, and with loyalty to our king — let slavery, the worst of human ills, be our portion. Nothing less than seven years of insulted complaints and reiterated wrongs, could have shaken such rooted senti- ments. Unhappily for us, submission and slavery are the same ; and we have only the melancholy alternative left — of ruin or resist- ance. The last petition * of this congress to the king contained all that our unhappy situation could suggest. It represented our grievances ; implored redress, and professed our readiness to contribute for the general want, to the utmost of our abilities, when constitutionally required. The apparently gracious reception it met with, promised us a due consideration of it ; and that consideration relief. But, alas ! Sir, it seems at that moment the very reverse was intended. For it now appears, that in a very few days after this specious answer to our agents, a circular letter was privately written by the same secretary of state to the governors of the colonies, before parliament had been consulted, pronouncing the congress illegal, our grievances pretended, and vainly command- ing them to prevent our meeting again. Per- haps, sir, the ministers of a great nation, never before committed an act of such narrow policy and treacherous duplicity. They found * In 1774, presented last Christmas. parliament, however, prepared to support every one of their measures. I forbear, sir, entering into a detail of those acts, which from their atrociousness, must be felt and remembered forever. They are calcu- lated to carry fire and sword, famine and deso- lation, through these flourishing colonies. They cry " havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." The extremes of rage and revenge, against the worst of enemies, could not dictate measures more desperate and destructive. There are some people who tremble at the approach of war. They fear, that it must put an inevitable stop to the further progress of these colonies ; and ruin irretrievably those benefits, which the industry of centuries has called forth, from this once savage land. I may commend the anxiety of these men, without praising their judgment. War, like other evils, is often wholesome. The waters that stagnate, corrupt. The storm that works the ocean into rage, renders it salu- tary. — Heaven has given us nothing unmixed. The rose is not without the thorn. War calls forth the great virtues and efforts, which would sleep in the gentle bosom of peace. " Patdum sepulta distat inertia celaia virtus." It opens resources which would be concealed under the inactivity of tranquil times. It rouses and enlightens. It produces a people of animation, energy, adventure, and greatness. Let us con- sult history : Did not the Grecian republics prosper amid continental warfare ? Their prosperity, their power, their splendor, grew from the all-animating spirit of war— did not the cottages of shepherds, rise into imperial Rome, the mistress of the world, the nurse of heroes, the delight of Gods ! through the in- vigorating operation of unceasing wars ! — " Pet damna, per Cicdes, ab ipso duxit opes animum- que ferro." How often has Flanders been the theatre of contending powers, conflicting hosts, and blood ! Yet what country is more flourish- ing and fertile.' Trace back the history of our parent state. Whether you view her arraying Angles against Danes ; Danes against Saxons ; Saxons against Normans ; the barons against the usurping princes, or the civil wars of the red and white roses, or that between the people and the tyrant Stuart — you see her in a state of almost continual warfare. In almost every reign, to the commencement of that of 396 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Henry the Vllth, her peaceful bosom (in her poet's phrase) was gored with iron war. It was in the peaceful reigns of Henry VII. Henry VIII. and Charles 11. that she suffered the severest extremities of tyranny and oppression. But amid her civil contentions, she flourished and grew strong ; trained in them, she sent her hardy legions forth, which planted the stand- ard of England upon the battlements of Paris ; extending her commerce and her dominion. *^ Those noble English, who could entertain With half their forces, the full power of France, And let another half stand laughing by, All out of work, and cold for action." The beautiful fabric of her constitutional liberty was reared and cemented in blood. From this fulness of her strength those scions issued, which taking deep root in this delightful land, have reared their heads, and spread their branches hke the cedar of Lebanon. Why fear we then, to pursue, through appa- rent evil — real good .' The war, upon which we are to enter, is just and necessary." " Jus- turn est bclliim, iibi necessariion ; et pia anna, quibus nulla, nisi in armis, relinquitur spcs." It is to protect these regions, brought to such beauty through the infinite toil and hazard of our fathers and ourselves, from becoming the prey of that more desolating cruel spoiler than war, pestilence, or famine, — absolute rule and endless extortion. Our sufferings have been great — our endu- rance long. Every effort of patience, complaint, and supplication, has been exhausted. They seem only to have hardened the hearts of the ministers who oppress us, and double our dis- tresses. Let us therefore consult only how we shall defend our liberties with dignity and suc- cess. Our parent state will then think us worthy of her, when she sees that with her liberty we inherit her rigid resolution oT main- taining it against all invaders. Let us give her reason to pride herself in the relationship. And thou, great liberty ! inspire our souls. Make our lives happy in thy pure embrace, Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence ! A DAY OF HUMILIATION And Prayer, ordered by Congress, on Friday, the Seventeenth day of May, 1776. In Congress, March 16, 1776. The congress, considering the warlike preparations of the British ministry to subvert our invaluable rights and privileges, and to reduce us, by fire and sword, by the savages of the wilderness and our own domestics, to the most abject and ignominious bondage ; desirous, at the same time, to have people of all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God's superintending Provi- dence, and of their duty devoutly to rely in all their lawful enterprises on his aid and direc- tion, do earnestly recommend that Friday, the 17th day of May next, be observed by the said colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer ; that we may with united hearts, con- fess and bewail our manifold sins and trans- gressions, and by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous dis- pleasure, and, through the merits and media- tion of Jesus Christ, obtain .his pardon and for- giveness, humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies ; and by inclining their hearts to jus- tice and benevolence, prevent the further effu- sion of kindred blood. But, if continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and in- flexibly bent on desolation and war, they con- strain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, that it may please the Lord of Hosts, the God of armies, to animate our officers and soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the continental arms by sea and land, with victory and success. Earnestly beseeching him to bless our civil rulers, and the representatives of the people in their several assemblies and conventions ; to preserve and strengthen their union ; to inspire them with an ardent disinterested love of their country ; to give wisdom and stability to their councils ; and direct them to the most efficacious meas- ures for establishing the rights of America on the most honorable and permanent basis ; that he would be graciously pleased to bless all the people in these colorlies with health and plenty ; and grant that a spirit of incorruptible patriotism, and of pure undefiled religion, may universally prevail : and this continent be speedily restored to the blessings of peace and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate to the latest posterity. And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations, to assemble for public worship, and abstain from senile labor on the said day. By order of the congress. John Hancock, President. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 397 EXCITING DEBATE IN CONGRESS Upon the question of separation from England. One of the most interesting works that has ever appeared as a history of " the war of the independence of the United States of Amer- ica," was writen by Mr. Charles Botta, an Italian, a translation of which has been made by Mr. George Alexander Otis. From these volumes we extr.act the two speeches that fol- low — previous to the insertion of which, it is necessary to give the " notice of the author " in relation to them. By way of preface to his work, Mr. Botta says — "There will be found in the course of this history, several discourses, of a certain length. Those I have put in the mouth of the different speakers have really been pronounced by them, and upon those very occasions which are treated of in the work. I should, however, mention that I have, sometimes, made a single orator say what has been said in substance by others of the same party. Sometimes, also, but rarely using the liberty, granted in all times to histo- rians, I have ventured to add a small number of phrases, which appeared to me to coincide perfectly with the sense of the or.ator. and pro- per to enforce his opinion : this has happened especially in the two discourses pronounced before congress, for and against the independ- ence, by Richard Lee and John Dickinson. " It will not escape attentive readers, that in some of these discourses are found predictions which time has accomplished. I affirm that these remarkable passages belong entirely to the authors cited. In order that these might not resemble those of the poets, always made after the fact, I have been so scrupulous as to translate them, word for word, from the original." Patriotic speech of Richard Henry Lee. of Virginia, delivered June 8th, 1776, URGING AN immediate DECLARATION OF independence. On the 8th of June [1776] a motion being made in congress to declare independence, Richard Henry Lee, one of the deputies from Virginia, spoke as follows, and was heard with profound attention : " I know not, whether among all the civil discords which have been recorded by histori- ans, and which have been excited either by the love of liberty in the people, or by the ambition of princes, there has ever been presented a deliberation more interesting or more import- ant than that which now engages our attention, whether we consider the future destiny of this free and virtuous people, or that of our enemies themselves, who, notwithstanding their tyranny and this cruel war, are still our brethren, and descended from a common stock ; or finally, that of the other nations of the globe, whose eyes are intent upon this great specLacle, and who anticipate from our success more freedom for themselves, or from our defeat apprehend heavier chains and a severer bondage. For the question is not whether we shall acquire an increase of territorial dominion, or wickedly wrest from others their just possessions ; but whether we shall preserve, or lose forever, that liberty which we h.ave inherited from our ances- tors, which we have pursued across tempestuous seas, and which we have defended in this land against barbarous men, ferocious beasts, and an inclement sky. And if so many and distin- guished praises have alw.ays been lavished upon the generous defenders of Greek and of Rom.an liberty, what will be said of us who defend a liberty which is founded not upon the capricious will of an unstable multitude, but upon immut.able statutes and tutelary laws; not that which was the exclusive privilege of a few patricians, but that which is the property of all ; not that which was stained by iniquitous ostracisms, or the horrible decimation of armies, but that which is pure^ temperate and gentle, and conformed to the civilization of the present age. Why then do we longer procrastinate, and wherefore are these del.ays .' Let us complete the enterprise alre.ady so well commenced : and our union with England can no longer consist, since with that liberty and peace which are our chief delight, let us dissolve these fatalities, and conquer forever that good which we already enjoy ; an entire and absolute independence. " But ought I not to begin by observing, that if we have reached that violent extremity, be- yond which nothing can any longer exist be- tween America and England, but either such war or such peace as are made between foreign n.ations, this can only be imputed to the insati- able cupidity, the tyrannical proceedings, and the outrages, for ten years reiterated, of the British ministers. What have we not done to restore peace, and to re-establish harmony? Who has not heard our prayers, and who is ignorant of our supplications ? They have wearied the universe. England alone was deaf to our complaints, and wanted that com- passion towards us which we have found among all other nations. And as at tirst our forbearance, and then our resistance, have 398 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE RBVOLUTION. proved equally insufficient, since our prayers were unavailing, as well as the blood lately shed ; we must go further, and proclaim our independence. — Nor let any one believe that we have any other option left. The time will certainly come when the fated separation must take place, whether you will or no : for so it is decreed by the very nature of things, the progressive increase of our population, the fertility of our soil, the extent of our tenitory, the industry of our countrymen, and the immen- sity of the ocean which separates the two states. — And if this be true, as is most true, who does not see that the sooner it takes place the better; and that it would be not only im- prudent, but the height of folly, not to seize the present occasion, when British injustice has filled all hearts with indignation, inspired all minds with courage, united all opinions in one, and put arms in every hand ? And how long must we traverse three thousand miles of a stormy sea, to go and solicit of arrogant and insolent men either councils or commands to regelate our domestic affairs .' Does it not become a great, rich, and powerful nation, as we are, to look at home, and not abroad, for the government of its own concerns? And how can a ministry of strangers judge, with any discernment, of our interests, when they know not, and when it little imports them to know, what is good for us, and what is not ? The past injustice of the British ministers should warn us against the future, if they should ever seize us again in their cruel claws. Since it has pleased our barbarous enemies to place before us the alternative of slavery or of independence, where is the generous minded man and the lover of his country who can hesi- tate to choose .' With these perfidious men no promise is secure, no pledges sacred. Let us suppose, which heaven avert, that we are con- quered ; let us suppose an accommodation. What assurance have we of the British modera- tion in victory, or good faith in treaty ? Is it their having enlisted and let loose against us the ferocious Indians, and the merciless sol- diers of Germany .' Is it that faith, so often pledged and so often violated in the course of the present contest ; this British faith, which is reputed more false than Punic ? We ought rather to expect, that when we shall have fallen naked and unarmed into their hands, they will wreak upon us their fury and their vengeance ; they will load us with heavier chains, in order to deprive us not only of the power, but even of the hope of again recovering our liberty. But I am willing to admit, although it is a thing without example, that the British gov- ernment will forget past offences and perform its promises ; can we imagine, that, after so long dissentions, after so many outrages, so many combats, and so much bloodshed, our recon- ciliation could be durable, and that every day, in the midst of so much hatred and rancor, would not afford some fresh subject of animos- ity? The two nations are already separated in interest and affections ; the one is conscious of its ancient strength, the other has become acquainted with its newly exerted force ; the one desires to rule in an arbitrary manner, the other will not obey even if allowed its privi- leges. In such a state of things, what peace, what concord can be expected ? The Ameri- cans may become faithful friends to the Eng- lish, but subjects, never. And even though union could be restored without rancor, it could not without danger. — The wealth and power of Great Britain should inspire prudent men with fears for the future. Having reached such a height of grandeur that she has no lon- ger anything to dread from foreign powers, in the security of peace the spirit of her people will decay, manners will be corrupted, her youth will grow up in the midst of vice, and in this state of degeneration, England will be- come the prey of a foreign enemy, or an ambi- tious citizen. If we remain united with her, we shall partake of her corruptions and misfor- tunes, the more to be dreaded as they will be irreparable ; separated from her, on the con- trary, as we are, we should neither have to fear the seductions of peace, nor the dangers of war. By a declaration of our freedom, the perils would not be increased ; but we should add to the ardor of our defenders, and to the splendor of wtory. Let us then take a firm step and escape from this labyrinth ; we have assumed the sovereign power, and dare not confess it ; we disobey a king, and acknowledge ourselves his subjects ; wage war against a people, on whom we incessantly protest our desire to depend. What is the consequence of so many inconsistencies? Hesitation para- lyzes all our measures ; the way we ought to pursue is not marked out ; our generals are neither respected nor obeyed ; our soldiers have neither confidence nor zeal ; feeble at home, and little considered abroad, foreign princes can neither esteem nor succor so timid and wavering a people. But independence once proclaimed, and our object avowed, more manly and decided measures will be adopted, all minds will be fired by the greatness of the enterprise, the civil magistrates will be inspired with new zeal, the generals with fresh ardor, and the citizens with greater constancy, to CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 399 attain so high and so glorious a destiny. There are some who seem to dread the effects of this resolution. But will England, or can she, manifest against us greater vigor and rage than she has already displayed ? She deems resist- ance against oppression no less rebellious than independence itself And where are those formidable troops that are to subdue the Amer- icans ? What the English could not do, can it be done by Germans .' Are they more brave or better disciplined .' The number of our enemies is increased ; but our own is not di- minished, and the battles we have sustained have given us the practice of arms and the experience of war. Who doubts then that a declaration of independence will procure us allies ? All nations are desirous of procuring, by commerce, the production of our exuberant soil ; they will visit our ports hitherto closed by the monopoly of insatiable England. They are no less eager to contemplate the reduction of her hated power ; they all loathe her barbarous dominion ; their succors evince to our brave countrjmen the gratitude they bear them for having been the first to shake the foundation of this Colossus. Foreign princes wait only for the extinction of all hazard of reconciliation to throw off their present reserve. If this measure is useful, it is no less becoming our dignity. America has arrived at a degree of power, which assigns her a place among inde- pendent nations ; we are not less entitled to it than the English themselves. If they have wealth, so also have we ; if they are brave, £0 are we ; if they are more numerous, our population, through the incredible fruitful- ness of our chaste wives, will soon equal theirs ; if they have men of renown as well in peace as in war, we likewise have such ; political revolu- tions usually produce great, brave, and gener- ous spirits. From what we have already Bchieved in these painful beginnings, it is easy to presume what we shall hereafter accom- plish, for experience is the source of sage coun- cils, and liberty is the mother of great men. Have you not seen the enemy driven from Lex- ington by thirty thousand citizens armed and assembled in one day ? Already their most cele- brated generals have yielded in Boston to the skill of ours ; already their seamen, repulsed from our coasts, wander over the ocean, where they are the sport of tempest, and the prey of famine. Let us hail the favorable omen, and fight, not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are to be the slaves of England, but to secure to ourselves a free existence, to found a just and independent government. Anima- ted by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the innum- erable army of Persians ; sustained by the love of independence, the Swiss and the Dutch humbled the power of Austria by memorable defeats, and conquered a rank among nations. But the sun of America also shines upon the heads of the brave, the point of our weapons is no less formidable than theirs ; here also the same union prevails, the same contempt of dangers and of death in asserting the cause of country. " Why then do we longer delay, why still deliberate ? Let this most happy day give birth to the American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re-estab- lish the reign of peace and of the laws. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us! She demands of us a living example of freedom, that may contrast, by the felicity of the citi- zens, with the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose. She intreats us to cultivate a propitious soil where that generous plant, which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may re- vive and flourish, sheltering under its salubri- ous and interminable shade all the unfortunate of the human race. This is the end presaged by so many omens, by our first victories, by the present ardor and union, by the flight of Howe, and the pestilence which broke out amongst Dunmore's people, by the very winds which baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terrible tempest which ingulfed seven hundred vessels upon the coast of Newfound- land. If we are not this day w-anting in our duty to country, the names of the American legislators will be placed, by posterity, at the side of those of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Rom- ulus, of Numa, of the three Williams of Nas- sau, and of all those whose memory has been, and will be, forever dear to virtuous men and good citizens." Lee had scarcely ceased speaking, when no dubious signs of approbation were manifested on all parts. But the deputies of Pennsylvania and Maryland not being present, and the con- gress desirous, by some delay, to evidence the maturity of their deliberations, adjourned the further consideration of the subject to the first of July. Meanwhile the patriots labored strenuously to induce the two dissenting pro- vinces also to decide for independence. They employed the most earnest persuasions, to , which they added also threats, intimating that not only would the other colonies exclude them from the confederation, but that they would 400 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. immediately treat them as enemies. The pro- vincial assembly of Pennsylvania remained in- flexible. At length the inhabitants of Penn- sylvania formed a convention, in which the debates and disputes upon the question of independence were many and vehemenf. Speech of John Dickinson of Penn- sylvania, FAVORING A condition OF UNION WITH England, delivered July i, 1776. John Dickinson, one of the deputies of the province to the general congress, a man of prompt genius, of extensive influence, and one of the most zealous partisans of American liberty, restricted however to the condition of union with England, harangued, it is said, in the following manner against independence : " It too often happens, fellow citizens, that men, heated by the spirit of party, give more importance in their discourses, to the surface and appearance of objects, than either to rea- son or justice ; thus evincing, that their aim is not to appease tumults, but to excite them ; not to repress the passions, but to inflame them, not to compose ferocious discords, but to exasperate and imbitter them more and more. They aspire but to please the powerful, to gratify their own ambition, to flatter the caprices of the multitude, in order to captivate their favor. Accordingly in popular commo- tions, the party of wisdom and of equity is commonly found in the minority ; and, per- haps, it would be safer, in difficult circum- stances, to consult the smaller instead of the greater number. L'pon this principle I invite the attention of those who hear me, since my opinion may differ from that of the majority; but I dare believe it will be shared by all im- partial and moderate citizens, who condemn this tumultuous proceeding, this attempt to coerce our opinions, and to drag us, with so much precipitation to the most serious and im- portant of decisions. But, coming to the sub- ject in controversy, I affirm, that prudent men do not abandon objects which are certain, to go in pursuit of those which offer only uncer- tainty. Now, it is an established fact, that America can be well and happily governed by tbe English laws, under the same king and the same parliament. Two hundred years of hap- piness furnish the proof of it ; and we find it also in the present prosperity, which is the result of these venerable laws and of this ancient union. It is not as independent, but as subjects ; not as republic, but as monarchy. that we have arrived at this degree of power 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 ce- mented 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 mem- bers, directing them, with admirable harmony, to the same object, which Is self-preservation and happiness ; so the head of the body pol- itic, that is the king, in concert with the parlia- ment, 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 opinions 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 making any ; and that the surest means of bringing us back to hei obedience, would be that of employing none. For the dread of the EngUsh arms once re- moved, provinces would rise up against pro- vinces, and cities against cities ; and we shall be seen to turn against ourselves the arms we have taken up to combat the common enemy. " Insurmountable necessity would then com- pel us to resort to the tutelary authority which we should have rashly abjured, and if it con- sented to receive us again under its aegis, it would be no longer as free citizens, but as slaves. Still inexperienced, and in our infancy, what proof have we given of our ability to walk without a guide ? none, and, if we judge 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 some- times even to violence ? And what must we not expect, now that minds are heated, ambi- tions roused, and arms in the hands of all ? " If, therefore, our union with England offers us so many advantages for the maintenance of internal peace, it is no less necessary to pro- cure us, with foreign powers, that condescen- sion and respect which is so essential to the COI^TINENTAL CONGRESS. 401 prosperity of our commerce, to the enjoyment of any consideration, and to the accomplish- ment of any enterprise. Hitherto, in our inter- course 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 shadow of this respect- ed 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, everything will assume a contrary direction. The nations will accustom themselves to look upon us with dis- dain ; 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 affections, a manifest pro- pensity to oppress the feeble as well as to flatter the powerful. F'ear always carries it against reason, pride against moderation, and cruelty against clemency. " Independence, I am aware, has attractions for all 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 command. If, in rendering ourselves in- dependent 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 condition of English subjects for that of slaves to the whole world, is a step that could only be counselled by insanity. If you would reduce 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 liberty of Holland, of Venice, of Genoa, or of Ragusa, declare yourselves inde- pendent. 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 prosperity, 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 Eng- land ; but that the new pretensions of the ministers have changed all, have subverted all. 26 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 what 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 againsfus, are not designed to establish tyranny upon our shores, but to vanquish our obstinacy, and to compel us to subscribe to conditions of accom- modation. In vain is it asserted that the min- istry 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 im- possibility 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 population, 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 modera- tion and liberty, rather than upon rigor and oppression. An uninterrupted succession of victories and of triumphs could alone constrain England to acknowledge American indepen- dence ; which, whether we can expect, whoever knows the instability of fortune can easily judge. " If we have combated successfully at Lex- ington and at Boston, Quebec and all Canada have witnessed our reverses. Every one sees the necessity of opposing the extraordinary pre- tensions of the ministers ; but does every body see also that of fighting for independence .' " 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 situa- tion. By substituting a total dismemberment to the revocation of the laws we complain of. we should fully justify the ministers ; we should merit the infamous name of rebels, and all the British nation would arm, with an unanimous 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 blame, 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 to- wards England, foreign sovereigns will lavish their succors upon us, as if these sovereigns 402 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. could sincerely applaud rebellion ; as if they had not colonies, even here in America, in which it is important for them to maintain obedi- ence and tranquility. Let us suppose, how- ever, that jealousy, ambition or vengeance, should triumph over the fear of insurrection ; 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 per- tidy and the cupidity of Europeans ? They will disguise their avarice under pompous words ; under the most benevolent pretexts they will despoil 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 to those European flatteries, and to place that con- fidence in inveterate enemies which has been withdrawn from long tried friends. " There are many persons who, to gain their ends, extol the advantages of a republic over monarchy. I will not here undertake to ex- amine which of these two forms of government merits the preference. I know, however, that the English nation, after having tried them both, has never found repose except in mon- archy. 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 archons. of consuls, oi doges, o{ gonfaloniers, and finally oi kings. Nor should I here omit an observation, the truth of which appears to me incontestible ; the English con- stitution 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 efi"orts to seize absolute power ; and the authority of the people is so regulated, that anarchy is not to be feared. But for us it is to be apprehended, that when the counter- poise of monarchy shall no longer e.xist, the democratic power may carry all before it, and involve the whole state in confusion and ruin. Then an ambitious citizen may arise, seize the reins of power, and annihilate liberty forever : for 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 accomplished ! May it not permit that, in this solemn concourse of the friends of country, the impassioned language of pre- sumptuous and ardent men should have more influence than the pacific exhortations of good and sober citizens ; prudence and moderation found and preserve empires, temerity and pre- sumption 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 even than their opinion, the majority pronounced in favor of independence. The deputies of Pennsylvania were accordingly authorized to return to con- gress, and to consent that the confederate colonies should declare themselves free and in- dependent states. DISCU.SSION IN CONGRESS For and against retaliation on pris- oners OF WAR, 1776. Fragment of a speech in the general congress of America— \^^6. [Name of the speaker unknown.l Upon a motion to resolve, ' That all Scotch prisoners be treated with the utmost severity, as the rancorous abettors of this inhuman war, which has originated in Scotch principles, and from Scotch councils : ' The mover of this resolution prefaced and enforced it by a review of public transactions, both respecting England and America, since the commencement of the present reign. He showed these had been a series of violent grievances, followed by ineffectual complaints and petitions for redress. He enumerated the multitude of addresses from every part of Scot- land for the blood of the Americans. He sta- ted the general zeal and alacrity of that people in and out of parliament, and in Great Britain and America, for the destruction and subjuga- tion of the colonies. He reminded them of the treachery and uncontrolable enmity of the Scotch against them, recently experienced in the provinces of New York, Virginia, and the Carolinas ; where, in direct violation of every principle of gnititude, and of their faith ex- pressly pledged, they had joined the enemy, and openly attempted by taking up arms to destroy the liberties of those who had generously guaranteed theirs. To this, a southern delegate replied, after some general observations, neariy in the fol- lowing words : It is impossible, sir, not to feel the justice of the honorable mover's zeal and resentment. The facts upon which they are founded, un- CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 403 happily for humanity, are not to be denied. I myself stand here as one of the representatives of the colony, which has experienced every effort of Scotch violence, perfidy, and ingrati- tude. They petitioned to be protected in a neutrality during these unhappy commotions. They pledged their faith, in the most solemn manner, that they would not aid or inform those who might appear in arms against us. Upon these terms, neutrality was indulged ; protection was given them. They enjoyed it till our enemies appeared, and instantly took up arms for our destruction. That Providence, in whom the justice of our cause inspires confi- dence, enabled us to defeat their purposes. They remained, in consequence, at our mercy ; yet we exercised no greater act of severity, than that which was unavoidable, the obliging them to quit a colony, to which it was plain they were irreclaimably hostile. In the other colonies, they have manifested a similarly unprincipled enmity and rancor against the lives and liberties of a people, who, in a peculiar manner, have been profitable to them, and to their country. As they have thus distinguished themselves for ingratitude and hostility to us, they seem to merit a severity of treatment as distinguished. But, sir, let us remember, that we are en- gaged in a general war. Not a war with Scot- land, but with Great Britain. To general objects, general rules are applicable. Such a selection for severity, would savor more of the vengeance of individuals, than of public justice. We are contending in the noblest cause that can enlarge and exalt the human heart. Let the magnanimity of our conduct be proportioned to the nobleness of our pursuits. We are now forming a national character. Spite of the misrepresentations of our enemies, the truth will at length prevail. Like the glo- rious sun, it will be more splendid from the cloud that has obscured it. Let us then take care that, when it does come forth, it may be the wonder of nations. Let us mould it ; not on the demerits of our enemies, but on our own dignity. Let generosity, justice, and hu- manity, be the illustrious characteristics of the states of America. He ended with these lines from Caesar's speech in Sallust : Item bellis punicis omnibus, cum saspe Car- thaginensis et in pace, et per inducias, multa nefaria facinora fecissent, numquam majores nostri, per occasionem talia fecere ; magis quid se dignem foret, quamquid in illis jure fieri posset quaerebant. Hoc idem providendum est, patres conscript!, ne plus valeat apud vos, Publii Lentuli et caeterorum scelus, quam vestra dignitas ; neu inagis ira quam fama; consulatis. The motion was immediately rejected. RESOLUTIONS Passed by Congress, October 21, 1778, urging the people to retaliation, and copy after their " enemies, their German, Negro, and copper-colored ALLIES." STRONG MEASURES PROPOSED. In congress, Oct. 21, 1778. — ■" Whereas, there is every reason to expect that our unnat- ural enemies, despairing of being ever able to subdue and enslave us by open force, or per- suade us to break through the solemn treaties, as having entered into with our great and good ally, his most Christian majesty, and return to the dependence of Great Britain, will, as the last effort, ravage, burn, and destroy every city and town on this continent they can come at : Resolved, That it be recommended to such inhabitants of these states, as live in places exposed to the ravages of the enemy, immedi- ately to build huts, at least thirty miles distant from their present habitations, there to convey their women, children, and others not capable of bearing arms, and themselves in case of necessity, together with their furniture, wares, and merchandise of every sort ; also, that they send off all their cattle ; being measures they cannot think hardships in sxtch times of public calamity, when so many of \\i€v! gallant coun- trymen are daily exposed m the hardships of thtf field, fighting in defence of their rights and liberties. Resolved, That, immediately, when the enemy begin to burn or destroy any town, it be recommended to the good people of these states to set fire to, ravage, burn, and destroy, the houses and properties of all tories, and enemies to the freedom and independence of America, and secure the persons of such, so as to prevent them from assisting the enemy, always taking care not to treat them or their families with any wanton cruelties, as we do not wish, in this particular, to copy al'ter our enemies, or their Germen, negro, and copper- colored allies. Extract from the minutes. Charles Thomson, Sec." 404 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. PATRIOTIC MANIFESTO Of congress, October 30, 1778. FROM THE BOSTON PATRIOT, It is good for us all to look back on "olden times," — It is both good and proper for the young men and the youth of the present day to see and read some of the official acts of their fathers and grandfathers ; and thereby to trace out and mark down the eminent exertions, the privations, dangers and sufferings to which they were exposed in struggling through the arduous contest to establish the liberty and independence of their country, and to provide for their posterity a tiaiiotial name — a home, a shelter and a fireside. Read this and treasure it for the time to come. £y the Congress of the United States of America — A Manifesto. " These United States having been driven to hostilities by the oppressive and tyrannous measures of Great Bntain ; having been com- pelled to commit the essential rights of man to the decision of arms ; and having been, at length, forced to shake off a yoke which had grown too burdensome to bear, they declared themselves free and independent. Confiding in the justice of their cause ; con- fiding in him who disposes of human events, although weak and unprovided, they set the power of their enemies at defiance. In this confidence they have continued through the various fortune of three bloody campaigns, unawed by the power, unsubdued by the barbarity of their foes. Their virtuous citizens have borne, without repining, the loss of many things which makes life desirable. Their brave troops have patiently endured the hardships and dangers of a situation, fruitful in both beyond former example. The congress considering themselves bound to love their enemies, as children of that being who is equally the father of all ; and desirous, since they could not prevent, at least to alle- viate, the calamities of war, have studied to spare those who were in arms against them, and to lighten the chains of captivity. The conduct of those serving under the king of Great Britain hath, with some few excep- •ions, been diametrically opposite. They have laid waste the open country, burned the de- fenceless villages, and butchered the citizens of America. Their prisons have been the slaughter-houses of her soldiers ; their ships * * Notes by the transcriber — who recollects that several of her seamen, and the severest injuries have been aggravated by the grossest insults. Foiled in their vain attempt to subjugate the unconquerable spirit of freedom, they have meanly assailed the representatives of America with bribes.t with deceit, and the servility of adulation. They have made a mock of human- ity, by the wanton destruction of men ; they have made a mock of religion, by impious ap- peals to God whilst in the violation of his sacred commands : they have made a mock even of reason itself by endeavoring to prove that the liberty and happiness of America could safely be intrusted to those who have sold their own, unawed by the sense of virtue or of shame. Treated with the contempt which such con- duct deserved, they have applied to individuals; they have solicited them to break the bonds of allegiance, and embrue their souls with the blackest of crimes : but, fearing none could be found through these United States equal to the wickedness of their purpose, to influence weak minds they have threatened more wide devas- tation. While the shadow of hope remained, that our enemies could be taught by our example to respect those laws which are held sacred among civilized nations, and to comply with the dictates of a religion, which they pretend in common with us to believe and to revere, they have been left to the influence of that religion and that example. But since their incorrigible dispositions cannot be touched by kindness and compassion, it becomes our duty by other means to vindicate the rights of humanity . We, therefore, the congress of the United States of America, do solemnly declare and proclaim, that if our enemies presume to exe- cute their threats, or persist in their present career of barbarity, we will take such exem- plary vengeance as shall deter others from a like conduct. We appeal to that GOD who searcheth the hearts of men, for the rectitude of our intentions ; and, in his holy presence, we declare, that as we are not moved by any light and hasty suggestions of anger and re^■enge, of his school mates suffered severely on board the 'Jersey prison ship ; and he knows several persons yet living in Boston, who felt the iron hand and heart of unrelenting barbarity, while prisoners on board " that poisoned ftoat- ing dungeon " in the harbor of New York, when in pos- session of the British. t The supposed or reputed author, [Samuel Adams], of the above elegantly written state paper, chose the high honor and exalted feeling of supporting the liberties and equal rights of his countrymen, with a moderate fortune to the low and grovelling dignity of a British pensioner 0/ t'MO thousand guineas per annum /or ii/e" He was in the cabinet of his country, what general Greene was in the field ; " ever early, ever watchful, and never weary of toil or fatigue until he saw alt was luell.'^ CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 405 so through every possible change of fortune we will adhere to this our determination. Done in Congress, by unanimous consent, Xhe thirtieth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight. (Signed) Henry Laurens, President." AN ADDRESS By Congress, to the inhabitants of the United States, upon the condition OF the country, and urging united AND EARNEST EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THEIR ENEMY, May 26, 1779. TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Friends and countrymen — The present sit- uation of public affairs demands your most serious attention, and particularly the great and increasing depreciation of your currency requires the immediate, strenuous, and united efforts of all true friends to their country, for preventing an extension of the mischiefs that have already flowed from that source. America, without arms, ammunition, disci- pline, revenue, government, or ally, almost totally stript of commerce, and in the wealiness of youth, as it were, with a "staff and a sling," only dared, " in the name of the Lord of Hosts," to engage a gigantic adversary, pre- pared at all points, boasting of his strength, and of whom even mighty warriors " were greatly afraid." For defraying the expenses of this uncommon war, your representatives in congress were obliged to emit paper money ; an expedient that you knew to have been before generally and successfully practised on this continent. They were very sensible of the inconveniences with which too frequent emissions would be attended, and endeavored to avoid them. For this purpose they established loan-offices so early as in October, 1776, and have, from that time to this, repeatedly and earnestly solicited you to lend them money on the faith of United States. The sums received on loan have nev- ertheless proved inadequate to the public exi- gencies. Our enemies prosecuting the war by sea and land with implacable fury and with some success, taxation at home and borrowing abroad, in the midst of difficulties and dangers, were alike impracticable. Hence the continued necessity of new emissions. But to this cause alone we do not impute the evil before mentioned. We have too much reason to believe it has been in part owing to the artifices of men who have hastened to enrich themselves by monopolizing the neces- saries of life, and to the misconduct of inferior officers employed in the public service. The variety and importance of the business entrusted to your delegates, and their constant attendance in congress, necessarily disables them from investigating disorders of this kind. Justly apprehensive of them, they by their several resolutions of the 22d of November, and 20th of December, 1777, and of the 3d and 9th of February, 1778, recommended to the legisla- tive and executive powers of these states a due attention to these interesting affairs. How far those recommendations have been complied with we will not undertake to determine, but we hold ourselves bound in duty to you to de- clare, that we are not convinced there has been as much diligence used in detecting and reform- ing abuses as there has been in committing or complaining of them. With regard to monopolizers, it is our opin- ion, that taxes, judiciously laid on such articles as become the objects of engrossers, and those frequently collected, would operate against the pernicious tendency of such practices. As to inferior officers employed in the public service, we anxiously desire to call your most vigilant attention to their conduct with respect to every species of misbehavior, whether pro- ceeding from ignorance, negligence or fraud, and to the making of laws for inflicting exem- plary punishments on all offienders of this kind. We are sorrj' to hear that some persons are so slightly informed of their own interests, as to suppose that it is advantageous to them to sell the produce of their farms at enormous prices, when a little reflection might convince them that it is injurious to those interests and the general welfare. If they expect thereby to pur- chase imported goods cheaper, they will be egregiously disappointed ; for the merchants, who know they cannot obtain returns in gold, silver, or bills of exchange, but that their vessels, if loaded here at all, must be loaded with pro- duce, will raise the price of what they hav^e to sell, in proportion to the price of what they have to buy, and consequently the landholder can purchase no more foreign goods, for the same quantity of his produce, than he could before. The evil, however, does not stop at this point. The landholder, by acting on this mis- taken calculation, is only laboring to accumu- late an immense debt, by increasing the public expenses, for the payment of which his estate is engaged, and to embarrass every measure adopted for vindicating his liberty, and securing his posterity. 4o6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. As the harvests of this year, which, by the Divine goodness, promise to be plentiful, will soon be gathered, and some new measures relating to your foreign concerns, with some arrangements relating to your domestic, are now under consideration, from which beneficial effects are expected, we entertain hopes that your affairs will acquire a much greater degree of regularity and energy than they have hith- erto had. But we should be highly criminal if we did not plainly tell you, that those hopes are not founded wholly upon our own proceedings. These must be supported by your virtue, your wisdom, and your diligence. From the advan- tage of those seats in the national council with which you have honored us, we have a pleasing prospect of many blessings approaching this \ our native land. It is your patriotism must introduce and fix them here. In vain will it be for your delegates to form plans of economy ; to strive to stop a continua- tion of emissions by taxation or loan, if you do not zealously co-operate with them in promo- ting their designs, and use your utmost indus- try to prevent the waste of money in the expen- diture, which your respective situations, in the several places where it is expended, may enable you to do. A discharge of this duty, a com- pliance with recommendations for supplying money, might enable congress to give speedy assurances to the public that no more emis- sions shall take place, and thereby close that source of depreciation. Your governments being now established, and your ability to contend with your invaders ascertained, we have, on the most mature de- liberation, judged it indispensably necessary to call upon you for forty-five millions of dollars, in addition to the fifteen millions re- quired by a resolution of congress, of the 2d of January last, to be paid into the continental treasury before the ist day of January next, in the same proportion, as to the quotas of the several states, with that for the said fifteen millions. It appeared proper to us to fix the first day of next January for the p.ayment of the whole ; but, as it is probable that some states, if not all, will raise part of the sums by instalments, or otherwise, before that time, we recommend in the strongest manner the paying as much as can be collected as soon as possible into the continental treasury. Though it is manifest that moderate taxa- tion, in times of peace, will recover the credit of your currency, yet the encouragement which your enemies derive from its depreciation, and the present exigencies, demand great and speedy exertions. We are persuaded you will use all possible care to make the promotion of the general welfare interfere as little as may be with the ease and comfort of individuals ; but though the raising these sums should press heavily on some of your constituents, yet the obligations we feel to your venerable clergy, the truly helpless widows and orphans, your most gal- lant, generous, meritorious officers and sol- diers, the public faith and the common weal, so irresistibly urge us to attempt the apprecia- tion of your currency, that we cannot with- hold obedience to those authoritative sensa- tions. On this subject we will only add, that, as the rules of justice are most pleasing to our infi- nitely good and gracious Creator, and an ad- herence to them most likely to obtain his fa- vor, so they will ever be found to be the best and safest maxims of human policy. To our constituents we submit the propriety and purity of our intentions, well knowing they will not forget, that we lay no burthens upon them, but those in which we participate with them — a happy sympathy, that pervades socie- ties formed on the basis of equal liberty. Many cares, many labors, and may we not add, reproaches — are peculiar to us. These are the emoluments of our unsolicited stations ; and with these we are content, if you approve our conduct. If you do not, we shall return to our private condition, with no other regret than that which will arise from our not having served you as acceptably and essentially as we wished and strove to do, though as cheer- fully and faithfully as we could. Think not we despair of the commonwealth, or endeavor to shrink from opposing difficul- ties. No. Your cause is too good, your ob- jects too sacred, to be relinquished. We tell you truths, because you are freemen who can bear to hear them, and may profit by them ; and when they reach your enemies, we fear not the consequences, because we are not ig- norant of their resources or our own. Let your good sense decide upon the comparison. Let even their prejudiced understandings de- cide upon it, and you need not be apprehen- sive of the determination. Whatever supposed advantages from plans of rapine, projects of blood, or dreams of dom- ination, may heretofore have amused their inflamed fancies, the conduct of one monarch, the friend and protector of the rights of man- kind, has turned the scale so much against them, that their visionary schemes vanish, as CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 407 the unwholesome vapors of the night before the heahhful influence of the sun. An alliance has been formed between his most Christian majesty and these slates, on the basis of the most perfect equality, for the direct end of maintaining effectually their liberty, sovereignty and independence, ab- solute and unlimited, as well in matters of government as of commerce. The conduct of our good and great ally towards us, in this instance and others, has so fully manifested his sincerity and kindness, as to excite on our part correspondent sentiments of confidence and affection. Obsening the interests of his kingdom, to which duty and inclination prompted his atten- tion, to be connected with those of America, and the combination of both clearly to coin- cide with the beneficent designs of the Author of Nature, who, unquestionably, intended men to partake of certain rights and portions of happiness, his majesty perceived the attain- ment of these views to be founded on the single proposition of a separation between America and Great Britain. The resentment and confusion of your enemies, will point out to you the ideas you should entertain of the magnanimity and con- summ.ite wisdom of his most Christian majesty on this occasion. They perceive, that selecting this grand and just idea from all those specious ones that might have confused or misled inferior judg- ment or virtue, and satisfied with the advan- tages which must result from that event alone, he has cemented the harmony between himself and these states, not only by establishing a re- ciprocity of benefits, but by eradicating every cause of jealousy and suspicion. They also perceive, with similar emotions, that the mode- ration of our ally, in not desiring an acquisition of dominion on this continent, or an exclusion of other nations from a share of its commercial advantages, so useful to them, has given no alarm to those nations, but, in fact, has in- terested them in the accomplishment of his generous undertaking, to dissolve the mono- poly thereof by Great Britain, which has al- ready contributed to elevate her to her present power and haughtiness, and threatened, if con- tinued, to raise both to a height insupportable to the rest of Europe. In short, their own best informed statesmen and writers confess, that your cause is exceed- ingly favored by courts and people in that quarter of the world, while that of your adver- saries is equally reprobated ; and from thence draw ominous and well-grounded conclusions. that the final event must prove unfortunate to the latter. Indeed, we have the best reason to believe that we shall soon form other alliances, and on principles honorable and beneficial to these states. Infatuated as your enemies have been from the beginning of this contest, do you imagine they can now flatter themselves with a hope of conquering you, unless you are false to your- selves } When unprepared, undisciplined, and unsup- ported, you opposed their fleets and armies in full conjoined force : then, if at any time, was conquest to be apprehended. Yet, what pro- gress toward it have their violent and incessant efforts made ? Judge from their own conduct. Having devoted you to bondage, and, after vainly wasting their blood and treasure in the dishonorable enterprise, they deigned, at length, to offer terms of accommodation, with respect- ful addresses, to that once despised body, the congress, whose humble supplications, only for peace, liberty and safety, they had contemptu- ously rejected, under pretence of its being an unconstitutional assembly. Nay more ; desir- ous of seducing you into a deviation from the paths of rectitude, from which they had so far and so rashly wandered, they made most speci- ous offers to tempt you into a violation of your faith given to your illustrious ally. — Their arts were as unavailing as their arms. — Foiled again, and stung with rage, embittered by envy, they had no alternative, but to re- nounce the inglorious and ruinous controver- sy, or to resume their former modes of prose- cuting it. They chose the latter. Again the savages are stimulated to horrid massacres of women and children, and domestics to the murder of their masters. Again our brave and unhappy brethren are doomed to miserable deaths in jails and prison-ships. To complete the sanguinary system, all the " extremities of war " are, by authority, denounced against you. Piously endeavor to derive this consolation from their remorseless fury, that " the Father of Mercies " looks down with disapprobation on such audacious defiances of his holy laws ; and be further comforted with recollecting, that the arms assumed by you, in your righte- ous cause, have not been sullied by any unjusti- fiable severities. Your enemies, despairing however, as it seems, of the success of their united forces against our main army, have divided them, as if their design was to harass you by predatory, desultory, operations. If you are assiduous in improving opportunities, Saratoga may not be the only spot on this continent to give a new 408 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. denomination to the baffled troops of a nation, impiously priding herself in notions of her omnipotence. Rouse yourselves, therefore, that this cam- paign may finish the great work you have so nobly carried on for several years past. What nation ever engaged in such a contest under such a complication of disadvantages ; so soon surmounted many of them, and in so short a period of time had so certain a prospect of a speedy and happy conclusion .' We will ven- ture to pronounce, that so remarkable an in- stance exists not in the annals of mankind. We well remember what you said at the com- mencement of this war. You saw the immense difference between your circumstances and those of your enemies, and you knew the quarrel must decide on no less than your lives, liberties and estates. All these you greatly put to ever)' hazard, resolving rather to die freemen than to live slaves ; and justice will oblige the impartial world to confess you have uniformly acted on the same generous principle. Consider how much you have done, how com- paratively little remains to be done, to crown you with success. Persevere, and you ensure peace, freedom, safety, glory, sovereignty, and felicity to yourselves, your children, and your children's children. Encouraged by favors already received from infinite goodness, gratefully acknowledging them, earnestly imploring their continuance, constantly endeavoring to draw them down on your heads by an amendment of your lives, and a conformity to the Divine Will, humbly con- fiding in the protection so often and wonder- fully experienced, vigorously employ the means placed by Providence in your hands, for com- pleting your labors. Fill up your battalions — be prepared in every part to repel the incursions of your enemies — place your several quotas in the continental treasury — lend money for public uses — sink the emissions of your respective states — provide effectually for expediting the conveyance of supplies for your armies and fleets, and for your allies — prevent the produce of the country from being monopolized — effectually superin- tend the behavior of public oflicers, — diligently promote piety, virtue, brotherly love, learning, frugality, and moderation — and may you be approved before Almighty God worthy of those blessings we devoutly wish you to enjoy. Done in congress, by unanimous consent, this twenty-sixth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine. Attest. John Jay, President. Charles Thompson, Secretary. PROCLAMATION By Congress, October 26, 1781, recom- mending TO THE SEVERAL STATES THE observance of THE I3TH DAY OF DE- CEMBER, 1781, AS A DAY OF THANKSGIV- ING AND PRAYER. PROCLAMATION. Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, the father of mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America, in their important struggle for liberty, against the long continued efforts of a powerful nation, it is the duty of all ranks to observe and thankfully ac- knowledge the interpositions of his Providence in their behalf Through the whole of the contest, from its first rise to this time, the in- fluence of Divine Providence may be clearly perceived in many signal instances, of which we mention but few. In revealing the councils of our enemies, when the discoveries were seasonable and im- portant, and the means were seemingly inade- quate or fortuitous ; — in preserving and even improving the union of the several states, on the breach of which our enemies placed their greatest dependence ; — in increasing the num- ber, and adding to the zeal and attachment of the friends of liberty — in granting remarkable deliverances, and blessing us with the most signal success, when affairs seemed to have the most discouraging appearance ; — in raising up for us a most powerful and generous ally, in one of the first of the European powers ; — in confounding the councils of our enemies, and suffering them to pursue such measures, as have most directly contributed to fnistrate their own desires and expectations, — above all, in making their extreme cruelty to the inhabitants of these states, when in their power, and their savage devastation of property, the very means of cementing our union, and adding vigor to every effort in opposition to them. And as we cannot help leading the good people of these states to a retrospect on the events which have taken place since the be- ginning of the war, so we recommend, in a particular manner, to their observ'ation, the goodness of God in the year now drawing to a conclusion. In which the confederation of the United States has been completed — in which there have been so many instances of prowess, and success in our armies, particularly in the southern states, where, notwithstanding the difficulties with which they had to struggle, they have recovered the whole country which the enemy had overrun, leaving them only a post or two, on or near the sea; — in which we have CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 409 been so powerfully and effectually assisted by our allies, while in all the conjunct operations the most perfect harmony has subsisted in the allied army ; — in which there has been so plen- tiful a har\-est, and so great abundance of the fruits of the earth of every kind, as not only enables us easily to supply the wants of our army but gives comfort and happiness to the whole people — and, in which, after the success of our allies by sea, a general of the first rank, with his whole army, has been captured by the allied forces, under the direction of our com- mander in chief. It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart the thirteenth day of De- cember next, to be religiously observed as a day of thanksgiving and prayer ; that all the people may assemble on that day, with grateful hearts, to celebrate the praises of our gracious Benefactor ; to confess our manifold sins ; to offer up our most fervent supplications to the God of all Grace, that it may please him to pardon our offences, and incline our hearts for the future to keep all his laws ; to comfort and relieve all our brethren who are in distress or captivity ; to prosper our husbandmen, and give success to all engaged in lawful commerce ; to impart wisdom and integrity to our counsellors, judgment and fortitude to our officers and sol- diers, to protect and prosper our illustrious ally, and favor our united exertions for the speedy establishment of a safe, honorable, and lasting peace ; to bless all seminaries of learning ; and cause the knmuledge of Cod to cover the earth, as the waters co7ier the seas. Done in congress this twenty-sixth day of Oc- tober, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one, and in the sixth year of the independence of the Uni- ted States of America. Thomas M'Kean, President. Attest, Charles Thompson, Secretary. HISTORY Of the Adoption of the Coat of Arms OF THE United States, by Congress, June 26, 1782. Although the study of heraldry may not be very amusing, yet as the Eagle with extended wings grasping the arms of War, and the olive of Peace, is constantly presented to our eyes, it may not be uninteresting to give a history and an explanation of the arms of our country. In June, 1782, when congress were about to form an armorial device for a seal for the Union, Charles Thompson, esq., then secretary, with the honorable Dr. Arthur Lee and E.Boudinot, members of congress, called on Mr. William Barton, and consulted him on the occasion. The great seal, for which Mr. Barton furnished these gentlemen with devices, was adopted by congress on the 26th of June, 1782. The de- vice is as follows : Arms — Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent,* gules, a chief azure, the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle, displayed, pro- per, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch and in his sinister a bunch of thirteen arrows, all proper ; and in his beak a scroll, with the motto " E pluribus unuin.' The crest — Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a glory (;r break- ing through a cloud proper, and surrounding stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field. Reverse — A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded with a glor)'. Over the eye these words, " Annuit captis." Remarks and explanations — The escutcheon is composed of the chief and pale, the two most honorable ordinaries. The thirteen pieces pale, represent the several states in the union, all joined in one solid compact entire, support- ing a chief which unites the whole, and repre- sents congress. The motto alludes to the union. The pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief, and the chief depends on that union, and the strength resulting from it, for its support, to denote the confederacy of the states, and the preservation of the union, through congress. The colors of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America. White signifies purity and innocence ; red, hardiness and valor ; and blue, the color of the chief, signifies vigilance, perseverance and jus- tice. The olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace and war, which is exclusively vested in congress. The crest, or constellation, denotes a new state taking its place and rank among other foreign powers. The escutcheon, borne on the breast of an American eagle, without any other supporters, denotes that the U. States ought to rely on their own virtue. The pyramid on the reverse, signifies strength • In heraldrj', argent signifies white, gules red. and azure blue : where these colors cannot be emblazed, they are represented on seals, etc. as follows : Argent, by a per- fect blank : red by perpendicular, and azure by horizontal lines. The chief m our arms, on the horizontal lines in the upper quarter of the escutcheon, or eagle's breast. 4IC PRINCIPLES AKD ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. and devotion ; its unfinished state refers to the infancy of the American government. The eye over it, and the motto, " Annuit casptis," " he sanctions our endeavors," allude to the many and single interpositions of Providence in favor of the American cause. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. INTERESTING PROCEEDINGS, Speeches, and discussions relating to THE American colonies. EARL OF CHATHAM. His able speech delivered in the House of Lords, " On" the declaratory bill of the sovereignty of Great Britain over the American colonies." FROM THE BRISTOL (eNG.) GAZETTE, MARCH 34, I774. When I spoke last on this subject, I thought I had delivered my sentiments so fully, and supported them with such reasons, and such authorities, that I apprehended I should be under no necessity of troubling your lordship again. But I am compelled to rise up and beg your further indulgence ; I find that I have been very injuriously treated, have been con- sidered as the broacher of new fangled doc- trines, contrary to the laws of this kingdom, and subversive of the rights of parliament. ]\Iy lord, this is a heavy charge, but more so when made against one stationed as I am, in both capacities, as P — and J — , the defender of the law and the constitution. When I spoke last, I was indeed replied to, but not answered. In the intermediate time many things have been said. As I was not present, I must now beg leave to answer such as have come to my knowledge. As the affair is of the utmost importance, and in its consequences may in- volve the fate of kingdoms, I took the strictest review of my arguments. I examined all my authorities ; fully determined, if I found myself mistaken, publicly to own my mistake, and give up my opinion. But my searches have more and more convinced me that the British parliament have no right to tax the Americans. I shall not therefore consider the declaratory bill now lying on your table ; for to what pur- pose, but loss of time, to consider the particulars of , the very existence of which is illegal, absolutely illegal, contrary to the fundamental laws of nature, contrary to the funamental laws of this constitution grounded on the eternal and immutable laws of nature ; a constitution on whose foundation and centre is liberty, which sends liberty to every subject that is or may happen to be within any part of its ample cir- cumference. Nor, my lord, is the doctrine new ; it is as old as the constitution ; it grew up with it, it is its support ; ta.xation and repre- sentation are inseparably united ; God hath joined them, no British parliament can separate them ; to endeavor to do it is to stab our very vitals. Nor is this the first time this doctrine has been mentioned ; seventy years ago, my lord, a pamphlet was published, recommending the levying a parliamentary tax on one of the colonies ; this pamphlet was answered by two others, then much read ; these totally deny the power of taxing the colonies ; and why .' be- cause the colonies had no representatives in parliament to give consent ; no answers, public or private, was given to these pamphlets ; no censure passed upon them ; men were not startled at the doctrine, as either new or illegal, or derogatory to the rights of parliament. I do not mention these pamphlets fay way of authority, but to vindicate myself from the imputation of having first broached this doc- trine. My position is this — I repeat it — I will main- tain it to my last hour — taxation and represen- tation are inseparable : this position is founded on the laws of nature ; it is itself an eternal law of nature ; for whatever is a man's own, is absolutely his own ; no man has a right to take it from him without his consent, either expressed by himself or representative; whoever attempts to do it, attempts an injury ; whoever does it, commits a robbery ; he throws down and destroys the distinction between liberty and slavery. Taxation and representation are coeval with, and essential to, this constitution. I wish the maxim of Machiavel was followed, that of examining a constitution, at certain periods, according to its first principles ; this would correct abuses and supply defects. I wish the times would bear it, and that men's minds were cool enough to enter upon such a task, and that the representative authority of BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 411 this kingdom was more equally settled. I am sure some histories of late published, have done great mischief; to endeavor to fix the Kra when the house of commons began in this kingdom, is a most pernicious and destructive attempt ; to fix it in an Edward's or Henry's reign, is owing to the idle dreams of some whimsical, ill-judging antiquarians : But, my lord, this is a point too important to be left to such wrong-headed people. When did the house of commons first begin ? When ! my lord ? It began with the constitution, it g^ew up with the constitution ; there is not a blade of grass growing in the most obscure corner of this kingdom, which was not ever repre- sented since the constitution began ; there is not a blade of grass which, when taxed, was not taxed by the consent of the proprietor. There is a history written by one Carte, a history that most people see through ; and there is another favorite history, much read and admired. I will not name the author, your lordship must know whom I mean, and you must know from whence he pilfered his notions concerning the first beginning of the house of commons. My lord, I challenge any one to point out the time when any tax was laid upon any person by parliament, that per- son being unrepresented in parliament. The parliament laid a tax upon the palatinate of Chester, and ordered commissioners to collect it there, as commissioners were ordered to col- lect it in other counties ; but the palatinate refused to comply ; they addressed the king by petition, setting forth, that the English parlia- ment had no right to tax them ; that they had a parliament of their own ; they had always taxed themselves, and therefore desired the king to order his commissioners not to proceed. My lord, the king received the petition ; he did not declare them either seditious or rebel- lious, but allowed their plea, and they taxed themselves. Your lordship may see both the petition and the king's answer, in the records in the Tower. The clergy taxed themselves ; when the parliament attempted to tax them, they stoutly refused, said they were not repre- sented there ; that they had a parliament of their own, which presented the clerg\' ; that they would tax themselves ; that they did so. Much stress has been laid upon Wales, before it was united as it now is, as if the king, stand- ing in the place of the former princes of that country, raised money by his own authority ; but the real facts are otherwise : For I find that, long before Wales was subdued, the northern counties of that principality had representatives and a parliament or assembly. As to Ireland, my lord, before that kingdom had a parliament, as it now has, if your lord- ship will e.xamine the old records, you will find that, when a tax was to be laid on that country, the Irish sent over here representatives ; and the same records will inform your lordship what wages those representatives received from their constituents. In short, my lord, from the whole of our history, from the earliest period, you will find that taxation and repre- sentation were always united ; so true are the words of that consummate reasoner and politi- cian Mr. Locke. I before alluded to his book ; I have again consulted him ; and finding that he writes so applicable to the subject in hand, and so much in favor of my sentiments, I beg your lordship's leave to read a little of his book. " The supreme power cannot take from any man, any part of his property without his own consent;" and B. II. p. 136-139 and particu- larly 140. Such are the words of this great man, and which are well worth your lordship's serious attention. His principles are drawn from the heart of our constitution, which he thoroughly understood, and will last as long as that shall last : and, to his immortal honor, I know not what, under Providence, the revolu- tion and all its happy effects are more owing than to the principles of government laid down by Mr. Locke. For these reasons, my lord, I can never give my assent to any bill for taxing the American colonies, while they remain un- represented, for, as to the distinction of a vir- tual representation, it is so absurd as not to deserve an answer ; I therefore pass it over with contempt. The forefathers of the Ameri- cans did not leave their native country, and subject themselves to every danger and distress, to be reduced to a state of slavery ; they did not give up their rights : they looked for protec- tion, and not for chains, from their mother coun- try' ; by her they expected to be defended in the possession of their property, and not to be deprived of it : for should the present power continue, there is nothing which they can call their own : or, to use the words of Mr. Locke, " what property have they in that which another may by right take when he pleases to himself.'' " GOVERNOR JOHNSTON. His speech delivered in the house of commons, on the bill for blockading THE TOWN OF BOSTON, MaSSACHUSETTS- BAV, March, 1774. Mr. Speaker— I find so much difiiculty in pronouncing my sentiments at any time, that 412 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REXrOLUTION. unless the house is kindly disposed to hear me at this late hour, I shall patiently sit down, because I am conscious it will require their greatest indulgence to enable me to express myself in a manner worthy of their attention. A modesty, becoming my situation, prevented me from offering my opinion before, when I saw men of so much superior ability rising from the beginning of the debate. It may appear arrogant in a member so inferior as I confess myself to be, to offer objections to a bill so extensive in its conse- quences under every consideration, especially after it must have been so maturely considered, in every article, by men so distinguished by their talents and high situations in office, be- sides the general applause which has followed the bill in its rapid progress through this house. Nevertheless though naturally diffident of my opinion, when I had the good or bad fortune (I don't know which to term it) of prognosticating to the chairman of the East-India company, the consequences of sending this tea, on their own account, to America, and that the event has literally fulfilled my words, as it is well known to some members now in my eye, it makes me more confident in warning the house of what I apprehend will be the consequences of this bill. I told the chairman of the East-India com- pany, first in conversation, on asking my opin- ion, and afterwards by letter, that the evidence might appear in the progress of things, that I conceived the East-India company exporting tea on their own account was, under every consideration of their situation and institution, wrong, but under the present discontents and disputed matters of government in America, criminally absurd, because they were present- ing themselves as the butt in the controversy, where they would probably come off with the loss of the whole. The event has justified my prediction ; for whatever re-payment the com- pany may obtain from the town of Boston, under those cruel coercive measures now proposed, (the effect of which I still doubt) yet the com- pany must remain great losers, even if the other provinces, equally culpable, are made to refund the loss arising from their conduct ; because it was not supplies of cash at a dis- tant period the company wanted, but an imme- diate supply to answer a temporary exigency, which a combination of the enemies of the company had produced. I now venture to predict to this house, that the effect of the present bill must be produc- tive of a general confederacy, to resist the power of this country.. It is irritating, tempt- ing, nay, inviting men to those deeds, by inef- fectual expedients, the abortions of an undeci- sive mind, incapable of comprehending the chain of consequences which must result from such a law. I am not one of those who believe, that distant provinces can be retained in their duty by preaching or enchantments ; I believe that FORCE OF POWER, conducted with wisdom, are the means of securing regular obedience under every establishment, but that such force should never be applied to any degree of rigor, unless it shall carry the general approbation of mankind in the execution. However much such approbation may prevail at the particular moment in this house, it is impossible to be- lieve the sense of Great Britain, or the sense of America, can go to the punishing a particular town, for resisting the payment of the tea-tax, which is universally odious throughout Amer- ica, .and is held in ridicule and contempt by every thinking man in this country. The ques- tion of taxing America is sufficiently nice to palliate resistance, if the subject had never been litigated in this country ; but, after the highest characters in the state had declared against the right of this country' to impose taxes on America, for the purposes of revenue ; after the general voice of the senate had concurred in repealing the stamp-act, upon that principle ; after those men, who had maintained these doctrines, had been promoted by his majesty to the first stations in the administration of civil and judicial affairs, there is so much mitigation to be pleaded in favor of the Amer- icans, from those circumstances (allowing them in an error at present) that every man must feel the height of cruelty, by enforcing contrary maxims, with any degree of severity at first, before due warning is given. It is in vain to say that Boston is more cul- pable than the other colonies ; sending the ships from thence, and obliging them to return to England, is a more solemn and deliberate act of resistance, than the outrage committed by persons in disguise, in the night, when the ship refused to depart. — That the blocking up of the harbor of Boston, to prevent the impor- tation of British manufactures, or the exporta- tion of goods which are to pay for them, is a measure equally absurd as if the parliament here, upon the resistance which was made to their resolution, by the riots of Brentford, and other disturbances in the county of Middlesex, had decreed, by way of punishment, that the freeholders should liave been prohibited from sowing wheat. For whose benefit do the in- habitants of Boston toil and labor ! The springs in the circle of commerce bear so BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 413 nicely on each other, that few men can tell by interrupting one, the degree and extent to which the rest may be exposed. By exclud- ing the importation of molasses, and the ex- portation of that spirit which is distilled at Boston, the whole Guinea trade will be af- fected, and in consequence the sugar trade that depends upon it. In extending this kind of punishment to the other colonies, every one must see the danger ; and yet, if it can be approved for one, the same arguments will hold good to approve or reject it respecting the other. But let any man figure to himself the consequences to this country, if a similar pun- ishment was applied to the colony of Virginia ; _£30o,ooo a year diminution in revenue, be- sides the loss of all the foreign contracts, and perhaps of that beneficial trade forever. Not- withstanding the general approbation which has been given to this bill, and the loud ap- plauses which have been re-echoed to every word of the noble lord in explaining it, yet no man will be bold enough to say, that this par- tial punishment is a remedy lor the general disease, and yet without knowing what is to follow, no man can be vindicated (even suppos- ing the bill right in part) for giving his assent to it. Those gentlemen who are in the secrets of the cabinet, and know how assuredly every proposition from them is adopted by this house, may be excused for their sanguine acclamations in favor of the measure. But the general mass, who must be equally ignorant with myself of what is to follow, can have no excuse for giving their assent so readily for punishing their fellow subjects in so unprece- dented a manner, and their eager zeal serves only to show how ready they are to obey the will of another, without exercising their own judgment in the case. If the government of this country is resisted in America, my opinion is, instead of removing the seat of government in the colony, and forcing the elements to bend to our will, which is impossible, that an effec- tual force should be carried to the heart of the colony resisting, to crush rebellion in the bud, before a general confederacy can be formed. In the present case we abandon the govern- ment, and drive the inhabitants to despair, leaving the multitude a prey to any ambitious spirit that may arise. For my own part I am convinced, from experience in the colonies, that good government may be conducted there upon rational grounds, as well as in this country ; but the power and means of gov- erning, rewards and punishments, are taken from your supreme executive magistrate in . every sense, and then you are surprised that all order and obedience should cease. The colonies can only be governed by their assem- blies, as England by the house of commons : the patent officers, as well as those in the cus- toms, which were formerly given, at the recom- mendation of the governors, to men supporting government, and residing in the provinces, are now given in reversion, three or four lives deep, to men living in this country. The command of the military, which was another great source of respect and obedience, is like- wise taken from the governor ; so that in truth he remains an insignificant pageant of state, fit only to transmit tedious accounts of his own ridiculous situation : or, like the doctor of Sorbonne, to debate with his assembly about abstract doctrines in government. I am far from wishing to throw any blame upon governor Hutchinson, or to condemn him. like the town of Boston, unheard. The .absence of the man, and the general clamor against him, will restrain me from saying many things respecting his conduct, which appear reprehensible. But I cannot admit a passage in the speech of a noble lord to pass unnoticed. His lordship alleges, " that the governor could not apply to the admiral in the harbor, or to the commanding officer of the troops in the casde, for the protection of the custom-house officers, as well as the teas in question, without the advice of his council." But I beg leave to inform the noble lord, as I ser\xd in that station myself, that there is a volume of instruc- tions to everv governor on this subject, whereby he is commanded, under the severest penalties, "to give all kind of protection to trade and com- merce, as well as to the officers of his majesty's customs, by his own authority, without the necessity of acting through his council." Nor can I conceive a possible excuse for the de- struction of those teas, while two men of war lay in the harbor, without the least application heaving been made to the admiral for protection, during so long a transaction. The first essential point in those disputes which are now likely to become so serious, by the weakness of administration in this country, in following no connected plan, either of force or favor, but constantly vibrating between the two, is to put ourselves in the right, and for this purpose I would recommend the immedi- ate repeal of the tea duty, which can be vindi- cated upon no principles, either of commerce or policy. Men may allege this would be giv- ing up the point. But if we have no better points to dispute upon, I am ready to yield the argument. Raising taxes in America for the purposes of revenue, I maintain to be unneces- 414 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. sary and dangerous. A stamp act, as a meas- ure of police, varied for the different govern- ments, and leaving the revenue raised thereby to be appropriated by the respective legisla- tures, I hold to be a measure of the highest efficacy, for maintaining a due obedience to the authority of this countr)', and prolonging that dependence for ages to come. How far it can be executed after what has already passed, I am rather diffident ; but of this I am certain, that in case Great Britain is deprived of execut- ing a measure of that nature, which, by per- vading every transaction, secures the execution in itself, she has lost one of the greatest en- gines for supporting her influence throughout the empire without oppression. Some men, who are for simplifying government to their own comprehensions, will not allow they can conceive that the supreme legislative authority shall not be paramount in all things ; and taxa- tion being fully comprehended in legislation, they argue, that the power of the one must necessarily follow that of the other, and yet we find mankind possessed of privileges, which are not to be violated in the most arbitrary countries. The province of Languedoc is a striking example in refutation of the doctrines respecting taxation, which are held by such narrow observers. The kingdom of Ireland is another instance in our dominions. There is not one argument which can apply for exempt- ing Ireland from taxation by the parliament of Great Britain, that does not equally protect the colonies from the power of such partial judges. Every man should now call to his remembrance by what obstinate infatuation Philip the 11. came to lose the United Provinces. Can it be supposed that, in a nation so wise as Spain was at that time, that no man perceived the injustice and futility of the measure in dispute? But I can easily suppose, from the pride of authority where our vanity is so much flattered, that no man durst venture a proposition for receding from that cruel measure after it had been resisted by violence, These are the general heads : The particular objections to the bill are, first, for continuing the punishment " until sat- isfaction shall be made to the India company," without stating the amount, or what that satis- faction shall be. Next, " until peace and good order shall be certified to be restored," when it is impossible, as to the subject in dispute, that such certificate can never be granted, because the custom-house officers are removed, and all trade and commerce prohibited. The numerous disputes and litigations which must necessarily arise in carrying this law into exe- cution, on contract made by parties before they could be apprised of it, and the despatch of ships in harbor under the limited time, without any exception for the desertion of sea- men, or wind and weather, is altogether mel- ancholy to consider ! The power given to the admiral, or chief commander, to order the ships returning from foreign voyages to such stations, as he shall direct, is wild, vexatious, indefinite. That of permitting his majesty to alter the value of all the property in the town of Boston, upon restoring the port, by affixing such quays and wharves, as he only shall appoint, for landing and shipping of goods, is liable to such misrepresentation and abuse, that I expect to see every evil follow the exer- cise of it, and it must create infinite jealousies and distractions among the people. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Interesting debate on the second reading of the bill for regulating the civil government of massachu- SETTS Bay. April ^^^ 1774* Mr. Fuller said, he did not rise to make any debate, for he was not enabled as yet to form any opinion whether the bill before the house was a proper bill or not ; as copies of the char- ters which had been ordered before the house were not yet laid, he would venture to say, that no man knew the constitution of that govern- ment ; it was therefore impossible for him to say in what manner he would correct or amend it. Sir George Saville said, he had not troubled the house before on the occasion, but he could not help observing, that the measure now be- fore the house was a very doubtful and dan- gerous one ; doubtful as to the propriety of regulation, and dangerous as to its consequence; that charters by government were sacred things, and are only to be taken away by a due course of law. either as a punishment for an offence, or for a breach of the contract, and that can only be by evidence of the facts ; nor could he conceive that in either of those cases there could be any such thing as proceeding without a fair hearing of both parties. This measure before us seems to be a most extra- ordinary exertion of legislative power. Let us suppose a lease granted to a man, wherein was a covenant, the breach of which would subject him to a forfeiture of his lease — would not a court of justice require evidence of the fact f BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 415 Why, then, will you proceed different from the line which is always observed in courts of jus- tice ? You are now going to alter the charter because it is convenient. In what manner does the house mean to take away this charter, when in fact they refuse to hear the parties, or to go through a legal course of evidence of the facts. Ch.irtered rights have, at all times, when attempted to be altered or taken away, occa- sioned much bloodshed and strife ; and what- ever persons in this house have advanced, that they do not proceed upon this business but with trembling hands, I do also assure them that I have shown my fears upon this occasion ; for I have run away from every question, except one, to which I gave my negative. I do not like to be present at a business, which I think inconsistent with the dignity and justice of this house ; I tremble when I am, for fear of the consequences ; and think it a little extraordi- nary that Mr. Bollan should be admitted to be heard as an American agent in the house of lords, when in the house of commons he was refused. I believe it is true, that the facts set forth in his petition to this house, were different from those which he presented to the house of lords ; in one declaring himself an inhabitant of Boston, in the other omitting it. I cannot conceive it possible to proceed on this bill upon the small ground of evidence which you have had. Mr. Welbore Ellis. I must rise, sir, with great confidence, when I differ from the honor- able gentleman who spoke last, whose abilities are so eminently great ; but I think, sir, that chartered rights are by no means those sacred things which never can be altered ; they are vested in the crown as a prerogative, for the good of the people at large ; if the supreme legislature find that those charters so granted, are both unfit and inconvenient for the public utility, they have a right to make them fit and convenient ; wherever private property is con- cerned, the legislature will not take it away without making a full recompense ; but wher- ever the regulation of public matter is the object, they have a right to correct, control, or take it away, as may best suit the public wel- fare. The crown may sometimes grant im- proper powers with regard to governments that are to be established ; will it not be highly proper and necessary, that the legislature, see- ing in what manner the crown has been ill- advised, should take into their consideration, and alter it as far as necessary. It is the legis- lature's duty to correct the errors that have been established in the infancy of that constitu- tion, and regulate them for the public welfare. Is a charter, not consistent with the public good, to be continued } The honorable gentleman says, much bloodshed has been occasioned by taking away or altering of chartered rights ; 1 grant it ; but it has always been where en- croachments have been made by improper par- ties, and the attack has been carried on by improper powers. He also says, this form of government in America ought not to be altered without hearing the parties ; the papers on your table, surely, are sufficient evidence of what they have to say in their defence — look only into the letter, dated the 19th November, 1773, wherein the governor applied to the council for advice, and they neglected giving it to him ! and also wherein a petition was presented to the council by certain persons who applied for protection to their property during these dis- turbances, the council, without giving any an- swer, adjourned for ten days, and the governor was not able to do any thing himself without their opinion. Look again, sir, into the reso- lution which the council came to when they met again, stating the total insufficiency of their power. This, surely, sir. is an evidence competent to ground this bill upon. We have now got no farther than just to alter these two parts, as stated by themselves. Surely, sir, that form of government which will not protect your property, ought to be altered in such a manner as it may be able to do it. General Conway. What I intend to say will not delay the house long. I am very sure what I intend to say will little deserve the attention of the house ; but the subject is of that importance, that it requires it. The con- sequence of this bill will be very important and dangerous. Parliament cannot break into a right without hearing the parties. The ques- tion then is simply this : — Have they been heard .' What I because the papers say a murder has been committed, does it follow they have proved it ? Audi alteram partem, is a maxim I have long adhered to ; but it is something so inconsistent with parliamentary proceedings not to do it, that I am astonished at it. The council are blamed because they did not give that advice to the governor which he wanted. I think, sir, the governor might have acted alone, without their assistance. Gentlemen will consider, that this is not only the charter of Boston, or of any particular part, but the charter of all America. Are the Americans not to be heard ? — Do not choose to consent and agree about appointing an agent ? I think there is no harm upon this occasion, in stretching a point ; and I would rather have Mr. Bollan, as an agent of America (though he 4i6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. is irregular in his appointment) sooner tiian leave it to be said, that this bill passed without it. — The house being vociferous, he said, I am afraid I tire the house with my weak voice ; if that is the case, I will not proceed, but I do think, and it is my sincere opinion, that we are the aggressors and innovators, and not the colonies. We have irritated and forced laws upon them for these six or seven years last .past. We have enacted such a variety of laws, with these new taxes, together with a refusal to repeal the trifling duty on tea ; all these things have served no other purpose but to distress and perplex. I think the Americans have done no more than every subject would do in an arbitrary state, where laws are im- posed against their will. In my conscience, I think, taxation and legislation are in this case inconsistent. Have you not a legislative right over Ireland i And yet no one will dare to say we have a right to tax. These acts respecting America, will involve this country and its min- isters in misfortunes, and I wish I may not add, in ruin. Lord North. I do not consider this matter of regulation to be taking away their charters in such manner as is represented ; it is a regu- lation of government to assist the crown ; it appears to me not to be a matter of political expediency, but of necessity. If it does not stand upon that ground, it stands on nothing. The account which has just now been read to you is an authentic paper, transmitted to gov- ernment here, showing that the council refused in every case their assistance and advice ; and will this country sit still when they see the colony proceeding against your own subjects, tarring and feathering your servants, denying your laws and authority, refusing every direc- tion and advice which you send ? Are we, sir, seeing all this, to be silent, and give the gover- nor no support? Gentlemen say, let the colo- ny come to your bar, and be heard in their defence ; though it is not likely that they will come, when they deny your authority in every instance. Can we remain in this situation long ? We must effectually take some measures to correct and amend the defects of that govern- ment. I have heard so many different opinions in regard to our conduct in America, I hardly know how to answer them. The honorable gentleman, who spoke last, formerly blamed the tame and insipid conduct of government ; now he condemns this measure as harsh and severe. The Americans have tarred and feath- ered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and authority ; yet so clement and for- bearing has our conduct been, that it is incum- bent upon us now to take a different course. Whatever may be the consequence, we must risk something ; if we do not, all is over. The measure now proposed, is nothing more than taking the election of counsellors out of the hands of those people, who are continually acting in defiance and resistance of your laws. It has also been said by gentlemen — send for the Americans to your bar — give them redress a twelve-month hence. Surely, sir, this cannot be the language that is to give effectual relief to America ; it is not, I say again, political convenience, it is political necessity that urges this measure ; if this is not the proper method, show me any other which is preferable, and I will postpone it. Sir George Young. It remains to me, sir, that it is unanswered and unanswerable, what has been advanced by the honorable gentleman who spoke second, that the parties should be heard, though even at a twelve-month hence. Nothing, sir, but fatal necessity can counte- nance this measure. No body of men ought to be proceeded against without being heard, much less ought the regulation of a whole gov- ernment to take place, without the parties attending in their defence against such altera- tions. Governor 'Johnston. I see, sir, a great dis- position in this house to proceed in this busi- ness without knowing any thing of the consti- tution of America ; several inconveniences will arise if the sheriff is to be appointed by the gov- ernor ; the jury will, of course, be biased by some influence or other ; special juries will be most liable to this. [Here the governor gave an ac- count of the different riots which had happened in England, and compared them with what he called the false accounts of those from Amer- ica.] I impute, says he, all the misfortunes which have happened in America, to the taking away the power of the governor. No man of common sense can apprehend that the gov- ernor would ever have gone two or three days into the country, during these disturbances, if he had the command of the military power. The natural spirit of man would be fired, in such a manner, as to actuate himself to shew resistance ; but in this governor no power was lodged. I disapprove much of the measure which is before us, and I cannot but think its consequences will be prejudicial. Mr. C. Jenkinson. I rise, sir, only to observe, that if the colony has not that power within itself to maintain its own peace and order, the legislature should, and ought to have. Let me ask, sir, whether the colony took any step, in BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 417 any shape, to quell the riots and disturbances ? No, they toolv none. Let me ask again, whether all the checks and control that are necessary, are not put into the commission of the govern- ments .' Much has been said about hearing the parties, and taking away their chartered rights ; ! am of opinion, that where the right is a high political regulation, you are not in that instance bound to hear them ; but the hearing of parties is necessary where private property is concerned. It is not only in the late proceed- ings, but in all former, that they have denied your authority over them ; they have refused protection to his majesty's subjects, and in every instance disobeyed the laws of this coun- try ; either let this country forsake its trade with America, or let us give that due protection to it which safety requires. Mr. Harris. I cannot see, sir, any reason for so wide a separation between America and England as other gentlemen are apt to think there ought to be ; that country, sir, was hatched from this, and I hope we shall always keep it under the shadow of our wings. It has been said, no representation, no taxation. This was the system formerly adopted, but I do not find it authorized in any book of jurisprudence, nor do I deem it to be a doctrine either rea- sonable or constitutional. I insist upon it, they are bound to obey both the crown and parlia- ment. The last twelve years of our proceed- ings have been a scene of lenity and inactivity. Let us proceed and mend our method, or else I shall believe, as an honorable gentleman has observed, that we are the aggressors. Sir Edward Astley. If we have had a twelve years lenity and inactivity, I hope we shall not now proceed to have a twelve years cruelty and oppression. By the resolution and firmness which I perceive in the house, it seems to indi- cate a perseverance in the measure now pro- posed, which I deem to be a harsh one, and unworthy of a British legislature. Mr. Ward. [The house was very noisy du- ring the few words which he said.] — He found fault with the charter being left too much, as to the execution of its power, in the people, and he could not think the legislature was doing any thing, which it had not a right to do, as he had looked upon all charters to be granted with a particular clause in it expressing that it should not be taken away but by the parlia- ment. Governor Pownal. I beg leave to set some gentlemen right, who have erred with regard to the charters of America. The appointment of several of the officers is in the governor. The charter of Boston directs, that the governor 27 shall ask the council for advice, but it does not say he shall not act without it, if they refuse to give it. It is said it is criminal to do any thing without advice of the council ; I differ greatly, sir, from that doctrine ; for I myself have acted without it in putting an end to dis- turbances, in preserving the peace and good order of the place ; if I had been governor dur- ing the late disturbances, I would have given an order for the military power to attend, and then let me have seen what officer dare disobey. I think the council are much to blame for not co-operating and assisting the governor, but I think the governor might have acted without the council. The council are inexcusable, though not criminal, as they are not obliged to give it. I, sir, for my part, shall give my last opinion. I have always been in one way of thinking with regard to America, which I have both given here and wrote to America. They have all along tended to one point ; but it is now no longer matter of opinion. Things are now come to action ; and I must be free to tell the house, that the Americans will resist these measures : they are prepared to do it. I do not mean by arms, but by the conversation of pub- lic town meeting ; they now send their letters by couriers, instead of the post, from one town to another ; and I can say your post office will very soon be deprived of its revenue. With regard to the officers who command the militia of that country, they will have them of their own appointment, and not from government ; but I will never more give an opinion concern- ing America in this house ; those I have given have been disregarded. Mr. Rigiy. Upon my word, sir, what was just now said, is very worthy the consideration of this house ; and if, from what the honorable gentleman says, it is true, and I believe he is well informed, it appears, thai America is pre- paring io arms ; and that the deliberations of their town meetings tend chiefly to oppose the measures of this country by force. He has told you, sir, that the Americans will appoint other officers than those sent by government to command their troops. He has told you that the post office is established on their ac- count from town to town, in order to carry their traitorous correspondence from one to another. He has told you the post office revenue will soon be annihilated. If these things are true, sir, I find we have been the aggres- sors, by continually doing acts of lenity for these twelve years last past. I think, sir, and I speak out boldly when I say it, that this country has a right to tax America ; but, sir, it is matter of astonishment to me, how an 41 8 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. honorable gentleman (Mr. Conway) can be the author of bringing in of declaratory law over all America, and yet saying at one and the same time, that we have no right to tax America? If I was to begin to say that America ought not to be taxed, and that these measures were not proper, I would first desire my own declaratory law to be repealed ; but being of opinion that the Americans are the subjects of this country, I will declare freely, that I think this country has a right to tax America : but I do not say that I would put any new tax on at this particular crisis ; but when things are returned to a peaceable state, I would then begin to exercise it. And I am free to declare my opinion, that I think we have a right to tax Ireland, if there was a neces- sity so to do, in order to help the mother coun- try. If Ireland was to rebel and resist our laws, I would tax it. The mother country has an undoubted right and control over the whole of its colonies. Again, sir, a great deal has been said concerning requisition. Pray, in what manner is it to be obtained ? Is the king to demand it, or are we, the legislative power of this country, to send a very civil polite gentleman over to treat with their assemblies .' How and in what manner is he to address that assembly ? Is he to tell the speaker that we have been extremely ill used by our neighbors the French ; that they have attacked us in several quarters ; that the finances of this country are in a bad state ; and therefore we desire you will be kind enough to assist us, and give us some money.' Is this to be the lan- guage of this country to that ; and are we thus to go cap in hand .' I am of opinion, that if the adminstration of this country had not been changed soon after passing the stamp-act, that tax would have been collected with as much ease as the land-tax is in Great Britain. I have acted, with regard to America, one con- sistent part, and shall continue in it, till I hear better reasons to convince me to the contrary. Gmicrnor Pownal, (to explain) I apprehend I have been totally misunderstood. I did not assert the Americans were now in rebellion, but that they are going to rebel ; when that comes to pass, the question will be, who was the occasion of it ? Something has been said relative to requisition ; I think I gave several instances wherein the same had been complied with in time of war. Mr. C. Fox. I am glad to hear from the honorable gentleman who spoke last, that now is not the time to tax America ; that the only time for that is, when all these disturbances are quelled, and they are returned to their duty ; so, I find taxes are to be the reward of obedience ; and the Americans, who are con- sidered to have been in open rebellion, are to be rewarded by acquiescing in their measures. When will be the time when America ought to have heavy taxes laid upon it .' The honorable gentleman (Mr. Rigby) tells you, that that time will be when the Americans are returned to peace and quietness. The honorable gentle- man tells us also, that we have a right to tax Ireland ; however I may agree with him in re- gard to the principle, it would not be policy to e.xercise it ; I believe we have no more right to tax the one than the other. I believe America is wrong in resisting against this country, with regard to legislative authority. It was an old opinion, and I believe a very true one, that there was a dispensing power in the crown, but whenever that dispensing power was pre- tended to be exercised, it was always rejected and opposed to the utmost, because it operated to me, as a subject, as a deteriment to my pro- perty and liberty ; but, sir, there has been a constant conduct practised in this country, consisting of violence and weakness ; I wish those measures may not continue ; nor can I think that the stamp-act would have been sub- mitted to without resistance, if the administra- tion had not been changed : the present bill be- fore you is not taiiti to what you want ; it irri- tates the minds of the people, but does not correct the deficiencies of that government. Sir Gilbert Elliot arose to answer Mr. C. Fox, which he did in a very masterly manner, by stating that there was not the least degree of absurdity in taxing your own subjects, over whom you have declared you had an absolute right ; though that tax should, through neces- sity, be enacted at a, time when peace and quiet- ness were the reigning system of the times ; you declare you have that right, where is the absurdity in the exercise of it ? Sir Richard Sutton read a copy of a letter, relative to the government of America, from a governor in America, to the board of trade, shewing that, at the most quiet times, the dis- positions to oppose the laws of this country were strongly ingrafted in them, and that all their actions conveyed a spirit and wish for in- dependence. If you ask an American who is his master ? he will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ. I do believe it, and it is my firm opinion, that the opposition to the measurer, of the legislature of this coun- try, is a determined prepossession of the idea of total independence. After which the bill was committed for Friday next, without a division. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 419 SPEECH Written by the Rev. Dr. Jon.\than Shipley, LATE Bishop OF St. Asaph, for DELIVERY IN THE " HOUSE OF LORDS," ON THE BILL FOR ALTERING THE CHAR- TER of Massachusetts Bay, 1774. FROM THE MARYLAND GAZETTE, SEPTEMBER 29, 1774. It is of such great importance to compose, or even to moderate, the dissensions which subsist at present between our unhappy country and her colonies, that I cannot help endeavor- ing, from the faint prospect I have of contrib- uting something to so good an end, to over- come the inexpressible reluctance I feel at uttering my thoughts before the most respect- able of all audiences. The true object of all our deliberations on this occasion, which I hope we shall never lose sight of, is a full and cordial reconciliation with North America. Now I own, my lords, I have many doubts whether the terrors and punishments we hang out to them at present are the surest means of producing this recon- ciliation. Let us at least do this justice to the people of North America, to own that we can all remember a time when they were much better friends than at present to their mother country. They are neither our natural nor our determined enemies. Before the stamp-act, we considered them in the light of as good subjects as the natives of any county in Eng- land. It is worth while to enquire by what steps we first gained their affection, and preser\ed it so long ; and by what conduct we have lately lost it. Such an enquiry may point out the means of restoring peace ; and make the use of force unnecessary against a people, whom I cannot yet forbear to consider as our brethren. It has always been a most arduous task to govern distant provinces, with even a tolerable appearance of justice. The viceroys and gov- ernors of other nations are usually temporary tyrants, who think themselves obliged to make the most of their time ; who not only plunder the people, but carry away their spoils, and dry up all the sources of commerce and industry. Taxation, in their hands, is an unlimited power of oppression : but in whatever hands the power of taxation is lodged, it implies and includes all other powers. Arbitrary taxation is plunder authorized by law: it is the support and the essence of tyranny, and has done more mischief to mankind, than those other three scourges from Heaven, famine, pestilence and the sword. I need not carry your lordship out of your own knowledge, or out of your own dominions, to make you conceive what misery this right of taxation is capable of producing in a provincial government. We need only recollect that our countrymen in India have, in the space of five or six years, in virtue of this right, destroyed, and driven away more inhabit- ants from Bengal, than are to be found at pre- sent in all our American colonies ; more than all those formidable numbers which we have been nursing up for the space of two hundred years, with so much care and success, to the astonishment of all Europe. This is no exag- geration, my lords, but plain matter of fact, collected from the accounts sent over by Mr. Hastings, whose name I mention with honor and veneration. And, I must own, such ac- counts have very much lessened the pleasure I used to feel in thinking myself an English- man. We ought surely not to hold our colonies totally inexcusable for wishing to exempt them- selves from a grievance, which has caused such unexampled devastation ; and, my lords, it would be too disgraceful to ourselves, to try so cruel an experiment more than once. Let us reflect, that before these innovations were thought of, by following the line of good con- duct which had been marked out by our ances- tors, we governed North America with mutual benefit to them and ourselves. It was a happy idea, that made us first consider them rather as instruments of commerce than as objects of government. It was wise and generous to give them the form and the spirit of our own con- stitution ; an assembly, in which a greater equality of representation has been preserved them at home, and councils and governors, such as were adapted to their situation, though they must be acknowledged to be very inferior copies of the dignity of this house, and the majesty of the crown. But what is far more valuable than all the rest, we gave them liberty. We allowed them to use their own judgment in the management of their own interest. The idea of taxing them never entered our heads. On the con- trary they have experienced our liberality on many public occasions : we have given them bounties to encourage their industry, and have demanded no return but what every state exacts from its colonies, the advantages of an exclusive commerce, and the regulations that are necessary to secure it. We made requisi- tions to them on great occasions ; in the same manner as our princes formerly asked benevo- lences of their subjects ; and as nothing was asked but what was visibly for the public good, it was always granted ; and they sometimes did more than we expected. The matter of 42b PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. right was neitlier disputed, nor even considered. And let us not forget that the people of New- England were themselves, during the last war, the most forward of all in the national cause ; that every year we voted them a considerable sum, in acknowledgment of their zeal and their services ; that, in the preceding war, they alone enabled us to make the treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle, by furnishing us with the only equi- valent for the towns that were taken from our allies in Flanders ; and that, in times of peace, they alone have taken from us six times as much of our woolen manufactures as the whole kingdom of Ireland. Such a colony, my lords, not only from the justice, but from the gratitude we owe them, have a right to be heard in their defence ; and if their crimes are not of the most inexpiable kind, 1 could almost say, they have a right to be forgiven. But in the times we speak of, our public in- tercourse was carried on with ease and satis- faction. We regarded them as our friends and fellow-citizens, and relied as much upon their fidelity as on the inhabitants of our own country. They saw our power with pleasure for they considered it only as their protection. They inherited our laws, our language, and our customs ; they preferred our manufactures, and followed our fashions with a partiality that secured our exclusive trade with them more effectually than all the regulations and vigilance of the custom-house. Had we suffered them to enrich us a little longer, and to grow a little richer themselves, their men of fortune, like the .West-Indians, would undoubtedly have made this country the place of their education and resort. For they looked up to England with reverence and affection, as to the country of their friends and ancestors. They esteemed and they called it their home, and thought of it as the Jews once thought of the land of Canaan. Now, my lords, consider with yourselves what were the chains and ties that united this people to their mother-country with so much warmth and affection, at so amazing a distance. The colonies of other nations have been dis- contented with their treatment, and not with- out sufficient cause ; always murmuring at their grievances, and sometimes breaking out into acts of rebellion. Our subjects at home, with all their reasons for satisfaction, have never been entirely satisfied. Since the beginning of this century we have had two rebellions, several plots and conspiracies ; and we ourselves been witnesses to the most dan- gerous excesses of sedition. But the provinces in North America have engaged in no party. have excited no opposition, they have been utter strangers even to the name of whig and tory. In all changes, in all revolutions, they have quietly followed the fortunes and submit- ted to the government of England. Now let me appeal to your lordships as to men of enlarged and liberal minds, who have been led by your office and rank to the study of history. Can you find in the long succession of ages, in the whole extent of human affairs, a single instance where distant provinces have been preserved in so flourishing a state, and kept at the same time in such due subjection to their mother-country .' My lords, there is no instance ; the case never existed before. It is perhaps the most singular phenomenon in all civil history ; and the cause of it well deserves your serious consideration. The true cause is, that a mother-countrj- never existed before, who placed her natives and her colo- nies on the same equal footing ; and joined with them in fairly carrying on one common interest. You ought to consider this, my lords, not as a mere historical fact, but as a most important and invaluable discovery. It enlarges our ideas of the power and energy of good govern- ment beyond all former examples ; and shews that it can act like gravitation at the greatest distances. It proves to a demonstration that you may have good subjects in the remotest corner of the earth, if you will but treat them with kindness and equity. If you have any doubts of the truth of this kind of reasoning, the experience we have had of a different kind will entirely remove them. The good genius of our country had led us to the simple and happy method of governing freemen, which I have endeavored to describe. Our ministers received it from their prede- cessors and for some time contmued to observe it ; but without knowing its value. At length, presuming on their own wisdom, and the quiet dispositions of the Americans, they flattered themselves that we might reap great advantages from their prosperity by destroying the cause of it. They chose, in an unlucky hour, to treat them as other nations have thought fit to treat their colonies ; they threatened, and they taxed them. I do not now enquire whether taxation is matter of right ; I only consider it as matter of experiment ; for surely the art of government itself is founded on experience. I need not suggest what were the consequences of this change of measures. The evils produced by it were such as we still remember and still feel. We suffered more by our loss of trade BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 421 with them, than the wealth flowing in from India was able to recompense. The bank- ruptcy of the East-India company may be suffi- ciently accounted for by the rapine abroad and the knavery at home ; but it certainly would have been delayed some years, had we contin- ued our commerce with them in the single article of tea. But that and many other bran- ches of trade have been diverted into other channels, and may probably never return entire to their own old course. But what is worst of all, we have lost their confidence and friendship ; we have ignorantly under- mined the most solid foundation of our own power. In order to observe the strictest impartiality, it is but just for us to inquire what we have gained by these taxes as well as what we have lost. I am assured that out of all the sums raised in America the last year but one, if the expenses are deducted, which the natives would else have discharged themselves, the net revenue paid into the treasury to go in aid of the sink, ing fund, or to be employed in whatever public services parliament shall think fit, is eighty-five pounds. Eighty-five pounds, my lords, is the whole equivalent we have received for all the hatred and mischief, and all the infinite losses this kingdom has suffered during that year in her disputes with North America. Money that is earned so dearly as this, ought to be e,\- pended with great wisdom and economy. My lords, were you to take up but one thousand pounds more from North America upon the same terms, the nation itself would be a bank- rupt. But the most amazing and most alarm- ing circumstances are still behind. It is that our case is so incurable, that all this experience has made no impression upon us. And yet, my lords, if you could but keep these facts, which I have ventured to lay before you, for a few moments in your minds (supposing your rig^it of taxation to be never so clear) yet I think you must necessarily perceive that it cannot be exercised in any manner that can be advanta- geous to ourselves or them. We have not always the wisdom to tax ourselves with pro- priety : and I am confident we could never tax a people at that distance, without infinite blun- ders, and infinite oppression. And to own the truth, my lords, we are not honest enough to trust ourselves with the power of shifting our own burthens upon them. Allow me therefore to conclude, I think unanswerably, that the incon- venience and distress we have felt in this change of our conduct, no less than the ease and tran- quility we formerly found in the pursuit of it, will force us, if we have any sense left, to return to the good old path we trod in so long, and found it the way of pleasantness. I desire to have it understood, that I am opposing no rights legislature may think proper to claim : I am only comparing two different methods of government. By your old rational and generous administration, by treating the Americans as your friends and fellow-citizens, you made them the happiest of human kind ; and, at the same time, drew from them, by commerce, more clear profit than Spain has drawn from all its mines ; and their growing numbers were a daily increase and addition to your strength. There was no room for improve- ment or alteration in so noble a system of policy as this. It was sanctified by time, by experience, by public utility. I will venture to use a bold language my lords ; I will assert, that if we had uniformly adopted this equitable administration in all our distant provinces as far as circumstances would admit, it would have placed this countr)', for ages, at the head of human affairs in every quarter of the world. My lords, this is no visionary, or chimerical doc- trine. The idea of governing provinces and colonies by force is visionary and chimerical. The experiment has often been tried and it never has succeeded. It ends infallibly in the ruin of the one country or the other, or in the last degree of wretchedness. If there is any truth, my lords, in what I have said, and I most firmly believe it all to be true, let me recommend to you to resume that generous and benevolent spirit in the discus- sion of our differences which used to be the source of our union. We certainly did wrong in taxing them : when the stamp-act was repealed we did wrong in laying on other taxes, which tended only to keep alive a claim that was mis- chievous, impracticable and useless. We acted contrary to our own principle:; of liberty, and to the generous sentiments of our sovereign, when we desired tohavetheir judges dependent on the crown for their stipends as well as their con- tinuance. It was equally unwise to wish to make the governors independent of the people for their salaries. We ought to consider the governors, not as spies entrusted with the man- agement of our interest, but as the servants of the people, recommended to them by us. Our ears ought to be open to every complaint against the governors, but we ought not to suffer the governors to complain of the people. We have taken a different method, to which no small part of our difficulties are owing. Our ears have been open to the governors and shut to the people. This must necessarily lead us to countenance the Jobs of interested men. 422 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. under the pretence of defending the rights of the crown. But the people are certainly the best judges whether they are well governed ; and the crown can have no rights inconsistent with the happiness of the people. Now, my lords, we ought to do what I have suggested, and many things more, out of prudence and justice, to win their affection, and to do them public service. If we have a right to govern them, let us exert it for the true ends of government. But, my lords, what we ought to do, from motives of reason and justice, is much more than is sufficient to bring them to a reasonable accom- modation. For thus, as I apprehend, stands the case : They petition for the repeal of an act of parliament, which they complain of as unjust and oppressive. And there is not a man amongst us, not the warmest friend of administration, who does not sincerely wish that act had never been made. In fact, they only ask for what we wish to be rid of. Under such a disposition of mind, one would imagine there could be no occasion for fleets and armies to bring men to a good understanding. But, my lords, our difficulty lies in the point of honor. We must not let down the dignity of the mother-country ; but preserve her sover- eignty over all the parts of the British empire. This language has something in it that sounds pleasant to the ears of Englishmen, but is otherwise of little weight. For sure, my lords, there are methods of making reasonable con- cessions, and yet without injuring our dignity. Ministers are generally fruitful in expedients to reconcile difficulties of this kind to escape the embarrassments of forms, the competitions of dignity and precedency ; and to let clashing rights sleep, while they transact their business. Now, my lords, on this occasion can they find no excuse, no pretence, no invention, no happy turn of language, not one colorable argument for doing the greatest service they can ever render to their country? It must be some- thing more than incapacity that makes men Jbarren of expedients at such a season as this. Do, but for once, remove this impracticable stateliness and dignity, and treat the matter with a little common sense and a little good humor, and our reconciliation would not be the work of an hour. But after all, my lords, if there is any thing mortifying in undoing the errors of our ministers, it is a mortification we ought to submit to. If it was unjust to tax them, we ought to repeal it for their sakes ; if it was unwise to tax them, we ought to repeal it for our own. A matter so trivial in itself as the three-penny duty upon tea, but which has given cause to so much national hatred and reproach, ought not to be suffered to subsist an unnecessary day. Must the interest, the commerce, and the union of this country and her colonies be all of them sacrificed to save the credit of one imprudent measure of admin- istration .' I own I cannot comprehend that there is any dignity either in being in the wrong, or in persisting in it. I have known friendship preserved, and affection gained, but I never knew dignity lost by the candid ac- knowledgment of an error. And, my lords, let me appeal to your own experience of a few years backward (I would not mention particu- lars, because I would pass no censures and revive no unpleasant reflections) but I think every candid minister must own, that adminis- tration has suffered in more instances than one, both in interest and credit, by not choosing to give up points that could not be defended. With regard to the people of Boston, I am free to own that I never approve of their riots nor their punishment : And yet, if we inflict it as we ought, with a consciousness that we were ourselves the aggressors, that we gave the provocation, and that their disobedience is the fruit of our own imprudent and imperious conduct, I thmk the punishment cannot rise to any great degree of severity. I ov/n, my lords, I have read the report of the lord's committees of this house, with very different sentiments from those with which it was drawn up. It seems to be designed, that we should consider their violent measures and speeches as so many determined acts of oppo- sition to the sovereignty of England, arising from the malignity of their own hearts. One would think the mother country had been to- tally silent and passive in the progress of the whole affair. I, on the contrary, consider these violences as the natural effects of such measures as ours on the minds of freemen. And this is the most useful point of view in which government can consider them. In their situation, a wise man would expect to meet with the strongest marks of passion and imprudence, and be prepared to forgive them. The first and easiest thing to be done is to correct our own errors : and I am confident we should find it the most effectual method to correct theirs. At any rate let us put our- selves in the right ; and then if we must contend with North America, we shall be unanimous at home, and the wise and moder- ate there will be our friends. At present we force every North American to be our enemy ; and the wise and moderate at home, and those immense multitudes which must soon begin to BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 423 suffer by the madness of our rulers, will unite to oppose them. It is a strange idea we have taken up, to cure their resentments by increas- ing their provocations ; to remove the effects of our own ill conduct by multiplying the instances of it. But the spirit of blindness and infatuation is gone forth. We are hurrying wildly on without any fixed design, without any important object. We pursue a vain phantom of unlimited sovereignty, which was not made for man : and reject the solid advan- tages of a moderate, useful, and intelligible authority. That just God, whom we have all so deeply offended, can hardly inflict a severer national punishment than by committing us to the natural consequences of our own conduct. Indeed, in my opinion, a blacker cloud never hung over this island. To reason consistently with the principles of justice and national friendship, which I have endeavored to establish, or rather to revive what was established by our ancestors, as our wisest rule of conduct for the government of America ; I must necessarily disapprove of the bill before us, for it contradicts evei-y one of them. In our present situation every act of the legislature, even our acts of severity, ought to be so many steps towards the reconciliation we wish for. But to change the government of a people, without their consent, is the highest and most arbitrary act of sovereignty that one nation can exercise over another. The Ro- mans hardly ever proceeded to this extremity, even over a conquered nation, till its frequent revolts and insurrections had made them deem it incorrigible. The very idea of it, implies a most abject and slavish dependency in the inferior state. Recollect that the Americans are men of like passions with ourselves, and think how deeply this treatment must affect them. They have the same veneration for their charters that we have for our Magna Charta, and they ought in reason to have greater. They are the title deeds to all their rights, both public and private. What ! my lords, must these rights never acquire any legal assurance and stability ? can they derive no force from the peaceful possession of near two hundred years ? and must the fundamental constitution of a powerful state be, forever, subject to as capricious alterations as you think fit to make in the charters of a little mercantile company or the corporation of a borough .' this will un- doubtedly furnish matter for a more pernicious debate than has yet been moved. Every other colony will make the case its own. — They will complain that their rights can never be ascer- tained ; that every thing belonging to them de- pends upon our arbitrary will ; and may think it better to run any hazard, than to submit to the violence of their mother-country, in a matter in which they can see neither moderation nor end. But let us coolly enquire, what is the reason of this unheard of innovation. Is it to make them peaceable ? my lords, it will make them mad. Will they be better governed if we in- troduce this change ? will they be more our friends .' the least that such a measure can do, is to make them hate us. And would to God, my lords, we had governed ourselves with as much economy, integrity and prudence, as they have done. Let them contmue to enjoy the liberty our fathers gave them. Gave them, did I say ? they are co-heirs of liberty with our- selves ; and their portion of the inheritance has been much better looked after than ours. Suffer them to enjoy a little longer that short period of public integrity and domestic happi- ness, which seems to be the portion allotted by Providence to young rising states. Instead of hoping that their constitution may receive im- provement from our skill in government, the most useful wish I can form in their favor, is that Heaven may long preserve them from our vices and our politics. Let me add further — that to make any chan- ges in their government, without their consent, would be to transgress the wisest rules of poli- cy, and to wound our most important interests, As they increase in numbers and in riches, our comparative strength must lessen. In an- other age, when our power has begun to lose something of its superiority, we should be happy if we could support our authority by mutual good will and the habit of commanding ; but chiefly by those original establishments, which time and public honor might have ren- dered inviolable. Our posterity will then have reason to lament that they cannot avail them- selves of those treasures of public friendship and confidence which our fathers had wisely hoarded up, and we are throwing away. 'Tis hard, 'tis cruel, besides all our debts and taxes, and those enormous expenses which are mul- tiplying upon us every year, to load our unhappy sons with the hatred and curse of North Amer- ica. Indeed, my lords, we are treating pos- terity very scurvily. We have mortgaged all the lands ; we have cut down all the oaks ; we are now trampling down the fences, rooting up the seedlings and samplers, and ruining all the resources of another age. We shall send the next generation into the world, like the wretched heir of a worthless father, without money, credit or friends ; with a stripped, incumbered, and perhaps untenanted estate. 424 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Having spoken so largely against the principle of the bill, it is hardly necessary to enter into the merits of it. I shall only observe that, even if we had the consent of the people to alter their government, it would be unwise to make such alterations as these. To give the ap- pointment of the governor and council to the crown, and the disposal of all places, even of the judges, and with a power of removing them, to the governor, is evidently calculated with a view to form a strong party in our favor. This I know has been done in other colonies ; but still this is opening a source of perpetual dis- cord, where it is our interest always to agree. If we mean anything by this establishment, it is to support the governor and the council against the people, i. e. to quarrel with our friends, that we may please their servants. This scheme of governing them by a party is not wisely imagined, it is much too premature, and, at all events, must turn to our disadvan- tage. If it fails, it will only make us comtemp- tible ; if it succeeds, it will make us odious. It is our interest to take very little part in their domestic administration of government, but purely to watch over them for their good. We never gained so much by North America as when we let them govern themselves, and were content to trade with them and to protect them. One would think, my lords, there was some statute law, prohibiting us, under the severest penalties, to profit by experience. My lords, I have ventured to lay my thoughts before you, on the greatest national concern that ever came under your deliberation, with as much honesty as you will meet with from abler men, and with a melancholy assurance, that not a word of it will be regarded. And yet, my lords, with your permission, I will waste one short argument more on the same cause, one that I own I am fond of, and which con- tains in it, what, I think, must affect every gen- erous mind. My lords, I look upon North America as the only great nursery of freemen now left upon the face of the earth. We have seen the liberties of Poland and Sweden swept away, in the course of one year, by treachery and usurpation. The free towns in Germany are like so many dying sparks, that go out one after another ; and which must all be soon extinguished under the destructive greatness of their neighbors. Holland is little more than a great tr.iding company, with luxurious manners, and an exhausted revenue ; with little strength and with less spirit. Switzerland alone is I'ree and happy within the narrow inclosure of its rocks and valleys. As for the state of this country, my lords, I can only refer myself to your own secret thoughts. I am disposed to think and hope the best of public liberty. Were I to describe her according to my own ideas at present, I should say that she has a sickly countenance, but I trust she has a long constitution. But whatever may be our future fate, the greatest glory that attends this country, a greater than any other nation ever acquired, is to have formed and nursed up to such a state of happi- ness those colonies whom we are now so eager to butcher. We ought to cherish them as the immortal monuments of our public justice and wisdom ; as the heirs of our better days, of our expiring national virtues. What work of art, or power, or public utility has ever equalled the glory of having peopled a continent with- out guilt or bloodshed, with a multitude of free and happy commonwealths ; to have given them the best arts of life and government ; and to have suffered them, under the shelter of our authority, to acquire in peace the skill to use them. In comparison of this, the policy of governing by influence, and even the pride of war and victory, are dishonest tricks and poor contemptible pageantry. We seem not to be sensible of the high and important trust which Providence has commit- ted to our charge. The most precious remains of civil liberty that the world can now boast of, are now lodged in our hands ; and God forbid that we should violate so sacred a deposite. By enslaving your colonies, you not only ruin the peace, the commerce, and the fortunes of both countries ; but you extinguish the fairest hopes, shut up the last asylum of mankind. I think, my lords, without being weakly supersti- tious, that a good man may hope that Heaven will take part against the execution of a plan w'hich seems big not only with mischief, but impiety. Let us be content with the spoils and the destruction of the east. If your lordships can see no impropriety in it, let the plunderer and oppressor still go free. But let not the love of liberty be the only crime you think worthy of punishment. I fear we shall soon make it a part of our national character, to ruin every thing that has the misfortune to depend upon us. No nation has ever before contrived, in so short a space of time, without any war or pub- lic calamity (unless unwise measures may be so called) to destroy such ample resources of com- merce, wealth and power, as of late were ours, and which, if they had been rightly improved, might have raised us to a state of more honor- able and more permanent greatness than the world has yet seen. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 425 Let me remind the noble lords in administra- tion, that before the stamp-act they had power sufficient to answer all the just ends of govern- ment, and they were all completely answered. If that is the power they want, though we have lost much of it at present, a few kind words would recover it all. But if the tendency of this bill is, as I own it appears to me, to acquire a power of govern- ing them by influence and corruption, in the first place, my lords, this is not true government, but a sophisticated kind, which counterfeits the appearance, but without the spirit or virtue of the true: and then, as it tends to debase their spirits and corrupt their manners, to destroy all that is great and respectable in so considerable a part of the human species, and by degrees to gather them together with the rest of the world under the yoke of universal slavery — I think, for these reasons, it is the duty of every wise man, of every honest man, and of every Eng- lishman, by all lawful means, to oppose it. JOHN WILKES. Extract from his speech delivered in the house of commons, february 6, 1775, ON LORD North's propositions to DECLARE THAT A REBELLION EXISTED IN THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS, ETC. [from botta's history.] " 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 ques- tion relative to the common rights of mankind, almost every question of policy and legislation, it should be resolved to proceed with so little circumspection, or rather with so much preci- pitation 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 suc- cors, for the valor they have signalized in its defence, have all at once so degenerated from their ancient manners, as to merit the appella- tion of seditious, ungrateful, impious rebels ! But if such a change has indeed been wrought in the minds of this most loyal people, it must at least be admitted, that affections so extra- ordinary could only have been produced by some very powerful cause. But who is igno- rant, who needs to be told of the new madness that infatuates our ministers ? — 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 permitted 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 dis- pute. Have we justice on our side ? No : as- suredly no. He must be altogether 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 grateful to English ears, are nothing better than mockeiy and insult to the Americans, if their property can be taken without their con- sent. And what motive can there exist for this new rigor, for these extraordinary measures ? Have not the Americans always demonstrated the utmost zeal and liberality, whenever their succors have been required by the mother country ? " In the two last wars, they gave you more than you asked for, and more than their facili- ties warranted : they were not only liberal to- wards 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 faith- less French, whom now we fear and flatter. And even now, at a moment when you are planning their destruction, when you are brand- ing them with the odious appellation of rebels, what is their language, what their protesta- tions ? 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 required.' And yet we hear it vociferated, by some inconsiderate individuals, that the Americans wish to abolish the naviga- tion act : that they intend to throw off the supremacy of Great Britain. But would to God, these assertions were not rather a provo- cation than the truth ! They ask nothing, for such are the words of their petition, but for peace, liberty, and safety. They wish not a diminution of the royal prerogative ; they solicit I not any new right. They are ready, on the I contrary, to defend this preiogative, to main- 426 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. tain 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 powerful 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 em- ployed, by some learned gentlemen among us, to comprehend them all in the same offence, and to involve them in the same proscription. '• Whether their present state is that of re- bellion, or of a fit and just resistance to unlaw- ful acts of power, to our attempts to rob them of their property and liberties, as they imagine, I shall not declare. But I well know what will follow, nor, however strange and harsh 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 calamities. Know, then, a successful resis- tance is a revolution, not a rebellion : Rebellion, indeed, appears on the back of a flying enemy, but revolution flames on the breastplate of the victorious warrior. Who can tell, whether, in consequence of this day's violent and mad ad- dress 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 effort of our forefathers for freedom. 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 expulsion 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 subju- gate the colonists, would subjugate also their parent state. Marius, Sylla, Ca;sar, Augustus, Tiberius, did they not oppress Roman liberty with the same troops that were levied to main- tain Roman supremacy over subject provinces ? But the impulse once given, its effects extended much further than its authors expected ; for the same soldiery that destroyed the Roman republic, subverted and utterly demolished the imperial power itself. In less than fifty years after the death of Augustus, the armies des- tined to hold the provinces in subjection, pro- claimed three emperors at once ; disposed of the empire according to their caprice, and raised to the throne of the Caesars 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 sup- ported ? The single province of Massachusetts has, at this moment, thirty thousand men, well trained and disciplined, and can bring, in case of emergency, 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 liberty and property against their cruel oppres- sors. The right honorable gentleman with the blue riband 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 Boston as you hold Gibraltar, in the midst of a country which will not be yours ; the whole American continent will remain in the power 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 sta- tioned, 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 greatness of the most renowned states ; for they build on the solid basis of general public hberty. " I dread the effects of the present resolu- tion ; I shudder at our injustice and cruelty ; I tremble for the consequences of our impru- dence. You will urge the Americans to des- peration. 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 independent, and risk every consequence of such a contest, than submit to the galling yoke which admin- istration is preparing for them. Recollect Philip II. king of Spain : remember the Seven Provinces, and the duke of Alva. It was delib- BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 427 erated, in the council of the monarch, what measures should be adopted respecting the Low Countries ; some were disposed for clem- ency, others advised rigor ; the second pre- vailed. 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 Span- iards, who despised them as you now despise the Americans, were those, however, who first shook the power of Spain to the centre. 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, however, the issue of that sanguinarj' conflict — how that powerful empire was rent asunder, and severed forever into many parts. Profit, then, by the expe- rience of the past, if you would avoid a similar fate. But you would declare the Americans rebels ; and to your injustice 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 dis- membered from Great Britain, and the wide arch of the raised empire fall. But I hope the just vengeance of the people will overtake the authors of these pernicious 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 ; and hence, perhaps, a new probability might be argued for the vulgar 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. REPLY Of Capt.\in Harvey, to John Wilkes, February 6, 1775. Captain Harvey answered him, in substance, as follows : " I am very far from believing myself capable of arguing the present 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 men the art of dis- coursmg with elegance, are too different and too remote from my profession. This shall not however, deter me from declaring my senti- ments 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 I see her, without anguish, reduced to this dis- astrous 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 kingdom, 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 equalled by their baseness and infamy, blow discord and scatter their poison in every place, in vain c^n we hope, without coming to the last extremi- ties, to bring the leaders of this deluded people to a sense of their duty. " To deny that the legislative power of Great Britain is entire, general, and 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 these pre- texts of immunities, the good and loyal Ameri- cans have concealed a design, not new, but now openly declared, to cast off every species of superiority, and become altogether an inde- pendent nation. They complained of the stamp- act. It was repealed. Did this satisfy them ? On the contrary they embittered more than ever our respective relations, refusing to indem- nify the victim now 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 part of these duties, leaving only that upon tea, which may yield, at the utmost, sixteen thousand pounds sterling. Even this inconsiderable impost. Great Britain, actuated by a meekness and forbearance without example, would have re- pealed also, if the colonists had peaceably expressed their wishes to this effect. At pre- sent., they bitterly complain of the regular troops sent amongst them to maintain the public repose. But, in the name of God, what is the cause of their presence in Boston? American disturbances. If the colonists had 428 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. not first interrupted the general tranquility, if they had respected property, public and private ; ifthey hadnot openly resisted the laws of parlia- ment 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 men- aced with real danger, when they were beset by enemies from within and from without, they not only consented to admit regular troops into the ver)- heart of their provinces, but urged us, with the most earnest solicitations, 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 factions, to sustain the action of the laws, their presence is contrary to the constitution, a mani- fest 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 effect- ually as external enemies. " As though the Americans were fearful of being called, at a future day, to take part in the national representation, they pre-occupy the ground, and warn you, in advance, that, considering their distance, 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 themselves, perfectly distinct from this of the parent state. But why do I waste time, in these vain subtle- ties ? 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 neighboring colonies, such as Nova Scotia, the Floridas, and espe- cially 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 have attempted, to introduce into the bosom of this happy country, outrage, tumults, devasta- tion, pillage, bloodshed, and open resistance to the laws ! A thousand times undone the English people, should they suffer themselves to be seduced by the flatteries of the Ameri- cans ! The sweet peace, the inestimable lib- erty, they now enjoy, would soon be replaced by the most ferocious anarchy, devouring their wealth, annihilating their strength, contaminat- ing and destroying all the happiness of their existence. Already have the colonists trampled on all restraints : already have they cast off all human respect ; and, amidst their subtle mach- inations, 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 independ- ent nation. " Who among us has not felt emotions kind- ling deep in his breast, or transports of indig- nation, at the reading of the decrees of congress 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 merchandise 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 Propilius, and proudly declare on what condition they will deign to obey the ancient 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 clem- ency exasperates, whom the necessity of de- fence, created by themselves, offends ! " If, therefore, no doubt can remain as to the projects of these ungrateful colonies : if an uni- versal resistance to the civil government, and to the laws of the country, if the interruption of a free and reciprocal commerce between one part and another of the realm ; if resisting every act of the British legislature, and abso- lutely, in word and deed, denying the sove- reignty 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 stimulating, 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 Ameri- cans in a state of the most flagrant rebellion. Wherefore, then, should we delay to take reso- lute measures ? 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 Americans, that, as our ancestors deluged this country with their blood, to leave us a free constitution. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 429 we, like men, in defiance of faction at home and rebellion abroad, are determined, in glori- ous 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 with- out assurance of the event, assuredly no gen- erous 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 omit- ting 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 ? " This is what I think of our present situa- tion ; these are the sentiments of a man neither partial nor vehement, but free from all prepos- sessions, and ready to combat and shed the last drop of his 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 deserts of America, or in the cultivated plains of England. "And if there are Catilines among us, who plot in darkness pernicious 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 ! " EDMUND BURKE. His celebrated speech delivered in THE House of Commons, on moving HIS resolution for conciliation with THE American colonies. March 22, 1775. I hope, sir, that, notwithstanding the aus- terity of the chair, your good nature will incline you to some degree of indulgence towards hu- man frailty. You will not think it unnatural, that those who have an object depending, which strongly engages their hopes and fears, should be somewhat inclined to superstition. As I came into the house full of anxiety about the event of my motion, I found, to my infinite sur- prise, that the grand penal bill, by which we had passed sentence on the trade and susten- ance of America, is to be returned to us from the other house.* I do confess I could not help looking on this event as a fortunate omen. I look upon it as a sort of Providential favor, by which we are put once more in possession of our deliberative capacity, upon a business so very questionable in its nature, so very uncer- tain in its issue. By the return of this bill, which seemed to have taken its flight forever, we are at this very instant nearly as free to choose a plan for our American government, as we were on the first day of the session. If, sir, we incline to the side of conciliation, we are not at all embarrassed (unless we please to make ourselves so) by any incongruous mixture of coercion and restraint. We are therefore called upon, as it were by a superior warning voice, again to attend to America ; to attend to the whole of it together ; and to review the subject with an unusual degree of care and calmness. Surely it is an awful subject ; or there is none so on this side of the grave. When I first had the honor of a seat in this house, the affairs of that continent pressed themselves upon us, as the most important and most delicate object of parliamentary attention. My little share in this great deliberation oppressed me. I found myself a partaker in a very high trust ; and having no sort of reason to rely on the strength of my natural abilities for the proper execution of that trust, I was obliged to take more than common pains, to instruct myself in everything which relates to our colonies. I was not less under the necessity of forming some fixed ideas, concerning the general policy of the British empire. Something of this sort seemed to be indispensable, in order, amidst so vast a fluc- tuation of passions and opinions, to concentre my thoughts ; to ballast my conduct ; to pre- serve me from being blown about by every wind of fashionable doctrine. I really did not think it safe, or manly, to have fresh principles to seek upon every fresh mail which should arrive from America. * The act to restrain the trade and commerce of the province of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British islands in the West-Indies ; and to prohibit such provinces and colonies from carrying on any tishery on the banks of New Foundland and other places therein mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations. 430 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. At that period, I had the fortune to find my- self in perfect concurrence with a large majority in this house. Bowing under that high au- thority, and penetrated with the sharpness and Strength of that early impression, I have con- tinued ever since, without the least deviation, in my original sentiments. Whether this be owing to an obstinate perseverance in error, or to a religious adherence to what appears to me truth and reason, it is in your equity to judge. Parliament, sir, having an enlarged view of objects, made, during this interval, more fre- quent changes in their sentiments and their conduct, than could be justified in a particular person upon the contracted scale of private information. But though I do not hazard any thing approaching to a censure on the motives of former parliaments to all those alterations, one fact is undoubted, that under them the state of America has been kept in continual agitation. Every thing administered as remedy to the public complaint, if it did not produce, was at least followed by, an heightening of the distemper ; until, by a variety of experiments, that important country has been brought into her present situation ; a situation, which I will not miscall, which I dare not name ; which I scarcely know how to comprehend in the terms of any description. In this posture, sir, things stood at the be- ginning of the session. About this time a worthy * member, of great parliamentary expe- rience, who, in the year 1776, filled the chair of the American committee with much ability, took me aside; and lamenting the present as- pect of the politics, told me things were come to such a pass, that our former methods of proceeding in the house would be no longer tolerated. That the public tribunal (never too indulgent to a long and unsuccessful opposi- tion) would now scrutinize our conduct W'ith unusual severity. That the very vicissitudes and shiftings of ministerial measures, instead of conncting their authors of inconstancy and want of system, would be taken as an occasion of charging us with a pre-determined discon- tent, which nothing could satisfy ; whilst we accused every measure of vigor as cruel, and every proposal of lenity as weak and irresolute. The public, he said, would not have patience to see us play the game out with our adversa- ries ; we must produce our hand. It would be expected, that those who for many years had been active in such affairs should show that they had formed some clear and decided idea of the principles of colony government ; and * Mr. Rose Fuller. were capable of drawing out something like a platform of the ground, which might be laid for future and permanent tranquility. I felt the truth of what my hon. friend repre- sented ; but I felt my situation too. His ap- plication might have been made with far greater propriety to many other gentlemen. No man was indeed ever better disposed, or worse qualified, for such an undertaking than myself. Though I gave so far in to his opinion that I immediately threw my thoughts into a sort of parliamentary form, I was by no means equally ready to produce them. It generally argues some degree of natural impotence of mind, or some want of know-ledge of the world, to hazard plans of government, except from a seat of authority. Propositions are made, not only ineffectually, but somewhat disreputably, when the minds of men are not properly disposed for their reception ; and, for my part I am not ambitious of ridicule ; nor absolutely a candidate for disgrace. Besides, sir, to speak the plain truth, I have in general no very exalted opinion of the virtue of paper government ; nor of any politics, in which the plan is to be wholly separated from the execution. But when I saw that anger and violence prevailed every day more and more, and that things were hastening towards an in- curable .alienation of our colonies, I confess my caution gave way. I felt this as one of those few moments in which decorum yields to an higher duty. Public calamity is a mighty leveller, and there are occasions when any even the slightest, chance of doing good must be laid hold on, even by the most inconsider- able person. To restore order and repose to an empire so great and so distracted as ours, is merely, in the attempt, an undertaking that would ennoble the flights of the highest genius, and obtain pardon for the efforts of the meanest understanding. — Struggling a good while with these thoughts, by degrees I felt mj'self more firm. I derived, at length, some confidence from what in other circumstances usually pro- duces timidity. I grew less anxious even from the idea of my own insignificance ; for judg- ing of what you are, by what you ought to be, I persuaded myself that you would not reject a reasonable proposition, because it had nothing but its reason to recommend it. On the other hand, being totally destitute of all shadow of influence, natural or adventitious, I was very sure that, if my proposition were futile or dan- gerous, if it were weakly conceived, or impro- perly timed, there was nothing exterior to it, of power to awe, dazzle, or delude you. You BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 431 will see it just as it is, and you will treat it just as it desenes. The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war. Not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations. Not peace to arise out of uni- versal discord, fomented from principle in all parts of the empire. Not peace to depend on the juridical determination of perplexing ques- tions ; or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simply peace, sought in its natural course, and its ordinary' haunts. It is peace sought in the spirit of peace, and laid in principles purely pacific. I propose, by removing the ground of the confidence, and by restoring the former unsuspecting difference of the colonies in the mother countr)', to give permanent satisfaction to your people ; and (far from a scheme of ruling by discord) to reconcile them to each other in the same act, and by the bond of the very same interest, which reconciles them to British government. My idea is nothing more. Refined policy ever had been the parent of confusion, and ever will be so as long as the world endures. Plain good intention, which is as easily dis- covered at the first view, as fraud is surely detected at last, is, let me say, of no mean force in the government of mankind. Genuine simplicity of heart is an healing and cementing principle. My plan, therefore, being formed upon the most simple grounds imaginable, may disappoint some people when they hear it. It has nothing to recommend it to the pruriency of curious ears. There is nothing at all new and captivating in it. It has nothing of the splendor of the project, which has been lately laid upon your table by the noble lord in the blue riband.* It does not propose to fill your lobby with squabbling colony agents, who * " That, when the governor, council or assembly, or general court, of any of his majesty's provinces or colonies in America, shall propose to make provision, according to the condition, circumstances and situation of such pro- vince or colony, for contributing their proportion to the common defence (such proportion to be raised under the authority of the general court ; or general assembly, of such province or colony, and disposable by parliament) and shall engage to make provision also for the support of the civil government, and the administration of justice, in such province or colony, it will be proper, if such pro- posal shall be approved by his majesty, and the house of parliament and for so long as such provision shall be made accordingly, to forbear, in respect of such province or colony, to levy any duty, tax, or assessment, or to impose any further duty, tax, or assessment, except such duties as it may be expedient to continue to levy or impose for the regulation of commerce ; the neat produce of the duties last mentioned to be carried to the account of such province or colony respectively." Resolutions moved by lord North in the committee, and agreed to by the house, 27 Feb. 1775. will require the interposition of your mace, at every instant, to keep the peace among them. It does not institute a magnificent action of finance, where captivated provinces come to general ransom by bidding against each other until you knock down the hammer, and deter- mine a proportion of payments, beyond all the powers of algebra to equalize and settle. The plan, which I shall presume to suggest, derives, however, one great advantage from the proposition and registry of that noble lord's project. The idea of conciliation is admissible. First, the house, in accepting the resolution moved by the noble lord, has ad- mitted, notwithstanding the menacing front of our address, notwithstanding our hea\-y bill of pains and penalties, that we do not think our- selves precluded from all ideas of free grace and bounty. The house has gone farther, it has declared conciliation admissible, previous to any sub- mission on the part of America. It has even shot a good deal beyond that mark, and has admitted that the complaints of our former mode of exerting the right of taxation were not wholly unfounded. That right thus exerted is allowed to h,ave had something reprehensible in it ; something unwise, or something griev- ous ; since, in the midst of our heat and resent- ment, we of ourselves have proposed a capital alteration ; and, in order to get rid of what seemed so very exceptionable, have instituted a mode that is altogether new; one that is, indeed, wholly alien from all the ancient meth- ods and forms of parliament. The principle of this proceeding is large enough for my purpose. The means proposed by the noble lord for carr)'ing his ideas into execution, I think, indeed, are very indifferently suited to the end ; and this I shall endeavor to show you before I sit down. But, for the present, I take my ground on the admitted principle, I mean to give peace. Peace im- plies reconciliation ; and, where there has been a material dispute, reconciliation does in a manner always imply concession on the one part or on the other. In this state of things I make no difficulty in affirming that the pro- posal ought to originate from us. Great and acknowledged force is not impaired, either in effect or in opinion, by an unwillingness to exert itself. The superior power may offer peace with honor and with safety. Such an offer, from such a power, will be attributed to magnanimity. But the concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear. When such a one is disarmed, he is wholly at the mercy of his superior, and he loses forever that time and 43= PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. those chances which, as they happen to all men, are the strength and resources of all inferior power. The capital leading questions, on which you must this day decide, are these two. First, whether you ought to concede ; and, secondly, what your concession ought to be. On the first of these questions we have gained (as I have just taken the liberty of observing to you) some ground. But I am sensible that a good deal more is still to be done. Indeed, sir, to enable us to determine both on the one and the other of these great questions, with a firm and precise judgment, I think it may be nec- essary to consider distinctly the true nature and the peculiar circumstances of the object which we have before us. Because, after all our struggle, whether we will or not, we must govern America according to that nature, and to those circumstances, and not according to our own imaginations ; not according to ab- stract ideas of right ; by no means according to mere general theories of government, the resort of which appears to me, in our present situation, no better than arrant trifling. I shall therefore endeavor, with your leave, to lay before you some of the most material of these circumstances, in as full and as clear a manner as I am able to state them. The first thing that we have to consider with regard to the nature of the object, is the num- ber of people in the colonies. I have taken for some years a good deal of pains on that point. I can by no calculation justify myself in placing the number below two millions of inhabitants of our own European blood and color, besides at least 500,000 others, who form no inconsid- erable part of the strength and opulence of the whole. This, sir, is, I believe, about the true number. There is no occasion to exaggerate where plain truth is of so much weight and importance. But whether I put the present numbers too high or too low, is a matter of little moment. Such is the strength with which population shoots in that part of the world, that state the numbers as high as we will whilst the dispute continues, the exaggera- tion ends. Whilst we are discussing any given magnitude, they are grown to it. Whilst we spend our time in deliberating on the mode of governing two millions, we shall find we have millions more to manage. Your children do not grow faster from infancy to manhood, than they spread from families to communities, and from villages to nations. I put this consideration of the present and the growing numbers in the front of our delibera- tion ; because, sir, this consideration will make it evident to a blunter discernment than yours, that no partial, narrow, contracted, pinched occasional system will be at all suitable to such an object. It will shew you that it is not to be considered as one of those " minima," which are out of the eye and consideration of the law : not a paltry excrescence of the state ; not a mean dependent, who may be neglected with little damage, and provoked with little danger. It will prove that some degree of care and caution is required in the handling such an object ; it will shew that you ought not, in reason, to trifle with so large a mass of the interests and feelings of the human race. You could at no time do so without guilt, and be assured you will not be able to do it long with impunity. But the population of this country, the great and growing population, though a very import- ant consideration, will lose much of its weight if not combined with other circumstances. The commerce of your colonies is out of all propor- tion beyond the numbers of the people. This ground of their commerce indeed has been trod some days ago, and with great ability, by a dis- tinguished* person at your bar. This gentle- man, after thirty-five years — it is so long since he first appeared at the same place to plead for the commerce of Great Britain, — has come again before you to plead the same cause, without any other effect of time than that, to the fire of imagination, and extent of erudition, which even then marked him as one of the first literary characters of his age, he has added a consum- mate knowledge in the commercial interest of his country, formed by a long course of enlightened and discriminating experience. Sir, I should be inexcusable in coming after such a person with any detail, if a great part of the members, who now fill the house, had not the misfortune to be absent when he appeared at your bar. Besides, sir, I propose to take the matter at periods of time somewhat differ- ent from his. There is, if I mistake not, a point of view from whence, if you will look at this subject, it is impossible that it should not make an impression upon you. I have in my hand two accounts, one a com- parative state of the export trade of England to its colonies, as it stood in the year 1704, and as it stood in the year 1772. The other a state of the export trade of this country to its colonies, alone, as it stood in 1772, compared with the whole trade of England to all parts of the world (the colonies included) in the year 1704. They are from good vouchers ; the latter period from the accounts on your table, the earlier from an original manuscript of Davenant, who * Mr. Glover. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 433 first established the inspector-general's office, which has been ever since his time so abund- ant a source of parliamentary information. The export trade to the colonies consists of three great branches. The African, which ter- minating almost wholly in the colonies, must be put to the account of their commerce, the West Indian and the North American. All these are so interwoven, that the attempt to separate them would tear to pieces the contexture of the whole ; and, if not entirely destroy, would very much depreciate the value of all the parts. I therefore consider these three denomina- tions to be, what in effect they are, one trade. The trade to the colonies, taken on the export side, at the begining of this century, that is, in the year 1704, stood thus: Exports to North America and the West- Indies, ^^485 265 To Africa, .... 86.665 569,930 In the year 1772, which I take as a middle year between the highest and the lowest of those lately laid on your table, the accounts were as follows : To North America and the West In- dies, £4.79f.73A To Africa 866,398 To which if you add the exports trade to and from Scotland, which had in 1704 no existence .... 364,000 6.022,132 From five hundred and odd thousands, it has grown to six millions ; it has increased no less than twelvefold. This is the state of the colony trade, as compared with itself at these two periods, within this century ; and this is mat- ter for meditation. But this is not all. Ex- amine my second account. See how the export trade to the colonies alone, in 1772, stood in the other point of view, that is, as compared to the whole trade of England, in 1704. The whole export trade of England, in- cluding that to the colonies, in 1704, ^6,509,000 Except to the colonies alone, in 1772, 6,024,000 Difference. . . 485,000 The trade with America alone is now within less than ^500,000 of being equal to what this great commercial nation, England, carried on at the beginning of this century with the whole world ! If I had taken the largest year of tliose on your table, it w'ould rather have ex- ceeded. But it will be said, is not this Ameri- can trade an unnatural protuberance, that has drawn the juices from the rest of the body .' 28 The reverse. It is the very food that has nourished every other part into its present magnitude. Our general trade has been greatly augmented; and augmented more or less in almost every part to which it ever ex- tended ; but with this material difference, that of the six millions which, in the beginning of the century, constituted the whole mass of our export commerce, the colony trade was but one twelfth part ; it is now (as a part of seven- teen millions) considerably more than a third of the whole. This is the relative proportion of the importance of the colonies at these two periods ; and all reason concerning our mode of treating them must have this proportion as its basis, or it is a reasoning weak, rotten, and sophistical. Mr. Speaker, I cannot prevail upon myself to hurry over this great consideration. It is good for us to be here. We stand where we have an immense view of what is, and what is past. Clouds indeed, and darkness rest upon the future. Let us, however, before we descend from this noble eminence, reflect that this growth of our national prosperity has happened within the short period of the life of man. It has happened within sixty-eight years. There are those alive, whose meinory might touch the two extremities ! For instance, my lord Bathurst might remember all the stages of the progress. He was, in 1704, of an age at least to be made to comprehend such things ; he was then old enough, acta parentum jam legere, et qua; sit proterit cognoscere virtus. Suppose, sir, that the angel of this auspicious youth foreseeing the many virtues, which made him one of the most amiable, as he is one of the most fortunate men of his age, had opened to him a vision, that when, in the fourth genera- tion, the third prince of the house of Brunswick had sat twelve years on the throne of that nation, which (by the happy issue of moderate and healing councils) was to be made Great Britain, he should see his son, lord Chancellor of England, turn back the current of hereditary dignity to its fountain, and raise him to a higher rank of peerage, whilst he enriched the family with a new one ; if, amidst these bright and happy scenes of domestic honor and pros- perity, that angel should have drawn up the curtain, and unfolded the rising glories of his country, and whilst he was gazing with admi- ration on the then commercial grandeur of England, the genius should point out to him a little speck, scarce visible in the mass of the national interest, a small seminal principle, rather than a formed body, and should tell him — " young man, there is America, which at this 434 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS Of THE REVOLUTION. day sen'es for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men, and uncouth man- ners ; yet shall, before you taste of death, shew itself equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the world. Whatever England has been growing to by a progressive increase of improvements, brought in by variety of people, by succession of civiliz- ing conquests and civilizing settlements in a series of seventeen hundred years, you shall see as much added to her by America, in the course of a single life ! " If this state of his country had been foretold to him. would it not require all the sanguine credulity of youth, and all the fervid glow of enthusiasm, to make him believe it.' — Fortunate man, he has lived to see it ! Fortunate indeed, if he lives to see nothing that shall vary the prospect, and cloud the set- ting of the day. Excuse me, sir, if turning from such thoughts I resume this comparative view once more. You have seen it on a large scale ; look at it on a small one. I will point out to your atten- tion a particular instance of it in the single province of Pennsylvania. In the year 1704 that province called for ;£i 1,459 '" value of your commodities, native and foreign. This was the whole. What did it demand in 1772? Why, nearly fifty times as much, for in that year the export to Pennsylvania was ^507,909, nearly equal to the export to all the colonies together in the first period. I choose, sir, to enter into these minute and particular details ; because generalities, which in all other cases are apt to heighten and raise the subject, have here a tendency to sink it. When we speak of the commerce with our col- onies, fiction lags after truth ; invention is un- fruitful : and imagination cold and barren. So far, sir, as to the importance of the object in view of its commerce, as concerned in the exports from England. If I were to detail the imports, I could show how many enjoyments they procure which deceive the burthen of life : how many materials which invigorate the springs of national industry, and extend and animate every part of our foreign and domestic commerce. This would be a curious subject indeed ; but I must prescribe bounds to myself in a matter so vast and various. I pass, therefore, to the colonies in another point of view — their agriculture. This they have prosecuted with such a spirit, that besides deeding plentifully their own growing multitude, their annual export of grain, comprehending rice, has some years ago exceeded a million in value: of their last harvest, I am persuaded they will export much more. At the beginning of the century some of these colonies imported corn from the mother country. For some time past the old world has been fed from the new. The scarcity which you have felt would have been a desolating famine, if this child of your old age, with a true filial piety, with a Roman charity, had not put the full breast of its youthful exuberance to the mouth of its exhausted parent. As to the wealth which the colonies have drawn from the seas by their fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at your bar ; you surely thought those acquisitions, for they seemed even to excite your envy ; and yet the spirit by which that enterprising employment has been exercised, ought rather, in my opinion, to have raised your esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it ? Pass by the other parts, and look at the man- ner in which the people of New England have of late carried on the whale fisher)'. Whilst we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits, whilst we are looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold ; that they are at the antipodes, and en- gaged under the frozen surface of the south. Falkland island, which seemed too remote and romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumul.ated winter of both the poles. We know that whilst some of them draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue the gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fisheries ; no climate that isnot witness to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dextrous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever car- ried this most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by this recent people ; a people who are still, as it were, but in the gristle, and not yet hard- ened into the bone of manhood. When I con- template these things ; when I know that the colonies in general owe little or nothing to any care of ours, and that they are not squeezed into this happy form by the constraints of watchful and suspicious government, but that, through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection ; when I reflect upon these efforts, when I see how profitable thev BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 435 have been to us, I feel all the pride of power sink, and all presumption in the wisdom of human contrivances melt, and die away within me. My rigor relents. I jiardon something to the spirit of liberty. I am sensible, sir, that all which I have asserted in my detail, is admitted in the gross ; but that quite a different conclusion is drawn from it. America, gentlemen, I say, is a noble object. It is an object well worth fighting for. Certainly it is, if fighting a people be the best way of gaining them ; gentlemen, in this re- spect, will be led to their choice of means by their complexion and their habits. Those who understand the military art, will of course have some predilection for it. Those who wield the thunder of the state, may have more confidence in the efficacy of arms. But I confess. possibly for want of this knowledge, my opinion is much more in favor of prudent management than of force ; considering force not as an odious but a feeble instrument, for preserving a peo- ple, so numerous, so active, so growing, so spirited as this, in a profitable and subordinate connection with us. First, sir, permit me to observe that the use of force alone is but temporary ; it may subdue for a moment, but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again : and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered. My next object is its uncertainty; terror is not always the effect of force ; and an arma- ment is not a victor)'. If you do not succeed, you are without resource, for, conciliation fail- ing, force remains ; but force failing, no farther hope of reconciliation is left. Power and authority are sometimes bought by kindness ; but they can never be begged as alms by an impoverished and defeated violence. A farther objection to force is, that you im- pair the object by your very endeavors to preser\'e it. The thing you fought for, is not the thing which you recover ; but depreciated, sunk, wasted, and consumed in the contest. Nothing less will content me than whole Amer- ica. I do not choose to consume its strength along with our own, because in all parts it is the British strength that I consume. I do not choose to be caught by a foreign enemy at the end of this exhausting conflict ; and still less in the midst of it. I may escape, but I can make no insurance against such an event. Let me add, that I do not choose wholly to break the American spirit, because it is the spirit that has made the country. ■ ' Lastly, we have no sort of experience in favor cf force as an instrument in the rule of our col- onies. Their growth and their utility has been owing to methods altogether different. Our ancient indulgence has been said to be pursued to a fault. It may be so. But we know, if feeling is evidence, that our fault was more tolerable than our attempt to mend it, and our sin far more salutary than our penitence. These, sir, are my reasons for not entertain- ing that high opinion of untried force, by which many gentlemen, for whose sentiments in other particulars I have great respect, seem to be so greatly captivated. But there is still behind a third consideration concerning this object, which serves to determine my opinion on the sort of policy which ought to be pursued in the management of America, even more than its population and its commerce. I mean its temper and character. In this character of the Americans a love of freedom is the predominating feature, which marks and distinguishes the whole ; and as an ardent is always a jealous affection, your colo- nies become suspicious, restive, and untracta- ble, whenever they see the least attempt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle from them by chicane, what they think the only advantage worth living for. This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger in the English colonies probably than in any other people of the earth, and this from a great variety of powerful causes ; which, to understand the true temper of their minds, and the directions which this spirit takes, it will not be amiss to lay open somewhat more largely. First, the people of the colonies are descend- ants of Englishmen. England, sir, is a nation which still I hope respects, and formerly adored her freedom. The colonists emigrated from you, when this part of your character was most predominant ; and they took this bias and direction the moment they parted from your hands. They are therefore not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to English ideas, and on English principles. Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible object ; and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point which by way of eminence becomes the criterion of their happiness. Il happened, you know, sir, that the great con- tests for freedom in this country, were from the earliest times chiefly upon the question of taxing. Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned primarily on the right of election of magistrates ; or on the bal- ance among the several orders of the state. The question of money was not with them so immediate. But in England it was otherwise. On this point of taxes the ablest pens, and most 436 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. eloquent tongues have been exercised ; the greatest spirits have acted and suffered. In order to give the fullest satisfaction con- cerning the importance of this point, it was not only necessary for those, who in argument de- fended the excellence of the English constitu- tion, to insist on this privilege of granting money as a dry point of fact, and to prove that the right had been acknowledged in ancient parchments and blind usages, to reside in a certain body called an house of commons. They went much further ; they attempted to prove, and they succeeded, that in theory it ought to be so from the particular nature of a house of commons, as an immediate represen- tative of the people, whether the old records had delivered this oracle or not. They took pains to calculate, as a fundamental principle, that in all monarchies the people must in effect themselves mediately or immediately possess the power of granting their own money, or no shadow of liberty could subsist. The colonies draw from you, as with their life blood, these ideas and principles. Their love of liberty, as with you, fi.xed and attached on this specific point of taxing. Liberty might be safe, or might be endangered in twenty other particu- lars, without their being much pleased or alarmed. Here they felt its pulse ; and as they found that beat, they found themselves sick or sound. I do not say whether they were right or wrong in applying your general arguments to their own case. It is not easy indeed to make a monopoly of theorems and corollaries. The fact is, that they did thus apply those gen- eral arguments ; and your mode of governing them, whether through lenity or indolence, through wisdom or mistake, confirm them in the imagination that they, as well as you, had an interest in these common principles. They were further confirmed in this pleasing error by the form of their provincial legislative assemblies. Their governments are popular in an high degree, some are merely popular ; in all, the popular representative is the most weighty ; and this share of the people in their ordinary government never fails to inspire them with lofty sentiments, and with a strong aver- sion from whatever tends to deprive them of their chief importance. If anything were wanting to this necessary operation of the form of government, religion would have given it a complete effect. Re- ligion, always a principle of energy, in this new people, is no way worn out or impaired ; and their mode of professing it is also one main cause of this free spirit. The people are protestants; and of that kind which is the most averse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion. This is a persuasion not only favorable to liberty but built upon it. I do not think, sir, that the reason of this averseness in the dis- senting churches, from all that looks like abso- lute government, is so much to be sought in their religious tenets, as in their history. Every one knows, that the Roman Catholic religion is at least coeval with most of the governments where it prev.-iils ; that it has generally gone hand in hand with them, and received great favor and every kind of support from authority. The church of England too was formed from her cradle under the nursing care of regular government. But the dissenting interests have sprung up in direct opposition to all the ordi- nary powers of the world ; and could justify that opposition only on a strong claim to natu- ral liberty. Their very existence depended on the powerful and unremitted assertion of that claim. All Protestantism, even the most cold and passive, is a sort of dissent. But the re- ligion most prevalent in our northern colonies, is a refinement on the principle of resistance, it is the diffidence of dissent ; and the protes- tantism of the protestant religion. This re- ligion, under a variety of denominations agree- ing in nothing but in the communion of the spirit of liberty, is predominant in most of the northern provinces ; where the church of Eng- land, notwithstanding its legal rights, is in reality no more than a sort of private sect ; not composing most probably the tenth of the peo- ple. The colonists left England when this spirit was high : and in the emigrants was the highest of all, and even that strain of foreign- ers, which has been constantly flowing into these colonies, has for the greatest part, been composed of dissenters from the establishments of their several countries ; and have brought with them a temper and character far from alien to that of a people with whom they mixed. Sir, I can perceive, by their manner, that some gentlemen object to the latitude of this description : because in the southern colonies the church of England forms a large body, and has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There is, however, a circumstance at- tending these colonies, which in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference, and makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia and the Carolinas, they have a vast multitude of slaves. Where this is the case ill any part of the world, those who are free, are by far the most proud and jealous of BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 437 their freedom. Freedom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank and privilege. Not seeing there that freedom, as in countries where it is a common blessing, and as broad and general as the air, may be united with much abject toil, with great misery, with all the exterior of servitude, liberty looks amongst them like something that is more noble and liberal. I do not mean, sir, to commend the superior morality of this sentiment, which has at least as much pride as virtue in it, but I cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so, and these people of the southern colonies are much more strongly, and with a higher and more stubborn spirit, attached to liberty than those of the northward. Such were all the ancient commonwealths ; such were our Gothic ancestors ; such in our days were the Poles ; and such will be all masters of slaves, who are not slaves themselves. In such a peo- ple the haughtiness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, fortifies it, and renders it invincible. To impoverish the colonies in general, and in particular to arrest the noble course of their marine enterprises, would be a more easy task, I freely confess it. We have shown a dispo- sition even to continue the restraint after the offence, looking on ourselves as rivals to our colonies, and persuaded that of course we must gain all that they shall lose. Much mischief we may certainly do. The power inadequate to all other things is often more than sufficient for this. I do not look on the direct and im- mediate power of the colonies to resist our violence as very formidable. In this, however, I may be mistaken. But when I consider, that we have colonies for no purpose but to be serviceable to us, it seems to my poor under- standing a little preposterous, to make them unserviceable, in order to keep them obedient. It is, in truth, nothing more than the old, and, as I thought, exploded problem of tyranny, which proposes to beggar its subjects into sub- mission. But remember when you have com- pleted your system of impoverishment, that nature still proceeds in her ordinary course ; that discontent will increase with misery ; and that there are critical moments in the fortune of all states, when they, who are too weak to contribute to your prosperity, may be strong enough to complete your ruin. Spolatis arma supersunt. The temper and character, which prevail in our colonies, are, I am afraid, unalterable by any human art. We cannot, I fear, falsify the pedigree of this fierce people, and persuade them that they are not sprung from a nation, in whose veins the blood of freedom circulates. The language, in which they would hear you tell them this tale, would detect the imposition ; your speech would betray you. An English- man is the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery. I think it is nearly as little in our power to change their republican religion, as their free descent ; or to substitute the Roman Catholic as a penalty, or the church of England as an im- provement. The mode of inquisition and dragooning is going out of fashion in the old world, and I should not confide much to tfieir efficacy in the new. The education of the Americans is also on the same unalterable bot- tom with their religion. You cannot persuade them to burn their books of curious science ; to banish their lawyers from their courts of law, or to quench the lights of their assemblies, by refusing to choose those persons who are best read in their privileges. It would be no less impracticable to think of wholly annihilating the popular assemblies, in which these lawyers sit. — The army, by which we must govern in their place, would be far more chargeable to us, not quite so effectual, and perhaps in the end, full as difficult to be kept in obedience. With regard to the high aristocratic spirit of Virginia and the southern colonies, it has been proposed, I know, to reduce it by declar- ing a general enfranchisement of their slaves. This project has had its advocates and panegy- rists : yet I never could argue myself into an opinion of it. Slaves are often much attached to their masters. A general wild offer of liberty would not always be accepted. — History fur- nishes few instances of it. It is sometimes as hard to persuade slaves to be free, as it is to compel freemen to be slaves, and in this auspi- cious scheme, w-e should have both these pleas- ing tasks on our hands at once. But when we talk of enfranchisement, do we not perceive that the American masters may enfranchise too, and arm servile hands in defence of freedom ? A measure to which other people have had recourse more than once, and not without suc- cess, in a desperate situation of their affairs. Slaves, as these unfortunate black people are, and dull as all men are from slavery, must they not a little suspect the offer of freedom from that very nation which has sold them to their present masters .' From that nation, one of whose causes of quarrel with those masters, is their refusal to deal any more in that inhuman traffic ? An offer of freedom from England would come rather oddly, shipped to them in an African vessel, which is refused an entry into the ports of Virginia and Carolina, with a cargo 438 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of three hundred Angola negroes. It would be curious to see the Guinea captain attempting at the same instant to publish his proclamation of liberty, and to advertise his sale of slaves. But let us suppose all these moral difficulties got over. The ocean remains. You cannot pump this dry, and as long as it continues in its present bed, so long all the causes which weaken authority by distance will continue. " Ye Gods annihilate but space and time, and make two lovers happy I " was a pious and passionate prayer, but just as reasonable as many of the serious wishes of very grave and solemn politicians. If then, sir, it seems almost desperate to think of any alternative course for changing the moral causes (and not quite easy to remove the natural) which produce prejudices irreconcila- ble to the late exercise of our authority ; but that the spirit infallibly will continue, and con- tinuing, will produce such effects, as now em- barrass us, the second mode under considera- tion is to prosecute that spirit in its overt acts as criminal. At this proposition I must pause a moment. The thing seems a great deal too big for my ideas of jurisprudence. It should seem, to my way of conceiving such matters, that there is a very wide difference in reason and policy, be- tween the mode of proceedings in the irregular proceeding of scattered individuals, or even of bands of men, who disturb order within the state and the civil dissensions which may, from time to time, on great questions, agitate the several communities which compose a great empire. It looks to me to be narrow and pedantic, to apply the ordinary ideas of criminal justice to this great public contest. I do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people. I cannot insult and ridicule the feelings of millions of my fellow creatures, as sir Edward Coke insulted one excellent indivi- dual (sir Walter Raleigh) at the bar. I am not ripe to pass sentence on the gravest public bodies, entrusted with magistracies of great authority and dignity, and charged with the safety of their fellow-citizens, upon the very same title that I am. I really think that, for wise men, this is not judicious; for sober men, not decent ; for minds tinctured with humanity, not mild and merciful. Perhaps, sir, I am mistaken in my idea of an empire, as distinguished from a single state or kingdom. But my idea of it is this, that an empire is the aggregate of many states under one common head ; whether this head be a monarch or a presiding republic. It does, in such constitutions, frequently happen (and nothing but the dismal, cold, dead uniformity of servitude can prevent its happening) that the subordinate parts have many local privi- leges and immunities. Between these pri- vileges, and the supreme common authority, the line may be extremely nice. Of course disputes, often too, very bitter disputes, and much ill-blood, will arise. But though every privilege is an exemption (in the case) from the ordinary exercise of the supreme authority, it is no denial of it. The claim of privilege seems rather ex vi termini, to imply a superior power. For to talk of the privileges of a state or of a person, who has no superior, is hardly any better than speaking nonsense. Now, in such unfortunate quarrels, among the com- ponent parts of a great political union of com- munities, I can scarcely conceive any thing more completely imprudent, than for the head of the empire to insist, that if any privilege is pleaded against his will, or his acts, that his whole authority is denied, instantly to proclaim rebellion ; to beat to arms, and to put the offending provinces under the ban. Will not this, sir, very soon teach the provinces to make no distinctions on their part .' Will it not teach them that the government, against which a claim of liberty is tantamount to high trea- son, is a government to which submission is equivalent to slavery? It may not always be quite convenient to impress dependent commu- nities with such an idea. We are, indeed, in all disputes with the colo- nies, by the necessity of things, the judge. It is true, sir. But I confess that the character of judge in my own cause, is a thing that frightens me. — Instead of filling me with pride, I am exceedingly humbled by it. I cannot proceed with a stern, assured, judicial char- acter. I must have these hesitations as long as I am compelled to recollect, that, in my little reading upon such contests as these, the sense of mankind has, at least, as often de- cided against the superior as the subordinate power. Sir, let me add, too, that the opinion of my having some abstract right in my favor, would not put me much at my ease in passing sentence, unless I could be sure that there were no rights which, in their exercises under certain circumstances, were not the most odious of all wrongs, and the most ve-xatious of all injustice. Sir, these considerations have great weight with me, when I find things so circumstanced, that I see the same party, at once a civil litigant against me in a point of right, and a culprit before me, while 1 sit as a criminal judge, on acts of his whose moral quality is to be decided upon the merits of that BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 439 very litigation. Men are every now and then put, by the complexity of human affairs, into strange situations ; but justice is the same, let the judge be in what situation he will. There is, sir, also a circumstance which con- vinces me that this mode of criminal proceed- ing is not (at least in the present stage of our contest) altogether expedient ; which is noth- ing less than the conduct of those very persons who have seemed to adopt that mode, by lately declaring a rebellion in Massachusetts- Bay, as they had formerly addressed, to have traitors brought hither under an act of Henry the eighth for trial. For though rebellion is declared, it is not proceeded against as such ; nor have any steps been taken towards the apprehension or conviction of any individual offender, either in our late or our former address : but modes of public coercion have been adopted, and such as have much more resemblance to a sort of qualified hostility towards an independent power than the pun- ishment of rebellious subjects. All this seems rather inconsistent, but it shows how difficult it is to apply these juridical ideas to our pre- sent case. In this situation, let us seriously and coolly ponder. What is it we have got by all our menaces, which have been many and ferocious ? What advantage have we derived from the penal laws we have passed, and which, for the time, have been severe and numerous ? What advances have we made towards our object by the sending of a force which, by land and sea, is no contemptible strength ? Has the disorder abated ? Nothing less. — When I see things in this situation, after such confident hopes, bold promises, and active exertions, I cannot, for my life, avoid a suspicion that the plan itself is not correctly right. If then the removal of the causes of this spirit of American liberty be, for the greater part, or rather entirely impracticable ; if the ideas of criminal process be inapplicable, or, if applicable, are in the highest degree inexpe- dient, what way yet remains ? No way is open but the third and last ; to comply with the American spirit as necessary, or if you please, to submit to it as a necessary evil. If we adopt this mode, if we mean to con- ciliate and concede, let us see of what nature the concession ought to be ? To ascertain the nature of our concession, we must look at their complaint. The colonies complain that they have not the characteristic mark and zeal of British freedom. They complain, that they are ta,xed in a parliament, in which they are not represented. If you mean to satisfy them at all, you must satisfy them with regard to this complaint. If you mean to please any people, you must give them the boon which they ask : not what you may think better for them, but of a kind totally different. Such an act may be a wise regulation, but it is no concession ; whereas our present theme is the mode of giv- ing satisfaction. Sir, I think you must perceive, that I am resolved this day to have nothing at all to do with the question of the right of taxation. Some gentlemen startle — but it is true. I put it totally out of the question. It is less than nothing in my consideration. I do not indeed wonder, nor will you, sir, that gentlemen of profound learning are fond of displaying it on this profound subject. But my consideration is narrow, confined, and wholly limited to the policy of the question. I do not examine, whether the giving away a man's money be a power excepted and reserved out of the general trust of government, and how far all mankind, in all forms of polity are entitled to an exercise of that right by the charter of nature. Or whether, on the contrary, a right of taxation is necessarily involved in the general principle of legislation, and inseparable from the ordinary supreme power .' — These are deep questions, where great names militate against each other ; where reason is perplexed, and an appeal to authorities only thickens the confusion. For high and reverend authorities lift up their heads on both sides, and there is no sure footing in the middle. This point is the great Serbonian bog. betwixt Damiata and Mount Cassius old, where armies whole have sunk. I do not intend to be overwhelmed in that bog, though in such respectable company. The question with me is, not whether you have a right to render your people miserable, but whether it is not your interest to make them happy .' It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do, but what humanity, reason, and justice tells me I ought to do. Is a politic act the worse for being a generous one? Is no concession proper, but that which is made from your want of right to keep what you grant ? Or does it lessen the grace or dignity of relaxing in the exercise of an odious claim, because you have your evidence room full of titles, and all those arms .' Of what avail are they, when the reason of the thing tells me, that the assertion of title is the loss of my suit ; and that I could do nothing but wound myself by the use of my own weapons ? Such is steadfastly my opinion of the abso- lute necessity of keeping up the concord of this empire by a unity of spirit, though in a diversity 440 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of operations ; that, if I were sure the colonists had, at their leaving this country, sealed a regular compact of ser\'itude ; that they had solemnly adjured all the rights of citizens ; that they had made a vow to renounce all ideas of liberty, for them and their posterity, to all generations ; yet I should hold myself obliged to conform to the temper I found universally prevalent in my own day, and to govern two millions of men, impatient of servitude, on the principles of freedom. I am not determining a point of law ; I am restoring tranquility, and the general character and situation of a people must determine what sort of government is fitted for them. That point nothing else can or ought to determine. My idea, therefore, without considering whether we yield as matter of right, or grant as matter of favor, is to admit the people of our colonies into an interest in the constitution ; and by recording that admission in the journals of parliament, to give them as strong an assu- rance as the nature of the thing will admit, that we mean forever to adhere to that solemn declaration of systematic indulgence. Some years ago the repeal of a revenue act, upon its understood principle, might have served to shew that we intended an uncondi- tional abatement of the exercise of a taxing power. Such a measure was then sufficient to remove all suspicion, and to give perfect con- tent. But unfortunate events, since that time, may make something farther necessary and not more necessary for the satisfaction of the colonies than for the dignity and consistency of our own future proceedings. I have taken a very incorrect measure of the disposition of the house, if this proposal in itself would be received with dislike. I think sir, we have few American financiers. But our misfortune is, we are too acute, we are too exquisite in our conjectures of the future, for men oppressed with such great and present evils. The more moderate among the opposers of parliamentaiy concession freely confess, that they hope no good from taxation, but they ap- prehend the colonists have farther views, and if this point were conceded, they would instant- ly attack the trade laws. These gentlemen are convinced, that this was the intention from the beginning, and the quarrel of the Americans with taxation was no more than a cloak and a cover to this design. Such has been the lan- guage even of a gentleman * of real modera- tion, and of a natural temper well adjusted to fair and equal government. I am, however, sir, not a little surprised at this kind of dis- • Mr. Rire. course, whenever I hear it ; and I am more surprised, on account of the arguments which I constantly find in company with it, and which are often urged from the same mouths, and on the same day. For instance, when we allege that it is against reason to tax a people under so many restraints to trade as the Americans, the noble lord * in the blue riband shall tell you, that the restraints on trade are futile and useless ; of no advantage to us, and of no bur- then to those on whom they are imposed ; that the trade to America is not secured by the acts of navigation, but by the natural and irre- sistible advantage of a commercial preference. Such is the merit of the trade laws in this posture of the debate. But when strong in- ternal circumstances are urged against the taxes ; when the scheme is dissected ; when experience and the nature of things are brought to prove, and do prove, the utter impossibility of obtaining an effective revenue from the colo- nies : when these things are pressed, or rather press themselves, so as to drive the advocates of colony taxes to a clear admission of the futil- ity of the scheme, then, sir, the sleeping trade laws revive from their trance ; and this, unless taxation is to be kept sacred, not for its own sake, but as a counterguard and security of the laws of trade. Then, sir, you keep up revenue laws which are mischievous, in order to preserve trade laws that are useless ; such is the wisdom of our plan in both its members. They are sepa- rately given up as of no value, and yet one is always to be defended for the sake of the other. But I cannot agree with the noble lord, nor with the pamphlet from whence he seems to have borrowed these ideas, concerning the inutility of the trade laws. For without idoliz- ing them, I am sure they are still, in many ways, of great use to us ; and in fo'rmer times they have been of the greatest. They do con- fine, and they do greatly narrow, the market for the Americans. But my perfect conviction of this does not help me in the least to discern how the revenue laws form any security what- soever to the commercial regulations, or that these commercial regulations are the true ground of the quarrel, or that the giving away, in any one instance, of authority, is to lose all that may remain unconceded. One fact is clear and indisputable. The public and avowed origin of this quarrel was on taxation. This quarrel has indeed brought on new disputes, on new questions ; but cer- tainly the least bitter, and the fewest of all, on the trade laws. To judge which of the two be * Lord North. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 441 the real radical cause of quarrel, we have to see whether the commercial dispute did, in order of time, precede the dispute on taxation ? There is not a shadow of evidence for it. Next, to enable us to judge whether at this moment a dislike to the trade laws be the real cause of quarrel, it is absolutely necessary to put the taxes out of the question by a repeal. See how the Americans act in this position, and then you will be able to discern correctly what is the true object of the controversy, or whether any controversy at all will remain ? Unless you consent to remove this cause of difference, it is impossible, with decency, to assert that the dispute is not upon what it is avowed to he. And I would, sir, recommend to your serious consideration whether it be prudent to form a rule for punishing people, not on their own acts, but on your conjectures. Surely it is pre- posterous at the very best. It is not justifying your anger by their misconduct, but it is con- verting your ill-will into their delinquency. But the colonies will go farther — Alas ! alas ! When will this speculating against fact and reason end ? What will quiet these panic fears, which we entertain of the hostile effect of a conciliatory conduct ? Is it true that no case can exist, in which it is proper for the sove- reign to accede to the desires of his discon- tented subjects ? Is there any thing peculiar in this case, to make a rule for itself.' Is all authority of course lost, when it is not pushed to the extreme.' Is it a certain maxim, that the fewer causes of dissatisfaction that are left by government, the more the subject will be incUned to resist and rebel .' All these objections, being in fact no more than suspicions, conjectures, divinations formed in defiance of fact and experience, did not, sir, discourage me from entertaining the idea of a conciliatory concession, founded on the princi- ples I have just stated. In forming a plan for this purpose, I endea- vored to put myself in that frame of mind, which was the most natural, and the most reasonable ; and which was certainly the most probable means of securing me from all error. I set out with a perfect distrust of my own abilities ; a total renunciation of every specula- tion of my own, and with a profound reverence for the wisdom of our ancestors, who have left us the inheritance of so happy a constitution, and so flourishing an empire, and what is a thousand times more valuable, the treasury of the maxims and principles which formed the one, and obtained the other. During the reigns of the kings of Spain of the Austrian family, whenever they were at a loss in the Spanish councils, it was common for their statesmen to say, that they ought to consult the genius of Philip the second. The genius of Philip the second might mislead them, and the issue of their affair showed that they had not chosen the most perfect standard. But, sir, I am sure that I shall not be misled, when, in a case of constitutional difficulty, I consult the genius of the English constitution. Consulting at that oracle (it was with all due humility and piety) I found four capital exam- ples in a similar case before me, those of Ire- land, Wales, Chester, and Durham. Ireland, before the English conquest, though never governed by a despotic power, had no parliament. How far the English parliament was at that time modelled according to the present form, is disputed among antiquarians. But we have all the reason in the world to be assured that a form of parliament, such as England then enjoyed, she instantly communi- cated to Ireland ■ and we are equally sure that almost every successive improvement in con- stitutional liberty, as fast as it was made here, was transmitted thither. The feudal baronage, and the feudal knighthood, the roots of our primitive constitution, were early transplanted into that soil, and grew and flourished there. Magna Charta, if it did not give us originally the house, gave us at least a house of commons of weight and consequence. But your ances- tors did not churlishly sit down alone to the feast of Magna Charta. Ireland was made immediately a partaker. This benefit of Eng- lish laws and liberties, I confess, was not at first extended to all Ireland. Mark the conse- quence. English authority, and English liber- ties had exactly the same boundaries. Your standard could never be advanced an inch before your privileges. Sir John Davis shows, beyond a doubt, that the refusal of a general communication of these rights, was the true cause why Ireland was five hundred years in subduing : and after the vain projects of a military government, attempted in the reign of queen Elizabeth, it was soon discovered, that nothing could make that country English, in civility and allegiance, but your laws and your forms of legislature. It was not English arms, but the English constitution, that conquered Ireland. From that time, Ireland has ever had a general parliament as she had before a par- tial parliament ; you changed the people, you altered the religion, but you never touched the form or the vital substance of free government. You deposed kings ; you restored them ; you altered the succession to theirs, as well as to your own crown ; but you never altered their 442 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. constitution, the principle of wliich was re- spected by usurpation ; restored with the res- toration of monarchy, and established, I trust forever, by the glorious revolution. This has made Ireland the great and flourishing king- dom that it is ; and from a disgrace and a bur- then intolerable to this nation, has rendered her a principal part of our strength and orna- ment. This country cannot be said to have ever formally taxed her. The irregular things done in the confusion of mighty troubles, and on the hinge of great revolutions, even if all were done that is said to have been done, form no e.xample. If they have any effect in argu- ment, they make an e.xception to prove the rule. None of your own liberties could stand a moment, if the casual deviations from them, at such times, were suffered to be used as proofs of their nullity. By the lucrative amount of such casual breaches in the constitution, judge what the stated and fixed rule of supply has been in that kingdom. Your Irish pen- sioners would starve, if they had no other fund to live on than taxes granted by English autho- rity. Turn your eyes to those popular grants from whence all your great supplies are come, and learn to respect that only source of public wealth in the British empire. My next example is Wales. This country was said to be reduced by Henry the third. It was said more truly to be so by Edward the first. But though then conquered, it was not looked upon as any part of the realm of England. Its old constitution, whatever that might have been, was destroyed, and no good one was substituted in its place. The care of that tract was put into the hand of lord Mar- chers — a form of government of a very singu- lar kind ; a strange heterogeneous monster, something between hostility and government ; perhaps it has a sort of resemblance, according to the modes of those times, to that of com- mander in chief at present, to whom all civil power is granted as secondary. The manners of the Welch nation followed the genius of the government ; the people were ferocious, rest- ive, savage and uncultivated ; sometimes com- posed, never pacified. Wales within itself was in perpetual disorder ; and it kept the frontier of England in perpetual alarm. Benefits from it to the state there were none. Wales was only known to England by incursion and invasion. Sir, during that state of things, parliament was not idle. They attempted to subdue the fierce spirit of the Welch by all sorts of rigor- ous laws. They prohibited by statute the send- ing all sorts of arms into Wales, as you pro- hibit by proclamation (with something more of doubt on the legality) the sending arms to America. They disarmed the Welch by stat- ute as you attempted (but still with more ques- tion on the legality) to disarm New England by instruction. They made an act to drag offenders from Wales into England for trial, as you have done (but with more hardship) with regard to America. By another act, where one of the parties was an Englishman, they ordained that his trial should be always by English. They made acts to restrain trade, as you do, and they prevented the Welch from the use of fairs and markets, as you do the Americans from fisheries and foreign ports. In short, when the statute book was not (juite so much swelled as it is now, you find no less than fifteen acts of penal regulation on the subject of Wales. Here we rub our hands — A fine body of pre- cedents for the authority of parliament, and the use of it ! I admit it fully, and pray add like- wise to these precedents, that all the while Wales eyed this kingdom like an incubus ; that it was an unprofitable and oppressive burthen ; and that an Englishman, travelling in that country, could not go six yards from the high road without being murdered. The march of the human inind is slow, sir ; it was not until alter two hundred years dis- covered, that, by an eternal law. Providence had decreed vexation to violence and poverty to rapine. Your ancestors did however at length open their eyes to the ill husbandry of injustice. They found the tyranny of a free people could, of all tyrannies, the least be en- dured, and that laws made against a whole nation were not the most effectual methods for securing its obedience. Accordingly, in the twenty-seventh year of Henry VIII. the course was entirely altered. With a preamble stating the entire and perfect rights of the crown of England, it gave to the Welch all the rights and privileges of English subjects. A political order was established ; the military power gave way to the civil ; the marches were turned into counties. But that a nation should have a right to English liberties, and yet no share at all in the fundamental security of these liberties, the grant of their own property, seemed a thing so incongruous, that eight years after, that is, in the thirty-fifth of that reign, a complete and not ill-proportioned repre- sentation by counties and boroughs was be- stowed upon Wales, by act of parliament. From that moment, as by a charm, the tumults subsided ; obedience was restored, peace, order, and civilization followed in the train of BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 443 liberty. — When the day star of the EngHsh constitution had arisen in their hearts, all was harmony within and without. Simul alba nautis Stella retulsit, De6uit faxis agitatus humor ; Concidunt venti, fugiuntque nubes ; Et minax (quod sic voluerej ponto Unda recumbit- The very same year the county palatine of Chester received the same relief from its op- pressions, and the same remedy to its disor- ders. Before this time Chester was little less distempered than Wales. The inhabitants, without rights themselves, were the fittest to destroy the rights of others ; and from thence Richard II. drew the standing armies of archers, with which for a time he oppressed England. The people of Chester applied to parliament in a petition, penned as I shall read to you. " To the king, our sovereign lord, in most humble wise shown unto your excellent maj- esty, the inhabitants of your grace's county palatine of Chester, that where the said county palatine of Chester is and hath been always hitherto exempt, excluded and separated out and from your high court of parliament, to have any knights or burgesses within the said court ; by reason whereof the said inhabitants have hitherto sustained manifold disherisons, losses and damages, as well in their lands, goods, and bodies, as in the good, civil, and politic governance and maintainance of the commonwealth of their said county. (2.) And forasmuch as the said inhabitants have always hitherto been bound by the acts and statutes made and ordained by your said highness, and your most noble progenitors, by authority of the said court, as far forth as other counties, cities, and boroughs have been, that have had their knights and burgesses within your said court of parliament, and yet have had neither knight nor burgesses there for the said county palatine ; the said inhabitants, for lack thereof, have been oftentimes touched, and grieved with acts and statutes made within the said court, as well derogatory unto the most ancient jurisdictions, liberties, and privileges of your said county palatine, as prejudicial unto the commonwealth, quietness, rest, and peace of your grace's most bounden subjects inhabiting within the same." What did parliament with this audacious address.' Reject it as a libel.? Treat it as an affront to government.' Spurn it as a deroga- tion from the rights of legislature ? Did they toss it over the table? Did they burn it by the hands of the common hangman ? They took the petition of grievance, all rugged as it was, without softening, or temperament, unpurged of the original bitterness and indignation of complaint ; they made it the very preamble to their act of redress ; and consecrated its prin- ciple to all ages on the sanctuary of legislation. Here is my third example. It was attended with the success of my two former. Chester, civilized as well as Wales, has demonstrated that freedom and not servitude, is the cure of anarchy ; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition. Sir, this pattern of Chester was followed in the reign of Charles II. with regard to the county palatine of Durham, which is my fourth example. This county had long lain out of the pale of free legislation. So scrupulously was the example of Chester followed, that the style of the preamble is nearly the same with that of the Chester act ; and without affecting the ab- stract extent of the authority of parliament, it recognizes the equity of not suffering any con- siderable district in which the British subjects may act as a body, to be taxed without their own voice in the grant. Now if the doctrines of policy contained in these preambles, and the force of these exam- ples in the acts of parliament, avail anything, what can be said against applying them with regard to America .' Are not the people of America as much Englishmen as the Welch ? The preamble of the act of Henry VIII. says, the Welch speak a language no way resembling that of his majesty's English subjects. Are the Americans not so numerous.' If we may trust the learned and accurate judge Barring- ton's account of North Wales, and take that as a standard to measure the rest, there is no comparison. The people cannot amount to above 200,000 ; not a tenth part of the number in the colonies. Is America in rebellion? Wales was hardly free from it. Have you attempted to govern America by penal statutes ? You made lifteen for Wales. But your legislative authority is perfect with regard to America ; was it less perfect in Wales, Chester, and Dur- ham ? But America is virtually represented. What ! Does the electric force of virtual rep- resentation more easily pass over the Atlantic, than pervade Wales, which lies in your neigh- borhood ; or than Chester and Durham sur- rounded by abundance of representation that is actual and palpable ? But, sir, your ancestors thought this sort of virtual representation, how- ever ample, to be totally insufficient for the freedom of the inhabitants of territories that are so near, and comparatively so inconsidera- ble. How then can I think it sufficient for 444 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. those who are infinitely greater, and infinitely more remote ? You will now, sir, perhaps, imagine that I am on the point of proposing to you a scheme for a representation of the colonies in parlia- ment. Perhaps I might be inclined to enter- tain some such thought ; but a great flood stops me in my course. Opposuit natura — I cannot remove the eternal barriers of the creation. The thing in that mode, I do not know to be possible. As I meddle with no theory, I do not absolutely assert the impracticability of such a representation. But I do not see my way to it ; and those who have been more confident, have not been more successful. However, the arm of public benevolence is not shortened, and there are often several means to the same end. What nature has disjoined in one way, wisdom may unite in another. When we cannot give the benefit as we would wish, let us not refuse it altogether. If we cannot give the principal, let us find a substitute. But how ? Where ? What substitute ? Fortunately I am not obliged, for the ways and means of this substitute, to tax my own unpro- ductive invention. I am not even obliged to go to the rich treasury of the fertile framers of imaginary commonwealths ; not to the republic of Plato, not to the Utopia of Moore, not to the oceans of Harrington. It is before me. It is at my feet, and the rude swain treads daily on it with his clouted shoon. I only wish you to recognize, for the theory, the ancient constitu- tional policy of this kingdom with regard to representatives, as that policy has been declared in acts of parliament ; and as to the practice, to return to that mode which an uniform ex- perience has marked out to you as best ; and in which you walked with security, advantage, and honor, until the year 1763. My resolutions, therefore, mean to establish the equity and justice of a taxation of America by grant and not by imposition. To mark the legal competency of the colony assemblies for the support of their government in peace, and for public aids in time of war. To acknowledge that this legal competency has had a dutiful and beneficial exercise ; and that experience has shown the benefit of their grants, and the futility of parliamentary taxation as a method of supply. These solid truths compose six fundamental propositions. There are three more resolutions corollary to these. If you admit the first set you can hardly reject the others. I?ut if you admit the first, I shall be far from solicitous whether you accept or refuse the last. I think these six massive pillars will be of strength suf- ficient to support the temple of British concord. I have no more doubt than I entertain of my existence, that if you admitted these, you would command an immediate peace ; and with but tolerable future management, a lasting obedi- ence in America. I am not arrogant in this confident assurance. The propositions are all mere matters of fact ; and if they are such facts as draw irresistible conclusions even in the stating, that is the power of truth, and not any management of mine. Sir, I shall open the whole plan to you to- gether, with such observations on the motions as may tend to illustrate them where they may want explanation. The first is a resolution^ "That the colonies and plantations of Great Britain in North America, consisting of four- teen separate governments, and containing two millions and upwards of free inhabitants, have not the liberty and privilege of electing and sending any knights and burgesses, or others, to represent them in the high court of parliament." — This is a plain matter of fact, necessary to be laid down, and (excepting the description) it is laid down in the language of the constitution ; it is taken nearly verbatim from acts of parliament. The second is like unto the first — " That the said colonies and plantations have been liable to, and bounden by, several subsidies, pay- ments, rates, and taxes, given and granted by parliament, though the said colonies and plan- tations have not their knights and burgesses, in the said high court of parliament, of their own election, to represent the condition of their country; by lack whereof they have been often- times touched and grieved by subsidies given, granted, and assented to, in the said court, in a manner prejudicial to the commonwealth, quietness, rest, and peace, of the subjects in- habiting within the same." Is this description too hot, or too cold, too strong, or too weak ? Does it arrogate too much to the supreme legislature ? Does it lean too much to the claims of the people ? If it runs into any of these errors, the fault is not mine. It is the language of your own ancient acts of parliament. Non mens hie sermo, sed qua proecepit, ofella, rusticus, abnormis sapiens , it is the general produce of the ancient, rustic, manly, home-bred sense of this country. I did not dare to rub off a particle of the venerable rust that rather adorns and preserves than destroys the metal. It would be a profanation to touch with a tool the stones which con- struct the sacred altar of peace. I would not violate, with modern polish, the ingenious and noble roughness of these truly constitutional BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 445 materials. Above all things, I was resolved not to be guilty of tampering — the odious vice of restless and unstable minds. I put my foot in the tracks of our forefathers, where I can neither wander nor stumble. Determining to fix articles of peace, I was resolved not to be wise beyond what was written ; I was resolved to use nothing else than the form of sound words to let others abound in their own sense ; and carefully to abstain from all expressions of my own. What the law has said, I say. In all things else I am silent. I have no organ but for her words. This if it be not ingenious, I am sure is safe. There are, indeed, words expressive of griev- ance in this second resolution, which those who are resolved always to be in the right, will deny to contain matter of fact, as applied to the present case ; although pariiament thought them true with regard to the counties of Chester and Durham. — They will deny that the Americans were ever "touched and grieved " with the taxes. If they consider nothing in taxes but their weight as pecuniary impositions, there might be some pretence for this denial. But men may be sorely touched and deeply grieved in their privileges as well as in their purses. Men may lose little in properly by the act which takes away all their freedom. When a man is robbed of a trifle on the high- way, it is not the twopence lost that constitutes the capital outrage. This is not confined to privileges ; even ancient indulgences withdrawn, without offence on the part of those who enjoyed such favors, operate as grievances. But were the Americans then not touched and grieved by the taxes, in some measure, merely asked ? If so, why were they all either wholly repealed or exceedingly reduced .' Were they not touched and grieved even by the regulating duties of the sixth of George the II.' Else why were the duties first reduced to one third in 1764, and afterwards to a third of that third in the year 1766? were they not touched and grieved by the stamp act ? I shall say they were until that tax is revived. Were they not touched and grieved by the duties of 1767, which were likewise repealed, and which lord Hillsborough tells you (for the ministry) were laid contrary to the true principle of commerce ? Is not the assurance given by that noble person to the colonies of a resolution to lay no more taxes on them, an admission that taxes would touch and grieve them .'' Is not the resolution of the noble lord in the blue riband, now stand- ing on your journals, the strongest of all proofs that parliamentary subsidies really touched and grieved them ? Else why all these changes. modifications, repeals, assurances and resolu- tions ? The next proposition is, " That, from the distance of the said colonies, and from other circumstances, no method has hitherto been devised for procuring a representation in pariia- ment for the said colonies." This is an asser- tion of a fact. I go no farther on the paper, though in my private judgment, an useful representation is impossible ; I am sure it is not desired by them, nor ought it perhaps by us ; but I abstain from opinions. The fourth resolution is, " that each of the said colonies hath within itself a body chosen in part, or in the whole, by the freedmen, free- holders, or other free inhabitants thereof, com- monly called the general assembly, or general court, with powers legally to raise, levy, and assess, according to the several usage of such colonies, duties and taxes towards defraying all sorts of public service." This competence in the colony assemblies is certain. It is proved by the whole tenor of their acts of supply in all the assemblies, in which the constant style of granting is, " An aid to his majesty ; " and acts, granting to the crown, has regularly, for near a century, passed the public offices without dispute. Those who have been pleased paradoxically to deny this right, holding that none but the British parlia- ment can grant to the crown, are wished to look to what is done, not only in the colonies, but in Ireland, in one uniform unbroken tenor every session. Sir, I am surprised that this doctrine should come from some of the law servants of the crown. I say, that if the crown could be responsible, his majesty but cer- tainly the ministers are, even these law officers themselves, through whose hands the acts pass biennially in Ireland or annually in the colonies, in an habitual course of committing impeach- able offences. What habitual offenders have been all presidents of the council, all secretaries of state, all first lords of trade, all attornies, and all solicitors general ! However, they are safe, as no one impeaches them, and there is no ground of charge against them, except in their own unfounded theories. The first resolution is also a resolution of fact, " that the said general assemblies, general courts, or other bodies legally qualified as aforesaid, have at sundry times freely granted several large subsidies and public aids for his majesty's ser\-ice according to their abilities, when required thereto by letter from one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state ; and that their right to grant the same, and their cheerfulness and sufficiency in the said grants 446 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. have been at sundry times acknowledged by parliament." To say nothing of their great expenses in the India wars ; and not to take their exertion in foreign ones, so high as the supplies in the year 1695 ; not to go back to their public contributions in the year 1710; I shall begin to travel only where the journals give me light ; resolved to deal in nothing but fact, authenticated by parliamentary record, and to build myself wholly on that solid basis. On the fourth of April, 1748, a committee of this house came to the following resolution : " Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that it is just and reasonable that the several provinces and colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, be reimbursed the expenses they have been at in taking and securing to the crown of Great Britain, the island of Cape Breton, and its dependencies." These expenses were immense for such colon- ies. They were above £200,000 sterling ; money first raised and advanced on their public credit. On the twenty-eighth of January, 1756, a message from the king came to us to this effect ■ — " His majesty, being sensible of the Zealand vigor with which his subjects of certain colo- nies in North America have exerted themselves in defence of his majesty's just rights and pos- sessions, recommends it to this house to take the same into their consideration, and to enable his majesty to give them such assistance as may be a proper reward and encouragement." On the third of February, 1756. the house came to a suitable resolution, expressed in words nearly the same as those of the message, but with the farther addition, that the money they voted was as an encouragement to the colonies to exert themselves with vigor. It will not be necessary to go through all the testimonies which your own records have given to the truth of my resolutions. I will only refer you to the places in the journals: Vol. XXVH. i6th and 19th of May, 1757. Vol. XXVIIl. —June ist, 1758, April 26th and 30th, 1759. March 26th and 31st. and April 28th, 1760. January 9th and 20th, 1761. Vol. XXIX. Jan.22d, and 26th, 1762, March 14th and 17th, 1763. Sir, here is the repeated acknowledgment of parliament that the colonies not only gave, but gave to satiety. This nation has formally acknowledged two things : first, that the colo- nies had gone beyond their abilities, parliament having thought it necessary to reimburse them ; secondly,' that they had acted legally and laud- ably in their grants of money, and their main- tenance of troops, since the compensation is expressly given as a reward and encouragement. Reward is not bestowed for acts that are un- lawful, and encouragement is not held out to things that deserve reprehension. My resolu- tion, therefore, does nothing more than col- lect into one proposition what is scattered through your journals. I give you nothing but your own, and you cannot refuse in the gross, what you have so often acknowledged in detail. The admission of this, which will- be so honor- able to them and to you, will, indeed, be mor- tal to all the miserable stories, by which the passions of the misguided people have been en- gaged in an unhappy system. The people heard indeed from the beginning of these disputes, one thing continually dinned in their ears, that reason and justice demanded that the Ameri- cans, who paid no taxes, should be compelled to contribute. How did that fact of their pay- ing nothing stand when the taxing system began ? When Mr. Greenville began to form his system of American revenue, he stated, in this house, that the colonies were then in debt two million six hundred thousand pounds ster- ling money, and was of opinion they would dis- charge the debt in four years. On this state, those untaxed people were actually subject to the payment of taxes to the amount of si.x hundred and fifty thousand a year. In fact, however, Mr. Greenville was mistaken. The funds given for sinking the debt did not prove quite so ample as both the colonies and he expected. The calculation was too sanguine. The reduction was not completed till some years after, and at different times in difierent colonies. However, the taxes after the war continued too great to bear any addition with prudence or propriety ; and when the burthens imposed in consequence of former requisitions were discharged, our tone became too high to resort again to requisition. No colony, since that time, ever has had any requisition whatso- ever made to it. We see the sense of the crown, and the sense of parliament, on the productive nature of a revenue by grant. Now search the same jour- nals for the produce of the revenue by imposi- tion. Where is it.' Let us know the volume and the page ? What is the net produce ? To what service is it applied .' How have you appropriated its surplus ? What, can none of the many skilful index makers, that we are now employing, find any trace of it ? Well, let them and that rest together. But are the journals, which say nothing of the revenue, as silent on the discontent .' O no ! A child may BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 447 find it. It is the melancholy burthen and blot of every page. I think then I am, from those journals, justi- fied in the sixth and last resolution, which is — "That it hath been found, by experience, that the manner of granting the said supplies and aids, by the said general assemblies, hath been more agreeable to the said colonies, and more beneficial and conducive to the public service, than the mode of giving and granting aids in parliament, to be raised and paid in the same colonies." This makes the whole of the funda- mental part of the plan. The conclusion is irresistible. You cannot say that you were driven by any necessity to an exercise of the utmost rights of legislature. You cannot assert that you took on yourselves the task of impos- ing colony taxes, from the want of another legal body, that is competent to the purjxise of supplying the exigencies of the state, without wounding the prejudices of the people. Neither is it true that the body so qualified, and having that competence had neglected the duty. The question now, on all this accumulated matter, is, whether you will choose to abide by a profitable experience, or a mischievous theory ; whether you choose to build on imagination or fact ; whether you prefer enjoyment or hope ; satisfaction in your subjects, or discontent. If these propositions are accepted, everything which has been made to enforce a contrary sys- tem, must. I take it for granted, fall along with it. On that ground, I have drawn the following res- olution, which, when it comes to be moved, will naturally be divided in a proper manner. " That it may be proper to repeal an act, made in the seventh year of the reign of his present majesty, entitled, an act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in Amer- ica ; for allowing a drawback of the duties of customs upon the exportation from this king- dom of coffee and cocoa nuts, of the produce of the said colonies and plantations ; for dis- continuing the drawbacks payable on China earthen-ware exported to America, and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in the said colonies and plan- tations. — And that it may be proper to repeal an act made in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present majesty, entitled, an act to dis- continue, in such manner, and for such time, as are therein mentioned, the landing and dis- charging, the lading and shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the town and within the harbor of Boston, in the province of Mas- sachusetts Bay, in North America. — And that it may be proper to repeal an act made in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present majesty, entitled, an act for the impartial ad- ministration of justice, in the cases of persons questioned for any acts done by them, in the execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of Massachu- setts-Bay, in New England. — And it may be proper to repeal an act made in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present majesty, entitled, an act for the better regulating the government of the province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England.— And also that it may be proper to explain and amend an act, made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of king Henry the eighth, entitled, an act for the trial of treasons committed out of the king's do- minions." I wish, sir, to repeal the Boston port hill, because (independently of the dangerous pre- cedent of suspending the rights of the subjects during the king's pleasure) it was passed, as I apprehend, with less regularity, and on more partial principles than it ought. The cor- poration of Boston was not heard, before it was condemned. Other towns full as guilty as she was, have not had their ports blocked up. Even the restraining bill of the present session does not go to the length of the Boston port act. The same ideas of pru- dence, which induced you not to extend equal punishment to equal guilt, even when you were punishing, induce me, who mean not to chas- tise, but to reconcile, to be satisfied with the punishment already partially inflicted. Ideas of prudence, and accommodation to circumstances, prevent you from taking away the charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island, as you have taken away that of Massachusetts colony, though the crown has far less power in the above two former provinces than it enjoyed in the latter ; and though the abuses have been full as great, and as flagrant, in the ex- empted as in the punished. The same reasons of prudence and accommodation have weight with me in restoring the charter of the Massa- chusetts Bay. Besides, sir, the act which changes the charter of the Massachusetts Bay is in many particulars so exceptionable, that if I did not wish absolutely to repeal, I would by all means desire to alter it, as several of its provisions tend to the subversion of all public and private justice. Such, among others, is the power in the governor to change the sheriff at his pleasure, and to make a new returning officer for every special cause. It is shameful to behold such a regulation standing among English laws. The act for bringing persons, accused of 448 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. committing murder, under the orders of gov- ernment, to England, for trial, is but tempo- rary. That act has calculated the probable duration of our quarrel with the colonies, and is accommodated to that supposed duration. I would hasten the happy moment of recon- ciliation: and therefore must, on my prin- ciple, get rid of that most justly obnoxious act. The act of Henry the eighth, for the trial of treasons, I do not mean to take away, but to confine it to its proper bounds and original intention ; to make it e.xpressly for trial of trea- sons, and the greatest treasons may be com- mitted in places where the jurisdiction of the crown does not extend. Having guarded the privileges of local legis- lation, I would next secure to the colonies a fair and unbiased judicature ; for which pur- pose, sir, I propose the following resolution : " That, from the time when the general assem- bly or general court of any colony or plantation in North America, shall have appointed, by act of assembly duly confirmed, a settled salary to the offices of the chief justice and other judges of the superior court, it may be proper that the said chief justice and other judges of the supe- rior courts of such colony, shall hold his and their office and offices during their good be- havior, and shall not be removed therefrom, but when the said removal shall be adjudged by his majesty, in council, upon a hearing or complaint from the general assembly, or on a complaint from the governor, or council, or the house of representatives severally, of the colony in which the said chief justice and other judges have exercised the said offices." The next resolution relates to the courts of admiralty. It is this. " That it may be proper to regu- late the courts of admiralty, or vice admiralty, authorized by the fifteenth chapter of the fourth of George the third, in such a manner as to make the same more commodious to those who sue, or are sued in the said courts, and to provide for the more decent maintenance of the judges in the same." These courts I do not wish to take away ; they are in themselves proper establishments. This court is one of the capital securities of the act of navigation. The extent of its jurisdiction indeed has been increased : but this is alto- gether as proper, and is indeed, on many ac- counts, more eligible, where new powers were wanted, than a court absolutely new. But courts incommodiously situated, in effect, deny justice ; and a court, partaking in all the fruits of its own condemnation, is a robber. The congress complain, and complain justly, of this grievance.* These are the three consequential proposi- tions. I have thought of two or three more, but they come rather too near detail, and to the province of e.\ecutive government, which I wish parliament always to superintend, never to assume. If the first six are granted, con- gruity will carry the latter three. If not, the things that remain unrepealed, will be, I hope, rather unseemly incumbrances on the building than very materially detrimental to its strength and stability. Here, sir, I should close, but that I plainly perceive some objections remain, which I ought, if possible, to remove. The first will be, that, in resorting to the doctrine of our ancestors, as contained in the preamble to the Chester act, I prove too much ; that the grievance from a want of representation, stated in that preamble, goes to the whole of legislation as well as to taxation. And that the colonies, grounding themselves upon that doctrine, w^ill apply it to all parts of legislative authority. To this objection, with all possible deference and humility, and wishing as little as any man living to impair the smallest particle of our supreme authority, I answer, that the words are the words of parliament, and not mine ; and that all false and inconclusive inferences drawn from them, are not mine ; for I heartily disclaim any such inference. I have chosen the words of an act of parliament, which Mr. Greenville, surely a tolerably zealous and very judicious advocate for the sovereignty of parlia- ment, formerly moved to have read at your table, in confirmation of his tenets. It is true that lord Chatham considered these preambles as declaring strongly in favor of his opinion. He was a no less powerful advocate for the privileges of the Americans. Ought I not from hence to presume, that these preambles are as favorable as possible to both, when properly understood ; favorable both to the rights of pariiament, and the privilege of the dependen- cies, of this crown ? But, sir, the object of grievance in my resolution, I have not taken from the Chester but from the Durham act, which confines the hardship of want of repre- sentation to the case of subsidies ; and which therefore falls in exactly with the case of the colonies. But whether the unrepresented counties were de jure or de facto bound, the preambles do not accurately distinguish ; nor * The solicitor general informed Mr. B. when the re- solutions were separately moved, that the grievance of the judges, partaking of the profits of some of the seizures, had been redressed by office ; accordingly the resolution was amended. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 449 indeed was it necessary, for, whether de jure or de facto, the legislature thought the exercise of the power of taxing as of right, or as fact with- out right, equally a grievance, and equally op- pressive. I do not know that the colonies have, in any general way, or in any cool hour, gone much beyond the demand of immunity in relation to taxes. It is not fair to judge of the temper or dispositions of any man, or any set of men, when they are composed and at rest, from their conduct or their expressions in a state of disturbance and irritation. It is besides a very great mistake to imagine, that mankind follow up practically any speculative principle, either of government or of freedom, as far as it will go in argument and logical illation. We En- glishmen stop very short of the principles upon which we support any given part of our consti- tution, or even the whole of it together. I could easily, if I had not already tired you, give you very striking and convincing instances of it. This is nothing but what is natural and proper. All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter. We balance inconveniences, we give and take ; we remit some rights that we may enjoy others ; and we choose rather to be happy citizens than subtle disputants. And we must give away some natural liberty to enjoy civil advantages ; so we must sacrifice some civil liberties, for the advantages to be derived from the communion and fellowship of a great empire. But in all fair dealings, the thing bought must bear some proportion to the purchase paid. None will barter away the im- mediate jewel of his soul. Though a great house is apt to make slaves haughty, yet it is purchasing a part of the artificial importance of a great empire too dear, to pay for it all essential rights, and all the intrinsic dignity of human nature. None of us who would not risk his life, rather than fall under a govern- ment purely arbitrary. But, although there are some amongst us who think our constitu- tion wants many improvements, to make it a complete system of liberty, perhaps none who are of that opinion, would think it right to aim at such improvement, by disturbing this coun- try, and risking every thing that is dear to him._ In every arduous enterprise we consider what we are to lose, as well as what we are to gain ; and the more and better stake of liberty every people possess, the less they will hazard in a vain attempt to make it more. These are the cords of man. Man acts from adequate mo- tives relative to his interest, and not on meta- 29 physical speculations. Aristotle, the great master of reasoning, cautions us, and with great weight and propriety, against this species of delusive geometrical accuracy in moral arguments, as the most fallacious of all soph- istry. The Americans will have no interest contrary to the grandeur and glory of England, when they are not oppressed by the weight of it, and they will rather be inclined to respect the acts of a superintending legislature, when they see in them the acts of that power, which is itself the security, not the rival, of their secondary im- portance. In this assurance, my mind most pertectly acquiesces ; and I confess I feel not the least alarm, from the discontents which are to arise from putting people at their ease ; nor do I apprehend the destruction of this empire, from giving, by an act of free grace and indul- gence, to two millions of my fellow citizens, some share of those rights upon which I have always been taught to value myself. It is said indeed that this power of granting, vested in American assemblies, would dissolve the unity of the empire, which was preserved entire, although Wales, Chester, and Durham were added to it. Truly, Mr. Speaker, I do not know what this unity means ; nor has it ever been heard of that I know, in the consti- tutional policy of this country. The very idea of subordination of parts excludes this notion of simple and undivided unity. England is the head ; but she is not the head and the mem- bers too. Ireland has ever had, from the be- ginning, a separate, but not an independent, legislature : which, far from distracting, pro- moted the union of the whole. Every thing was sweetly and harmoniously disposed through both islands for the conservation of English dominion, and the comminution of English liberties. I do not see that the same principles might not be carried into twenty islands, and with the same good effect. This is my model with regard to America, as far as the internal circumstances of the two countries are the same. I know no other unity of this empire, than I can draw from its example du- ring these periods when it seemed, to my poor understanding, more united than it is now, or than it is likely to be by the present methods. But since I speak of these methods, I recol- lect, Mr. Speaker, almost too late, that I pro- mised, before I finished, to say something of the proposition of the * noble lord on the floor, which has been so lately received, and stands on your journals. I must be deeply concerned, whenever it is my misfortune to continue a dif- * Lord North. 4SO PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ference with the majority of this house. But as the reasons for that difference are my apol- ogy for thus troubling you, suffer me to state them in a very few words. I shall compress them in as small a body as I possibly can, hav- ing already debated that matter at large, when the question was before the committee. First then, I cannot admit that proposition of a ransom by auction — because it is a mere pro- ject. It is a thing new, unheard of, supported by no experience, justified by no analogy, without example of our ancestors, or root in the constitution. It is neither regular parlia- mentary taxation, nor colony grant. Experi- mentum in corpore vile, is a good rule, which will ever make me adverse to any trial of expe- riments on what is certainly the most valuable of all subjects, the peace of this empire. Secondly, it is an experiment which must be fatal, in the end, to our constitution. For what is it but a scheme for taxing the colonies in the antechamber of the noble lord and his successors ? To settle the quotas and propor- tions in this house is clearly impossible. You, sir, may flatter yourself, you shall sit a state auctioneer, with your hammer in your hand, and knock down to each colony as it bids. But to settle (on the plan laid down by the noble lord) the true proportioned payment for four or five and twenty governments, according to the absolute and relative wealth of each, and according to the British proportion of wealth and burthen, is a wild and chimerical notion. This new taxation must therefore come in by the back door of the constitution. Each quota must be brought to this house ready formed ; you can neither add nor alter. You must regis- ter it. You can do nothing farther. For on what grounds can you deliberate, either before or after the proposition .'' You cannot hear the council for all these provinces quarrelling each on its own quantity of payment, and its proportion to others. If you should attempt it, the committee of the provincial ways and means, or by whatever other name it will delight to be called, must swallow up all the time of par- liament. Thirdly, it does not give satisfaction to the complaint of the colonies. They complain that they are taxed without their consent ; you answer, that you will fix the sum at which they shall be taxed. That is, you give them the very grievance for the remedy. You tell them, indeed, that you will leave the mode to them- selves. I really beg pardon — it gives me pain to mention it — but you must be sensible that you will not perform this part of the compact. For, suppose the colonies were to lay the duties. which furnished their contingent, upon the im- portation of your manufactures, you know you would never suffer such a tax to be laid. You know too, that you would not suffer many other modes of taxation. So that, when you come to explain yourself, it will be found that you will neither leave to themselves the quan- tum, nor the mode, nor indeed anything. The whole is delusion from one end to the other. Fourthly, this method of ransom by auction (unless it be universally accepted) will plunge you into great and inextricable difficulties. In what year of our Lord are the proportions of payments to be settled ? To say nothing of the impossibility, that colony agents should have general powers of taxing the colonies at their discretion, consider, I implore you, that the communication, by special messages and orders, between these agents and their constit- uents, on each variation of the case, when the parties come to contend together, and to dispute on their relative proportions, will be a matter of delay, perple.xity, and confusion that can never have an end. If all the colonies do not appear at the out- cry, what is the condition of those assemblies who offer, by themselves or their agents, to tax themselves up to your ideas of their proportion? The refractory colonies, who refuse all compo- sition, will remain taxed only to your old impo- sitions ; which, however grievous in principle, are trifling as to production. The obedient colonies in this scheme are heavily taxed. The refractory remain unburthened. What will you do .' Will you lay new and heavier taxes by parliament on the disobedient .' Pray consider, in what way can you do it ? You are perfectly convinced that in the way of taxing you can do nothing but at the ports. Now suppose it is Virginia that refuses to appear at your auc- tion, while Maryland and North Carolina bid handsomely for their ransom, and are taxed to your quota? How will you put these colo- nies on a par ? Will you tax the tobacco of Virginia ? If you do, you give it its dead wound to your English revenue at home, and to one of the very greatest articles of your own foreign trade. If you tax the import of that rebellious colony, what do you tax but your own manu- factures, or the goods of some other obedient, and already well taxed colony ? Who has said one word on this labyrinth of detail, which bewilders you more and more as you enter into it ? Who has presented, who can present you with a clew to lead you out of it? I think, sir, it is impossible that you should not recol- lect that the colony bounds are so implicated in one another (you know it by your other ex- BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 451 periments in the bill for' prohibiting the New England fishery) that you can lay no possible restraint on almost any of them, which may not be presently eluded, if you do not confound the innocent with the guilty, and burthen those whom upon every principle you ought to exon- erate. He must be grossly ignorant of Ameri- ca, who thinks that, without falling into this confusion of all rules of equity and policy, you can restrain any single colony, especially Vir- ginia and Maryland, the central and most important of them all. Let it also be considered, that either in the present confusion you settle a permanent con- tingent, which will and must be trifling, (and then you have no effectual revenue,) or you change the quota at every exigency, and then on every new requisition you will have a new quarrel. Reflect besides, that when you have fi.xed a quota for every colony, you have not provided for prompt and punctual payment. Suppose one, two, five, ten years' arrears. You cannot issue a treasury extent against the failing colony. You must make new Boston port bills, new restraining laws, new acts for dragging men to England for trial. You must send out new fleets, new armies. All is to begin again. From this day forward the empire is never to know an hour's tranquility. An intestine fire will be kept alive in the bowels of the colonies, which one time or other must consume this whole empire. I allow indeed that the empire of Germany raises her revenue and her troops by quotas and contingents ; but the revenue of the empire, and the army of the empire is the worst revenue and the worst army in the world. Instead of a standing revenue, you will there- fore have a perpetual quarrel. Indeed, the noble lord, who proposed this project of a ransom by auction, seemed himself to be of that opinion. His project was rather designed for breaking the union of the colonies, than for establishing a revenue. — He confessed, he apprehended, that his proposal would not be to their taste. I say, this scheme of disunion seems to be at the bottom of ihe project ; for I will not suspect that the noble lord meant nothing but merely to delude the nation by an airy phantom, which he never intended to" realize. But whatever his views may be, as I propose the peace and union of the colonies as the very foundation of my plan, it cannot with one, whose foundation is perpetual, descend. Compare the two. This I offer to give you is plain and simple ; the other full of perplexed and intricate mazes. This is mild, that harsh. This is found by experience effectual for its purposes ; the other is a new object. This is universal, the other calculated for certain colo- nies only. This is immediate in its conciliatory operation ; the other remote, contingent, full of hazard. Mine is what becomes the dignity of a ruling people ; gratuitous, unconditional, and not held out as a matter of bargain and sale. I have done my duty in proposing it to you. I have indeed tired you by a long dis- course ; but this is the misfortune of those to whose influence nothing will be conceded, and who must win every inch of their ground by argument. You have heard me with goodness ; may you decide with wisdom ! for my part, I feci my mind greatly disburthened, by what I have done to day. I have been the less fearful of trying your patience, because, on this sub- ject, I mean to spare it altogether in future. I have this comfort, that in every stage of the American affairs, I have steadily opposed the measures that have produced the confusion, and may bring on the destruction of this empire. I now go so far as to require a proposal of my own. If I cannot give peace to my country, I give it my conscience. But what (says the financier) is peace to us without money .' Your plan gives us no revenue. No ! But it does — for it secures to the sub- ject the power of REFUSAL : the first of all revenues. — Experience is a cheat, and fact a liar, if this power in the subject of proportion- ing his grant, or of not granting at all, has not been found the richest mine of revenue ever discovered by the skill or by the fortune of man. It does not indeed vote you one hundred and fifty- two thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds eleven shillings and twopence three farthings, nor any other paltry limited sum. But it gives the strong box itself, the fund, the bank from whence only revenues can arise among a people sensible of freedom : Posita luditur area. Cannot you in England, cannot you at this time of day ; cannot you (an house of commons) trust to the principle which has raised so mighty a revenue, and accumulated a debt of near one hundred and forty millions in this country ! Is this principle to be true in England, and false every where else } Is it not true in Ireland .•' Has it not hitherto been true in the colonies ? Why should you presume that in any country a body, duly constituted for any function, will neglect to perform its duty, and abdicate its trust.' Such a presumption would go against all government, in all modes. But, in truth, this dread of penury of supply, from a free assembly, has no foundation in na- ture. For, first observe, that besides the desire 452 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. which all men have naturally of supporting the honor of their own government, that sense of dignity, and that security to property, which ever attends freedom, has a tendency to increase the stock of the free community. Most may be taken where most is accumulated. And what is the soil or climate where experience has not uniformly proved, that for the voluntary flow of heaped up plenty, bursting from the weight of its own rich luxuriance, has ever run with a more copious stream of revenue, than could be squeezed from the dry husks of oppressed indigence, by the straining of all the political machinery in the world. Next we know that parties must ever exist in a free country. We know too, that the emula- tions of such parties, their contradictions, their reciprocal necessities, their hopes, and their fears must send them all in their turns to him that holds the balance of the state. The par- ties are the gamesters ; but government keeps the table, and is sure to be the winner in the end. When this game is played, I really think it is more to be feared, that the people will be exhausted, than that government will not be supplied. Whereas, whatever is got by acts of absolute power ill obeyed, because odious, or by contract ill kept, because constrained, will be narrow, feeble, uncertain, and precarious. "Ease would retract vows made in pain, as violent and void." I, for one protest against compounding our demands ; I declare against compounding, for a poor limited sum, the immense, ever grow- ing, eternal debt, which is due to generous government from protected freedom. And so may I speed in the great object I propose to you, as I think it would not only be an act of injustice, but would be the worst economy in the world, to compel the colonies to a certain sum, either in the way of ransom, or in the way of compulsory compact. But to clear up my ideas on this subject a revenue from America transmitted hither — do not delude yourselves — you never can receive it — no, not a shilling. We have experienced that, from remote countries, it is not to be expected. If, when you attempted to extract a revenue from Bengal, you were obliged to return in iron what you had taken in imposition, what can you expect from North America ? For certain if ever there was a country' qualified to produce wealth, it is India ; or an institution fit for the transmission, it is the East-India company. America has none of these apti- tudes. If America gives you taxable objects, on which you lay your duties here, and gives you at the same time, a surplus by a foreign sale of her commodities, to pay the duties or. these objects, which you tax at home, she has performed her part to the British revenue. But with regard to her own internal establishments, she may, I do not doubt she will, contribute in moderation, I say in moderation ; for she ought not to be permitted to exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved to a war ; the weight of which, with the enemies that we are most likely to have, must be considerable in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and serve you essentially. For that service, for all service, whether of revenue, trade, or empire, my trust is in her interest in the British constitution. My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal pro- tection. These are ties which though light as air are as strong as links of iron. Let the colo- nies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with your government ; they will cling and grapple to you ; and no force under Heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it once be understood, that your government may be one thing, and their privileges another, that these two things may exist without any mutual relation, the cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened ; and ever)' thing hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have wisdom to keep the sove- reign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience. Slavery they can hare any where. It is a weed that grows in every soil. They may have it from Spain, they may have it from Prussia. But until you become lost to all feeling of your true interest, and your natural dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the com- modity of price, of which you have the monopo- ly. This is the true act of navigation, which binds to you the commerce of the colonies, and through them secures to you the wealth of the world. Deny them this participation of freedom and you break that sole bond, which originally made, and must still preserve, the unity of the empire. Do not entertain so weak an imagina- tion, as that your registers and your bonds, your affidavits and your suffrances, your cock- ets and clearances, are what form the great securities of your commerce. Do not dream, that your letters of office, and your instructions, BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 453 and your suspending classes are the things that hold together the great contexture of this mysterious whole. These things do not make your government. Dead instruments, passive tools as they are, it is the spirit of English com- munion that gives all their life and efficacy to them. It is the spirit of the English constitution which, infused through the mighty mass, per- vades, feeds, invigorates, vivifies, every part of the empire, even down to the minutest members. Is it not the same virtue which does every- thing for us here in England .' Do you imagine then, that it is the land tax act which raises your revenue ? that it is the annual vote in the committee of supply, which gives you your army ? or that it is the mutiny bill which in- spires it with bravery and discipline ? No ! surely no ! It is the love of the people, it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you your army and your na\7, and infuses into both that libe- ral obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble, and yout navy nothing but rotten timber. All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the profane herd of those vulgar and mechanical politicians, who have no place among us ; a sort of people who think that nothing exists but what is gross and material ; and who therefore, far from being qualified to be directors of the great movement of empire, are not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and master principles, which, in the opinion of such men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in truth everything, and all in all. Magnani- mity in politics is not seldom the truest wis- dom ; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. If we are conscious of our situa- tion, and glow with zeal to fill our place as becomes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate all our public proceedings on America, with the old warning of the church, sursum corda ! We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order of Providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire ; and have made the most extensive, and the only honorable con- quests ; not by destroying, but by promoting, the wealth, the number, the happiness, of the human race. Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American empire. English privileges have made it all that it is ; English privileges alone will make it all it can be. In full confidence of this unalterable truth, I now {quod felix faustumque sit) lay the first stone of the temple of peace ; and I move tc you, " That the colonies and plantations of Great Britain, in North America, consisting of four- teen separate governments and containing two millions and upwards of free inhabitants, have not had the right and privilege of electing and sending their knights and burgesses, or others, to represent in the high court of parliament." Upon this resolution the previous question was put, and carried ; for the previous question 270, against it 78. GOVERNOR PENN, Late of Pennsylvania. His examina- tion BY THE House of Lords. Saturday, November ii, 1775. House of lords. The lords were yester- day assembled for the purposes of examining governor Penn, and of discussing a motion which the duke of Richmond proposed to ground on such information as that gentleman should afford the house. Previous to the calling of Mr. Penn to the bar, the duke of Richmond announced the mode he had adopted preparatory to the gov- ernor's examination. His grace confessed, " That he had apprised Mr. Penn of the ques- tions which would be propounded to him, but the noble duke disclaimed having entered into any sort of conversation with the governor, lest such conversation should be malevolently con- strued into a design of anticipating the answers Mr. Penn might think proper to return." The duke of Richmond having finished his preliminary remarks, Mr. Penn was called to the bar, and interrogated nearly to the follow- ing purport : Q. How long had he resided in America ? A. Four years. Two of those years in the capacity of governor of Pennsylvania. Q. Was he acquainted with any of the mem- bers of the continental congress .' A. He was personally acquainted with all the members of that congress. Q. In what estimation was the congress held? A. In the highest veneration imaginable by all ranks and orders of men. Q. Was an implicit obedience paid to the resolutions of that congress throughout all the provinces ? A. He believed this to be the case. 454 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Q. How many men had been raised through- out the province of Pennsylvania ? A. Twenty thousand elTective men had vol- untarily enrolled themselves to enter into actual service if necessity required. Q. Of what rank, quality and condition were these persons ? A. Men of the most respectable character in the province. Q. Were not a considerable number of them entirely destitute of property .' A. It was presumed that, subtracted from so large a number as 20,000, there were some necessitous, but the major pait were in flour- ishing situations. Q. Besides those 20,000, who voluntarily en- rolled themselves to act as exigencies might require, what other forces had the provincials of Pennsylvania raised .' A. Four thousand minute-men, whose duty was pointed out by their designation. They were to be ready for service at a minute's warning. Q. Did the province of Pennsylvania grow corn sufficient for the supply of its inhabitants ? A. Much more than sufficient, there was a surplus for exportation if required. Q. Were they capable of making gunpowder in Pennsylvania? A. They perfectly well understood the art, and had effected it. Q. Could salt-petre be made in the pro- vince .' A. It could ; mills and other instruments for effecting such an undertaking had been erected with success. Q. Could cannon be cast in Pennsylvania? A. The art of casting cannon had been car- ried to great perfection ; they were amply fur- nished with iron for that purpose. Q. Could small arms be made to any degree of perfection ? A. To as great a degree of perfection as tould be imagined. The workmanship em- ployed in finishing the small arms was univer- sally admired for its excellence. Q. Were the Americans expert in ship-build- ing? A. More so than the Europeans. Q. To what extent of tonnage did the largest of their shipping amount ? A. A ship of about three hundred tons was the largest they were known to build. Q. Circumstanced as things at present were, did the witness think, that the language of the congress expressed the sense of the people in America in general ? A. As far as the question applied to Penn- sylvania, he was sure this was the case ; for the other provinces, he replied in the affirmative from information only. Q. Did he suppose that the congress con- tained delegates fairly nominated by the choice of the people ? A. He had no doubt but that the congress did contain delegates chosen under this description. Q. By what mode were the delegates in con- gress appointed ? A. By the votes of assemblies in some places, by ballot in others. Q. In what light had the petition, which the witness had presented to the king, been con- sidered by the Americans ? A. The petition had been considered as an olive branch, and the witness had been com- plimented by his friends, as the messenger of peace. Q. On the supposition that the prayer of this petition should be rejected, what did the witness imagine would be the consequence ? A. That the Americans, who placed much reliance on the petition, would be driven to desperation by its non-success. Q. Did the witness imagine, that sooner than yield to what were supposed to be unjust claims of Great Britain, the Americans would take the desperate resolution of calling in the aid of foreign assistance ? A. The witness was apprehensive that this would be the case. Q. What did the witness recollect of the stamp act ? A. That it caused great uneasiness through- out America. Q. What did the witness recollect, concern- ing repeal of that act ? A. The anniversary of that memorable day is kept throughout America, by every testimony of public rejoicing, such as bonfires, illumina- tions, and other exhibitions of gladness. Q. Would not the neglect with which the last petition was treated induce the Americans to resign all hopes of pacific negotiations ? A. In the opinion of witness it would. Q. When the witness presented the petition to the secretary of state, was he asked any ques- tions relative to the state of America ? A. Not a single question. Cross examined by the lords Denbigh AND Sandwich. As the witness had acted in the capacity of governor, was he well acquainted with the charter of Pennsylvania ? A. He had read the charter, and was well acquainted with its contents. BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 455 Q. Did he know that there was a clause which specifically subjected the colony to taxa- tion by the British legislature ? A. He was well apprised that there was such a clause. Q. Were the people of Pennsylvania content with their charter ? A. Perfectly content. Q. Then did they not acquiesce in the right of the British parliament to enforce taxa- tion .' A. They acquiesced in a declaration of the right so long as they experienced no inconveni- ence from the declaration. Queries from lord Sandwich. Q. Had the witness ever heard of an act en- titled, " The declaratory act .' " A. He had heard of such an act. Q. Did he ever peruse, and was he suffi- ciently acquainted with the contents of that act? A. He never had perused it. It never had been much discussed whilst he resided in America. A. Did the witness apprehend that the con- gress acquiesced in an act which maintained the authority of the British parliament in all cases whatsoever ? Objected to, and the witness was desired to withdraw ; but being called in again, the ques- tion was put, and he replied : That, except in the case of TAXATION, he apprehended the Americans would have no objection to acknowledge the sovereignty of Great Britain. Q. Had the witness any knowledge of cer- tain resolutions passed by the county of Suf- folk? A. He had not attended to them. Q. Had the witness any knowledge of an answer given by the continental congress, to what had been commonly called lord North's conciliatory motion ? A. The witness knew nothing of the pro- ceedings of the congress, they were generally transacted under the seal of secrecy. Q. Was the witness personally acquainted with Mr. Harrison, a member of the congress ? A. The witness knew him well. Q. What character did he bear? A. A very respectable one. Q. Had the witness ever heard of any per- sons who had suffered persecutions, for declar- ing sentiments favorable to the supremacy of the British parliament ? A. He had heard of such oppressions in other provinces, but never met with them during his residence in Pennsylvania. Q. In the opinion of the witness, were the Americans now free ? A. They imagined themselves to be so. Q. In case a formidable force should be sent to America, in support of government, did the witness imagine there were many who would openly profess submission to the authority of parliament ? A. The witness apprehended the few who would join on such occasion would be too trivial a number to be of any consequence. Mr. Penn was then ordered to withdraw, and the duke of Richmond, after descanting with singular propriety on the necessity of im- mediate conciliation, proposed the last petition from the continental congress to the king, as a basis for a plan of accommodation. His grace of Richmond moved, " That the preceding paper furnished grounds of conciliation of the unhappy differences at present subsisting be- tween Great Britain and America, and that some mode should be immediately adopted, for the effectuating so desirable a purpose." This produced a debate supported on both sides with infinite ingenuity. The numbers were : For the motion 27 — Proxies 6 33 Against the motion 50 — Proxies36 86 Majority against the motion 52. WILLIAM PITT— EARL OF CHATHAM. His celebrated speech delivered in the HOUSE OF lords. On a motion for an address to his majesty to give immediate orders for remoanng his troops from Boston, forthwith, in order to quiet the tninds and take away the apprehen- sions of his good subjects in America, De- cember 20, 1775. My lords— Mxcr more than six weeks pos- session of the papers now before you, on a subject so momentous, at a time when the fate of this nation hangs on every hour, the ministry have at length condescended to sub- mit, to the consideration of the house, intelli- gence from America, with which your lord- ships and the public have been long and fully acquainted. The measures of last year, my lords, which have produced the present alarming stale of America, were founded upon misrepresentation — they were violent, precipitate and vindictive. The nation was told, that it was only a faction 456 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. in Boston, which opposed all lawful govern- ment ; that an unwarrantable injury had been done to private property, for which the justice of parliament was called upon, to order repa- ration ; — that the least appearance of firmness would awe the Americans into submission, and upon only passing the Rubicon we should be fine clade victor. That the people might choose their represent- atives, under the impression of those misrep- resentations, the parliament was precipitately dissolved. Thus the nation was to be ren- dered instrumental in executing the vengeance of administration on that injured, unhappy, traduced people. But now, my lords, we find, that instead of suppressing the opposition of the faction at Boston, these measures have spread it over the whole continent. They have united that whole people, by the most indissoluble of all bands — intolerable wrongs. The just retribution is an indiscriminate, unmerciful proscription of the innocent with the gu-ilty, unheard and untried. The bloodless victory, is an impotent general, with his dishonored army, trusting solely to the pick-axe and the spade, for secu- rity against the just indignation of an injured and insulted people. My lords, I am happy that a relaxation of my infirmities permits me to seize this earliest opportunity of offering my poor advice to save this unhappy country, at this moment totter- ing to its ruin. But as I have not the honor of access to his majesty, I will endeavor to transmit to him, through the constitutional channel of this house, my ideas on American business, to rescue him from the misadvice of his present ministers. I congratulate your lordships that that business is at last entered upon, by the noble lord's (lord Dartmouth) laying the papers before you. As I suppose your lordships are too well apprised of their contents, I hope I am not premature in submit- ting to you my present motion (reads the mo- tion). I wish my lords not to lose a day in this urging present crisis: An hour now lost in allaying the ferment in America, may pro- duce years of calamity : but, for my own part, I will not desert for a moment the conduct of this mighty business from the first to the last, unless nailed to my bed by the extremity of sickness ; I will give it unremitting attention : I will knock at the door of this sleeping, or :onfounded ministry, and will rouse them to a sense of their important danger. When I state the importance of the colonies to this country, and the magnitude of danger hanging over this country from the present plan of mis- administration practised against them, I desire not to be understood to argue for a reciprocity of indulgence between England and America: I contend not for indulgence, but justice, to America ; and I shall ever contend that the Americans owe obedience to us, in a limited degree ; they owe obedience to our ordinances of trade and navigation ; but let the line be skilfully drawn between the objects of those ordinances, and their private, internal pro- perty : Let the sacredness of their property remain inviolate ; let it be taxable only by their own consent, given in their provincial assem- blies, else it will cease to be property : As to the metaphysical refinements attempting to show that the Americans are equally free from obedience to commercial restraints, as from taxation for revenue, as being unrepresented here, I pronounce them futile, frivolous and groundless. — Property is, in its nature, single as an atom. It is indivisible, can belong to one only, and cannot be touched but by his own consent. The law that attempts to alter this disposal of it annihilates it. When I urge this measure for recalling the troops from Boston, I urge it on this pressing principle — that it is necessarily preparatory to the restoration of your prosperity. It will then appear that you are disposed to treat amicably and equitably, and to consider, revise and repeal, if it should be found necessary, as I affirm it will, those violent acts and declarations which have disseminated confusion through- out your empire. Resistance to your acts, was as necessary as it was just ; and your vain de- clarations of the omnipotence of parliament, and your imperious doctrines of the necessity of submission, will be found equally impotent to convince or enslave your fellow subjects in America, who feel that tyranny, whether am- bitioned by an individual part of the legis- lature, or by the bodies which compose it, is equally intolerable to British principles. As to the means of enforcing this thraldom, they are found to be as ridiculous and weak in practice, as they were unjust in principle: In- deed I cannot but feel, with the most anxious sensibility, for the situation of general Gage and the troops under his command ; thinking him, as I do, a man of humanity and under- standing, and entertaining, as I ever shall, the highest respect, the warmest love, for the British troops. Their situation is truly un- worthy, pent up, pining in inglorious inactivity. They are an army of impotence. You may call them an army of safety and of guard ; but they are in truth an army of impotence and contempt — and to render the folly equal to BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 457 the disgrace, they are an army of irritation. I do not mean to censure the inactivity of the troops. It is prudent and necessary inaction. But it is a miserable condition, where disgrace is prudence ; and where it is necessary to be contemptible. This tameness, however dis- graceful, ought not to be blamed, as I am surprised to hear is done by these ministers. The first drop of blood, shed in a civil and un- natural war, would be an immedicabile vulnus. It would entail hatred and contention between the two people, from generation to generation. Woe be to him who sheds the first, the unexpi- able drop of blood in an impious war, with a people contending in the great cause of public liberty. I will tell you plainly, my lords, no son of mine nor any one over whom I have influence, shall ever draw his sword upon his fellow subjects. I therefore urge and conjure your lordships immediately to adopt this conciliatory measure. I will pledge myself for its immediately pro- ducing conciliatory effects, from its being well timed : But if you delay, till your vain hope of triumphantly dictating the terms shall be ac- complished — you delay forever. And, even admitting that this hope, which in truth is des- perate, should be accomplished, what will you gain by a victorious imposition of amity ? You will be untrusted and unthanked. Adopt then the grace, while you have the opportunity of reconcilement, or at least prepare the way ; allay the ferment prevailing in America, by removing the obnoxious hostile corps. Ob- noxious and unserviceable ; for their merit can be only inaction. " Non dimicare est vincere." Their victory can never be by exertions. Their force would be most dispro- portionately exerted, against a brave, gener- ous, and united people, with arms in their hands and courage in their hearts ; three mil- lions of people, the genuine descendants of a valiant and pious ancestry, driven to these deserts by the narrow ma.xims of a supersti- tious tyranny. And is the spirit of tyrannous persecution never to be appeased ? Are the brave sons of those brave forefathers to inherit their sufferings, as they have inherited their virtues .' Are they to sustain the inflictions of the most oppressive and unexampled severity, beyond the accounts of history or the descrip-- tion of poetry .' " Rhadamanthus habet durris- sima regna, castigatque auditque." So says the wisest statesman and politician. But the Bostonians have been condemned unheard. The discriminating hand of vengeance has lumped together innocent and guilty ; with all the formalities of hostility, has blocked up the town, and reduced to beggary and famine 30,000 inhabitants. But his majesty is advised that the union of America cannot last. — Minis- ters have more eyes than I, and should have more ears, but from all the information I have been able to procure, I can pronounce it a union solid, permanent and effectual. Minis- ters may satisfy themselves and delude the public with the reports of what they call com- mercial bodies in America. They are not com- mercial. They are your packers and factors ; they live upon nothing, for I call commission nothing ; I mean the ministerial authority for their American intelligence. The runners of government, who are paid for their intelligence. But these are not the men, nor this the influ- ence to be considered in America, when we esti- mate the firmness of their union. Even to extend the question, and to take/in"~tt\e really mercantile circle, will be totally inadequate to the consideration. Trade indeed increases the w-ealth and glory of a country ; but its real strength and stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of the land. In their simplicity of life is founded the" simplicity of virtue, the integrity and courage of freedom. Those true genuine sons of the earth are invin- cible : and they surround and hem in the mer- cantile bodies ; even if those bodies, which supposition I totally disclaim, could be sup- posed disaffected to the cause of liberty. Of this general spirit existing in the American nation, for so I wish to distinguish the real and genuine Americans from the pseudo traders I have described ; of this spirit of independence, animating the nation of America, I have the most authentic information. It is not new among them ; it is, and ever has been their established principle, their confirmed persua- sion ; it is their nature and their doctrine. I remember some years ago when the repeal of the stamp act was in agitation, conversing in a friendly confidence with a person of undoubted respect and authenticity on this subject ; and he assured me with a certainty which his judg- ment and opportunity gave him, that these were the prevalent and steady principles of America : That you might destroy their towns, and cut them off from the superfluities, perhaps the conveniencies of life, but that they were prepared to despise your power, and would not lament their loss, whilst they had, what, my lords ? — Their woods and liberty. The name of my authority, if I am called upon, will authenticate the opinion irrefragably. I f illegal violences have been, as it is said.com- mitted in America, prepare the way, open a door of possibility, for acknowledgment and satisfac- 458 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. tion. But proceed not to such coercion, such proscription. Cease your indiscriminate inflic- tions; amerce not thirty thousands, oppress not three millions, for the faults of forty or fifty. Such severity of injustice must forever render incu- rable the wounds you have given your colonies ; you irritate them to unappeasable rancor. What though you march from town to town, and from pro\ince to province ? — Though you should be able to force a temporary and local submission, which I only suppose, not admit, how shall you be able to secure the obedience of the country you leave behind you in your progress.' To grasp the dominion of i,8oo miles of continent, populous in valor, liberty and resistance .' This resistance to your arbi- trary system of taxation might have been fore- seen ; it was obvious from the nature of things and of mankind ; and above all, from the whig- gish spirit flourishing in that country. The spirit which now resists your taxation in America, is the same which formerly opposed, and with success opposed, loans, benevolences, and ship money in England — the same spirit which called all England on its legs, and by the bill of rights vindicated the English consti- tution — the same spirit which established the great fundamental and essential maxim of your liberties, that no subject shall be taxed, but by his own consent. If your lordships will turn to the politics of those times, you will see the at- tempts of the lords to poison this inestimable benefit of the bill, by an insidious proviso. You will see their attempts defeated, in their con- ference with the commons, by the decisive argu- ments of the ascertainers and maintainers of our liberty ; you will see the thin, inconclusive and fallaciousstuff of those enemies to freedom, contrasted with the sound and solid reasoning of sergeant Glanville and the rest, those great and learned men who adorned and enlightened this countr}', and placed her security on the summit of justice and freedom. And whilst I am on my legs, and thus do justice to the memory of those great men, I must also justify che merit of the living by declaring my firm and fixed opinion, that such a man exists this day [looking towards lord Cambden] ; this glorious spirit of whiggism animates three millions in America, who prefer poverty with liberty, to golden chains and sordid affluence ; and who will die in defence of their rights, as men — as freemen. What shall oppose this spirit .' aided by the congenial flame glowing in the breast of every whig in England, to the amount, I hope, of at least double the American num- bers ! Ireland they have to a man. In that country, joined as it is with the cause of the colonies, and placed at their head, the distinc- tion I contend for, is and must be observed. My lords — This country superintends and controls their trade and navigation ; but they tax themselves. And this distinction between external and internal control, is sacred and insurmountable ; it is involved in the abstract nature of things. Property is private, individ- ual, absolute. Trade is an extended and com- plicated consideration ; itreaches as far as ships can sail, or winds can blow. It is a great and various machine — To regulate the numberless movements of its several parts, and combine them into effect for the good of the w'hole, requires the superintending wisdom and energy of the supreme power in the empire. But this supreme power has no effect towards internal taxation — for it does not exist in that relation. There is no such thing, no such idea in this constitution, as a supreme power operating upon property. Let this distinction then remain forever as- certained. Taxation is theirs, commercial reg- ulation is ours. As an American, I would recognize to England her supreme right of regulating commerce and navigation. As an Englishman, by birth and principle. I recognize to the Americans their supreme, unalienable right to their property ; a right which they are justified in the defence of, to the extremity. To maintain this principle is the common cause of the whigs on the other side of the Atlantic, and on this. 'Tis liberty to liberty engaged, that they will defend themselves, their families and their country. In this great cause they are immovably allied. It is the alliance of God and nature — immutable, eternal, fixed as the firmament of Heaven ! To such united force, what force shall be opposed I What, my lords, a few regiments in America, and 17 or 18,000 men at home ! The idea is too ridicu- lous to take up a moment of your lordships' time — nor can such a national principled union be resisted by the tricks of office or ministerial manoeuvres. Laying papers on your table, or counting noses on a dinsion, will not avert or postpone the hour of danger. It must arrive, my lords, unless these fatal acts are done away ; it must arrive in all its horrors. And then these boastful ministers, 'spite of all their con- fidence and all their manoeuvres, shall be forced to hide their heads. But it is not repealing this act of parliament, or that act of parliament — it is not repealing a piece of parchment that can restore America to your bosom. You must repeal her fears and her resentments, and you may then hope for her love and gratitude. But now insulted with an armed force posted BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 459 In Boston, irritated with an hostile array before her eyes, her concessions, if you could force them, would be suspicious and insecure. They will be, irato animo. They will not be the sound, honorable pactions of freemen ; they will be the dictates of fear and the extortions of force. But it is more than evident that you CANNOT force them, principled and united as they are, to your unworthy terms of submission. It is impossible. And when I hear general Gage censured for inactivity, I must retort with indignation on those whose intemperate meas- ures and improvident councils have betrayed him into his present situation. His situation reminds me, my lords, of the answer of a French general in the civil wars of France, Monsieur Turenne, I think. The queen said to him, with some peevishness, I observe that you were of- ten very near the prince during the campaign, why did you not take him ? — The Mareschal replied with great coolness — J'avois grand peur, que Monsieur le prince ne me pris, — I was very much afraid the prince would take me. When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America, when you con- sider their decency, firmness and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own — for myself I must declare and avow that, in all my reading and obsena- tion, and it has been my favorite study — I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master statesmen of the world — that for solidity and reasoning, force of sagacity, and wis- dom of conclusion, under such a complication of different circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the general congress at Philadelphia. — I trust it is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts to impose servitude on such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation — must be vain — must be futile. — We shall be forced ulti- mately to retract, whilst we can, not when we must. I say we must necessarily undo these violent and oppressive acts : — they must be repealed — you will repeal them : I pledge my- self for it you will in the end repeal them. I stake my reputation on it : I will consent to be taken for an idiot if they are not finally repealed. Avoid then this humiliating, disgraceful neces- sity. — With a dignity becoming your exalted situation, make the first advances to concord, to peace and happiness, for that is your true dignity, to act with prudence and with justice. That you should first concede is obvious from sound and rational policy. Concession comes with better grace and more salutary effect from the superior power. It reconciles supe- riority of power with the feelings of men ; and establishes solid confidence in the foundation of affection and gratitude. So thought the wisest poet, and perhaps the wisest man in political sagacity, the friend of Maecenas, and the eulogist of Augustus. To him the adopted son and successor of the first Caesar, to him the master of the world, he wisely urged this conduct of prudence and dignity. Tuque, prior, etc. ViRGIL. Every motive, therefore, of justice and of pol- icy, of dignity and of prudence, urges you to allay the ferment in America, by a removal of your troops from Boston, by a repeal of your acts of parliament, and by demonstration of amicable dispositions toward your colonies. On the other hand, every danger and every hazard, impend to deter you from perseverance in your present ruinous measures. Foreign war hanging over your heads by a slight and brittle thread : France and Spain watching for the maturity of your errors ; with a vigilant eye to America and the temper of your colo- nies, more than to their own concerns, be they what they may. To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the king, I will not say that they can alienate his subjects from his crown, but I will affirm that they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I shall not say that the king is betrayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone. SPEECH Of William Pitt, Earl Chatham, deliv- ered IN THE House of Lords, 1777. In opposition to Lord Suffolk's proposition to parliament to employ Indians against the American Colonists ; who had stated, in course of debate, that " they had a right to use all the means that God and nature had put into their hands to conquer America." " My Lords — I am astonished to hear such principles confessed ! I am shocked to hear them avowed in this house, or in this country I Principles, equally unconstitutional, inhuman, and unchristian ! My lords, I did not intend to have encroached again on your attention ; but I cannot repress my indignation. I feel myself impelled by every duty. My lords, we are called upon as members of this house, as men, as Christian men, to protest against such notions standing near the throne, polluting the ear of majesty. " That God and nature put into our hands ! " I know not what ideas that lord may entertain 460 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. of God and nature ; but I know, that such abominable principles are equally abhorrent to religion and humanity. What ! to attribute the sacred sanction of God and nature to the massacres of the Indian scalping knife ? to the cannibal savage, tortur- ing, murdering, roasting, and eating ; literally, my lords, eating the mangled victims of his barbarous battles ! Such horrible notions shock every precept of religion, divine or natu- ral, and ever)' generous feeling of humanity. And, my lords, they shock every sentiment of honor ; they shock me as a lover of honorable war, and a detester of murderous barbarity. These abominable principles, and this, more abominable avowal of them ; demand the most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend bench, those holy ministers of the gospel, and pious pastors of our church : I conjure them to join in the holy work, and vin- dicate the religion of their God. I appeal to wisdom and the law of this learned bench, to defend and support the justice of their country. I call upon the bishops to interpose the un- sullied sanctity of their lawn ; upon the learned judges, to interpose the purity of their ermine, to save us from this pollution. I call upon the honor of your lordships to reverence the dignity of your ancestors, and to maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country, to vindicate the national character. I invoke the genius of the constitution. From the tapestry that adorn these walls, the immortal ancestor of this noble lord frowns with indignation at the disgrace of his country. In vain he led your victorious fleet against the boasted armada of Spain, in vain he defended and established the honor, the liberties, the re- ligion, the protestant religion of this country. against the arbitrary cruelties of popery and the inquisition, if these more than popish cruel- ties and inquisitorial practices are let loose among us ; to turn forth into our settlements, among our ancient connections, friends, and relations, the merciless cannibal, thirsting for the blood of man, woman and child ! to send forth the infidel savage — against whom .' against your protestant brethren ; to lay waste their country ; to desolate their dwellings, and extir- pate their race and name, with these horrible hell-hounds of savage warfare ! Spain armed herself with blood-hounds, to extirpate the wretched natives of America ; and we improve on the human example even of Spanish cruelty. We turn loose these savage hell-hounds against our brethren and country- men in America, of the same language, laws, liberty, and religion, endeared to us by every tie that should sanctify humanity. My lords, this awful subject, so important to our honor, our constitution, and our religion, demands the most solemn and effectual inquiry. And I again call upon your lordships and the united power of the state, to examine it thor- oughly, and decisively, and to stamp upon it an indelible stigma of the public abhorrence. And I again implore those holy prelates of our reli- gion, to do away these iniquities from among us. Let them perform a lustration ; let them purify this house, and this country from this sin. My lords, I am old and weak, and at present unable to say more ; but my feelings and indig- nation were too strong to have said less. I could not have slept this night in my bed, nor reposed my head upon my pillow, without giv- ing this vent to my eternal abhorrence of such preposterous and enormous principles." GEORGE WASHINGTON. 461 GEORGE WASHINGTON. [It seemed right that we should collect the following articles, and present them together, as containing, in themselves, the best portrait of the father of his country, drawn by him- self, that we had the power to offer — though in detached parts, they must needs be famil- iar to the American people.] Editor. GENERAL WASHINGTON'S SPEECH To Congress on accepting his Commis- sion, June 15, 1775. Mr. President — Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me, in this appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distin- guished testimony of their approbation. " But, lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every gentleman in the room, that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. " As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the congress, that, as no pecuniar)' consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire." GENERAL WASHINGTON'S ADDRESS. To THE inhabitants OF CANADA, 1775. The following address was published in Cana- da, on the arrival of colofiel Arnold, with the troops under his command. By his excellency George Washington, esq., commander in chief of the army of the United Colonies of North America. ■BO THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA. Friends and brethren — The unnatural con- test between the English Colonies and Great Britain, has now risen to such a height, that arms alone must decide it. The colonies, con- fiding in the justice of their cause, and the purity of their intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose hands are all human events. He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous efforts — the hand of tyranny has been arrested in its ravages, and the British arms, which have shone with so much splendor in every part of the globe, are now tarnished with disgrace and disappointment. Generals of approved e.xperience, who boasted of subdu- ing this great continent, find themselves cir- cumscribed within the limits of a single city and its suburbs, suffering all the shame and distress of a siege, while the freeborn sons of America, animated by the genuine principles of liberty and love of their country, with in- creasing union, firmness and discipline, repel every attack, and despise every danger. Above all, we rejoice, that our enemies have been deceived with regard to you — they have persuaded themselves, they have even dared to say, that the Canadians were not capable of distinguishing between the blessings of liberty, and the wretchedness of slavery ; that gratifying the vanity of a little circle of nobility — would blind the people of Canada. By such artifices they hoped to bend you to their views, but they have been deceived ; instead of finding in you that poverty of soul and baseness of spirit, they see with a chagrin, equal to our joy, that you are enlightened, generous, and virtuous — that you will not renounce your own rights, or serve as instruments to deprive your fellow- subjects of theirs. Come, then, my brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble union, let us run together to the same goal. We have taken up arms in defence of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children ; we are determined to preserve them, or die. We look forward with pleasure to that day, not far remote (we hope) when the inhabitants of America shall have one sentiment, and the full enjoyment of the blessings of a free government. Incited by these motives, and encouraged by the advice of many friends of liberty among you, the grand American congress have sent an army into your province, under the com- mand of general Schuyler — not to plunder, but to protect you — to animate, and bring forth into action those sentiments of freedom you 462 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. have disclosed, and which the tools of despot- ism would extinguish through the whole crea- tion. To co-operate with this design, and to frustrate those cruel and perfidious schemes, which would deluge our frontiers with the blood of women and children, I have detached colonel Arnold into your country, with a part of the army under my command. I have enjoined upon him, and I am certain that he will con- sider himself and act as in the country of his patrons and best friends. Necessaries and accommodations of ever}' kind which you may furnish, he will thankfully receive and render the full value. I invite you therefore as friends and brethren, to provide him with such supplies as your country affords ; and I pledge myself not only for your safety and security, but for an ample compensation. Let no man desert his habitation — let no one flee as before an enemy. The cause of America, and of liberty, is the cause of every virtuous American citi- zen ; whatever may be his religion or his descent, the United Colonies know no distinc- tion but such as slavery, corruption, and arbi- trary dominion, may create. Come then, ye generous citizens, range yourselves under the standard of general liberty — against which all the force and artifice of tyranny will never be able to prevail. G. Washington. CORRESPONDENCE Between General Washington and General Gage, upon the subject of the treatment of prisoners bv the British. Gen. Washington to General Gage. Headquarters, Cambridge, August 11, 1775. Sir — I understand that the officers, engaged in the cause of liberty and their country, who, by the fortune of war, have fallen into your hands, have been thrown indiscriminately into a common jail, appropriated for felons — that no consideration has been had for those of the most respectable rank, when languishing with wounds and sickness — that some of them have been even amputated in this unworthy sit- uation. Let your opinion, sir, of the princijiles which actuates them, be what it may, they suppose they act from the noblest of all principles, a love of freedom and their country. But politi- cal opinions, I conceive, are foreign to this point. The obligations arising from the rights of humanity, and claims of rank, are universally binding and extensive, except in case of retalia- tion. These, I should have hoped, would have dictated a more tender treatment of those in- dividuals, whom chance or war had put in your power. Nor can I forbear suggesting its fatal tendency to widen that unhappy breach, which you, and those ministers under whom you act, have repeatedly declared you wished to see for- ever closed. My duty now makes it necessary to apprise you, that, for the future, I shall regulate my conduct towards those gentlemen of your army, who are, or may be in our possession, exactly by the rule you shall observe towards those of ours who may be in your custody. If severity and hardship mark the line of your conduct (painful as it may be to me) your prisoners will feel its effect ; but if kindness and humanity are shown to ours, I shall, with pleasure, consider those in our hands only as unfortunate, and they shall receive from me that treatment to which the unfortunate are ever entitled. Answer of General Gage. Boston, August 13, 1775. Sir — To the glory of civilized nations, hu- manity and war have been compatible ; and compassion to the subdued is become almost a general system. Britons, ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone common examples, and overlooked the criminal in the captive. Upon these principles, your prisoners, whose lives, by the laws of the land, are destined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and kindness, and more comfortably lodged, than the king's troops, in the hospitals ; indiscriminately, it is true, for I acknowledge no rank that is not derived from the king. My uitelligence from your army would justify severe recrimination. I understand there are some of the king's faithful subjects, taken some- time since by the rebels, laboring like negro slaves, to gain their daily subsistence, or reduced to the wretched alternative, to perish by famine or take arms against their king and countn'. Those, who have made the treatment of the prisoners m my hands, or of your other friends in Boston, a pretence for such measures, found barbarity upon falsehood. I would willingly hope, sir, that the senti- ments of liberality, which I have always believed you to possess, will be e.xerted to correct these misdoings. Be temperate in political disquisi- tions ; give free operation to truth, and punish GEORGE WASHINGTON. 463 those who deceive and misrepresent ; and not only the effects, but the causes of this unhappy conflict will soon be removed. Should those, under whose usurped authority you act, control such a disposition, and dare to call severity retaliation, to God, who knows all hearts, be the appeal for the dreadful conse- quences. I trust that British soldiers, asserting the rights of the state, the laws of the land, the being of the constitution, will meet all events with becoming fortitude. They will court victory with the spirit their cause inspires, and from the same motive will find the patience of martyrs under misfortune. Till I read your insinuations in regard to ministers, I conceived that I had acted under the king, whose wishes, it is true, as well as those of his ministers, and of every honest man, have been to see this unhappy breach forever closed ; but unfortunately for both countries, those, who have long since projected the present crisis, and influence the councils of America, have views very distant from accommodation. I am, sir, your most obedient humble ser- vant. Thomas Gage. George Washington, esq. Washington's Reply. Headquarters, Cambridge, August 19, 1775. Sir — I addressed you on the nth inst. in terms which gave the fairest scope for the exercise of that humanity and politeness, which were supposed to form a part of your character. I remonstrated with you on the unworthy treat- ment shewn to the officers and citizens of Amer- ica, whom the fortune of war, chance, or a mis- taken confidence, had thrown into your hands. Whether British or American mercy, forti- tude, and patience, are most pre-eminent — whether our virtuous citizens, whom the hand of tyranny has forced intoarms, to defend their wives, their children, and their property, or the mercenary instruments of lawless domination, avarice, and revenge, best deserve the appella- tion of rebels, and the punishment of that cord, which your affected clemency has forborne to inflict — whether the authority under which I act, is usurped, or founded upon the genuine principles of liberty — were altogether foreign to the subject. I purposely avoided all politi- cal disquisition ; nor shall I now avail myself of those advantages, which the sacred cause of my country, of liberty and human nature, give me over you ; much less shall I stoop to retort any invective. But the intelligence, you say you have received from our army, requires a reply. I have taken time, sir, to make a strict enquiry, and find it has not the least foundation in truth. Not only your officers and soldiers have been treated with a tenderness due to fellow citizens and brethren, but even those execrable parricides, whose councils and aid have deluged their country with blood, have been protected from the fury of a justly en- raged people. Far from compelling or permit- ting their assistance, I am embarrassed with the numbers who crowd to our camp, animated with the purest principles of virtue and love of their country. You advise me to give free operation to truth ; to punish misrepresenta- tion and falsehood. If experience stamps value upon counsel, yours must have a weight which few can claim. You best can tell, how far the convulsion, which has brought such ruin on both countries, and shaken the mighty empire of Britain to its foundation, may be traced to these malignant causes. You affect, sir, to despise all rank, not deri- ved from the same source with your own. I cannot conceive one more honorable, than that which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people, the purest source and original fountain of all power. Far from mak- ing it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true magna- nimity and enlarged ideas, would comprehend and respect it. What may have been the ministerial views which have precipitated the present crisis, Lexington, Concord, and Charlestown, can best declare. May that God, to whom you then appealed, judge between America and you. Under his providence, those who influence the councils of America, and all the other inhabi- tants of the United Colonies, at the hazard of their lives, are determined to hand down to posterity those just and invaluable privileges which they received from their ancestors. I shall now, sir, close my correspondence with you, perhaps forever. If yourofficers, our prisoners, receive a treatment from me, differ- ent from what I wished to shew them, they and you will remember the occasion of it. I am, sir, your very humble sen'ant, George Washington. General Gage, 464 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. GENERAL WASHINGTON'S LETTER To THE President of Congress, 1776. To John Hancock, esq. president of congress. Colonel Morris's, on the Heights of Harlem, \ Sept. 24, 1776. J Sir — From the hours allotted to sleep, I will borrow a few moments to convey my thoughts, on sundry important matters, to congress. I shall offer them with the sincerity which ought to characterize the man of candor, and with the freedom which may be used in giving use- ful information, without incurring the imputa- tion of presumption. We are now, as it were, upon the eve of another dissolution of our army. The remem- brance of the difficulties which happened upon the occasion last year, the consequences which might have followed the change, if proper ad- vantages had been taken by the enemy, added to a knowledge of the present temper and sit- uation of the troops, reflect but a very gloomy prospect upon the appearance of things now, and satisfy me beyond the possibility of doubt, that, unless some speedy and effectual meas- ures are adopted by congress, our cause will be lost. It is in vain to expect, that any, or more than a trifling part of this army will again engage in the service on the encouragement offered by congress. When men find that their towns- men and companions are receiving twenty, thirty, and more, dollars for a few months' service (which is truly the case) it cannot be expected, without using compulsion ; and to force them into the service, would answer no valuable purpose. When men are irritated, and the passions inflamed, they fly hastily and cheerfully to arms : but after the first emotions are over, a soldier reasoned with upon the good- ness of the cause he is engaged in, and the in- estimable rights he is contending for, hears you with patience, and acknowledges the truth of your observation, but adds, that it is of no more importance to him than others. The officer makes you the same reply, with this further remark, that his pay will not support him, and he cannot ruin himself and family to serve his countr)' when every member of the community is equally interested and benefited by his labors. It becomes evidently clear then, that, as this contest is not likely to be the work of a day ; as the war must be carried on systematically ; and to do it you must have good officers ; there are, in my judgment, no other possible means to obtain them, but by establishing your army upon a permanent footing, and giving your officers good pay. This will induce gentlemen, and men of character, to engage : and, till the bulk of your officers are composed of such persons as are actuated by principles of honor and a spirit of enterprise, you have little to expect from them. They ought to have such allowances as will enable them to live like, and support the characters of, gentlemen. Besides, something is due to the man who puts his life in your hands, hazards his health, and forsakes the sweets of domestic enjoyment. Why a captain in the continental service should re- ceive no more than five shillings currency per day, for performing the same duties that an officer of the same rank in the British service receives ten shillings sterling for, I never could conceive, especially when the latter is provided with ever)- necessary he requires, upon the best terms, and the former can scarcely procure them at any rate. There is nothing that gives a man consequence, and renders him fit for command, like a support that renders him in- dependent of every body but the state he serves. With respect to the men, nothing but a good bounty can obtain them upon a permanent es- tablishment ; and for no shorter time than the continuance of the war, ought they to be en- gaged, as facts incontestibly prove that the difficulty and cost of enlistments increase with time. When the army was first at Cambridge, I am persuaded the men might have been got, without a bounty, for the war. After this, they began to see that the contest was not likely to end so speedily as was imagined, and to feel their consequence by remarking, that, to get in the militia in the course of the last year, many towns were induced to give them a bounty. Foreseeing the evils resulting from this, and the destructive consequences which unavoida- bly would follow short enlistments, 1 took the liberty, in a long letter, (date not recollected, as my letter book is not here) to recommend the enlistments for and during the war, assign- ing such reasons for it as experience has since convinced me were well founded. At that time, twenty dollars would, I am persuaded, have engaged the men for this term. But it will not do to look back : and, if the present opportunity is slipped, I am persuaded that twelve months more will increase our dilflcul- ties fourfold. I shall therefore take the free- dom of giving it as my opinion, that a good bounty be immediately offered, aided by the proffer of at least a hundred, or a hundred and fifty acres of land, and a suit of clothes and blanket, to each non-commissioned officer and GEORGE WASHINGTON. 465 soldier ; as I have good authority for saying, that, however high the men's pay may appear, it is barely sufficient, in the present scarcity and dearness of all kinds of goods, to keep them in clothes, much less afford support to their families. If this encouragement then is given to the men, and such pay allowed the officers as will induce gentlemen of character and liberal sen- timents, to engage, and proper care and pre- caution used in the nomination (having more regard to the characters of persons than the number of men they can enlist) we should, in a little time, have an army able to cope with any that can be opposed to it, as there are excellent materials to form one. But while the only merit an officer possesses, is his ability to raise men ; while those men consider and treat him as an equal, and, in the character of an officer, regard him no more than a broom-stick, being mixed together as one common herd, no order nor discipline can prevail ; nor will the officer ever meet with that respect which is essentially necessary to due subordination. To place any dependence upon militia is assuredly resting upon a broken staff; men just dragged from the tender scenes of domes- tic life ; unaccustomed to the din of arms ; totally unacquainted with military skill ; which being followed by a want of confidence in them- selves, when opposed to troops regularly trained, disciplined, and appointed ; superior in knowl- edge and superior in arms, makes them timid and ready to fly from their own shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of Hving, particularly in their lodgings, brings on sickness in many, impatience in all : and such an unconquerable desire of returning to their re- spective homes, that it not only produces shame- ful and scandalous desertions among them- selves, but infuses the Hke spirit into others. Again ; men accustomed to unbounded free- dom and no control, cannot brook the restraint which is indispensably necessary to the good order and government of an army ; without which, licentiousness and every kind of disorder triumphantly reign. To bring men to a proper degree of subordination is not the work of a day, a month, or even a year: and, unhappily for us and the cause we are engaged in, the little discipline I have been laboring to estab- lish in the army under my immediate command, is in a manner done away, by ha\'ing such a mixture of troops as have been called together within these few months. Relaxed and unfit as our rules and regula- tions of war are, for the government of an army, the militia (those properly so called ; for 30 of these we have two sorts, six months' men, and those sent in as temporary aid) do not think themselves subject to them, and therefore take liberties which the soldier is punished for. This creates jealousy : jealousy begets dissatis- faction : and these by degrees, ripen into mutiny, keeping the whole army in a confused and disordered state ; rendering the time of those who wish to see regularity and good order prevail, more unhappy than words can describe. Besides this, such repeated changes take place that all arrangement is set at nought, and the constant fluctuation of things deranges every plan as fast as adopted. These, sir, congress may be assured, are but a small part of the inconveniences which might be enumerated, and attributed to militia ; but there is one that merits particular attention, and that is the expense. Certain I am, that it would be cheaper to keep fifty or a hundred thousand in constant pay, than to depend upon half the number, and supply the other half occasionally by militia. The time the latter are in pay, before and after they are in camp, assembling, and marching; the waste of am- munition, the consumption of stores, which, in spite of every resolution or requisition of con- gress, they must be furnished with, or sent home, added to other incidental expenses conse- quent upon their coming and conduct in camp, surpasses all idea, and destroys every kind of regularity and economy which you could estab- lish among fixed and settled troops, and will, in my opinion, prove, if the scheme is adhered to, the ruin of our cause. The jealousies of a standing army, and the evils to be apprehended from one, arc remote, and, in my judgment, situated and circum- stanced as we are, not at all to be dreaded ; but the consequence of wanting one, according to my ideas, formed from the present view of things, is certain and inevitable ruin. For, if I was called upon to declare upon oath, whether the militia have been most serviceable or hurt- ful, upon the whole, I should subscribe to the latter. I do not mean by this, however, to arraign the conduct of congress ; in so doing I should equally condemn my own measures, if I did not my judgment ; but experience, which is the best criterion to work by, so fully, so clearly, and decisively reprobates the practice of trust- ing to militia, that no man, who regards order, regularity and economy, or who has any regard for his own honor, character, or peace of mind,, will risk them upon this issue. An army formed of good officers moves like clock-work ; but there is no situation upon ■ earth less enviable nor more distressing than 466 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. that person's who is at the head of troops who are regardless of order and discipline, and who are unprovided with almost every necessary. In a word, the difficulties which have forever surrounded me, since I have been in the service, and kept my mind constantly upon the stretch; the wounds which my feelings, as an officer, have received by a thousand things which have happened contrary to my expectations and wishes : added to a consciousness of my inabil- ity to govern an army composed of such dis- cordant parts, and under such a variety of intricate and perplexing circumstances, induce, not only a belief, but a thorough conviction in my mind, that it will be impossible, unless there is a thorough change in our military system, for me to conduct matters in such a manner as to give satisfaction to the public, which is all the recompense I aim at, or ever wished for. Before I conclude, I must apologize for the liberties taken in this letter, and for the blots and scratchings therein, not having time to give it more correctly. With truth, I can add, that, with every sentiment of respect and es- teem, I am yours and the congress's most obedient, etc. George 'Washington. GENERAL 'WASHINGTON'S General orders issued to the army, April i8, 1783. Headquarters, Chatham, April i8, 1783. The commander in chief orders the cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and the king of Great Britain, to be publicly proclaimed to-morrow at twelve o'clock, at the new building ; and that the proclama- tion which will be communicated herewith, be read to-morrow evening at the head of every regiment and corps of the army ; after which the chaplains, with the several brigades, will render thanks to the Almighty God for all his mercies, particularly for his over-ruling the wrath of man to his own glon,', and causing the rage of war to cease among the nations. Although the proclamation before alluded to, extends only to the prohibition of hostilities, and not to the annunciation of a general peace, yet it must afford the most rational and sincere satisfaction to every benevolent mind, as it puts a period to a long and doubtful contest, stops the effusion of human blood, opens the prospect to a more splendid scene, and, like another morning star, promises the approach of a brighter day than hath hitherto illuminated the western hemisphere. On such a happy day, which is the harbinger of peace, a day which completes the eighth year of the war, it would be ingratitude not to rejoice ; it would be insensibility not to participate in the general felicity. The commander in chief, far from endeav- oring to stifle the feelings of joy in his own bo- som, offers his most cordial congratulations on the occasion to all the officers of every denomi- nation ; to all the troops of the United States in general ; and in particular to those gallant and persevering men who had resolved to de- fend the rights of their invaded country, so long as the war should continue. For these are men who ought to be considered as the pride and boast of the American army ; and who, crowned with well earned laurels, may soon withdraw from the field of glory to the more tranquil walks of civil life. While the commander in chief recollects the almost infi- nite variety of scenes through which we have past, with a mixture of pleasure, astonishment, and gratitude ; while he contemplates the prospects before us with rapture, he cannot help wishing that all the brave, of whatever condition they may be, who have shared the toils and dangers of effecting this glorious rev- olution ; of rescuing millions from the hand of oppression, and of laying the foundation of a great empire, might be impressed with a proper idea of the dignified part they have been called to act. under the smiles of Providence on the stage of human affairs ; for happy, thrice happy ! shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have contributed anything, who have per- formed the meanest office in erecting this stu- pendous fabric of freedom and empire, on the broad basis of independency ; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature, and established an asylum for the poor and , op- pressed of all nations and religions. The glo- rious task for which we first flew to arms being accomplished — the liberties of our country be- ing fully acknowledged and firmly secured by the smiles of heaven on the purity of our cause ; and the honest exertions of a feeble people, determined to be free, against a powerlul na- tion disposed to oppress them ; and the char- acter of those who have persevered, through every extremity of hardship, suffering and dan- ger, being immortalized by the illustrious appellation of the patriot army — nothing now remains but for the actors of this mighty scene to preserve a perfect unvarying consistency of character through the very last act, to close the drama with applause ; and to retire from GEORGE WASHINGTON. 467 the military theatre with the same approbation, of angels and men, which have crowned all their former virtuous actions. For this purpose no disorder or licentiousness must be tolerated. Ever>- considerate and well disposed soldier must remember it will be absolutely necessary to wait with patience until peace shall be de- clared, or congress shall be enabled to take proper measures for the security of the public stores, etc. As soon as these arrangements shall be made, the general is confident, there will be no delay in discharging, with"«-ever>- mark of distinction and honor, all the men en- listed for the war, who will then have faithfully performed their engagements with the public. The general has already interested himself in their behalf, and he thinks he need not repeat the assurance of his disposition to be useful to them on the present, and every other proper occasion. In the mean time, he is determined that no military neglects or excesses shall go unpunished, while he retains the command of the army. The adjutant-general will have such work- ing parties detached, to assist in making the preparations for a general rejoicing, as the chief engineer of the army shall call for ; and the quarter-master general will, without delay, procure such a number of discharges to be printed as will be sufficient for all the men en- listed for the war — he will please to apply to head quarters for the form. An extra ration of liquor to be issued to every man to-morrow to drink " Perpetual peace and happiness to the United States of America." GENERAL WASHINGTON'S. Circular letter to the Governors of EACH of the states. Announcing his proposed retirement from the command of the army, and refers to the fu- ture of the country and the duty of the people looking to the maintenance of their liberties. Headquarters, Newburgh, New York, yune 18, 1783. '■ Sir — The object for which I had the honor to hold an appointment in the service of my country, being accomplished, I am now pre-, paring to resign it into the hands of congress, and return to that domestic retirement, which, it is well known, I left with the greatest reluc- tance ; a retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh through a long and painful absence, in which, (remote from the noise and trouble of the world,) I meditate to pass the remainder of life, in a state of undisturbed repose ; but, before I carry this resolution into effect, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make this my last official communication, to congratulate you on the glorious events which heaven has been pleased to produce in our favor ; to offer my sentiments respecting some important subjects, which appear to me to be intimately connected with the tranquility of the United States ; to take my leave of your e.xcellency as a public character; and to give my final blessing to that country, in whose serv'ice I have spent the prime of my life ; for whose sake I have consumed so many anxious days and watchful nights, and whose happi- ness, being extremely dear to me, will always constitute no inconsiderable part of my own. " Impressed with the liveliest sensibility on this pleasing occasion, I will claim the indul- gence of dilating the more copiously on the subject of our mutual felicitation. When we consider the magnitude of the prize we con- tended for, the doubtful nature of the contest and the favorable manner in which it has ter- minated, we shall find the greatest possible reason for gratitude and rejoicing. This is a theme that will afford infinite delight to every benevolent and liberal mind, whether the event in contemplation be considered as a source of present enjoyment, or the parent of future happiness ; and we shall have equal occasion to felicitate ourselves on the lot which Provi- dence has assigned us, whether we view it in a natural, a political, or moral point of light. " The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole lords and pro- prietors of a vast tract of continent, compre- hending all the various soils and climates of the world, and abounding with all the neces- saries and conveniences of life, are now, by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and indepen- dency : they are from this period to be consid- ered as the actors on a most conspicuous theatre, which seems to be peculiarly designed by Providence for the display of human great- ness and felicity. Here they are not only sur- rounded with every thing that can contribute to the completion of private and domestic en- joyment, but heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving a surer opportunity for political happiness, than any other nation has ever been favored with. Nothing can illustrate these observations more forcibly than a recol- lection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our republic as- sumed its rank among the nations. — The foundation of our empire was not laid in a 468 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period. Researches of the human mind after social happiness have been carried to a great extent ; the treasures of knowledge acquired by the labors of philos- ophers, sages, and legislators, through a long succession of years are laid open for us, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the establishment of our forms of govern- ment. The free cultivation of letters, the unbounded extension of commerce, the progres- sive refinement of manners, the growing liber- ality of sentiment, and, above all, the pure and benign light of revelation, have had a meliora- ting influence on mankind, and increased the blessings of society. At this auspicious period, the United States came into existence as a na- tion ; and if their citizens should not be com- pletely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own. " Such is our situation, and such are our pros- pects. But notwithstanding the cup of bless- ing is thus reached out to us ; notwithstanding happiness is ours, if we have a disposition to seize the occasion, and make it our own, yet it appears to me there is an option still left to the United States of America, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contempt- ible and miserable as a nation. This is the time of their political probation : this is the moment when the eyes of the whole world are turned upon them : this is the time to establish or ruin their national character forever : this is the favorable moment to give such a tone to the federal government, as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution : or, this may be the ill-fated moment for relaxing the powers of the union, annihilating the cement of the confed- eration, and exposing us to become the sport of European politics, which may play one state against another, to prevent their growing importance, and to serve their own interested purposes. For, according to the system of policy the states shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall ; and by their confirma- tion or lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved. " With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, silence in me would be a crime ; I will therefore speak to your excellency the language of freedom and sincerity, without disguise. I am aware, however, those who differ from me in political sentiments may, perhaps, remark, I am stepping out of the proper line of my duty ; and they may probably ascribe to arrogance or ostentation, what I know is alone the result of the purest intention. But the rectitude of my own heart, which dis- dains such unworthy motives ; the part I have hitherto acted in life ; the determination I have formed of not taking any share in public busi- ness hereafter, the ardent desire 1 feel, and shall continue to manifest, of quietly enjoying in private life, after all the toils of war, the benefits of a wise and liberal government, will, I flatter myself, sooner or later, convince my country, that I could have no sinister views in delivering, with so little reserve, the opinion contained in this address. "There arc four things which, I humbly con- ceive, are essential to the well being, I may even venture to say, to the existence, of the United States, as an independent power. " I St. An indissoluble union of the states under one federal head. " 2dly. A sacred regard to public justice. " 3dly. The adoption of a proper peace estab- lishment. And, " 4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the people of the United States, which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies ; to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity ; and in some instances, to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. " These are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independency and national charac- ter must be supported. Liberty is the basis — • and whoever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn the structure, under whatever spe- cious pretext he may attempt it, will merit the bitterest execration, and the severest punish- ment, which can be inflicted by his injured country. " On the three first articles I will make a few observations, leaving the last to the good sense and serious consideration of those immediately concerned. " L'nder the first head, although it may not be necessary or proper for me in this place to enter into a particular disquisition of the prin- ciples of the union, and to take up the great question which has been frequently agitated, whether it be expedient and requisite for the states to delegate a larger proportion of power to congress, or not ; yet it will be a part of my duty, and that of every true patriot, to assert, without reserve, and to insist upon the follow- ing positions : — That, unless the states will suffer congress to exercise those prerogatives GEORGE WASHINGTON. 469 they are undoubtedly invested with by the con- stitution, every thing must very rapidly tend to anarchy and confusion : That it is indispens- able to the happiness of the individual states, that there should be lodged, somewhere, a supreme power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the confederated republic, without which the union cannot be of long duration. That there must be a faithful and pointed compliance on the part of every state with the late proposals and demands of con- gress, or the most fatal consequences will ensue : That whatever measures have a ten- dency to dissolve the union, or contribute to violate or lessen the sovereign authority, ought to be considered as hostile to the liberty and independence of America, and the authors of them treated accordingly. And, lastly, that, unless we can be enabled by the concurrence of the states to participate in the fruits of the revolution, and enjoy the essential benefits of civil society, under a form of government so free and uncorrupted, so happily guarded against the danger of oppression, as has been devised and adopted by the articles of confed- eration, it will be a subject of regret, that so much blood and treasure have been lavished for no purpose ; that so many sufferings have been encountered without a compensation, and that so many sacrifices have been made in vain. Many other considerations might here be adduced to prove, that, without an entire conformity to the spirit of the union, we cannot exist as an independent power. It will be sufficient for my purpose to mention but one or two, which seem to me of the greatest import- ance. It is only in our united character as an empire, that our independence is acknowledged, that our power can be regarded, or our credit supported among foreign nations. The treaties of the European powers with the United States of America, will have no validity on a dissolu- tion of the union. We shall be left nearly in a state of nature ; or we may find, by our own unhappy experience, that there is a natural and necessary progression from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny ; and that arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty, abused to licentiousness. " As to the second article, which respects the performance of public justice, congress have, in their late address to the United States, almost exhausted the subject ; they have ex- plained their ideas so fully, and have enforced the obligations the states are under to render complete justice to all the public creditors, with so much dignity and energy, that, in my opinion, no real friend to the honor and inde- pendency of America can hesitate a single moment respecting the propriety of complying with the just and honorable measures proposed. If their arguments do not produce conviction. I know of nothing that will have greater influ- ence, especially when we reflect that the system referred to, being the result of the collected wisdom of the continent, must be esteemed, if not perfect, certainly the least objectionable, of any that could be devised ; and that, if it should not be carried into immediate execution, a national bankruptcy, with all its deplorable consequences, will take place before any differ- ent plan can possibly be proposed or adopted ; so pressing are the present circumstances, and such is the alternative now offered to the states. " The ability of the country to discharge the debts which have been incurred in its defence, is not to be doubted ; and inclination, I flat- ter myself, will not be wanting. The path of our duty is plain before us ; honesty will be found, on every experiment, to be the best and only true policy. Let us then, as a nation, be just ; let us fulfil the public contracts which congress had undoubtedly a right to make for the purpose of carrying on the war, with the same good faith we suppose ourselves bound to perform our private engagements. In the meantime, let an attention to the cheerful per- formance of their proper business, as individ- uals, and as members of society, be earnestly inculcated on the citizens of America ; then will they strengthen the bands of government, and be happy under its protection. Every one will reap the fruit of his labors : every one will enjoy his own acquisitions, without molestation and without danger. "In this state of absolute freedom and per- fect security, who will grudge to yield a very little of his property to support the common interests of society, and ensure the protection of government .'' Who does not remember the frequent declarations at the commencement of the war — that we should be completely satis- fied if, at the expense of one half, we could defend the remainder of our possessions ? Where is the man to be found, who wishes to remain in debt, for the defence of his own per- son and property, to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others, without making one generous effort to pay the debt of honor and of gratitude .' In what part of the continent shall we find any man, or body of men, who would not blush to stand up and propose meas- ures purposely calculated to rob the soldier of his stipend, and the public creditor of his due ? And were it possible that such a flagrant in- 470 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. stance of injustice could ever happen, would it not excite the general indignation, and tend to bring down upon the authors of such meas- ures the aggravated vengeance of Heaven ? If, after all, a spirit of disunion, or a temper of obstinacy and perverseness should manifest itself in any of the states ; if such an ungra- cious disposition should attempt to frustrate all the happy effects that might be expected to flow from the union ; if there should be a refusal to comply with requisitions for funds to discharge the annual interest of the public debts ; and if that refusal should revive all those jealousies, and produce all those evils, which are now happily removed, congress, who have in all their transactions shown a great degree of magnanimity and justice, will stand justified in the sight of God and man ! and that state alone, which puts itself in opposition to the aggregate wisdom of the continent, and follows such mistaken and pernicious councils, will be responsible for all the consequences. " For my own part, conscious of having acted, while a servant of the public, in the manner I conceived best suited to promote the real interests of my country ; having, in consequence of my fixed belief, in some meas- ure pledged myself to the army, that their country would finally do them complete and ample justice, and not wishing to conceal any instance of my official conduct from the eyes of the world, I have thought proper to transmit to your excellency the enclosed collection of papers, relative to the half pay and commuta- tion granted by congress, to the officers of the army. From these communications my de- cided sentiment will be clearly comprehended, together with the conclusive reasons which induced me, at an early period, to recommend the adoption of this measure in the most earn- est and serious manner. As the proceedings of congress, the army, and myself, are open to all, and contain, in my opinion, sufficient in- formation to remove the prejudices and errors which may have been entertained by any, I think it unnecessary to say anything more than just to obsene, that the resolutions of congress, now alluded to, are as undoubtedly and absolutely binding upon the United States, as the most solemn acts of confederation or legislation. " As to the idea which. I am informed, has in some instances prevailed, that the half-pay and commutation are to be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded forever , that provision should be viewed, as it really was, a reasonable compen- sation offered by congress, at a time when they had nothing else to give to officers of the army, for services then to be performed. It was the only means to prevent a total derelic- tion of the service. It was a part of their hire. I may be allowed to say, it was the price of their blood and of your independency. It is therefore more than a common debt ; it is a debt of honor ; it can never be considered as a pension, or gratuity, nor cancelled until it is fairly discharged. " With regard to the distinction between officers and soldiers, it is sufficient that the uniform experience of every nation of the world, combined with our own, proves the utility and propriety of the discrimination. Rewards, in proportion to the aid the public draws from them, are unquestionably due to all its servants. In some lines, the soldiers have, perhaps, generally, had as ample compensation for their services, by the large bounties which have been paid them, as their officers will receive in the proposed commutation, in others, if, besides the donation of land, the payment of arrearages of clothing and wages, (in which articles all the component parts of the army must be put upon the same footing,) we take into the estimate the bounties many of the soldiers have received, and the gratuity of one year's full pay. which is promised to all, possi- bly their situation, (every circumstance being duly considered,) will not be deemed less eligi- ble than that of the officers. — Should a farther reward, however, be judged equitable, I will venture to assert, no man w\\\ enjoy greater satisfaction than myself, in an exemption from ta.xes for a limited time, (which has been peti- tioned for in some instances,) or any other ade- quate immunity or compensation granted to the brave defenders of their country's cause. But neither the adoption or rejection of this proposition will, in any manner, affect, much less militate against, the act of congress, by which they have offered five years' full pay, in lieu of the half pay for life, which had been before promised to the officers of the army. " Before I conclude the subject on public justice, I cannot omit to mention the obliga- tions this country is under to that meritorious class of veterans, the non-commissioned offi- cers and privates, who have been discharged for inability, in consequence of the resolution of congress, of the 23d of April, 17S2. on an annual pension for life. Their peculiar suffer- ings, their singular merits and claims to that provision, need only to be known, to interest the feelings of humanity in their behalf. Noth- ing but a punctual payment of their annual allowance, can rescue them from the most GEORGE WASHINGTON. 471 complicated misery ; and nothing could be a more melancholy and distressing sight, than to behold those who have shed their blood, or lost their limbs in the service of their country, without a shelter, without a friend, and without the means of obtaining any of the comforts or necessaries of life, compelled to beg their bread daily from door to door. Suffer me to recom- mend those of this description, belonging to your state, to the warmest patronage of your excellency and your legislature. " It is necessary to say but a few words on the third topic which was proposed, and which regards particularly the defence of the republic — as there can be little doubt but congress will recommend a proper peace establishment for the United States, in which a due attention will be paid to the importance of placing the militia of the union upon a regular and respect- able footing. If this should be the case, I should beg leave to urge the great advantage of it in the strongest terms. " The militia of this country must be consid- ered as the palladium of our security, and the first effectual resort in case of hostility. It is essential, therefore, that the same system should pervade the whole ; that the formation and discipline of the militia of the continent should be absolutely uniiorm ; and that the same species of arms, accoutrement, and mili- tary apparatus, should be introduced in every part of the United States. No one, who has not learned it from experience, can conceive the difficulty, expense, and confusion, which result from a contrary system, or the vague arrangements which have hitherto prevailed. " If in treating of political points, a greater latitude than usual has been taken in the course of the address, the importance of the crisis, and the magnitude of the objects in dis- cussion, must be my apology. It is, however, neither my wish nor expectation, that the pre- ceding observations should claim any regard, except so far as they shall appear to be dic- tated by a good intention, consonant to the immutable rules of justice ; calculated to pro- duce a liberal system of policy, and founded on whatever experience may have been acquired by a long and close attention to public; busi- ness. Here I might speak with more confi- dence, from my actual observations ; and if -it would not swell this letter (already too prolix,) beyond the bounds I had prescribed myself, I could demonstrate to every mind open to con- viction, that, in less time, and with much less expense than has been incurred, the war might have been brought to the same happy conclu- sion, if the resources of the continent could have been properly called forth ; that the distresses and disappointments which have very often occurred, have, in too many in- stances, resulted more from a want of energy in the continental government than a deficiency of means in the particular states ; that the in- efficacy of the measures, arising from the want of an adequate authority in the supreme pow- er, from partial compliance with the requisi- tions of congress, in some of the states, and from a failure of punctuality in others, while they tended to damp the zeal of those who were more willing to exert themselves, served also to accumulate the expenses of the war, and to frustate the best concerted plans ; and that the discouragement occasioned by the complicated difficulties and embarrassment's, in which our affairs were by this means in- volved, would have long ago produced the dis- solution of any army, less patient, less virtuous, and less persevering, than that which I have had the honor to command. But while I men- tion those things which are notorious facts, as the defects of our federal constitution, particu- larly in the prosecution of a war, I beg it may be understood, that, as I have ever taken a pleasure in gratefully acknowledging the assist- ance and support I have derived from every class of citizens, so I shall always be happy to do justice to the unparalleled exertions of the individual states, on many interesting occa- sions. " I have thus freely disclosed what I wished to make known, before I surrendered up my public trust to those who committed it to me. The task is now accomplished ; I now bid adieu to your excellency, as the chief magistrate of your state ; at the same time I bid a last farewell to the cares of office, and all the em- ployments of public life. " It remains, then, to be my final and only request, that your excellency will communi- cate these sentiments to your legislature, at their next meeting ; and that they may be con- sidered as the legacy of one who has ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful to his country, and who, even in the shade of retire- ment, will not fail to implore the Divine bene- diction upon it. " I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the state over which you preside, in his holy protection ; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to gov- ernment ; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another ; for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field ; 472 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. and, finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion ; without an humble imitation of whose example, in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation. " I have the honor to be, with much esteem and respect, sir, your excellency's most obe- dient and most humble servant. " George Washington." GENERAL WASHINGTON To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS, RESIGN- ING HIS COMMISSION, DECEMBER 23, 1783. " Mr. President — The great events on which my resignation depended, having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to congress, and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. " Happy in the confirmation of our indepen- dence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of be- coming a respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, the appointment I accepted with diffidence ; a diffidence in my abilities to ac- complish so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the recti- tude of our cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the union, and the patronage of Heaven. " The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations ; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous contest. " While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the persons who have been attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of confidential officers to compose my family could have been more fortunate. Per- mit me, sir, to recommend in particular, those who have continued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of congress. " I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping. " Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action ; and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life." PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S SPEECH to the first congress of the united States, April 30, 1789. Fellow-citizens of the senate and of the house of representatives : Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxie- ties than that, of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 4th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision as the asylum of my declining years ; a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent intermptions in my health to the gradual waste cominitted on it by time : on the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken, in the wisest and most experienced of her citi- zens, a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifica- tions, could not but overwhelm with despond- ence one who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly con- scious of his own deficiences. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be effected. All 1 dare hope is, that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little con- sulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 473 my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country, with some share of the partiality in which they originated. Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, re- paired to the present station, it would be pe- culiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fer\'ent supplications to that Amighty Being, who rules over the universe, who pre- sides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human de- fect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration, to execute, with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every pub- lic and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own ; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And, in the important revolution just accomplished, in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and vol- untary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most gov- ernments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings, which the past seem to presage. These reflections, aris- ing out of the present crisis, have forced them- selves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. By the article establishing the executive de- partment, it is made the duty of the president " to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expe- dient." The circumstances under which I now meet you, will acquit me from entering into that subject farther than to refer you to the great constitutional charter under which we are assembled ; and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your at- tention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more con- genial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifi- cations, I behold the surest pledges, that as, on one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assem- blage of communities and interests — so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality ; and the pre- eminence of a free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affec- tions of its citizens, and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfac- tion which an ardent love for my country can inspire : since there is no truth more thorough- ly established than that there exists, in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness — between duty and advantage — between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity — since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained — and since the preserva- tion of the sacred fire of liberty, and the des- tiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps, as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the con- stitution is rendered expedient, at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular re- commendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from offi- cial opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pur- suit of the public good ; For, I assure myself, that, whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a rever- ence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the oublic harmony, will suffi- 474 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. ciently influence your deliberations on the question, how far the former can be more im- pregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and more advantageously promoted. To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the house of representatives. It concerns my- self, and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty, required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed. And being still under the impres- sions which produced it, I must decline, as in- applicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments, which may be indispensably in- cluded in a permanent provision for the execu- tive department ; and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in ■which I am placed, may, during my continua- tion in it, be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my pre- sent leave, but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication, that, since he has been pleased to favor the American people with op- portunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity, on a form of government for the security of their union, and the advancement of their happiness, so his Divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. We offer to our readers extracts from some unpublished letters of Dr. Franklin, which may be considered as properly belonging to the general stock of materials for the determination of his character; and for the national history. We have added to them an extract of a letter of Silas Dean, in relation to him, containing an interesting anecdote which we have not seen in print. The letter of Franklin to his son, on the subject of the stamp-act, is important ; as is, indeed, almost every particular, however small, connected with that measure — the im- mediate cause of the most momentous and exemplary of political relations. Nat. Gaz. INTERESTING LETTERS. Extract of a letter from Dr. Franklin TO H. R. Esq., of Philadelphia. London, Feb. 26, 1761. " You tell me you sometimes visit the ancient Junto. I wish you would do it oftener ; I know they all love and respect you, and regret your absenting yourself so much. People are apt to grow strange and not understand one another so well, when they meet but seldom. Since we have held that club till we are gfrown grey together, let us hold it out to the end. For my own part I find I love company, chat, a laugh, a glass, and even a song, as well as ever ; and, at the same time, relish better than I used to do, the grave obsen-ations and wise sentences of old men's conversation. So that I am sure the Junto will be still as agreeable to me as it ever has been ; I therefore hope it will not be discontinued as long as we are able to crawl together." To THE SAME. London, July 7, 1765. " I wish you would continue to meet the Junto, notwithstanding that some effect of our public political misunderstandings may some- times appear there. 'Tis now perhaps one of the oldest clubs as I think it was formerly one of the best, in the king's dominions; it wants but about two years of forty since it was estab- lished ; we loved and still love one another ; we are grown grey together, and yet it is too early to part. Let us sit till the evening of life is spent ; the last hours were always the most joyous ; when we can stay no longer 'tis time enough then to bid each other good-night, separate and go quietly to bed." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 475 To THE SAME. London, Feb. 37, 1766. " I received your kind letter of Nov. 27th ; you cannot conceive how much good the cor- dial salutations of an old friend do to the heart of a man so far from home, and hearing fre- quently of the abuse thrown on him in his absence by the enemies that party has raised against him. " In the meantime I hope I have done even those enemies some service in our late struggle for America. It has been a hard one, and we have been often between hope and despair ; but now the day begins to clear ; the ministry are fixed for us, and we have obtained a major- ity in the house of commons for repealing the stamp-act. and giving us ease in every com- mercial grievance. God grant that no bad news of farther excesses in America may arrive to strengthen our adversaries and weaken the hands of our friends, before this good work is quite completed. " The partisans of the late ministry have been strongly crj'ing out rebellion, and calling for force to be sent against America. The consequence might have been terrible ! but milder measures have prevailed." Extract of a letter from Benjamin Franklin to his son William Frank- lin, Esq. London, Nov, g, 1765. " Mr. Cooper, secretary of the treasury, is our old acquaintance, and expresses a hearty friend- ship for us both. Enclosed I send you his bil- let proposing to make me acquainted with lord Rockingham. I dine with him to-morrow. " I had a long audience on Wednesday with lord Dartmouth. He was highly recommended to me by lords Grantham and Besborough, as a young man of excellent understanding, and the most amiable dispositions. They seemed ex- tremely intent on bringing us together. I had been to pay my respects to his lordship on his appointment to preside at the board of trade ; but during the summer he has been much out of town, so that I had not, till now, the oppor- tunity of conversing with him. I found him all they said of him. He even exceeded the expectations they had raised in me. If he con- tinues in that department, I foresee much hap- piness from it to the American affairs. He inquired kindly after you, and spoke of you handsomely. I gave it him as my opinion, that the general execution of the stamp-act would be impracticable, without occasioning more mischief than it was worth, by totally alienat- ing the affections of the Americans, and thereby lessening their commerce. I therefore wished that advantage might be taken of the address expected over, (if expressed, as I hoped it would be in humble and dutiful terms) to suspend the execution of the act for a term of years, till the colonies should be more clear of debt, and better able to bear it, and then drop it on some decent pretence, without ever bringing the ques- tion of right to decision. " And I strongly recommended either a thorough union with America, or that govern- ment here would proceed in the old method of requisition, by which I was confident more would be obtained in the way of voluntary grant, than could probably be got by com- pulsory taxes laid by parliament. I stated that particular colonies might at times be back- ward, but at other times, when in better tem- per, they would make up for that backwardness, so that on the whole it would be nearly equal. That to send armies and fleets to enforce the act, would not, in my opinion, answer any good end : That the inhabitants would prob- ably take every method to encourage the sol- diers to desert, to which the high price of labor would contribute, and the chance of being never apprehended in so extensive a country, where the want of hands, as well as the desire of wasting the strength of an army come to op- press, would incline every one to conceal deserters, so that the officers would probably soon be left alone : That fleets, indeed, might easily obstruct their trade, but withal must ruin great part of the trade of Britain ; as the properties of American and British or London merchants were mixed in the same vessels, and no remittance could be received here ; besides the danger, by mutual violences, excesses and severities, of creating a deep rooted aversion between the two countries, and laying the foundation of a future total separation. " I added, that, notwithstanding the present discontents, there still remained so much re- spect in America for this country, that wisdom would do more towards reducing things to order, than all our forces, and that, if the ad- dress expected from the congress of the colo- nies should be unhappily such as could not be made the foundation, three or four wise and good men, personages of some rank and dig- nity, should be sent over to America, with a royal commission to enquire into grievances, hear complaints, learn the true state of affairs, giving expectations of redress where they found the people really aggrieved, and endeavoring to convince and reclaim them by reason, when; 476 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. they found them in the wrong : That such an instance of the considerateness, moderation; and justice of this country towards its remote subjects would contribute more towards secur- ing and perpetuating the dominion, than all its forces, and be much cheaper. " A great deal more I said on our American affairs ; too much to write. His lordship heard all with great attention and patience. As to the address expected from the congress, he doubted some difficulty would arise about re- ceiving it, as it was an irregular meeting, un- authorized by any American constitution ; I said I hoped government here would not be too nice on that head ; that an address of the whole there seemed necessary, their separate petitions last year being rejected. And to refuse hear- ing complaints and redressing grievances, from punctilios about form, had always an ill effect, and gave great handle to those turbulent, fac- tious spirits who are ever ready to blow the coals of dissension. He thanked me politely for the visit and desired to see me often. " It is true that inconveniences may arise to government here by a repeal of the act. as it will be deemed a tacit gi\'ing up the sovereignty of parliament, and yet I think the inconveni- ences of persisting much greater, as I have said above. The present ministry are truly perplexed how to act on the occasion : as, if they relax, their predecessors will reproach them with giving up the honor, dignity, and power of their nation. And yet even they, I am told, think they have carried things too far ; so that if it were indeed true that I had planned the act (as you say it is reported with you) I believe we should soon hear some of them exculpating themselves by saying I had misled them. I need not tell you, that I had not the least concern in it. It was all cut and dried, and every resolve framed at the treasury ready for the house, before I arrived in Eng- land, or knew any thing of the matter ; so that if they had given m.e a pension on that ac- count, (as is said by some,) it would have been very dishonest in me to accept it. I wish an enquiry was made of the Dutch parsons how they came by the letter you mention, which is undoubtedly a forgery, as not only there were no such facts, but there is no such person as the queen's chaplain. I think there is no doubt, but that, though the stamp act should be re- pealed, some mulct or punishment will be inflicted on the colonies that have suffered the houses of officers, etc., to be pulled down ; especially if their respective assemblies do not immediately make reparation." Extract of a letter from Silas Deane, AT Paris, respecting Dr. Franklin. " Gratitude, as well as justice, to that truly great man, to whose friendship, and counsel, I owe much, oblige me to say on this occasion, that I not only believe, but know that the reports of his enemies, to say no more, are directly the reverse of the character which Dr. Franklin has ever sustained, and which he now most emi- nently supports. It gives me pleasure to re- flect on the honors and respect universally paid him by all orders of people in France, and never did I enjoy greater satisfaction, than in being the spectator of the public honors paid him. " A celebrated cause being to be heard be- fore the parliament of Paris, and the house and street leading to it crowded with people, on the appearance of Dr. Franklin, way was made for him in the most respectful manner, and he passed through the crowd to the seat reserved for him, amid the acclamations of the people — an honor seldom paid to their first princes of the blood. " When he attended the operas and plays, similar honors were paid him, and I confess I felt a joy and pride which was pure and honest, though not disinterested, for I considered it an honor to be known to be an American and his acquaintance. I am unable to express the grief and indignation I feel at finding such a character represented as the worst that human depravity is capable of exhibiting, and that such a representation should be made even by Americans. CORRESPONDENCE Between Dr. Franklin, and Lord Howe, 1775- [Lord Howe was one of the commissioners sent out in 1775, to prevent the revolution. On his arrival he addressed the following note to Dr. Franklin — the reply of the latter is truly a master-piece. It has been fre- quently published, but it seemed as if we could not dispense with its insertion in this volume.! Lord Howe to Dr. Franklin. " I cannot, my worthy friend, permit the letters and parcels, which I have sent, to be landed without addinga word upon the subjects of the injurious extremities, in which our un- happy disputes have engaged us. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 477 " You will learn the nature of my mission from the oflficial despatches, which I have recommended to be forwarded by the same conveyance. — Retaining all the earnestness, I ever expressed, to see our differences accommo- dated, I shall conceive, if I meet with the dis- position in the colonies, which I was once taught to expect, the most flattering hopes of proving serviceable in the objects of the king's paternal solicitude, by promoting the establish- ment of lasting peace and union with the colo- nies : but, if the deep rooted prejudices of America, and the necessity of preventing her trade from passing into foreign channels, must keep us still adivided people, I shall, from every private as well as public motive, most heartily lament that this is not the moment wherein those great objects of my ambition are to be attained ; and that I am to be longer deprived of an opportunity to assure you personally of the regard with which I am," etc. Dr. Franklin's answer. " I received safe the letters your lordship so kindly forwarded to me, and beg you to accept my thanks. " The official despatches, to which you refer me, contained nothing more than what we had seen in the act of parliament, viz. : " Offers of pardon upon submission;" which I am sorry to find, as it must give your lordship pain to be sent so far on so hopeless a business. " Directing pardons to be offered to the colonies, who are the very parties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our ignorance, baseness and insensibility, which your unin- formed and proud nation has long been pleased to entertain of us ; but it can have no other effect than that of increasing our resentments. It is impossible we should think of submission to a government that has, with the most wanton barbarity and cruelty, burned our de- fenceless towns in the midst of winter ; excited the savages to massacre our peaceful farmers, and our slaves to murder their masters ; and is even now bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood. These atrocious injuries have extinguished every spark of affection for that parent country, that we once held so dear, but were it possible for us to forget and forgive them, it is not possible for you, I mean the British nation, to forgive the people you have so heavily injured. You can never confide again in those as fellow subjects, and permit them to enjoy equal freedom, to whom you know you have given such just causes of lasting enmity; and this must im- pel you, were we again under government, to endeavor to break our spirit by the severest tyranny, and obstructing by every means in your power, our growing strength and pros- perity. " Your lordship mentions • the king's pater- nal solicitude for promoting the establishment of lasting peace and union with the colonies.' If, by peace, he here meant a peace, to be entered into by distinct states, now at war, and his majesty has given your lordship powers to treat with us of such a peace, I may venture to say, though without authority, that I thmk a treaty for that purpose not quite impracticable, before we enter into foreign alliances ; but I am persuaded you have no such powers. — Your nation thought, by punishing those American governors, who have fomented the discord ; rebuilding our burnt towns, and repairing, as far as possible, the mischiefs done us, she might recover a great share of our regard, and the greatest share of our growing commerce, with all the advantages of that additional strength to be derived from a friendship with us ; yet, I know too well her abounding pride and deficient wisdom, to believe she will ever take such salutary measures. Her fondness for conquest, as a warlike nation ; her lust of dominion, as an ambitious one ; and her thirst for a gainful monopoly, as a commercial one, none of them legitimate causes of war, will join to hide from her eyes every view of her true interest, and continually goad her on, in these ruinous distant expeditions, so destruc- tive both of lives and of treasure, that they must prove as pernicious to her in the end, as the crusades formerly were to most of the nations of Europe. " I have not the vanity, my lord, to think of intimidating by thus predicting the effects of this war : for I know that it will, in England, have the fate of all my former predictions, not to be believed till the event shall verify it. " Long did I endeavor, with unfeigned and unwearied zeal, to preserve from breaking that fine and noble porcelain vase, the British em- pire : for, I knew that, being once broken, the separate parts could not retain even their share of the strength and value that existed in the whole, and that a perfect re-union of those parts could scarce ever be hoped for. Your lordship may possibly remember the tears of joy that wetted my cheek, when, at your good sister's, in London, you once gave me expecta- tions, that a reconciliation might take place. I had the misfortune to find these expectations disappointed, and to be treated as the cause ol 478 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. the mischief I was laboring to prevent. My consolation, under that groundless and malev- olent treatment, was that I retained the friend- ship of many wise and good men in that coun- try, and among the rest, some share in the regard of lord Howe. " The well founded esteem, and permit me to say, affection, which I shall always have for your lordship, make it painful to me to see you engaged in conducting a war, the great ground of which, as described in your letter, is, ' the necessity of preventing the American trade from passing into foreign channels.' To me it seems that neither the obtaining or retaining any trade, how valuable soever, is an object for which men may justly spill each other's blood ; that the true and sure means of extending and securing commerce are the goodness and cheapness of commodities : and that the prof- its of no trade can ever be equal to the ex- pense of compelling it, and holding it by fleets and armies. I considered this war against us, therefore, as both unjust and unwise ; and I am persuaded that cool and dispassionate pos- terity will condemn to infamy those who ad- vised it : and that even success will not save from some degree of dishonor those who have voluntarily engaged to conduct it. ■' I know your great motive in coming hither was the hope of being instrumental in a recon- ciliation ; and, I believe, when you find that to be impossible, on any terms given you to pro- pose, you will then relinquish so odious a com- mand, and return to a more honorable private station. " With the greatest and most sincere re- spect, I have the honor to be," etc. DR. FRANKLIN'S ADDRESS To THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND, WRITTEN WHILE AT Versailles, France, October 4. 1778. TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF IRELAND. The misery and distress which your ill-fated country has been so frequently exposed to, and has so often experienced, by such a combina- tion of rapine, treachery, and violence, as would have disgraced the name of government, in the most arbitrary country in the world, has most sincerely affected your friends in America, and has engaged the most serious attention of con- gress ; the ministry of Britain have seen the extreme meanness and folly of the attempt to establish a supreme authority in parliament, as their venal scribblers had endeavored to define it, exempt from question and control, appeal or restriction ; but it is evident to all the world, that such doctrine is incompatible with every idea of a civil constitution, for all compacts, bills of right, nay, the solemn obligation of theii king to govern according to the statutes in par- liament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same, would have been all nugatory trumpery, were such a supremacy admitted; for this supreme authority having no rule or law to direct its operations, or limit its power, it must necessarily become arbitrary and abso- lute ; for ceasing to be a government by force, and it will appear fully evident that this unnat- ural war, in which we have been unavoidably engaged, has been beg^n and supported for no other purpose than to establish this supreme or arbitrary power, for they are individually the same ; nor is it in the power of sophistry to draw a line of separation ; the flimsy and con- tradictory speech of lord North, introductory to his conciliatory motion, furnishes the fullest conviction on this point. He says, " before the war broke out, he offered a conciliatory proposition. The ground upon which he made it was. That it was just the colonies should contribute to the support of govern- ment." And almost in the same breath he says " he thought necessary to shew the colo- nies we were not fighting for taxation, for he never thought taxation would be beneficial to us." He farther says, " he never proposed any tax, his maxim was to say nothing about Amer- ica, neither to propose or repeal laws, neither to advance nor recede, but to remain in total silence." His lordship, I hope, will excuse me, if I presume to look beyond the acknowledged indolence of his disposition, to explain this stupor of a first minister, and the case is very obvious ; for as soon as their five regiments should have completed the conquest of Amer- ica, it should lie with the lives and properties of its inhabitants, at the mercy of the conquer- or's sword. The very names of assemblies, conventions, or charters, those odious appenda- ges of democratical power, should be finished, and the tyrant's fiat should henceforth become the law of the land, and hence sprung the tor- pedo that benumbed the minister's faculties. His lordship says, his proposition was misin- terpreted or misunderstood, and was rendered suspicious by a supposition of a variety of cases ; the congress treated it as unreasonable and insidious, and rejected it. War began, and his intention w^as, from the beginning, at the moment of victory, to propose the same proposition in terms obviating all the misrepr©- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 479 scntations and misunderstandings concerning it. Here it is confessed, that this wise and virtuous administration at every hazard, and at a certain expense, has almost annihilated pub- lic credit, have been looking for victory which has never come, and I trust never will come, and which, if it did come, must have been ac- complished by the murder of fellow citizens, sooner than clear their own propositions of their ambiguity and suspicion. And what de- prives them of the color of excuse, for the hor- rid barbarities of the war, the city of London, in the most respectful language, petitioned the throne to declare clearly and explicitly before the war commenced, what they wished to have done on the part of America ; but all to no purpose ; they would not, they dare not declare their true object. The solemn appeal was made, and, for the honor of virtue, the comfort of human nature, and the terror of oppression, it will be indelibly recorded in the historic page, that a few virtuous citizens could effectually resist the most vigorous efforts of the most powerful tyranny, and thereby establish the freedom of the western world forever. To arrive at power, Gustavus like, by a bold effort of courage, proves at least the existence of one virtue, at the same time we detest the treachery ; but to sacrifice the public treasure, to devote every effort of rapacious taxation, and the fruits of an ever-growing excise, to this idol of madness and folly, to establish a system of venality, by which the price of every man's integrity and abilities was to be determined, to stipulate the precise condition for which he shall treacherously betray the interest of his country, and violate every obligation of private friendship and public virtue, to beat down every fence to honor and principle, to destroy the very bond and frame of civil society, to make the pillage of property the means to accomplish the plunder of liberty, and to drive the people into all the miseries of a civil war, in pursuit of this dream of power, are instances of such determined depravity as are not to be described even in the language of a country where new villainy adds to the catalogue of crimes almost every day. The perfect similarity of the de- claratory act of supremacy, and that relating to your country, viz.. That Ireland should be subordinate to and depend on the imperial crown of Great Britain, is very obvious ; but this declaration fx parte can avail nothing, at the same time that it furnishes the most incon- testible and decisive proofs, that no such sub- ordination or dependence was ever understood before, or there would have been no necessity for such an act. The navigation act, which had been framed for the sole purpose of securing to the British subjects, all the advantages to be derived from the commerce of their own settlements, has, by subsequent acts, been framed into the most odious and impolitic monopoly that could be devised : creating local distinctions and com- mercial schisms, giving privilege to one set of subjects to the injury of others, and operating on all the indicted provinces as an oppressive tax, comprehending all the taxes of Britain, however variously modified or compounded. And we wish to have it forever fixed on your minds, that by a monopoly of trade every pre- tence to internal taxation is given up ; for were you even without a constitution of your own, and as dependent as usurpation has endeavored to make you, the monopoly of your trade is more than a full and equitable compensation for all other taxes, and it <\'ill not appear para- doxical to futurity, that the rise and fall of the British empire have been owing to this act : and the engine by which the wise politician, who framed it, designed to wind up and con- nect the British interest all over the world, we have seen employed as the wheel on which British liberty and grandeur have disgracefully expired. The anticipation of public revenue has fixed the crisis of Britain, the labor of their people for all succeeding generations being engaged to pay the interests of their public debts. I cannot suppose it an unfair deduction to say they are all born in a state of slavery, for an obligation to work for any other purpose than one's own advantage, is truly the condition of a slave, and every new tax adds a link to the chain. But even in this gloomy picture there is a dawn of hope ; all bodies are capable of refraction to a certain degree, beyond which it is impossible to expand them ever so little, without absolute destruction. It is evident to all the world, that the nerves of public credit in England are on the rack of extension, and the dreadful explosion must follow of course ; and can it be supposed that the system of weakness and folly, that has so long usurped the name of constitution, can survive the shock ; and their people may yet hope to see a vigorous young one grow out of the ruins of the old. I have it in my commission to repeat to you, my good friends, the cordial concern that con- gress takes in every thing that relates to the happiness of Ireland ; they are sensibly affected by the load of oppressive pensions on your establishment, the arbitrary and illegal ex- actions of public money by king's letters ; the 48o PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. profuse dissipation, by sinecure appointments with large salaries, and the very arbitrary and impolitic restrictions on your trade and manu- factures, which are beyond example in the history of the world, and can only be equalled by that illiberal spirit which directs it, and which has shewn itself so abundantly in peti- tions from all parts of their islands, and in the debate in their house of commons, when you had been lately amused with the vain hope of an extension of your trade, and which were conducted with such temper and language as might be supposed to suit their copper-colored allies in America, but must fix a stain on the character of a civilized nation forever. When I had the pleasure of residing in your capital some years ago, it gave me pain to observe such a debility and morbid languor in every department of your government, as would have disgraced anarchy itself; the laws are too weak to execute themselves, and vice and violence often reign with impunity ; and even the military with you seem to claim an exemption from all civil restraint, or jurisdic- tion, and individuals are forced to trust to themselves for that security and protection which the government of the country can no longer afford them. We congratulate you however, on the bright prospect which the western hemisphere has afforded to you, and the oppressed of every nation, and we trust that the liberation of your country has been effected in America, and that you never will be called on for those painful, though necessary exertions, which the sacred love of liberty inspires, and which have enabled us to establish our freedom forever. We hope the political Quixots of Great Brit- ain will no longer be able to disturb the peace and happiness of mankind, and which Provi- dence has permitted perhaps to shew the mon- strous abuse of power; yet lost to all public virtue as they are, we wish they may turn from their wickedness and live ; and we doubt not the noble efforts of America will meet the full approbation of every virtuous Briton, when they shall be able to distinguish between the mad pursuits of government and the true in- terest of their people. But as for you, our dear and good friends of Ireland, w-e must cordially recommend to you to continue peaceable and quiet in every possible situation of your affairs, and endeavor, by mutual good will, to supply the defects of administration. But if the gov- ernment, whom you at this time acknowledge, does not, in conformity to her own true in- terest, take off and remove every restraint on vour trade, commerce and manufactures, I am charged to assure you, that means will be found to establish your freedom iti this re- spect, in the fullest and amplest manner. And as it is the ardent wish of America to promote, as far as her other engagements will permit, a reciprocal commercial interest with you, I am to assure you, they will seek every means to establish and extend it ; and it has given the most sensible pleasure to have those instruc- tions committed to my care, as I have ever re- tained the most perfect good will and esteem for the people of Ireland. And am, with every sentiment of respect, their obedient and hum- ble servant, Benjamin Franklin. Versailles, October i„ 1778. An account of Franklin's introduc- tion TO THE Academy of France, and his association with Voltaire. His introduction into the academy, was as high a testimonial of esteem as one great people could offer another. As he entered D'AIembert saluted him with the celebrated line, Eripuit ccelo fidmen, sceptrumque tyrannis. Condorcet thus describes this grateful and memorable ceremony : — " At this same time Paris boasted, also, the presence of the cele- brated Franklin, who, in another hemisphere, had been the apostle of philosophy and tolera- tion. Like Voltaire, he had often employed the weapon of humor which corrects the ab- surdities of men, and had displayed their per- verseness as a folly more fatal but also worthy of pity. He had joined to the science of meta- physics the genius of practical philosophy ; as Voltaire, that of poetry. Franklin had de- livered the vast continent of America from the yoke of Europe, and I was eager to see a man whose reputation had long been spread over both worlds. — Voltaire, although he had lost the habit of speaking English, endeavored to support the conversation in that language, and afterwards resuming the French, he said, ' I could not resist the desire of speaking the language of Mr. Franklin, for a moment.' The American philosopher presented his grandson to Voltaire, with a request that he would give him his benediction. ' God and liberty,' said Voltaire, ' it is the only benedic- tion which can be given to the grandson of Franklin.' "They went together to a public assembly of the Academy of Sciences, and the public at the same time beheld with emotion these two men, born in different quaiters of the globe, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 481 venerable by their years, their glory, the em- ployment of their life, and both enjoying the influence which they had exercised over the age in which they lived. They embraced each other amidst public acclamations, and it was said to be Solon who embraced Sophocles. But the French Sophocles had trampled on error and advanced the reign of reason ; and the Solon, of Philadelphia, having placed the constitution of his country on the immovable foundation of the rights of man, had no fear of seeing his uncertain laws, even during his own life, open the way to tyranny, and prepare fetters for his country." DR. FRANKLIN. Interesting notice in relation to him, AND extracts from ARTICLES PRINTED BY HIM IN London in 1779. The author of the " Systeme de la Nature " says — " What imports it to me, that Mauper- tuis is a good geometrician, if he be a despotic and merciless president, and if I be obliged to live in his domain or his academy ? A benefi- cent man is, in my opinion, much more esti- mable, than a being who is learned, but cruel." — Mirabeau the Elder. Not so with our Dr. Franklin — for, " Whatever he writes, his fellow- citizens read with eagerness, delight, and plea- sure — and whatever \\t performs, the civilized part of the world approves."— Turgol to Dr. Price. From among "the political, miscellaneous, and philosophical pieces of Dr. Franklin, printed in London, 1779, p. 297," is extracted the fol- lowing, and placed at your ser\-ice. Civis. "At the conclusion of the peace of 1762, when certain projectors asked the English to leave the French in possession of Canada, in order that they might check the too rapid increase of the English colonies, the celebrated Dr. Franklin obser\'ed, ' It is a modest word, this check for massacreing men, women, and children ; and for all the other horrors of Indian warfare." It was being very far-sighted indeed, to feel so soon the necessity of checking the excessive population of the then English colo- nies. ' But,' continues this truly great man, with that Socratic simplicity which is the peculiar characteristic of his writings. ' If it be, after all, ' thought necessary to check the growth of our colonies, give me leave to 31 propose a method less cruel. It is a method of which we have an example in the scripture. The murder of husbands, of wives, of brothers, sisters, and children, whose pleasing society has been for some time enjoyed, affects deeply the respective sur\-i\ing relations ; but grief for the loss of a child just bom is short, and ea- sily supported. The method I mean is, that which was dictated by the Egyptian policy, when the infinite increase of the children of Israel was appehended as dattgerotis to the state; and Pharaoh said unto his priests, be- hokl the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we ; come on, let us deal wise- ly with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. And the king spake unto the Hebrew midwives, etc. — Exo. Chap. I., Now,' says the doctor, ' let an act of parliament be made, enjoining the colony midwives to stifle, in their birth, every third or fourth child. By this means may you keep the colonies to their size. And if they were under the hard alternative of submitting to one or the other of these schemes for checking their growth, I dare answer for them they would prefer the latter." Note by the transcriber. They seem to have found out since that time, another method or scheme which, bye the bye they never have dared to own, ' and have always disavowed ' it personally to our ambassadors ; though they have never discontinued it in practice, until general J. made an example of two of their noto- rious assistants ; and could he have been so fortunate as to have caught the \.\\o principal agents, col. W — e and col N — s, and made them also the objects of ' exact justice,' we should not hear for a length of time of any more ' secret schemes for the depopulation of the frontiers of the United States. ' ' —Bost. Pat. INTERESTING ACCOUNT Given by Thomas Jefferson, (Frank- lin's SUCCESSOR AT Versailles,) of the VENERATION AND ESTEEM OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE FOR Dr. Franklin. Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. William Smith, expresses himself, " I can testify that there appeared to me more veneration and re- spect attached to the character of Dr. Franklin in France, than to that of any other person in the same country, foreign or native. 1 had an 482 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. opportunity of knowing particularly how far these sentiments were felt by the foreign am- bassadors and ministers at the court of Ver- sailles. The fable of his capture by the Alger- ines, propagated by the English newspapers, excited no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up to please certain read- ers ; but nothing could exceed the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren, on a subsequent report of his death, which although premature, bore some marks of authenticity. I found the min- isters of France equally impressed with his talents and integrity. The Count de Ver- gennes, particularly, gave me repeated and unequivocal demonstrations of his entire confi- dence in him." " When he left Passy, it seemed as if the vil- lage had lost its Patriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the king ordered him to be handsomely complimented, and furnished him with a litter and mules of his own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his health could bear. The succession to Dr. Franklin at the court of France, was an ex- cellent school of humility to me. On being presented to any one, as the minister of Ameri- ca, the common place question was ' Is it you, sir, who replace Dr. Franklin .' ' I generally answered, " no one can replace him, sir; I am only his successor." EULOGY ON DR. FRANKLIN. Action of the French assembly on the Announcement of his death ; Glow- ing Eulogy pronounced by the Abbe Fauchett. The people of France have, on various oc- casions, evinced that they partook of our politi- cal sentiments and feelings. When the death of Washington was announced, Bonaparte and the national representatives wore mourning. On the death of Franklin, the national assembly put on the emblems of grief, and appointed one of their members. Abbe Fauchett, to pronounce his eulogy ; the place in which he spoke was hung with black, and decorated with the most expensive devices. In the course of the oration the orator burst forth in this apostrophe : " Thou bright luminary of freedom, why should I call thee great ? Grandeur is too often the scourge of the human kind, whose felicity thy goodness was ever exerted to promote. Thou hast been the benefactor of the universe ; be thy name ever revered. May it be the com- fort of the wretched, the joy of the free. What man is more entitled to our gratitude .' It was not sufficient to control the lightning of Heaven and to avert the fury of the growing tempest ; thou hast rendered unto mankind a service still greater ; thou extinguishest the thunder of earthly despots, which was ready to be hurled upon their trembling subjects. What pleasure must it have been to thee on earth, to perceive others profiting by thy pre- cepts and thy example. With what greater rapture must thou now contemplate thy own diffusion of light ; it will illumine the world, and man, perceiving his natural dignity, will raise his soul to Heaven and bow to no empire but that which is founded on virtue and reason. I have but one wish to utter : it is a wish dear to my heart ; a wish always cherished in thy virtuous and benevolent bosom — surely it will derive sovn^ favor from the throne of God, when uttered in the name of Franklin. It is that, in becoming free, men may become also wiser and better — there is no other means of deserving liberty." THE CONTINENTAL NAVY. THE FIRST SEA FIGHT. Action between the continental brig OF war Tyrannicide, and the British sloop OF WAR Despatch, (776. The late rev. Dr. Bently, of Salem, Mass., whose decease was equally deplored by the friends of religion, patriotism and literature — who for many years enriched the columns of the " Essex Register " with his remarks, when speaking of the revolutionary pension law, seized the opportunity to give us the following interesting scrap of history : " The following history may discover how a man may engage in the public ser\'ice, and yet not be qualified according to law for the bounty of a term short of one year's service. Joshua Ward, who belonged to Salem, but who has lived many years in Marblehead, a painter, marched on the 19th of April, to Charlcstown THE CONTINENTAL NAVY. 483 Neck, as a fifer of the first company in colonel Timothy Pickering's regiment of militia, com- manded by capt. William Pickman, and soon after entered the army under captain Thomas Barnes. From Cambridge he was ordered to Watertown to guard the public stores, and remained at this station till the battle of Bun- ker's Hill. He then joined the regiment under colonel Mansfield on Prospect Hill, in Charles- town, in the Massachusetts line, and acted as fife-major, till he joined gen. Sullivan's brigade, on Winter Hill, when he was promoted as fife- major general. He continued in the service till the first day of January, 1776, when he was discharged, having continued the time of his enlistment. He then entered captain Benjamin Ward's company, and performed garrison duty at fort William and Mary, now fort Pickering, till the 19th of June following. He then volun- teered with the first lieutenant Haraden, a well known brave and able officer, with others of his companions, on board the Tyrannicide, a public armed brig of 14 guns and 75 men, commanded by captain John Fiske, afterwards a major general in Massachusetts, and eminent by his public services. He was in this brig during three cruises, and was at the taking of eight prizes, the first of which was the king's armed schooner Dispatch, belonging to lord Howe's fleet, then on their passage from Hali- fax to New York, it being loth July. In the engagement one man was killed in the Tyran- nicide, three wounded, and one died of his wounds. He continued in this vessel till the 14th of February, 1777, when he returned from a four and an half months' cruise in the West Indies, and all were discharged. He is now 72 years of age. In the action with thd Dis- patch, which lasted 7 glasses, her commander, John Goodrich, 2d lieut. of the Renown of 50 guns, then in the fleet, was killed, and several men. Mr. Moore, sailing master, was wounded and his limb amputated. Mr. Collingsin, mid- shipman, had his limb amputated but he died. The Dispatch was so disabled that they were obliged to take her in tow, and they brought her into Salem, after being out 17 days. The Dispatch had eight carriage guns, 12 swivels, and a complement of 41 picked men from dif- ferent ships in the fleet. This was the first sea fight. The Tyrannicide was the first vessel that was built for the public service, and her commission was signed by John Hancock. The Dispatch was no prize to the crew, except- ing a small bounty on her guns. And yet this worthy man in his poverty, comes not within the letter of the law, and instead of his bounty, must accept a hearty recommenda- tion to the generous care of his fellow-citi- zens." LIST OF NAVAL FORCES On Lake Champlain, October, 1776. Ship Inflexible, lieutenant Schank, 18 twelve pounders. Schooner Maria, lieutenant Starke, 14 six pounders. Schooner Carleton, lieuten- ant Dacres, 12 six pounders. Radeau Thun- derer, lieutenant Scott, 6 twenty-four, 6 twelve pounders, 2 howitzers. Gondola Loyal Con- vert, lieutenant Longcroft, 7 nine pounders. Twenty gun-boats, each a brass field piece, some twenty-fours to nines, some with howit- zers. Four long-boats, with each a carriage gun. serving as armed tenders. Twenty-four long boats with provisions. CONTINENTAL. Schooner Royal Savage, 8 six pounders, and 4 four pounders, burnt the nth of October, at Valicour. Schooner Revenge, 4 six pounders, and fours, escaped to Ticonderoga the 13th of October. Sloop , 10 four pounders, escaped to ditto the 13th of October. Cutter Lee, I nine pounder in her bow ; i twelve pounder in her stern, and 2 six pounders in her sides ; abandoned the 13th of October. Gal- ley Congress, 2 eighteen pounders in her bow, 2 twelve pounders in her stern, and 6 six pounders in her sides ; run on shore and burnt the 13th of October. Galley Washington, i eight and I twelve pounder in her bow, 2 nine pounders in her stern, and 6 six pounders in her sides; taken the 13th of October. Galley Trumbull, like the Washington, escaped to Ticonderoga the 1 3th October. Eight Gondo- las, carrying i eight pounder in the bow, and 2 nine pounders in the sides ; some of these had 4 guns in their sides — one taken the 12th, one sunk the nth, four burnt the 13th; one es- caped, and one missing. Schooner , taken from major Skeene, was gone for provis- ions. Galley Gates, expected to join them in a few days. A LIST OF THE SEAMEN DETACHED FROM THE king's ships and vessels in THE RIVER St. Lawrence, to serve on Lake Champlain. Isis, 100 seamen; Blond, 70; Triton, 60; Garland, 30 ; Canceau, 40 ; Magdalen, Bruns- wick, Gaspee 18 seamen each ; Treasury, and armed brigs, 90 men each. 484 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Province armed vessels. — Fell, 30, lately wrecked ; Charlotte, 9 ; volunteers from no ship, 9; ditto from the transports 214. Total 670, exclusive of 8 officers, and 19 petty of- ficers. COMMODORE PAUL JONES, (Continental Navy). Interesting SKETCH relating TO HIS SERVICES, FROM A British Magazine. This distinguished person was the son of a small farmer a few miles from Dumfries, and impelled by that love of enterprise which is so .frequently to be met with among the peasantry of Scotland, he seems to h.ave eagerly embarked in the cause of the colonies against the mother country. Whether he was actuated, in any degree, by a sense of the injustice of Britain toward America at the outset of his career, or merely availing himself of the opportunities in which revolutionary warfare so greatly abounds, to rise from his original obscurity, it is now, per- haps, impossible to determine, and unnecessary to inquire. But it will be seen, from the letters we are going to lay before our readers, that, in the progress of his adventurous life, he well knew how to employ the language of men in- spired with the love of liberty, and that he was honored by some of its warmest friends in both hemispheres. There are probably few instances, especially among adventurers who have risen from the condition in which Paul Jones was originally placed — of more enlarged views — more gener- ous feelings — and a more disinterested conduct, than the following letter exhibits, combined as these are with sentiments of relentless hostility towards the claims of his native country. In the progress of the revolutionary war, Paul Jones obtained the command of a squad- ron, with which, 1778, he undertook to annoy the coasts of Great Britain. On the 2d of December, 1777, he arrived at Nantez, and in January he repaired to Paris, with the view of making arrangements with the American min- isters and the French government. In Februar)- he convoyed some American vessels to the Bay of Quiberon, and, on his return to Brest, com- municated his plan to Admiral D'Aruillers, who afforded him every means of forwarding it. He accordingly left Brest, and sailed through the Bristol Channel without giving any alarm. Early in the morning of the 23d of April, he made ati attack on the harbor of Whitehaven, in which there were about three hundred sail. He succeeded in setting fire to several vessels but was not able to effect anything decisive before daylight, when he was obliged to retire. The next exploit, which took place on the same day, was the plunder of lord Selkirk's house, in St. Mary's Isle, near the town of Kirkcudbright. The particulars of this event, and of the action which succeeded, as well as the motives upon which Jones acted, are well given in the following letter, which he addressed to Lady Selkirk, and which has not before been printed : '^ Ranger, Brest, %th May^ 1778. " Madam — It cannot be too much lamented, that, in the profession of arms, the officer of finer feeling, and of real sensibility, should be under the necessity of winking at any action of persons under his command which his heart cannot approve ; but the reHection is doubly severe, when he finds himself obliged, in ap- pearance, to countenance such action by authority. " This hard case was mine, when, on the 23d of April last, I landed on St. Mary's Isle. Knowing lord Selkirk's interest with the king, I wished to make him the happy instrument of alleviating the horrors of hopeless captivity, when the brave are overpowered and made prisoners of war. It was perhaps fortunate for you, madam, that he was from home, for it was my intention to have taken him on board the Ranger, and to have detained him, until through his means, a general and fair exchange of pris- oners, as well in Europe as in America, had been effected. " When I was informed by some men whom I met at landing, that his lordship was absent, I walked back to my boat, determined to leave the island. By the way, however, some officers who were with me, could not forbear express- ing their discontent, observing, that in Amer- ica no delicacy was shown by the English, who took away all sorts of movable property, setting fire not only to towns, and to the houses of the rich without distinction, but not even sparing the wretched hamlets and milch-cows of the poor and helpless, at the approach of an inclem- ent winter. That party had been with me as volunteers the same morning at Whitehaven ; some complaisance, therefore, was their due. I had but a moment to think how I might gratify them, and, at the same time, do your ladyship the least injury. I charged the two officers to permit none of the seamen to enter the house, or to hurt anything about it ; to treat you, madam, with the utmost respect , to accept of the plate which was offered ; and to come away without making a search, or de- THE CONTINENTAL NAVY. 4S5 manding anything else. I am induced to believe that I was punctually obeyed, since I am informed that the plate which they brought away is far short of the quantity which is expressed in the inventory which accompanied it. I have gratified my men, and when the plate is sold I shall become the purchaser, and will gratify my own feelings, by restoring it to you by such conveyance as you shall please to direct. " Had the earl been on board the following evening, he would have seen the awful pomp and dreadful carnage of a sea engagement ; both affording ample subject for the pencil, as well as melancholy reflection for the contem- plative mind. Humanity starts back at such scenes of horror, and cannot but execrate the vile promoters of this detested war : For t/tcy, twas they, unsheathed the ruthless blade, And Heaven shall ask the havoc it has made. " The British ship of war Drake, mounting twenty guns, with more than her full comple- ment of officers and men, besides a number of volunteers, came out from Carrickfergus, in order to attack and take the continental ship of war Ranger, of eighteen guns, and short of her complement of officers and men ; the ships met, and the advantage was disputed with great fortitude on each side for an hour and five minutes, when the gallant commander of the Drake fell, and victory declared in favor of the Ranger. His amiable lieutenant lay mortally wounded, besides near forty of the inferior officers and crew killed and wounded. A melancholy demonstration of the uncertainty of human prospects. I buried them in a spa- cious grave, with the honors due to the memory of the brave. " Though I have drawn my sword in the pre- sent generous struggle for the rights of men, yet I am in arms, merely as an American, nor am I in pursuit of riches. My fortune is liberal enough, having no wife nor family, and having lived long enough to know that riches cannot ensure hap- piness. I profess myself a citizen of the world, totally unfettered by the little mean distinctions of climate or of country, which diminish the benevolence of the heart, and set bounds to philanthropy. Before this war began, I had, at an early time of life, withdrawn from the sea service, in favor of ' calm contemplation and poetic ease.' I have sacrificed, not only my favorite scheme of life, but the softer affections of the heart, and my prospects of domestic happiness, and ! am ready to sacrifice my life also, with cheerfulness, if that forfeiture would restore peace and good will among mankind. " As the feelings of your gentle bosom can- not, in that respect, but be congenial with mine, let me entreat you, madam, to use your soft persuasive arts with your husband, to endeavor to stop this cruel and destructive war, in which Britain never can succeed. Heaven can never countenance the barbarous and unmanly practices of the Britons in America, which savages would blush at, and which, if not discontinued, will soon be retaliated in Britain by a justly enraged people. Should you fail in this, (for I am persuaded you will attempt it — and who can resist the power of such an advocate ?) your endeavors to effect a general exchange of prisoners will be an act of humanity, which will afford you golden feelings on a death bed. " I hope this cruel contest will soon be closed : but should it continue, I wage no war with the fair ! I acknowledge their power, and bend before it with profound submission ! Let not, therefore, the amiable countess of Selkirk regard me as an enemy ; I am ambi- tious of her esteem and friendship, and would do anything consistent with my duty to merit it. "The honor of a line from your hand, in answer to this, will lay me under a very singu- lar obligation ; and if I can render you any acceptable service, in France or elsewhere, I hope you see into my character so far as to command me without the least grain of service. I wish to know, exactly, the behavior of my people, as I am determined to punish them if they have exceeded their liberty. " I have the honor to be, with much esteem and with profound respect, madam, your most obedient and most humble servant, Paul Jones. " To the Right Hon. the countess of Selkirk, St. Mary's Isle, Scotland." COMMODORE SAMUEL TUCKER, Of Massachusetts. His services in the Continental Navy. From the Eastern Argus, Portland, Me., Dec. 12, 1820. It is with great satisfaction that we have it in our power to state, that the venerable com- modore Tucker has been appointed, by the unanimous votes of the electoral college of this state, a special messenger to carry the votes for president and vice president to the seat of government. And a gratifying event it must be to this war-worn veteran, now in the seventy- fourth year of his age, to be the bearer of the unbought suffrages of a free people for an- other revolutionary worthy to fill the highest 486 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. office in their gift. Commodore Tucker was among the most distinguished naval com- manders in the war of the revolution. Though it is not our intention, at this time, to give an outline of the interesting adventures of this officer through our eight years' struggle for independence, it may not be unacceptable to our readers to be reminded of some of the im- portant benefits which our country derived from his skill and courage in the time of her great- est need. We are apt in the unbroken flow of prosperity, to forget the merits and achieve- ments of those to whom we are indebted for it. In March, 1776. after the British army had been driven from Boston in shameful flight, and were lying with the fleet at Long Island point, a transport, loaded with powder, for use of the troops, was captured by a vessel under the orders of Commodore Tucker, and commanded by one of his officers, just before she arrived within the protection of the British guns. The merits of the arrangements for the capture belonged to the commodore, and he received, if we are not mistaken, the thanks of general Washington. Though Boston was then evacu- ated, it will be recollected by those who are conversant with that period of our history, that the enemy had been driven from his post by a band of freemen, armed only with fowling pieces, and -without powder or ball. The ammunition at the disposal of the American commander at one time, was not mote than sufficient to furnish his army with more than four or five rounds to each man. The capture of this vessel, though not an event calculated to attract attention by the dazzling lustre of military glory, was, in fact, one of the most important naval occurrences of the war. Another event, of superior interest, and which displayed the gallantry of the commodore in a stronger light, was the preser\-ation of the Eustatia fleet in 1779. The American agents had contracted in Holland for a large quantity of clothing for the army. It was deposited by the Dutch merchants in Eustatia. and put on board a fleet of merchantmen to be transported to our ports. Commodore Tucker was ordered to sail with the Boston frigate and Confederacy to meet this fleet and convoy it safe, at all events, into port. The salvation of the army and of the country, depended on the safe arrival of these supplies, the soldiers being not only without pay, but destitute of clothing, and, as soldiers always will be in such cases, irritated, refractory, and mutinous. The moment of the commodore's meeting this fleet was most critical. Two British frigates were then in the pursuit, and were now within gun-shot of the hindermost vessels, when two strange sail were seen bearing down upon them directly ahead. A signal was made for the fleet to dis- perse, and soon after. Tucker having come within hailing distance of one of the foremost vessels, discovered that it was the fleet of which he was in the pursuit. He instantly made a signal for the Confederacy to bear down upon and attack the windward sail, while he wore ship and prepared to engage the vessels at the leeward. The enemy, however, though supe- rior in force, declined meeting him. He fled to New-York, where the commander, after a sham trial, was acquitted on the excuse that his crew was mutinous ; and the American commodore led his fleet in triumph into the harbor of Phil- adelphia, without the loss of a ship. The safe arrival of this fleet was a most important event to the country. Soon after, the British commander fitted out a vessel for the express purpose of cruising for Tucker, and bringing the rebel into the harbor of New York. His ship was again somewhat superior to the Boston, and manned with fifty chosen men, in addition to the usual crew. He soon had the good or ill fortune to meet with Tucker. Such was the skill and adroitness with which the American commander man- oeuvred, that he brought his ship within half pistol shot under the quarters of the British vessel, before the captain discovered that it was an enemy, the commodore having English colors flying. He then sent up the stars and stripes, and summoned the enemy to surrender. Such was the commanding position that the American frigate had obtained, that the British captain thought it prudent to surrender before a gun was fired on either side. Commodore Tucker's enterprise and naval talents were in constant requisition, and he was in active service during the whole war. He took from the enemy se"<.ienty five prizes, and more than six hundred and fifty mounted cannon, a greater number, we believe, than was captured by any other naval commander. When the venerable patriot arrived at Wash- ington with the electoral votes, it was con- templated to pass a resolution to admit him within the bar of the house of representatives. But it is a standing rule of the house, that all persons to whom a vote of thanks has been passed, may use that privilege, and it was found that commodore Tucker might claim it from a vote of the old congress — and the house had too much sensibility on the subject, in any manner to depreciate so honorable a claim, by acting on the case, except to permit him to take a seat as a matter of right. THE CONTINENTAL NAV\-. 487 His presence at Washington gave rise to a publication of the following correspondence — yuiNCY, January 18, 1816. Sir — Samuel Tucker, esq. a member of our Massachusetts legislature, has a petition to government for justice or customary favor to meritorious officers, which will be explained before the proper judges. I cannot refuse his request to certify what I know of his character and historv'. My acquaintance with him com- menced early in the year 1776, when he was first appointed to a command in the naxy, in which he served with reputation and without reproach, to the end of the year 1783. His biography would make a conspicuous figure even at this day, in the naval annals of the United States. I can be particular only in one instance. In 1778, he was' ordered to France in the Boston frigate. He sailed in February, and soon fell in with three British frigates, sent from Rhode Island expressly to intercept him. Fighting of one against three was out of the question. In a chase of three days and three nights, he baffled all the inven- tions, and defeated all the manoeuvres of the enemy, and was separated from him, at last, in the Gulf Stream by a furious hurricane, which, for three days more, threatened him with immediate destruction. Nor was this his last danger from seas or from enemies. He had two other storms, and two other detach- ments of British men of war to encounter ; one in the English Channel, and another in the Bay of Biscay. He arrived in Bordeaux in April. Nothing but vigilance, patience, and perse- verance, added to consummate nautical skill, could have preserved that ship through so many dangers at that equinoctial season, and such a succession of irresistible enemies. 1 heartily wish captain Tucker success ; and beg the favor of you, sir, to communicate to any committee, who may be charged with the examination of his application, this letter from your friend and humble servant, John Adams. Hon. Mr. Cronvninshield, Secretary of the navy of the U. S. The foregoing is a true copy of the original now in my possession. Mark L. Hill. Connected with this letter is an anecdote of the now venerable writer, which we do not recollect to have before seen in print. From the unaffected simplicity with which the letter is written, it would not appear that Mr. Adams was on board the vessel commanded by captain Tucker, in the cruise of which he speaks : but this was the fact. Captain Tucker then com- manded the Boston frigate, and was charged with the important duty, at that difficult time, of carrying Mr. Adams out as ambassador to France. About fifteen days before their arri- val at Bordeaux, there hove in sight a large English ship, showing a tier of guns. Tucker immediately held a conversation with Mr. Ad- ams, assured him he could take her, and wished to obtain his consent to run down for her ; this was granted. — The Boston bore down : Mr. Adams being a non-combatant, was desired to retire into the cock-pit, below water. He descended, at this request, into the cabin. Tucker returned immediately to his duty, and in fifteen minutes the Boston was within hail of the English ship, which proved to be the Martha, and had been lying to, to meet her enemy. Upon Tucker's hailing the British ship, she answered by a broadside, which shot away a piece of the mizen yard of the Boston, which fell upon Tucker's shoulder, and brought him flat on the deck. This, for a moment, prevented the order to return the fire ; but as he leaped from the deck and gained his legs, he found the colors of the Martha hauled down ; and looking forward, observed Mr. Adams among the marines, with a musket in his hand, having privately applied to the officer of the marines for a gun, and taken his station among them. At this sight captain Tucker became alarmed ; for he was responsible for the safety of Mr. Adams ; and walking up to the ambas- sador desired to know how he came there? upon which the other smiled, gave up his gun, and went immediately below. CQMMODORE JOSHUA BARNEY, Of Maryland, Continental navy. Interesting account of his capture of the British sloop of War " General Monk," April 8, 1782. By a misprint, we presume, the late commo- dore Barry was said to have captured the Brit- ish ship " General Monk," in 1782. The error brought forth in the Washington City Gazette, of June — , 1820, the following explanations and remarks, in a letter addressed to the editor : I have observed in your Gazette, taken from a Philadelphia paper, an account of a gallant action performed by the late commodore Bar- ney, during the revolutionary war. I allude to the action between the American vessel Hyder Ally, captain Barney, and his Britannic Majesty's 488 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. sloop of war General Monk, captain Rogers, in 1782. "Honor to the brave." My only object in addressing you this letter, is to correct an error as to the name of the commander of the Hyder Ally. It was not captain Barry, as is erroneously stated in the papers. It was the late commodore Barney who commanded the Hyder Ally, the same who received a severe wound at the battle of Bladensburg, and who lately died at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. I was then in Philadelphia, quite a lad, when the action took place. Both ships arrived at the lower part of the city with a leading wind, immediately after the action, bringing with them all their killed and wounded. Attracted to the wharf by the salute which the Hyder Ally fired, of thirteen guns, which was then the custom, (one for each state) I saw the two ships lying in the stream, anchored near each other. In a short time, however, they warped into the wharf to land their killed and wounded, and curiosity induced me, as well as many others, to go on board each vessel. The Hyder Ally was, as stated, a small ship of 16 six pounders. The Monk, a king's ship of large dimensions, of 18 nine pounders. The difference in the size and equipments of the two ships wasmatterof astonishment to all the beholders. The Gen. Monk's decks were, in every direc- tion, besmeared with blood, covered with the dead and wounded, and resembled a charnel house. Several of her bow ports were knocked into one — a plain evidence of the well directed fire of the Hyder Ally. She was a king's ship, a very superior vessel, a fast sailer, and cop- pered to the bends. I was on board during the time they carried on shore the killed and wounded, which they did in hammocks. I was present at a conversation which took place on the quarter deck of the General Monk, between captain Barney and several merchants in Philadelphia. I remember one of them observing, " why, captain Barney, you have been truly fortunate in capturing this vessel, considering she is so far superior to you in point of size, guns, men and metal." Yes, sir, he replied, I do consider myself fortunate — when we were about to engage, it was the opinion of myself, as well as my crew, that she would have blown us to atoms ; but we were determined she should gain her victory dearly. One of the wounded British sailors observed — ■* Yes, sir, captain Rogers observed toourcrew, a little before the action commenced, 'Now, my boys, we shall have the yankee ship in five minutes ; ' and so we all thought, but here we are." You will find, by recurrence to the journals of the old congress, that a sword was voted to captain Joshua Barney, for the gal- lantry displayed In the action with his Britan- nic Majesty's ship General Monk. I can readily account why the name of cap- tain Barry should have been inserted instead of captain Barney. Captain Barry, about the same time, commanded a brig of 16 six pounders, called the Hibernia, and was fortunate in cap- turing several British armed vessels. He after- wards commanded the frigate United States, now in our service, and then on the West India station, and was very successful during our short war with the French republic. H^ died in Philadelphia in 1803. I feel the more dis- posed to set this matter right, as commodore Barney was an intimate friend of mine. If you think these items of information worthy of in- sertion in your Gazette, they are at your service. I am, respectfully, yours, etc., Co. THE "GENERAL MONK." Account of her capture. On the 8th April, 1782, an action took place at the entrance of the Delaware bay, between an American sloop of war, commanded by captain Barney, called the Hyder Ally, mount- ing 16 six pounders, and carrying no men; and the British sloop of war General Monk, under captain Rogers, of 20 nine pounders, and 136 men. The former had four men killed and eleven wounded ; the latter twenty killed and thirty-three wounded. In the navy department at Washington is a representation of this action. On the left of the painting ap- pears Cape Henlopen light-house, and on the right, the point of Cape May. In the centre is seen the Hyder Ally and General Monk en- gaged, the latter in the act of striking her colors. In front is the frigate Quebec, which, not finding sufficient water in Cape May channel, was obliged to go around the Overfall Shoals to get into the bay. It was during this time that the action took place. To the right of the fighting ships, the English brig Fair American, of 16 guns, is seen chasing and firing at one of the Hyder Ally's convoy, which escaped under the Jersey shore. At a distance is seen the vessels convoyed by the Hyder Ally steering. up the bay. RECAPITULATION. guns p. lbs. jnen kd. ivd Hyder Ally, 16 6 is 96 no 4 11 guns p. lbs. men kd. ivd. Gen. Monk, 20 9 180 136 20 33 THE CONTINENTAL NAVY. 489 NAVAL POWER OF SALEM, Mass., from March i to Nov. i, 1781. The following list of PRIVATEERS, fitted out and chiefly owned at Salem and Beverly, from March l, to Nov. I, 1 781, was found among the papers of the late Mr. Jami's Jeffry. whose accuracy was well known to those by whom he is remembered. At that period, privateering was the principal business of the town. — Salem Gazette. SHIPS. Ships' Nantes, Pilgrim Essex Franklin Scourge Disdain Congress Royal Louis Porus Grand Turk Rattle Snake Rover Cromwell Jason Marquis Hendrick Junius Brutus Rhodes Harlequin Neptune Mohawk Buccanier Cicero Rambler Defence Independence Jack 26 ships. No. 0/ Guns, U'eig^hi No, of of Metal, Men, 18 20 18 20 20 20 18 20 24 20 20 16 16 16 18 20 20 20 16 22 18 18 16 14 16 12 476 6 6 6 6 9 6 9 6 4 4 6 6 4 6 6 6 4 4 6 9 9 6 6 4 9 Brigs^ Names. Tyger Montgomery Sturdy-Beggar Captain New Adventure. . . . Active Hero Fortune Swift Blood-Hound Flying-Fish Carried forward 16 14 14 10 14 14 8 14 14 14 10 142 4«. 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 120 no 100 no no 130 100 130 120 95 95 100 100 75 100 no no 95 75 no 120 120 95 85 70 60 2645 Men. 70 60 60 45 55 60 40 60 60 55 45 BRIGS — CONTINUED. Brigs^ Names. Brought forward Fox Cato Chace Lion Speedwell 16 brigs. Guns. 142 14 14 10 12 14 206 Metal. 40 3 3 3 4 3 SCHOONERS. Schooners^ Names. Greyhound Livsly Shackle Pine Apple Languedoc Dolphin Panther 8 schooners. Guns. Metal. 8 3«. 8 3 6 3 6 3 6 2 6 3 6 3 4 3 50 Men. 610 55 55 45 50 55 870 Men. 35 35 30 30 25 30 30 20 235 SLOOPS. S/oo/s^ Names. Guns. Metal. Men. 8 6 3 40 30 2 sloops. 14 70 7 shallops, names not mentioned. RECAPITULATION Vessels. Guns. Men. 26 16 8 2 476 206 50 14 2645 870 Schooners 235 Sloops 70 Shallops, men only 120 Total 52 746 3940 "MARINE TURTLE." A sub-marine battery invented and first used for the destruction of British ships in New York harbor. See sketch of Captain Ezra Lee, Connecticut, page 54. 610 NAVAL ENGAGEMENT In Chesapeake Bay, between Virginia naval vessels and British Barges, 1783. See sketch of General Cropper, Virginia, page 320. 490 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. MISCELLANEOUS. BOSTON ORATIONS. Introductory Notice. [These orations which will be found on pages 17 to 79 were inadvertently separated from this introductory notice. They were first collected and published in a volume, by Mr. Peter Edes of Boston, printer, son of the Mr. Edes of that town whose press was so notorious for its fearless devotion to the lib- erties of America ; both before the Revolu- tion commenced and during the time of its continuance.] TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON. I hope my collecting, in one volume, the following orations, which were first severally printed at your request, but many of which have been long since not to be purchased, will be considered in the mild light of an attempt to please the public. Americans have been reprehended for not preserving, with sufficient care, the various pamphlets and political tracts which this coun- try has afforded during the late war. Many of those productions which appear trite to us, who live on the spot where they grew, may, however, be considered as sources of curiosity to strangers. Many of these ora- tions have been considered as the sentiments of this metropolis, from time to time touching the revolution ; and as our eariiest public in- vectives against oppression. As the institution of an oration upon the fifth of March is now superseded by the cele- bration of the anniversary of independence, upon the fourth of July, I have given to this volume a general title, which will apply to both institutions : so that if hereafter there shall be a volume, containing the orations of that anni- versary, this may be considered the first and that the second volume of Boston orations. I am, with the greatest respect, your obedi- ent humble servant, Peter Edes. Boston, January, 1785. RECOLLECTIONS OF A SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER. FROM WOODWORTH's LITERARY CASKET. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, my father had attained the age when the mind yields most easily to the passion for mili- tary glory, and he was among the first who were enrolled under the banner of American liberty. The sentiment of freedom was electric, and no age or sex was exempt from its influence. The fond mother who had shrunk from expos- ing the darting of her bosom to the slightest personal danger, now beheld, with proud satis- faction, that son decorated with the knapsack her own hand had wrought, and cheerfully resigned him to the call of patriotism. Thus do the sentiments of freedom elevate the mind above its ordinary exertions, and call forth the latent energies of soul, that have im- mortalized a Cornelia. My venerable grand- sire, whom I can just remember as an old man with snowy locks, who used to pacify my infant clamors with tales of military prowess, was often heard to boast that he led five sons to the battle of Bunker-hill. The third of these sons was he from whom I inherited that spirit of patriotism which has ac- companied me through life. With feelings which neither time nor sorrow can obliterate, I review the scenes of my childhood, and while my brave parent, bending with age and infir- mity, is verging to the grave, a desire to snatch his memory from oblivion prompts me to record the following detail : Some of the brightest years of my existence were passed in the vicinity of Bunker hill, and I was earty taught to venerate that spot, as connected with a display of that magnanimous virtue. It was to that spot my gallant father led his family of sprightly boys, and, over the grave of Warren, inculcated lessons of heroism and virtue. Nor was I always excluded from the party, for though my father believed that nature had designed me for a domestic sphere, he did not believe that an ardent love of liberty and thorough estimate of its value, as purchased by the blood of my fathers, could unfit me for the discharge of the important duties which Providence has assigned to a woman. It was a fine morning in May, and nature seemed to have communicated her smile to the heart, and diffused a joyous serenity over all its feelings, when my three little brothers and myself received the welcome summons to pre- pare to attend our parent on his morning MISCELLANEOUS. 491 excursion. — "Whither shall we walk?" said he, as we sallied forth with all the eagerness of childhood—" To Bunker-hill " was the spon- taneous reply of every little voice, and to Bun- ker-hill my father led the way. Days of artless innocence, alas ! ye are fled forever. Never can I recal the sportive hilarity with which we lightly bounded over the adja- cent hills, never regain the innocent gayety and improvident lightness of heart, that, under present enjoyments, shut the future from my view. Yet memory, busy memory, oft retards the flowery way, and, in the visions of the past, loses the sense of the present, and the anticipa- tions of the future. With that buoyancy of spirit which refuses to yield to weariness, we climbed the ascent, and found ourselves on the summit, from whence we were presented with a view of the whole peninsula, with the bay and harbor of Boston. My father pointed out the relative positions of the armies, and entered into a minute detail of events, which abler historians have recorded : they will not therefore occupy a place in this narration. His own personal adventure, and narrow escape from a living grave, are all that filial piety will justify this feeble attempt to per- petuate. '■ Pray, papa," said my oldest brother, " was it here that you received that ugly wound that had nearly cost you your life .'' " " It was on this very spot, my son, behind this breast-work— but the story is long— you must have patience, and let me commence at the beginning." Each little heart beat high with expectation, and mutually promising profound attention, we listened to the following tale : " You see that narrow speck of land yonder that unites the peninsula of Charlestown to the adjacent country. Over that isthmus, it be- came my duty to lead the little band under my command, to join the main army, iii the in- trenchment, where we now stand. You see how it is exposed to water — well there lay the Glasgow frigate, which kept up a continual fire of shot and bombs across that pass, while several floating batteries, and the fortification on Copp's hill, endeavored to annoy the troops on the hill, and drive them from the entrench- ment. " My little band had each the spirit of a Leonidas, and not a murmur was heard, when I ordered them to attempt gaining the hill, by running singly across the dangerous pass. The first who attempted was my poor drum- mer, who was killed not five paces from me ; but the next, not at all deterred by the fate of his comrade, commenced the race, and got over in safety. In like manner, most of our heroic band succeeded, and one honest fellow, as he bowed to the word of command, thus addressed me, " Captain, I see it is close dodg- ing, but let me once get safely over, and I'll spend my heart's last drop for you, and bring you off again dead or alive, that I will." " This honest fellow was a native of Ireland, and about six months previous was confined for debt in the prison of Salem, whence I released him on condition that he would enlist ; and never man was blessed with a more devoted friend than Murphy M'Culloch proved to me. " I was the last to make the adventurous attempt, and though the balls showered about my head, none were permitted to touch me, and we gained the entrenchment, and passed into the line of battle. " On this spot as near I could recollect, I stood, and endeavored to do my duty as a soldier of liberty. I received a ball through the calf of my leg, and another through my left shoulder, but these were mere trifles, and I stood my ground in spite of them. " The gallant and generous Warren was on horseback, pressing from one end of the line to the other, animating the troops to a vigorous defence, and every heart hailed him with love and gratitude. " He had ever distinguished me with pecu- liar marks of friendship, and as he passed the spot where I stood, he condescended to address me with words of cordial recognition. I know not whether any historian has recorded the last words of that hero, but believed they were addressed to myself. " My young friend, (said he, as he turned to leave me), do your duty, for the salvation of our country depends on this day's action." " He had not moved ten paces before I saw him fall. At that moment a shell burst by my side, and was thrown several feet into the air, and then precipitated violently to the ground. " A fragment of the broken shell struck me in the breast, and caused a contusion of the sternum, and the violent shock my whole sys- tem sustained took from me the power of motion. " Blood gushed from my mouth, nose and ears, and I lay covered with dust unable to speak or move, but for some time perfectly conscious. " I remember to have heard col. B — , who was my father's friend, exclaim ' William is dead then ! well, he died like a soldier.' 492 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. " I felt the pressure of his hand upon my forehead, as he leaned over me ; ' he's gone, poor fellow ! but I'll take his sword — the regu- lars shall never get that.' " This sword was a present from Warren, and, though in that awful moment my soul seemed fluttering on the verge of eternity, it gave me inexpressible pleasure, to find that the gift of friendship was likely to be preserved. " A faintness now came over me, and I heard no more, and for what succeeded am indebted to the observation of col. B . " The Americans fought with determination and bravery until their last round of ammuni- tion was expended, and they were reluctantly compelled to retreat. " My poor Irish soldier, actuated by a senti- ment that should immortalize his name, now declared l/mt the British should never have his captain, alive or dead. He sought among the slain for the breathless form of one he loved, and at last recognized the object of his search among a heap of human bodies, which some resolute soldiers, where the breastwork hap- pened to be too high, had piled up to stand on. " He bore the inanimate body on his shoul- der from the scene of carnage ; but unable, thus loaded, to keep up with his companions, a shot from the pursuers terminated his life, when the main body of the retreating army was out of danger. " Some friends who knew us, passing imme- diately after, thought they discovered in me signs of returning life, and by their means I was conveyed to the hospital." By this time the little auditors were in tears, and even Warren was awhile forgotten in ad- miration of the fidelity of the Irish soldier. My father, though a brave man and a sol- dier, wept — and though the lapse of twenty years has presented new and varied objects to my mind, I am not ashamed that a kindred tear has blotted the page that records his story. Recovering his usual composure, and ad- dressing himself particularly to me, my father thus continued : " What follows is an example oi female he- roism and tenderness, if recorded on the page of histor)', might form a counterpart to the story of the Roman mother, who died from the effect of joyful surprise, when her son, whom she thought dead, was restored to her arms. " My mother received the news that her darling had fallen in battle, — but shed no tears. " Her son had done his duty, and what more in these times of peril could a virtuous mother desire ? Agreeably to the primitive custom of our fathers the whole family appeared at church the next Sabbath, clothed in habili- ments of sorrow, and in the note which the minister read for the deceased, was an expres- sion of triumph that he had fallen for liberty. " The next morning as my mother sat by her window, intently watching some little shrubbery which the hand of her departed child had planted, she discovered, through the vista of the trees that embowered our peace- ful dwelling, a litter, slowly winding along the road. " The hope of being able to afford relief or refreshment to a wounded soldier, drew my mother to the little gate that separated her own cultivated lawn from the highway. "Will you stop and rest.?" said she to the man who conducted the litter — " We go no farther," was the reply. She heard no more — the truth flashed across her mind and she fainted. " Long and tenderly was I nursed by that heroic woman, and though she sympathized in every pain I felt, she never breathed a regret for the part I had acted, and when I was again able to join my regiment, she mingled with her parting blessing a fervent prayer that all her children might prefer death to slavery." Such was my father's tale — could I hear it and ever forget that I am a soldier's daughter? Never, never. Recollections of patriotism are im- pressed on every page of my existence, and sentiments of freedom twined with every fibre of my heart. Sadly as the tenor of my days have passed, and sorely as the storms of sorrow have beaten on my head, there are hours when the tide of impetuous feeling rushes back to the scenes of my infancy, and finds, in tracing the lessons of paternal love, a kind of half oblivion to my cares. Then it is that the spirit of my father glows with undiminished ardor, and it is my pride and my boast that I am a Soldier's Daughter: INTERESTING ACCOUNT Of Mrs. Gannett, of Sharon, Mass., WHO served as a soldier in the con- tinental ARMY. FROM THE DEDHAM (MASs) REGISTER OF DEC, 183O. We were much gratified to learn that during the sitting of the court in this town the past week, Mrs. Gannett, of Sharon, in this coim- try, presented for renewal, her claims for ser- vices rendered her country as a soldier m the MISCELLANEOUS. 493 revolutionary army. The following brief sketch, it is presumed, will not be uninteresting. This extraordinary woman is now in the 62d year of her age ; she possesses a clear understanding, and a general knowledge of passing events ; fluent in speech, and delivers her sentiments in correct language, with deliberate and measured accent ; easy in her deportment, affable in her manners, robust and masculine in her appear- ance. She was about eighteen years of age when our revolutionary struggle commenced. The patriotic sentiments which inspired the heroes of those days and urged them to battle, found the way to a female bosom. The news of the carnage which had taken place on the plains of Lexington had reached her dwelling — the sound of the cannon at the battle of Bunker Hill, had vibrated on her ears ; yet instead of diminishing her ardor, it only served to increase her enthusiasm in the sacred cause of liberty, in which cause she beheld her country en- gaged. She privately quitted her peaceful home and the habiliments of her sex, and ap- peared at the headquarters of the American army as a young man, anxious to join his efforts to those of his countrymen, in their endeavors to oppose the inroads and encroachments of the common enemy. She was received and enrolled in the army by the name of Robert Shitrtliffe. For the space of three years she performed the duties and endured the hardships and fatigues of a soldier ; during which time, she gained the confidence of her officers by her expertness and precision in the manual exer- cise, and by her exemplary conduct. She was a volunteer in several hazardous enterprises, and was twice wounded by musket balls. So well did she contrive to conceal her sex. that her companions in arms had not the least sus- picion that the " blooming soldier " fighting by their side, was a female ; till, at length, a severe wound, which she received in battle, and which had well nigh closed her earthly campaign, occasioned the discovery. On her recovery she quitted the army and became intimate in the families of gen. Washington, and other distin- guished officers of the revolution. A few years afterwards she was married to her present hus- band, and is now the mother of several children. Of these facts there can be no doubt. There are many living witnesses in this countr>', who recognized her on her appearance at the court, and were ready to attest to her services. We often hear of such heroines in other countries, but this is an instance in our own country and within the circle of our acquaintance. ESTIMATE OF THE BRITISH FORCES In America, 1775. The following was the estimate which general Gage laid before the British ministry in 1775, of the force which could be raised in the colonies, and maintained in the field. New England .... 37,000 New York ..... 11,000 Pennsylvania and Jersey . . 16,000 Virginia and Maryland . . 13,000 Carohnas ..... 5,000 82,000 ESTIMATE OF CONTINENTAL TROOPS In the field.May, 1776. The following was thought to be a pretty accu- rate state of the provincial forces in May, 1776. In Canada, 9000 continental troops ; com- manded by major general Sullivan, and briga- diers Arnold and Woedkle. The generals Schuyler and Wooster are at Albany, with a body of militia, number not exactly known. At New York, 12,000 continental troops, 1 1, coo militia, and the New Jersey brigade consisting of 3300 commanded by general Washington, major generals Putnam, and Gales, and brigadiers Heath, Greene, lord Ster- ling, Waterbur)', and Mercer. In Jersey and Pennsylvania, a flying camp of 10,000 men, commanded by brigadiers Mififlin, Dean, and Johnson. In Virginia, 8000 continental troops. In North Carolina 4000 ditto. South Carolina 1000 ditto. Commanded by major general Lee, brigadiers Armstrong, Howe, Moore, and Lewis. At Boston 2000 continental troops, com- manded by major general Ward, and brigadier general Spencer. By this account there were 36,000 continen- tal troops, and 24,300 militia, ready for, and in the field ; but there are 20,000 more of the militia, the stations of which are not exactly known. In all above 80,000 men. These accounts of the American armies were taken about the latter end of May, 1776. But when the congress were informed, that for- eigners had been hired, and that general Howe intended coming to New York (from Halifax) they ordered the number of the continental troops to be increased to seventy thousand. At the same time, returns of the minute men were made, and they were 140,000. 494 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. EXPENSE Of the American Continental army, sterling money, may 1 776. staff — [sterling money.] per diem. \. s. d. Commander in chief, general ) Washington, (for table) (200 4 Aids-de-camp, 4s. 6d. each 18 o I Adjutant general. 18 I Quarter master general, 12 I Assistant quarter master general, 4 6 I Pay master general, 13 6 6 Majors brigade, 4s. 6d. 7 Secretary to commander in chief 9 Directors of hospitals, iS 806 4 Surgeons, 6s. I 4 1 Apothecary, 6 2 Mates, and one clerk, 3s. 9 1 Commissary general, 12 2 Major generals under commander in chief, 24s. 9d. 296 4 Aid-de-camps, 4s. 6d. 18 6 Brigadier generals, 18s. 9d. 5 12 6 I Engineer, 9 4 Sub-engineers, 4s, 6d. 18 4 Major generals, com- manding separate armies, 49s. 6d. 9 18 8 Aid-de-camps, 4s. 6d. i 16 8 Majors brigade, 4s. 6d. 116 4 Secretaries, 4s. gd. 19 4 Deputy adjutant gene- rals, 9s. 4dK. I 17 6 4 Deputy quarter master generals, 6s. 1 4 4 Deputy commissary ge- nerals, 6s. I 4 8 Sub-engineers, 4s. 6d. 116 9 Brigadier generals, i8s. 9d-* 885 41 170 60 REGIMENTS. 60 Colonels, 13s. 6d. 40 10 60 Lieutenant colonels, 9s. 27 60 Majors, 6s. 18 540 Captains, 4s. 6d. 121 10 1080 Lieutenants, 3s. 162 540 Ensigns, 2s. 54 2160 Sergeants, is. 3d. 135 • Including Thompson, who is prisoner. 1. s. d. 2160 Corporals, is, id. 117 540 Drums, is. id. and 540 fifes, IS. id. 58 10 30600 Privates, is. 1530 and Surgeon's mates. not included) 2263 10 2313 8 6 FLYING ( :amp. 14 Colonels, 13s. 6d. 9 9 14 Lieutenant colonels 9s. 6 6 14 Majors, 6s. 4 4 128 Captains, 4s. 6d. 28 16 256 Lieutenants, 3s. 38 8 128 Ensigns, 2s. 12 16 512 Sergeants, is. 3d. 32 512 Corporals, is. id. 27 14 8 256 Drums and fifes, Is. Id. 13 7 4 8692 Privates, Is. 434 12 10 520 JERSEY BRIGADE. 5 Colonels, 13s. 6d. 3 76 5 Lieutenant colonels. 9s. 2 5 5 Majors, 6s. I 10 42 Captains, 4s. 6d. 9 9 84 Lieutenants, 3s. 12 12 42 Ensigns, 2s. 4 4 168 Sergeants, is. 3d. 10 IC 168 Corporals, is. id. 9 2 84 Drums and fifes, is. id. 4 II 2856 Privates, is. 142 16 200 6 6 MILITIA (in pay.) 44 Colonels, i8s. 6d. 29 14 44 Lieutenant colonels, 9s. 19 16 400 Captains, 4s. 6d. 800 Lieutenants, 3s. 400 Ensigns, 2S. 1600 Sergeants, is. 3d 1600 Corporals, is. id. 800 Drums and fifes, is. 27000 Privates is. DAILY ALLOWANCE OF PROVISIONS. I lb. fresh beef, or I lb. salt fish ; J.^ lb. pork, or 20 oz. salt beef; i lb. bread, flour, i pint milk, I quart cider or spruce beer, per diem each — 3 lb. can- dles, 8 lb. hard soap, per -week for 100 men — 3 pints pease, I pint Indian meal, 6 oz. butter, per man a week. This is about lod. sterling ration per day. 90 120 40 100 86 13 4 Id. 43 6 8 1350 14 5014 12 MISCELLANEOUS. 495 1. s. d. Rations on an average 3 per day, for general and other officers, 4898 at 2s. 6d. 612 5 o Non-commissioned officers, and privates, 80,248, at lod. 3343 13 4 3955 18 4 Clothing for continental ar- my, flying camp, and Jersey brigade, 49,248, 2d. per day. 8970 10 4 410 8 Daily expenses, 9380 18 4 Nothing of the navy contin- gencies, or army extraordina- ries, are included. GENERAL WAYNE'S ORDERS, Issued on the evening previous to the ATTACK ON STONV POINT. Headquarters, Fort Montgomery. Light Infantry — July 15, 1779. The troops will parade on beating the as- semble. Taking it from the nght, they will march on beating the troop, and move by the right. Proper halting places will be fixed and every officer and non-commissioned officer will remain with and be accountable for every man of their platoons. No soldier to be permitted to quit the ranks on any pretence whatever until a general halt is made, and then to be at- tended by one of the officers of the platoons. As soon as the troops assemble, this order to be read at the haad of each : The troops will march from Clement's to Stony Point, at 1 1 o'clock, and move by the right. Every officer and non-commissioned officer will remain with and be accountable for every man in his platoon. No soldier to be permitted to quit the ranks on any pretence whatever, until a general halt is made, and then to be attended by one of the officers of the platoon. When the van of the troops arrive in the rear of the hill, col. Fabager will form his regi- ment in a solid column of half platoons, in front, as fast as they come up ; col. Meigs will form next in Fabager's rear and major Hull in the rear of Meigs, which will be the right column ; col. Butler will form a column on the left of Fabager, and major Murphy in his rear — every officer and soldier will then fix a piece of white paper in his hat or cap, to distinguish him from the enemy. At the word march, col. Flury will take charge of 100 determined and picked men. properly officered, with their guns unloaded, their whole dependence to be on their bayonets, will move 20 paces in front of the column by the rout No. i, enter the sally port C, he is to detach an officer and 20 men a little in front of him, whose business it will be to secure the sentries, and remove the abattes, and other obstructions, for the column to pass through. The column will follow close in the rear, with shouldered arms, under the command of col. Fabager, with gen. Wayne in person ; when the works are forced, (and not before) the vic- torious troops will as they enter give the watch- word, the Fort's our own, with repeated and loud voice, driving the enemy from their works and guns, which will favor the pass of the whole ; should the enemy refuse to surrender, or attempt to make their escape by water or otherwise, vigorous means must be used to compel them to the former, and prevent their accomplishing the latter. Col. Butler will move by the rout No. 2, preceded by 100 men with fixed bayonets and unloaded muskets, under the command of major Stewart, who will observe a distance of 20 paces in front of the column, which will immediately follow under the command of col. Butler, with shouldered muskets, and will enter the sally-port C. or D. The officer commanding the above 100 men will also detach a proper officer, with 20 men, a little in front, to remove the obstructions — as soon as they gain the work, they will also give and continue the watch-word, which will pre- vent confusion and mistakes. Major Murphy will follow colonel Butler to the first figure. No. 3, where he will divide a little to the right and left and wait the attack on the right, which will be a signal to begin and keep up a perpetual and galling fire, and en- deavor to enter between, and pass the work A. A. If any soldier presumes to take his mus- ket from his shoulder, attempts to fire or begin the battle till ordered by his proper officers, he shall be immediately put to death by the officer next to him ; for the cowardice and misconduct of one man is not to put the whole in danger and disorder with impunity. After the troops begin to advance to the works, the strictest silence must be observed and the greatest at- tention paid to the command of the officers ; as soon as the lines are secured, the officers of the artillery, with their commands, will take possession of the cannon, to the end that the shipping may be secured and the Fort at Ver- plank's Point annoyed, so as to facilitate the attack upon that quarter. The general has the fullest confidence in the bravery and fortitude of the corps he has the happiness to command. 496 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. The distinguished honor conferred on every officer and soldier who has been drafted into this corps, by his excellency general Washington, the credit of the states they respectively belong to, and their own reputation will be such power- ful motives for each man to distinguish him- self, that the general cannot have the least doubt of a glorious victory : And further, he solemnly engages to reward the first man who enters the works with $500 and immediate preference, to the second 400, to the third 3CX3, to the fourth 200 to the fifth 100, and will report the conduct of every officer and soldier who distinguishes himself on this occasion, in the most favorable point of view, to his excellency, who always takes the greatest pleasure in rewarding merit. But should there be any soldier so lost to every feeling, every sense of honor, as to attempt to retreat one single foot, or shrink from the places of danger, the officer next to him is to put him immediately to death, that he may no longer disgrace the name of a soldier, the corps or the state to which he belongs. As the general is determined to share the dan- gers of the night, so he wishes to participate the glory of the day, in common with his brother soldiers. (Signed) A. Wayne. GRATITUDE OF GENERAL GATES. From the genuine letter of an officer. An old soldier of the royal regiment of artil- lery, who served me while the i8th regiment was at Fort Pitt and the Illinois, on our return from that country to Philadelphia, 1772, came to me with a happy smile on his countenance, and told me he had the honor to receive a let- ter from major Gates, and begged me to read it. I asked him how he came to correspond with major Gates. Please your honor, said the old man, major Gates was dangerously wounded at Braddock's defeat, and was left among the slain. I was wounded also, but made a shift to carrj' the worthy captain Gates (he was then a captain) off the field. He has often told me since that he owed his life to me, and charged me at parting, that whenever I thought he could in any instance serve me, to write to him without reserve ; so please your honor, (this is a soldier's dialect to all officers) I am now grown old, and worn out in the service, and expect to be invalided and sent home, but have been long in America, and I like America, please your honor ; I accordingly took the lib- erty to write to major Gates for his advice, and this is his answer. He has also wrote to major Hay, to give me every indulgence the service will admit of. I hope your honor will give me your opinion what is best to be done. I read the letter; but had not read far, before I was sensi- bly touched with the sentiments of the writer. After re-capitulating the ser\-ice the veteran had rendered him at Braddock's field, he says, "do as you please, respecting your small pit- tance of pension. Thou hast served long, but thy sen'ice has not brought thee rest for thy wounds and infirmities. I find by your letter that you wish to continue in America, there- fore make yourself easy ; when you receive your discharge, repair to my plantation on Potomac river. I have got a fine tract of land there, which not only furnishes me with all the necessaries, but all the comforts of life ; come and rest your firelock in my chimney corner and partake with me ; while I have, my saviour Penfold shall not want ; and it is my wish, as well as Mrs. Gates's to see you spend the even- ing of your life comfortably. Mrs. Gates de- sires to be affectionately remembered to you." CAPTAIN CHEESEMAN, His death at Quebec. In storming the works of Quebec by general Montgomer}', the gallant captain Cheeseman, of New York, aid to Montgomery, being as active as he was brave, the moment he reached the picket, placed his hand on one of the pali- sadoes, exclaiming to his comrades, " If there be any honor in being the first man in Quebec, I have it." He sprung over and fell by a shot within the picket. GALLANTRY Of the Rev. Mr. Payson, of Chelsea, Massachusetts. The Re't'. Mr. Payson, of Chelsea, near Boston, a gentleman of the mildest manners, soundest learning, and most amiable character, who has ever been so warm on the side of government, that parson Treadwell, and others, on the side of the people, have repeatedly re- fused to let him preach in their pulpits : being at Lexington, and with his own eyes seeing that the king's troops had fired first, and com- mitted murder — and, being himself a witness of other of their barbarities, could not endure MISCELLANEOUS. 497 the sight without taking vengeance ; he there- fore put himself at the head of a party, and with his musket, led them on to the attack — engaged, and killed, or wounded, and took prisoners, the whole party mentioned in one of the accounts, as going up with provisions and ammunition for the main body. What will government say to this desertion of one among many of their warmest friends ? — It seems as if the cause was such that no honest man could appear in it. COLONEL GARDNER. His death at Bunker Hill. When Colonel Gardner of Brookline was brought off from Bunker's Hill, where he was mortally wounded, he was asked if he did not wish to see his son, who had been also in the battle. ' If my son has done his duty, I shall be glad to see him.' He was answered that his son had done his duty. He saw and em- braced him. Bosi. Patriot. BRAVERY At the battle of Germantown. Among numberless feats of valor performed by individuals of the American revolutionary army, none has pleased me more than the fol- lowing, related by an eye witness : — " During the heat of the battle at Germantown, while bullets flew as thick as hail-stones, one Barke- lew (of Monmouth) was levelling his musket at the enemy, when his lock was carried away by a ball. — Undismayed, he caught up the gun of a comrade just killed by his side, and taking aim, a bullet entered the muzzle, and twisted the barrel round like a corkscrew ! Still un- daunted, our hero immediately kneeled down, unscrewed the whole lock from the twisted barrel, screwed it on to the barrel from which the lock had been torn, and blazed away at the enemy." Can ancient Sparta or modern Brit- ain boast a more brilliant display of cool, deliberate, unshaken courage .' This hero is still living. BENEDICT ARNOLD'S Letter to genl. Washington, Palliat- ing HIS treason. *' On board the Vulture, 5>/^. 25, 1780, " Sir — The heart which is conscious of its own rectitude cannot attempt to palliate a step 32 which the world may censure as wrong ; I have ever acted from a principle of love to my coun- try, since the commencement of the present unhappy contest between Great Britain and the colonies ; the same principle of love to my country actuates my present conduct, however it may appear inconsistent to the world, who very seldom judge right of any man's actions. " I have no favor to ask for myself. I have too often experienced the ingratitude of my country to attempt it ; but from the known humanity of your excellency, I am induced to ask your protection for Mrs. Arnold, from every insult and injury that the mistaken vengeance of my countr)' may expose her to. It ought to fall only on me ; she is as good and as innocent as an angel, and is incapable of doing wrong. I beg she may be permitted to return to her friends in Philadelphia, or to come to me as she may choose ; from your excellency I have no fears on her account, but she may suffer from the mistaken fury of the countr>-. " I have to request that the enclosed letter may be delivered to Mrs. Arnold, and she per- mitted to write to me. " I have also to ask that my clothes and bag- gage, which are of little consequence, may be sent to me ; if required, their value shall be paid in money. " / have the honor to be, with great regard and esteem, your excellency' s most obedient htim- ble servant, B. ARNOLD. "His excellency , general Washington." " N. B. In justice to the gentlemen of my family, col. Varrick and major Franks, I think myself in honor bound to declare, that they, as well as Joshua Smith, esq., (who I know are suspected) are totally ignorant of any transac- tions of mine, that they had reason to believe were injurious to the public." ANN SEWARD, Reflecting on the character of Wash- ington. Ann Seward, in her monody on the death ot Major Andre, thus speaks of the character of Washington : Oh Washington ! I thought thee great and good, Nor knew thy Nero thirst for guiltless blood : Severe to use the power that fortune gave, Thou cool determined murderer of the brave. Remorseless Washington ! the day shall come Of deep repentance for this barbarous doom ; When injured Andre's mem'ry shall inspire, A kindling army with resistless fire. 498 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Each falchion sharpen that the Britons wield, And lead their fiercest lion to the field ; Then, when each hope of thine shall end in night, When dubious dread, and unavailing flight Impel your haste, thy guilt up-braided soul Shall wish, untouch'd, the precious life you stole ; And when thy heart, appall'd and vanquish'd pride. Shall vainly ask the mercy you denied ; With horror shalt thou meet the fate thou gave, Nor pity gild the darlsness of thy grave. Thus does poetic petulance dispense its in- vectives. We will now ask who accelerated the death of Andre ? Who made the extension of mercy toward him an act of mistaken mercy and of criminal indulgence.' Unquestionably sir Henry Clinton.' Unquestionably the man who was propagating these false alarms of treason in the American camp. He rendered this severe measure for common security per- fectly indispensable, as the commander in chief could not, at that time, know but what those who shared his confidence were the most deeply implicated in Arnold's machinations. Was he to reprieve the victim, and thus .sanction to his surrounding officers the treason of Arnold, by his own signature, or to mitigate the severity of his fate, and teach them by this example to hope for mercy if detected ? It is not meant to criminate sir Henry Clinton. Such artifices are justifiable in war. That he did, however, by the promulgation of such reports, render the death of Andre inevitable, it is conceived im- possible to doubt. The solicitude of Washing- ton to save the life of this unfortunate man was such, that he hazarded one of the bravest of his own soldiers in the camp of the enemy, for that purpose : and nothing but a concurrence of unpropitious circumstances, that could not have been foreseen by mortal eye, or guarded against, if they could have been, prevented its accomplishment. It is a singular fact, that while the British commander was hastening the death of Andre, Washington was exerting him- self to ward off that calamity. ORIGIN OF "YANKEE DOODLE." Interesting History. It is known as a matter of history, that in the early part of 1755, great exertions were made by the British ministry, at the head of which was the illustrious earl of Chatham, for the reduction of the French power in the pro- vinces of the Canadas. To carry the object into effect, general Amherst, referred to in the letters of Junius, was appointed to the com- mand of the British army in North Western America ; and the British colonies in America were called upon for assistance, who contrib- uted with alacrity their several quotas of men, to effect the grand object of British enterprise. It is a fact still within the recollection of some of our oldest inhabitants, that the British army lay encamped, in the summer of 1755, °" the eastern bank of the Hudson, a little south of the city of Albany, on the ground now belong- ing to John I. Van Rensselaer, esq. To this day vestiges of their encampment remain ; and after a lapse of sixty years, when a great pro- portion of the actors of those days have passed away, like shadows from the earth, the inquisi- tive traveller can obsen'e the remains of the ashes, the places where they boiled their camp kettles. It was this army, that, under the com- mand of Abercrombie, was foiled, with a severe loss, in the attack on Ticonderoga, where the distinguished Howe fell at the head of his troops, in an hour that history has con- secrated to his fame. In the early part of June, the eastern troops began to pour in, com- pany after company, and such a motley assem- blage of men never before thronged together on such an occasion, unless an example may be found in the ragged regiment of sir John Falstaff, of right merry and facetious memory. It would, said my worthy ancestor, who relates to me the story, have relaxed the gravity of an anchorite, to have seen the descendants of the Puritans, marching through the streets of our ancient city, to take their station on the left of the British army — some with long coats, some with short coats, and others with no coats at all, in colors as varied as the rainbow, some with their hair cropped like the army of Crom- well, and others with wigs whose curls flowed with grace around their shoulders. Their march, their accoutrements, and the whole arrangement of the troops, furnished matter of amusement to the w^its of the British army. The music played the airs of two centuries ago, and the tout ensemble, upon the whole, exhib- ited a sight to the wondering strangers that they had been unaccustomed to in their own land. Among the club of wits that belonged to the British army, there was a physician attached to the staff, by the name of Doctor Shackburg, who combined with the science of the surgeon, the skill and talents of a musician. To please brother Jonathan he composed a tune, and with much gravity recommended it to the officers, as one of the most celebrated airs of martial music. The joke took, to the no small amusement of the British corps. Brother Jonathan exclaimed it was tuition fine, and in a few days nothing was heard in the provincial camp but the air of Yankee Doodle. MISCELLANEOUS. 499 Little did the author or his coadjutors then suppose, that an air made for the purpose of levity and ridicule, should ever be marked for such high destinies ; in twenty years from that time our national march inspired the hearts of the heroes of Bunker Hill, and less than thirty, lord Cornwallis and his army marched into the American lines to the tune of Yankee Doodle. — Albany Statesmatt. TARRING AND FEATHERING, ORIGINALLY A YANKEE TRICK. FROM THE AMERICAN MERCURY. This appears from the speech of M'Fingal, the tory Sagamore, to the Yankee mob. " Was there a Yankee trick ye knew. They did not play as well as you ? Did they not lay their heads together. And gain^<7ar art to tar and feather ? " TARRING AND FEATHERING LAWFUL ! This appears by the authority of the sen- tence which was pronounced on M'Fingal — (M'Fingal, by John Trumbull, esq. page 60 — 1). This sentence, be it remembered, though seemingly the order and decree of a committee, in fact, had its origin in the brain of a man who was a judge of the supreme court, of the state of Connecticut. Whether appointed judge from this specimen of \\\% judicial knowl- edge, or not, is not now in question — but let us hear the sentence pronounced on M'Fingal, king of the tories. " Meanwhile beside the pole, the guard A bench of justice had prepared. Where, sitting round in awful sort, The grand committee hold the court : While all the crew in silent awe. Wait from their lips the lore o{ law. Few moments with deliberation, They hold the solemn consultation. When soon in judgment all agree. And clerk declares the dread decree : ** That squire M'Fingal, having grown The vilest tory in the town. And now on full examination. Convicted by his own confession, Finding no token of repentance. This court proceed to render sentence : That first the mob a slip-knot single. Tie round the neck of said M'Fingal ; And in due form do tar him next. And feather, as the law directs : Then thro' the town attendant ride him, In cart with constable beside him. And having held him up to shame. Bring to the pole from whence he came." Vision and prediction of MFingal, king of the tories, when in his coat of tar and feathers. " Tar yet in embryo in pine Shall run on tories' backs to shine : Trees rooted fair in the groves of fallows. Are growing for our future gallows : And geese unhatched, when pluck'd in fray. Shall rue the feath'ring of that day." M'Fingal by J. Trumbull, esq. page 60. LORD EFFINGHAM To THE British Secretary of War, re- signing HIS COMMISSION IN PREFERENCE TO TAKING ARMS AGAINST THE AMERI- CAN COLONIES. April 12, 1775. To Lord Barrington, Secretary at war. My lord : — I beg the favor of your lord- ship to lay before his majesty the peculiar em- barrassment of my present situation. Your lordship is no stranger to the conduct which I have observed in the unhappy disputes with our American colonies. The king is too just and too generous not to believe, that the votes I have given in parliament have been given according to the dictates of my conscience. Whether I have erred or not, the course of future events must determine. In the mean time, if I were capable of such duplicity, as to be any way concerned in enforc- ing those measures of which I have so publicly and solemnly expressed my disapprobation, I should ill deserve what I am most ambitious of obtaining, the esteem and favorable opinion of my sovereign. My request therefore to your lordship is this, that after having laid those circumstances before the king, you will assure his majesty, that he has not a subject who is more ready than I am with the utmost cheerfulness to sac- rifice his life and fortune in support of the safety, honor, and dignity of his majesty's crown and person. But the very same princi- ples which have inspired me with these unal- terable sentiments of duty and affection to his majesty, will not suffer me to be instrumental in depriving any part of his people of those liberties which form the best security for their fidelity and obedience to his government. As I cannot, without reproach from my own con- science, consent to bear arms against my fellow subjects in America, in what, to my weak dis- cernment, is not a clear cause ; and as it seems now to be finally resolved, that the 22d regi- ment is to go upon American ser\'ice, 1 desire your lordship to lay me in the most dutiful manner at his majesty's feet, and humbly beg that I may be permitted to retire. Your lordship will also be so obliging to entreat, that as I ■wave what the custom of the 500 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. semce would entitle me to the right of selling what I bought, I may be allowed to retain my rank in the army, that whenever the envy or ambition of foreign powers should require it, I may be enabled to ser\'e his majesty and my country in that way, in which alone I can ex- pect to serve them with any degree of effect. Your lordship will easily conceive the regret and mortification I feel at being necessitated to quit the military profession, which has been that of my ancestors for many generations, to which I have been bred almost from my infancy, to which I have devoted the study of my life ; and to perfect myself in which, I have sought instruction and service in whatever part of the world they were to be found. I have delayed this to the last moment, lest any wrong construction should be given to a conduct which is influenced only by the purest motives. I complain of nothing ; I love my profession, and should think it highly blame- able to quit any course of life, in which I might be useful to the public, so long as my consti- tutional principles, and my notions and honor, permitted me to continue in it. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your lordship's most obedient, and most hum- ble servant, Effingham. Adelphi Buildings, April 12, 1775. The Guild of Merchants of Dublin, Ireland, tendering their thanks to Lord Effingham, for his patriotism. July 17, 1775. At Guildhall, DubHn, 17th of July, 1775, being quarter-day of the guild of merchants of the said city, the following resolutions were agreed to : " Resolved, unanimously. That the sincere thanks of this Guild be presented to the right honorable the earl of Effingham, in testimony of our approbation of his public conduct, particu- larly exemplified in his refusing to draw that sword wlftch had been employed to the honor of his country, against the lives and liberties of his fellow subjects in America : and honestly and spiritedly resigning a commission which he could no longer hold consistent with the princi- ples of a true Englishman, or of a real friend to the interest of Britain." " Resolved, That the sincere thanks of this Guild be presented to the right honorable John Wilk.es, lord mayor of the city of Lon- don, for the essential services which he has rendered his king and country, by his strenuous efforts in the cause of freedom ; and for his able, spirited, and judicious defence of the right of the people to petition the throne." There was to the last resolution a single negative given by a Sco/c/iiKan, who has an employment in our stamp office. " Resolved unanimously. That an address of thanks from the Guild be presented to the several peers, who (in support of our constitu- tion, and in opposition to a weak and wicked administration) protested against the Ameri- can restraining bills." And the follovkJing gentlemen were appointed, with the masters and wardens, a committee to prepare the same: James Napper Tandy, -Samuel Gamble, Henry Hawison, Samuel Stephens, Sir Ew'd Newenham, Hugh Crothers, John Pere, Who prepared the following : " We, the masters, wardens, and brethren of the guild of merchants in the city of Dublin, in common hall assembled, with the most unfeigned respect, beg leave to offer to your lordship the just tribute of our thanks for your noble and spirited, though hitherto ineffectual exertions in the cause of liberty and of your countr)'. fully evinced in your opposition to the oppressive and unconstitutional proceedings of a corrupt administration. " With equal grief and indignation, we have for years beheld repeated innovations on the free constitution of these realms, and daily invasions of the dearest rights and immunities of the subject. We have seen with astonish- ment popery established by law in one. and encouraged in every part of the empire, in the reign of a Protestant prince ; and despotism and arbitrary power promoted by every insidious machination and open violence, by the servants of the crown, in the reign of a monarch who, from the throne declared he gloried in being a Briton horn ; and whose family was called to the throne of these kingdoms to protect the Protestant religion, and preserve that constitu- tion inviolate for which our ancestors so freely bled, and for the invading of which, a tyrant was expelled the throne. "But while we contemplate with horror the universal ruin and devastation in which the empire is nearly involved by the wicked devices of evil men. we with pleasure survey the steady, incorruptible, and patriotic virtues which adorn you and shield us : while we boast of such a noble band of patriots, while we see united in the cause of freedom such a numberof the true hereditary guardians of liberty, and of the princi- ples of the glorious revolution, we cannot, we MISCELLANEOUS. Sor will not despair of seeing once more the valua- ble constitution of these countries restored to its primitive purity. " Permit us therefore to offer your lordship our warmest, our most grateful acknowledg- ments as Protestants, for your steady opposi- tion to the establishment of popery and slavery' in Canada ; as freemen, for your manly and spirited opposition to the several restraining bills ; and your noble efforts in the support of American liberty, and in the cause of our suf- fering and much oppressed brethren and fel- low subjects there : and we have the fullest re- liance on your steady perseverance in the same principles which have so strongly endeared you, not only to us, but to every real friend of the British empire and its constituents." In testimony, whereof, we have caused the seal of our corporation to be hereunto affixed, this 17th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1775- (Seal). RESOLUTION OF THANKS Tendered by the sheriffs and commons TO LORD Effingham, July 21, 1775. Resolved, That the thanks of the sheriffs and commons be presented to lord Effingham, for having chosen gloriously to resign his commis- sion, rather than imbrue his hands in the blood of his innocent and oppressed fellow subjects." Which being enclosed to his lordship by the proper officer, the following answer was re- ceived : Lord Effingham's answer, August 14, I77S- " Sir: — I have been favored with your letter of the 2 1 St of July last enclosing the copy of a resolution of the sheriffs and commons of the city of Dublin. "Next to the testimony of a man's own con- science is, in my opinion, his greatest happi- ness to have the approbation of the wise and honest among his fellow subjects. " The former of these can, I think, be no other way enjoyed, than by a strict adherence to those principles, which, at the revolution, established our civil and religious liberties ; and it is easy, sir, for you to conceive, but beyond my abilities to express what I felt, at my conduct's being judged, by so independent and respectable an assembly as the sheriffs and commons of the city of Dublin, deserving of the latter. " I am, with truth and respect, sir. your most obedient humble servant, Effingham. The Holmes, Aug. 14, 1775. LETTER From a gentleman in America to a member of the british parliament. Philadelphia, Dec. 34, 1774. The following letter from a gentleman in America, to a member of the British parlia- ment may be depended upon as authentic : " The proclamation forbidding the exporta- tion of gunpowder and fire arms to America, seems intended to take away from the colo- nies the power of defending themselves by force. I think it my duty to inform you, that the said proclamation will be rendered ineffec- tual by a manufactory of gunpowder, which has lately been set on foot in this province, the materials of which may be procured in great perfection among ourselves, and at an easier rate than they can be imported from Great Britain. There are moreover gun-smiths enough in this province, to make one hundred thousand stand of arms in one year, at 28^-. sterling a-piece, if they should be wanted. It may not be amiss to make this intelligence as public as possible, that our rulers may see the impossibility of enforcing the late acts of par- liament by arms. Such is the wonderful mar- tial spirit which is enkindled among us, that we begin to think the whole force of Britain could not subdue us. We trust no less to the natural advantages of our country than to our numbers, and military preparations, in the con- fidence and security of which we boast. The four New England colonies, together with Virginia and Maryland, are completely armed and disciplined. The province of Pennsylvania will follow their example in a few weeks. Our militia will amount to not less than 60,000 men. Nothing but a total repeal of the acts of parlia- ment of which we complain, can prevent a civil war in America. Our opposition has now risen to desperation. It would be as easy to allay a storm in the ocean, by a single word, as to subdue the free spirit of Americans, without a total redress of their grievances. May a spirit of wisdom descend at last upon our ministry, and rescue the British empire from destruction ! We tremble at the thoughts of a separation from Great Britain. All our glory 502 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. and happiness have been derived from you. But we are in danger of being shipwrecl'ing ; and how George answered and said nothing. Chap. XV. How John, by means of his new servants, became beloved of his children, and respected by his neighbors ; how he obliged Louis Baboon to beat down the wall of Ecclesdown castle, because it overlooked his pond, and harbored sea-gulls to gobble up his fish ; how he made him also pay up his note of hand, and how lord Strutt — But, Mr. Printer, I have given you enough to MISCELLANEOUS. 509 judge of the general plan of this history. Pray let me have your opinion as to the publi- cation. My notion at present is, to send it abroad in six-penny numbers, and engage the country carriers to take it down ; it may pass for political an hundred miles from town. CASE OF ASGILL, An officer in the English guards, con- demned TO DEATH BY THE AMERICANS in reprisal for the execution by the British, of Capt. Huddy. The following narrative and letters we have copied from the correspondence of baron Grimm. The baron was led to notice it from its being made the ground-work of a French tragedy called Abdir, by Saimigny. represented at Paris in January, 1789. — Bost. Dai. Adv. You can well remember the general interest which sir Asgill inspired, a young officer in the English guards, who was made prisoner and condemned to death by the Americans in reprisal for the death of captain Huddy, who was hanged by order of capt. Lippincott. The public prints all over Europe resounded with the unhappy catastrophe, which for eight months impended over the life of this young officer. The extreme grief of his mother, the sort of delirium which clouded the mind of his sister, at hearing the dreadful fate which men- aced the life of her brother, interested every feeling mind in the fate of that unfortunate family. The general curiosity in regard to the events of the war, yielded, if I may say so, to the interest which young Asgill inspired, and the first question asked of all vessels that ar- rived from any port in North America, was always an enquiry into the fate of that young man. It is known that Asgill was thrice con- ducted to the foot of the gibbet, and that thrice general Washington, who could not bring himself to commit this crime of policy without a great struggle, suspended his punishment : his humanity and justice made him hope that the English general would deliver over to him the author of the crime which Asgill was con- demned to e.xpiate. Clinton, either ill advised, or insensible to the fate of the young Asgill, persisted in refusing to deliver up the barba- rous Lippmcott. In vain the king of England, at whose feet this unfortunate family fell down, had given orders to surrender up to the Amer- icans the author of a crime which dishonored the English nation ; George III. was not obeyed. In vain the states of Holland en- treated the United States of America the par- don of the unhappy Asgill. The gibbet, erected in front of his prison, did not cease to offer to his eyes those dreadful preparatives more awful than death itself. In these cir- cumstances, and almost reduced to despair, the mother of the unfortunate victim bethought herself that the minister of a king armed against her own nation might succeed in ob- taining that which was refused to her king. Madame Asgill wrote to the count de Ver- gennes a letter, the eloquence of which, inde- pendent of oratorical forms, is that of all people and all languages, because it derives its power from the first and noblest sentiment of our nature. The two memorials which are subjoined merit being preserved as historical monuments. Letter from lady Asgill to the compte DE Vergennes. " Sir — If the politeness of the French court will permit a stranger to address it, it cannot be doubted but that she who unites in herself, all the more delicate sensations with which an individual can be penetrated, will be received favorably by a nobleman, who reflects honor not only on his nation, but on human nature. The object on which I implore your assistance is too heart-rending to be dwelt upon ; most probably the public report of it has already reached you ; this relieves me from the burden of so mournful a duty. My son, my only son, dear to me as he is brave, amiable as he is be- loved, only nineteen years of age, a prisoner of war, in consequence of the capitulation of York Town, is at present confined in America as an object of reprisal. Shall the innocent suffer the fate of the guilty } Figure to yourself, sir, the situation of a family in these circumstances. Surrounded, as I am, with objects of distress, bowed down by fear and grief, words are want- ing to express what I feel, and to paint such a scene of misery ; my husband, given over by his physicians some hours before the arrival of this news, not in a situation to be informed of it ; my daughter, attacked by a fever accompa- nied by delirium, speaking of her brother in tones of distress, and without an interval of reason unless it be to listen to some circum- stance which may console her heart. Let your sensibility, sir, paint to you my profound, my inexpressible misery, and plead in my favor ; a word from you, like a voice from heaven, would liberate us from desolation, from the last degree of misfortune. I know how far 510 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. general Washington reveres your character. Tell him only that you wish my son restored to liberty, and he will restore him to his despond- ing family ; he will restore him to happiness. The virtue and courage of my son will justify this act of clemency. His honor, sir, led him to America ; he was born to abundance, to in- dependence, and to the happiest prospects. Permit me once more to intreat the interfer- ence of your high influence in favor of inno- cence, and in the cause of justice and hu- manity. Despatch, sir, a letter from France to general Washington, and favor me with a copy of it that it may be transmitted from hence. I feel the whole weight of the liberty taken in presenting this request. But I feel confident, whether granted or not, that you will pity the distress by which it is suggested ; your hu- manity will drop a tear upon my fault and blot it out forever. " May that heaven which I implore, grant that you may never need the consolation which you have it in your power to bestow on " Theresa Asgill." It was to this letter that young Asgill owed his life and liberty. His mother was informed almost at the same instant, that the minister of the king of France had written to general Washington to procure the pardon of her son, and that his request had been granted. If any thing can convey an idea of the mournful sen- timents to which this parent was a prey during eight months, it is that sentiment which her gratitude inspires in the letter addressed to the count de Vergennes, on hearing she owed the restoration of her son to his interference ; the greatest talents never produced any thing more noble or equally affecting. Second letter of lady Asgill to THE COMPTE de VERGENNES. " Exhausted by long suffering, overpowered by the excess of unexpected happiness, con- fined to my bed by weakness and languor, bent to the earth by what I have undergone, my sensibility alone could supply me with strength sufticient to address you. " Condescend, sir, to accept this feeble effort of my gratitude. It has been laid at the feet of the Almighty ; and believe me, it has been presented with the same sincerity to you. sir, and to your illustrious sovereign ; by their august and salutary intervention, as by your own, a son is restored to me, to whom my life was attached. I have the sweet assurance, that my vows for my protectors are heard by heaven, to whom they are ardently offered. Yes, sir, they will produce their effect before the dreadful and last tribunal, where I indulge the hope that we shall both appear together; you to receive the recompense of your virtues ; myself, that of my sufferings. I will raise my voice before that imposing tribunal. I will call for those regis- ters, in which your humanity will be found recorded. I will pray that blessings may be showered on your head, upon him who, avail- ing himself of the noblest privilege received from God, a privilege no other than divine, has changed misery into happiness, has withdrawn the sword from the innocent head, and restored the worthiest of sons to the most tender and unfortunate of mothers. " Condescend, sir, to accept the just tribute of gratitude due to your virtuous sentiments. Preserve this tribute, and may it go down to your posterity as a testimony of your sublime and exemplary beneficence to a stranger, whose nation was at war with our own, but whose tender affections had not been destroyed by war. May this tribute bear testimony to my gratitude long after the hand that expresses it, with the heart, which at this moment vi- brates with the vivacity of grateful sentiments, shall be reduced to dust ; it shall bear out to offer you all the respect and all the gratitude with which it is penetrated. "Theresa Asgill." CONFESSION Of Captain William Cunningham, for- merly British provost marshal, New York City. The following is copied from the American Apollo. No. 7, Friday, February 17, 1792, vol. I. printed at Boston, by Belknap and Young, State street, (a weekly paper in form of a pamphlet.) " The life, confession, and last dying words of captain William Cunningham, formerly Brit- ish provost marshal, in the city of New York, who was executed in London, the loth of August, 1791. " I, William Cunningham, was born in Dub- lin barracks, in the year 1738. My father was trumpeter to the Blue dragoons, and at the age of 8 years I was placed with an officer as his servant, in which position I continued until I was 16, and being a great proficient in horsemanship, was taken as an assistant to the riding master of the troop, and in the year 1761, was made sergeant of dragoons ; but the peace coming the year following, I was disbanded. MISCELLANEOUS. 511 Being bred to no profession, I took up with a woman who kept a gin shop in a blind alley, near the Coal Quay ; but the house being searched for stolen goods, and my doxy taken to Newgate, I thought it most prudent to de- camp ; accordingly set off for the North, and arrived at Drogheda, where, in a few months after, I married the daughter of an exciseman, by whom I had three sons. " About the year 1772, we removed to New- ry, where I commenced the profession of a scowbanker, which is that of enticing the me- chanics and country people to ship themselves for America, on promises of great advantage, and then artfully getting an indenture upon them ; in consequence of which, on their arrival in America, they are sold or obliged to serve a term of years for their passage. I embarked at Newry in the ship Needham for New York, and arrived at that port the fourth day of Au- gust, 1774, with some indented servants I kidnapped in Ireland, but were liberated in New York, on account of the bad usage they received from me during the passage. In that city I used the profession of breaking horses, and teaching ladies and gentlemen to ride, but rendering myself obnoxious to the citizens in their infant struggles for freedom, I was obliged to fly on board the Asia man of war, and from thence to Boston, where my own opposition to the measures pursued by the Americans in support of their right was the first thing that recommended me to the notice of gen. Gage ; and when the war commenced, I was appointed provost marshal to the royal army, which placed me in a situation to wreak my vengeance on the Americans. I shudder to think of the mur- ders I have been accessory to, both li'ith and without orders from goa.iermncnt, especially while in New York, during which time there were more than two thousand prisoners starved in the different churches by stopping the ra- tions, which I sold. " There were also two hundred and seventy- five American prisoners and obnoxious persons executed, out of all which number there were only about one dozen public executions, which chiefly consisted of British and Hessian de- serters. The mode for private executions was thus conducted ; — A guard was dispatched from the provost, about half after 12 at night, to the Barrack street, and the neighborhood of the upper barracks, to order the people to shut their window shutters and put out their lights, forbidding them at the same time to presume to look out of their windows and doors, on pain of death ; after which, the unfortunate prisoners were conducted, gagged, just behind the upper barracks, and hung without cere- mony, and there buried by the black pioneer of the provost. " At the end of the war I returned to Eng- land with the army, and settled in Wales, as being a cheaper place of living than in any of the populous cities, but being at length per- suaded to go to London, I entered so warmly into the dissipations of that capital, that I soon found my circumstances much embarrassed. To relieve which, I mortgaged my half pay to an army agent, but that being soon expended, I forged a draft for three hundred pounds ster- ling on the board of ordnance, but being de- tected in presenting it for acceptance, I was apprehended, tried and convicted, and for that offence am here to suffer an ignominious death. " 1 beg the prayers of all good Christians, and also pardon and forgiveness of God for the many horrid murders I have been accessory to. " William Cunningham." ADVANCE OF INSURANCE In London, November, 1776. insurance. London, Nov. 1776. — The great number of captures raised the insurance on vessels home- ward bound, from the West Indies, to twenty- three per cent. The losses upon the West India trade, amount, at this time, to sixty-six per cent, viz : Insurance, /. 23 Fall in price of rum and sugars, owing ) to the North American demand be- > 1 1 ing cut off. ) One fourth of ships taken, 25 Delays to market, 7 /.•66 WASHINGTON In search of a pen-knife. In Caldwell's life of Greene, p. 65, there is a fac simile of the following curious epistle : October yth, 1 779. " Dear sir, I have lost — and cannot tell how — an old and favorite pen-knife, and am much distressed for want of one — if you have any in your stores, please send me one — if you have not, be so good as to get one immedia.tely. Perhaps Mr. Bailey could furnish me. One with two blades I should prefer, when choice can be had. I am, dear sir, " Your most obedient, " Geo. Washington." 512 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. WEIGHT OF GREAT CHARACTERS. AUGUST 19, 1783. Wm'ght at the SCALES at West Point. General Washington, General Lincoln, General Knox, General Huntington, General Greaton, Colonel Swift, Colonel Michael Jackson, Colonel Henry Jackson, Lieutenant Colonel Huntington, Lieutenant Colonel Cobb, Lieutenant Colonel Humphreys, The above memorandum was found in the pocketbook of a deceased officer of the Massa- chusetts line. 209 lbs. 224 280 132 166 219 238 232 186 22 1 TICONDEROGA. The following is not a revolutionary docu- ment, but an article that may well be preserved in this collection ; and, being specially re- quested, we insert it with pleasure. From the Hartford Times. — The following statement or return, exhibiting a minute and accurate account of the loss in killed and wounded sustained by the British and Ameri- can forces under the command of general Aber- crombie, in the memorable disaster or defeat at Ticonderoga, July, 1758, was, as it purports, made out soon after the battle, by Judah Wood- ruff, who was a captain of the provincial forces, and belonging to Farmingfton, in this county. The original document has been preser\'ed in the family, as a precious memorial of their an- cestor, for sixty years, and was handed to us by his son. It is undoubtedly the most authen- tic and correct statement of that unfortunate affair, which exposed our frontiers to the mur- derous and cruel outrages of a savage foe, and filled the whole colonies with consternation and dismay, which at this day is to be found ; and in every point of view is worthy of preser- vation. We recommend its insertion to the editor of the Baltimore Weekly Register, as that work is probably the most permanent and valuable place in which it can be deposited. We have printed it verbatim, and preserved the same orthography, to exhibit an idea of the provincial dialect of that day. The British regiments are distinguished numerically, and by their commanders. The 1st and 4th battalions called " royal Ameri- cans," were troops enlisted in the colonies by British officers. The " Prouinshals," or pro- vincials, consisted of the militia of the colonies which were detached, or volunteered for the ser\'ice. It will be seen that, with the excep- tion of lord Murray's regiment, which was nearly cut to pieces, the loss of the provincials was as great as that of any one regiment. They must therefore have been actively en- gaged. A return of the killed, wounded, arid missing of his Majesty's forces at Carelong or Ticon- deroga, July Zth, 1758. C 3 H D u). -; "< c o- S: : 3>»-»q, . . . ^'2 . ?■ 3 : : : B n. : : D- ■-.wnwi- rr a a. 50 2 n z - : -: : : 1 Killed. Brigadier Generals. Wounded. » : --: Killed. Colonels. U I H • • KUled. Majors. OJ Wounded. tn .: Killed. Captains. £ I O^M wo* U M4>.4>.4>. Wounded. i I ^ M M H H H • ^ * Killed. Lieut'ts. OJ ; :::..„;. = „ 1 Wounded. u. • 10 M H • Killed. Ensigns. ^O . M : 1 c J M H J h M Wounded. Killed. - . M - • Wounded. Killed. Quarter Masters. M '■ : i»i « : : M Wounded. vS • ui . • «iy. (ji ,n M t/1 01 « Killed. Rank and File. ■^ Wodnded. i •M..-t*JM'0*OJ I Missing. \v S V G T ou jm Joe eo le numb ndcd, i: total 18 jdruflT, A rge. er kilk 69.— T 23- T LUgUSt d, 5 he hisd ye 15 men. lumber m rawn out bj 15: 1758 rhe number ssing 39— ,' me, Judah — Att lake MISCELLANEOUS. 513 INDEPENDENCE OF THE YANKEES. About the time of the burning the British government schooner Caspce, at Newport, a few years previous to the revolution, admiral Montague, who then commanded the ships of war at Boston, took several of his officers and proceeded to Newport, to make personal in- quiry into the affair. On his return to Boston, not far from Dedham, a charcoal cart obstructed the passage of the coach, when the coachman, feeling much consequence from his exalted station, in driving a British admiral, and know- ing that his master was to dine that day with Mr. B., called, in an insolent manner, to the collier to turn out and make way for admiral Montague ! — who, (not at all intimidated by the splendid equipage, imposing manner, and rich livery of the knight of the whip,) replied that he was in the king's highway, and that he should not ' turn out ' for any one but the king himself, and thanked fortune that he had the law to support him. The admiral, finding an altercation had taken place, on discovering the cause, told his coachman to get down and give the fellow a thrashing, but the coachman did not seem disposed to obey his commander. One of the officers in the coach, a large athletic man, alighted, reproached the coachman with being a coward, and was proceeding to take vengeance of the coal driver, who, perceiving so potent an adversary advancing, drew from his cart a stake, to use as a weapon of defence, and placing himself between his oxen, in an attitude of defence, he exclaimed — " Well, I vow, if I must, darn me I but I'll tarnish your laced jacket if you don't keep of." — By this time the admiral and the other officers had left the coach, and finding that no laurels were to be obtained in such a contest, he made a concilia- tory proposition, and condescended to ask that as di favor, which he had ordered his coachman to obtain by force. — " Ah ! now," said the collier, "you behave like a gentleman, as you appear, and if you had been as civil at first, I vow I would have driven over the stone wall to oblige you. But I won't be drove ; / vow /■won't." — The coal driver made way, and the admiral passed on. When he arrived at Mr. B.'s he related the occurrence with much good humor, and ap- peared much gratified with the spirit and in- dependence of the man. Mr. B. assured the admiral, that ■' the collier had exhibited a true character of the American people, and that the story he had then related was an epitome of the dispute between Great Britain and her colonies. Let the king ask of us our aid, and we will grant more than he will demand ; but we will not be ' drove,' we will not be taxed by the parliament." Had the government of Great Britain been as conciliatory to Americans, as the honest good hearted Montague was to the collier, we should probably now be subjects of George IVth ! — " The ways of heaven are dark and intricate." — We should still be servile depend- ents. We should not have a beautiful star- spangled banner, peeping into every port in the world, in pursuit of enterprise and wealth. — We should not now have merchants whose capital in trade is equal to that of a province, and making magnificent presents in support of literature and science that would do honor to princes. Let Americans be thankful for these mercies, and a thousand others, and study to appreciate them. GENERAL PUTNAM, In the Colonial War with the French. During the late war, when general Amherst was marching across the country to Canada, the army coming to one of the lakes, which they were obliged to pass, found the French had an armed vessel of twelve guns upon it. He was in great distress : his boats were no match for her ; and she alone was capable of sinking his whole army in that situation. While he was pondering what should be done, Putnam comes to him, and says, "general, that ship must be taken." Aye, says Amherst, I would give the world she was taken. " I'll take her," says Putnam. — Amherst smiled, and asked how ? " Give me some wedges, a beetle, (a large wooden hammer, or maul, used for driving wedges) and a few men of my own choice." Amherst could not conceive how an armed vessel was to be taken by four or five men, a beetle, and wedges. However, he granted Putnam's request. When night came, Putnam, with his materials and men, went in a boat under the vessel's stern, and in an in- stant drove in the wedges behind the rudder, in a litrie cavity between the rudder and ship, and left her. In the morning, the sails were seen fluttering about ; she was adrift in the middle of the lake ; and being presently blown ashore, was easily taken. 514 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. KOSCIUSCO. The following is not a revolutionary paper, but it relates to a noble volunteer in the cause of liberty in the new world, and a fearless advo- cate for the freedom of his native land in the old ; and a preservation of the eulogium upon him is due to his services. It was delivered at Warsaw on the 14th Nov. 1817, by M. Von Neiincewiuz, who was his bosom friend. The translation here used was made for the " Republican Citizen," published at Fred- erick town, Maryland. This mournful solemnity, these funeral rites ; these blazing tapers, this assembly of dejected knights and people, the doleful voice of the venerable divine, all, all conspire to impress upon us, a strong perception of our great, our irreparable loss. What can I add to the acute- ness of your feelings, or how dilate upon the ardent expressions of the reverend ministers of religion ? Alas it does not appertain to these grey hairs, to this enfeebled voice, to a mind blunted with years, and weakened by infirmities, to eulogize the man, who was coura- geous and generous in war, and amiable in peace. But such was your desire ; unmindful of the restraints and difficulties under which I labor, I will endeavor to comply, and, although myself overwhelmed with grief, will become the interpreter of this universal mourning. Great and destructive have been the losses sustained by our country in the lapse of a few years ; but we have felt none with such keen anguish, as that which we now bewail in the decease of our beloved Kosciusco. To men- tion the name of Kosciusco, the pattern of vir- tuous citizenship ; to depict his love of countiy, which continued to blaze out whilst there was a breath of life remaining ; his fearless intre- pidity in battle ; his manly fortitude in adver- sity ; his patient endurance of suffering ; his Roman uprightness of deportment ; his delicate modesty, — that inseparable accompaniment of real worth — is to awaken a thousand pleasing, but alas ! also numberless painful emotions in the breast of every native of Poland. Ere history shall record our misfortunes, and exhibit, in their true light, the merits of this truly great man, be it permitted to us, his contemporaries, to notice, in condensed brevity, his noble actions, and the principal incidents of his life. Thaddeus Kosciusco, descended from an ancient family in the palatinate of Brescia, in Lithuania proper, received the rudiments of his education in the military academy founded by Stanislaus Augustus. The commandant of that academy, prince Adam Czatorski, soon remarked the uncommon military genius of the youth, together with his predilection for the science of war, and in consequence, sent him into France to complete his studies. To the latest moments of his life, Kosciusco grate- fully remembered the obligations which he owed to the bounty of his benefactor. The abject, impotent and submissive situation of Poland, at that period, engendered dejection and despair in his youthful breast. He left his country and repaired to a foreign land, there to fight the battles of independence, when he found that her standard would not be raised in the land of his birth. As the companion of the immortal Washington, he fought bravely from the Hudson to the Potomac, from the shores of the Atlantic to the lakes of Canada. He patiently endured incredible fatigue ; he acquired renown, and, what was infinitely more valuable in his estimation, he acquired the love and gratitude of a disenthraled nation. The flag of the United States waved in triumph over the American forts, and the great work of lib- eration was finished ere Kosciusco returned to his native country. Just at that period Poland awoke ; but alas ! awoke too late from her deplorable lethargy. She had proclaimed the memorable constitu- tion of the third of May, and determined to acknowledge no laws but her own. Hence the inimical attack, hence the desolating wars which ensued. Say, ye few remaining wit- nesses — say, ye fields of Zielenice and Dubinki, did not Kosciusco, did not the Poles contend with a valor worthy the sons of Poland? It was not that our feeble force was overpowered : No — it was by the stratagems and wiles of our enemies that our arms were wrested from our hands, and the burning desire for the combat smothered ; aye, smothered ! for in a short time the dismemberment of our territory, and the contemptuous, the scornful treatment which we received, exasperated the feelings of our people. The e.xcess of their misfortunes and sufferings roused them to an effort of noble and almost frenzied desperation. His enraged countr)-men grasped the sword and placed it in the hands of Kosciusco ! The fraternal bonds which unite us to another nation, the protection of one common sove- reign, and the gratitude due to Alexander, for- bid that I should enlarge upon the occurrences of the memorable war which followed. The army of Kosciusco was not composed of war- riors, arrayed in 'the pride of military pomp.' No ! he led troops of irritated peasantry to the field of glory, peasantry, armed with the imple- MISCELLANEOUS. 515 merits of husbandry, against experienced and veteran soldiers ! How many battles, sieges, dreadful nocturnal sallies and skirmishes did they sustain? The earth was ensanguined with the blood of the commandants ere it furnished them with graves. The result of all these sacrifices, sufferings and exertions, were inhuman fetters. The cap- tivity continued two years, and would have lasted yet longer ; nor wouldst thou, Kosciusco, have ended thy days in Solothurn's free walls — nor would you, ye weeping sons of Poland, have again enjoyed the sweet smiles of liberty, but would have dragged out the miserable remnant of your lives in dark and mouldering dungeons, had it not been for the magnanimous interfer- ence of Paul I. The first act of his reign was to burst the fetters of i^venty thoicsa7id Poles. Thanks to the venerable shade ! The name of Paid cannot be mentioned by a native of Poland, without feelings of genuine gratitude ! When Kosciusco was liberated, he did not turn his steps to that depressed and mourning country', which had already become as a strange land to him. No ; he turned his eyes to that distant shore, where in his youth, he had min- gled in the combat for liberty and independ- ence ; to that land which he knew would re- ceive him as one of her own children. Although covered with scars and crippled, he did not permit the fatigues and dangers of the voyage to dishearten him. He embarked for America; and, during this voyage, the ocean had nearlv become the grave of our hero. A vessel, belonging to a fleet of merchantmen, returning from Jamaica, was separated from her com- pany in a dark night, and whilst sailing with the greatest rapidity, struck the American ship. Masts, rigging and sails were instantly entan- gled. Two large vessels lay beating forcibly against each other. Great was the tumult, noise and disorder upon deck — death stared us in the face. Kosciusco viewed the scene, at this dismaying and terrifying moment, with his usual serenity and composure ; but his last hour had not yet arrived. Providence had ordained that he should survive to see that day on which the generous Alexander proclaimed the resto- ration of the kingdom of Poland. We escaped this imminent danger with the loss of the main- mast, and torn sails, but the voyage was, in con- sequence of the disaster, protracted to seventy days. At length we espied the happy shores of the land of freedom. Pennsylvania, the country of Penn and FRANKLIN, received Kosciusco into her bosom. After suffering such accumulated miseries, this was the first happy and joyful moment. The members of congress, then in session — his old compatriots in arms — his friends and acquaintances, and the citizens generally, hailed his arrival with unaffected pleasure. The people surrounded the carriage of him who had been one of their favorite chiefs, who had suffered so much in their cause, accompanied him to his lodgings. Not only in America, but in every European city through which he passed after his libera- tion, in Stockholm, in London, and in Bristol, all those who cherished in their hearts a love of liberty, and a regard for her defenders, thronged about him and gave him the most lively demon- strations of their esteem. Oh ! it was grateful to the heart of a Polander to perceive, in the honor and respect with which his chief was received, esteem and commiseration for the fate of an unjustly destroyed nation. Was it the delusion of hope or the wish to have the advantage of The best medical advice, that induced Kosciusco to visit the shores of Europe once more .' If it was hope, soon, alas! did he perceive its fallaciousness and vanity, and the inutility of human exertions. He rejected the bustle and applause of the world, and, if I may so express myself, enclosed him- self in the mantle of his own virtues and re- tired to the rural solitude of a farm. Here agriculture was his employment, his solace, and his delight.— He left his peaceful retire- ment, for the first time, to thank the illustrious Alexander for the restoration of the Polish name. His aversion to public employment, which had increased with age, his love of sol- itude and quiet, led him into Switzerland. There in the city of Solothurn, it pleased the .\lmighty to call his virtuous soul, from the scene of his sufferings and trials, to the abode of the blessed. He died as it became a christian and a soldier, with a firm reliance on his God, with complacency and manly fortitude. Poor as his prototypes, Phocion and Cincinnatus, he forbade all pomp and show at his funeral ; and that man, who in the field of battle had commanded thousands of armed warriors, was carried to the last repository of frail mortality, upon the shoulders of six^oor oId_raen. Peace to thy ashes, thou virtuous man ! receive the last and parting laments of thy sorrowing countrymen ; receive the parting address of him, in whose arms thou hast so often reposed thine aching head. If thy native countr)' do not receive thy mortal remains into her lap. while thy liberated spirit dwells in the Scmie abode with THE LAST ROMAN,* then may thy memorv' be immortal amongst us. May thy * VXxSmusKom&nQrMm^Marcus yitnius Brutus has been so called. 5i6 PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF THE REVOLUTION. statue be placed in the sanctuarj' of the Lord, in order to perpetuate the lineaments of thy face, the benevolence of thy heart, and the f urity of thy soul. May thy cenotaph be like thy life, plain and unostentatious, with no inscription but thy name ; that will be all suffi- cient ! Whenever a native or stranger shall with tearful eyes behold it, he will be compelled to exclaim, " That was the man who did not permit his countrymen to die ingloriously, and whose virtues, magnanimity, intrepidity and f atriotism, immortalized himself and his be- loved country. RECOLLECTIONS OF GORDON'S History of the American Revolution. I believe it is Voltaire who says, that the publishing of history does not depend on its truth. The only question the publishers ask, is — " Will it sell," which brings to my recol- lection some circumstances relative to Gordon's history of the American Revolution. In the year 1784, I became acquainted with an English gentleman, whose prejudices against our country were as violent as they had been previous to his emigration in favor of it. One day when he was inveighing most bitterly against our conduct and institutions, he men- tioned, with great asperity, the tarring and feathering of John Malcom, (a British custom house officer), before the revolution, whose only crime he said, was chastising an impudent boy. I told him. that if Mr. Malcom had not have drawn his sword on the boy, no notice would have been taken of his conduct. I did not however attempt to justify the deed, as it was condemned by good men of bat/i parties ; yet I insisted, that the character of the town or country ought not to be implicated, as it was done in the night by a very fern disorderly persons in disguise, who, if they had been dis- covered, would have been amenable to, and punished by the laws. I then related to him the conduct of colonel Nesbit, of the 47th Brit- ish regiment, w'ho caused an innocent country- man to be tarred and feathered, and carted publicly through the streets at noon day, with a guard of grenadiers, and the band of the regiment playing " Yankee doodle," and ///>«- self at the head of the party, in defiance of those laW'S he was sent to protect and enforce. My English friend seemed to think I was mis- taken in \\\t person of col. Nesbit, and thought iit impossible that a colonel of one of his ma- jesty's regiments could be guilty of such an outrageous act. A few days after this conver- sation, we met at Dr. Gordon's (the author of the history of the American Revolution), who then lived at Ro.xbury. I introduced the sub- ject again, when Dr. Gordon spoke of Nesbit's conduct in the strongest terms of reprobation, and, on being asked whether he had noticed the event in his history, he produced the manu- script, and read to me a detail of that transac- tion, which, with the observations and reflec- tions connected with it, would make three or four pages of his work. In 1790 I embarked for England, where I was introduced to a relation of Dr. Gordon, of whom I inquired how the doctor had succeeded in his history ? He smiled and said, " It was not Dr. Gordon's history ! " On my requesting an explanation, he told me, that on the Doctor's arrival in England, he placed his manuscript in the hands of an intelligent friend, on whom he could depend, who, (after perusing it with care) declared that it was not suited to the meridian of England, consequently would never sell. The style was not agreeable — it was too favor- able to the Americans — above all, it was full of libels against some of the most respectable characters in the British army and navy — and that if he possessed a fortune equal to the duke of Bedford's, he would not be able to pay the damages that might be recovered against him, as the truth would not be allowed to be pro- duced in evidence. The doctor had returned to his native country, and expected to enjoy " otium cum dignitate." Overwhelmed with mortification, and almost with despair, he asked the advice of his friend, who recommended him to place the manuscript in the hands of a professional gentleman, that it might be new modelled, and made agreeable to English readers ; this was assented to by the doctor, and the history which bears his name was com- piled and written from his manuscript, by an- other hand. If any of our historical or antiquarian socie- ties could obtain Gordon's original manuscript, it would be an invaluable document. On hearing the foregoing narration, I had the curiosity to look into Gordon's history to learn what the " professional gentleman " had said of col. Nesbit and his exploits, when, to my surprise, I found he had devoted only a few lines to that subject, vol. I, page 307, American edition. The whole of this statement evinces that all histories published in England, in which that country is concerned, cannot con- tain the whole truth. [Another writer agrees generally in the fact. MISCELLANEOUS. 517 as to certain alterations in Gordon's history — but states that the author, indignant at the purgation, went to worlc and re-wrote his his- tory ; the latter is thought to have been much less perfect than the original copy. The writer last alluded to, says — ] " If Dr. Gordon was co}npelled to leave out of his book some atrocious truths from dread of the pains and penalties of the British laws and customs, he on the other s\At, voluntarily, left out some matters to the discredit of Amer- ica, which things he read to me from his man- uscript at his residence in Roxbury. I refer here particularly to the subject of negro slavery. He was also persuaded to soften his harsh picture of the illustrious Exempt." ^/. . IND EX. A. Adams, John loi, loa, 104, 105, 106, 107, 487 Adams, Mrs. John 105, 106 Adams, Samuel 94. 9S1 122 Address to people of New Hampshire 13. 14 " Provincial Congress. New York 173 ** Mechanics, New York 174 ** Legislature, New York iSa *' Assembly, New York 182 '* citizens to Washington 1S7 ** citizens to Gov. Clinton i83 '* of inhabitants of New Jersey 191 ** of County Commissioners of Penn 204 ** M. L'Abbe Bandoll 232 " by Dr. Benjamin Rush 234 " to people of Maryland 36S, 269 *' to the British Empire 316 "■ to inhabitants U. S., by Congress 405-408 Aggressions of Great Britain, resistance to, in S. C... 321 Alexander, Mathew 315 Ally, Hyder, ship 488, 489 Americans, Native, address to the King 503 American Loyalists, address to the King 503-507 Amherst, General 513 Appeal to be released from military service 241 Appropriation of money by people of New Jersey.... 191 Arrest of citizens in Philadelphia 235 Arrest of a member of Legislature of Delaware 243 Arms of the U. S 409, 410 Arnold, Benedict 144, 232* 497 Articles, staple, reduction in value in Conn 142 Asgil, Sir a 509, 510 Asgil , Theresa 509, 510 Assembly of N. C, address to Governor 312, 313 Astley, Sir Edward 417 Austin, Jonathan W 5i» 56 Avery, Ebenezer 143 B. Bancker, Evert 1S6 Bandoll, M. L'Abbe 233 Baptists, of Va., Patriotic address of 285, 286 Barlow, Joel, oration of. 145 Barney, Commodore Joshua 488 Bartlett, Josiah 13 Battle of Lexington 113, 117 Benson, Robert 177 Bentley, Rev. Dr , 482 Boston, massacre of citiiens 15-17 *' Orations i7-79» 490 " Destruction of tea 96 " Proscribed of m " Old South Church 113 *' OfiFensive treatment of citizens 117 '* Evacuation of. 128 *' Possession of, by Washington 129 '* Speeches of inhabitants of, to representatives in Congress..... 133 Boston, address of Independent Sons of. 133 Boston Port Bill, action thereon in Maryland 258, 259 Botetourt County, Va., address of Freeholders 286 Boudinot, Elias 195 Boyer, John 286 Breckinridge, Judge 229 British troops, outrages committed by, in Virginia 290 British forces, estimate of. 493 British Parliament 410-460 Bullock, Gov. Archibald 103, 391-393 Bull's. John, children, history of. 508, 509 Burgoyne, Gen 118, 122, 178, 179, 197 Burke, Edmund, speech of 429, 453 Burning of Benedict Arnold in effigy 332 Cambden, Ship, Lord 257 Campbell, Lord Wm., S. C, address of. 320 Caswell, Richard 314 Champe, John 307-310 Chase, Mr 103 Charge of Judge Jay to Grand Jur>', N. Y 180-182 Charges, Judge Drayton, Grand Juries, S. C 327-374 Chatham, Earl, speeches of 410, 411, 455-460 Cheesman, Capt 496 Christie, James, memorial of. 362-364 Church, Dr. Benjamin, oration of 34-37 Church, Old South, Boston 112 Churches of New York 190 Clark, Abraham 195 Clarke, Gen. George Rogers 307 Clinton, Gov. George 188 Colcock, John 327 Committee of New York to Lord Mayor of London.. 171 Commons, House of 414 Congress, Provincial, Mass 99 " " "■ address of 109,117,118 Congress, Stamp Act, New York Journal of 155-169 '* Continental 395-410 " Eloquent speech delivered in 395, 396 " Declaration of Independence discussed. .397-402 " Retaliation on Prisoners of War, Resolu- tions of. 402, 403 Connecticut 141-155 " Pensioners, Revolutionary 150 Continental Navy 483-489 '^ Congress 395-410 '* troops, estimate of 493 '* Army, expense of 494, 495 Convention of Va., proceedings of. 288, 290, 291 Cooper, Dr. Samuel 102 Cooper, Mr 475 Cornwallis, Lord 232 Cortland, Pierre Van 186 Court Martial, Providence, R. 1 140 Cranch, Richard 102 Cropper, Gen. John 5^0, 311 Cumberland Co., Va., Freeholders of. 276 520 INDEX. Cunningham, Wm.^ confession of. 510, 511 Curtis, Major 152 Cushing, Thomas 05 Cushiog, Mr 94 Cushman, Rev. Mr., address of. 151 Cutts, Samuel 13 D. DalnTnple, Col < 16 Dartmouth, Earl of, letter 364 Davenport, M at 284 Davie, Gen. Wm. R 315 Dawes, Thomas, Jr., oration of 67-72 Dayton, Stephen, Jr 391 Deane, Silas 476 Debate, exciting, in Congress 397-403 Debate in Legislature of Virginia 277-280 Declaration of resistance, Mass 127 ** " Deputies, Pa 223 '* *' Rights, Va 301 1 303 ** *' Independence, N. C 3^-316 ■ >* " Independence discussed in Congress 397-402 Delaware 239-255 Delegates, elected by General Court of Mass 98 Despatch, Sloop of War 482 Dickinson, John 253 Dickinson, Jonathan 239 Domestic manufactures recommended in Mass no ■*' " ** "Conn 141 '' '* ** " Penn 208 " *' " " Md 260 '* "•' Va 381, 282 Draj'ton, Wm. Henry, Chief Justice, S. C 327-374 Duckett, John 360, 261 Dunmore, Lord, proclamation of. 286-288 " " His letter to Gen. Howe 287 Dutch Church 190 Dwight, President, address of 153 Edes, Peter , 490 Effingham, Lord 499-501 Election sermon, Connecticut 145 Ellery, Wm. R. J 141 Elliott, Sir Gilbert 418 Ellis, Welbore 415 Elmer, Doctor 239 Elmer, Jonathan 195 Enthusiasm of people of Pennsylvania 211,212 Estaing, Count de 136 Eulogium delivered by Judge Breckenbridge 329 Expenses, Continental Army 494 Fanchett, Abbe 482 Farmer, John 114 Farmer, speech of 230 Fasting and Prayer, day of, Georgia 391 Female, Patriotic 116 First sea fight LN82ir83 Flag, Union , J,. . 293 Fleming, Wm >., . 276 Folsom, Nathaniel 13 Fox, C 418 Franklin, Benjamin 325, 474-483 Franklin, Gov. William 203 Franklin, Wm 475 Fredericksburg, Va., Patriotic action of Council of.. 283 Freeholders, Botetourt Co., Va., meeting of. 203 Frenchmen in America 136 Fuller, Mr 414 Gadsden, Christopher, Georgia 374 Gage, Gen. Thomas 99, 122, 142,462 Gannett. Wm 492,493 Gardner. Col ^^ Gates, Gen. Horatio ,24^ 405 General Assembly, S. C 3^5 Georgia 390-394 Germantown, Bravery at Battle of •.., 497 Gifts, citizens of Penn 236 Goodrich, Mr jg Gordon's History of the Revolution in America. ..516, 517 Graham, Gen. Joseph 315 Gr^nd Juries, S. C 327-353 Gray, Mr j^ Greene, General 228 Griswold, Fort, massacre of troops at 143 Groton, Connecticut A 143 Hackborn, Benjamin, oration of 46-51 Hale, Capt. Nathan 153 Hall. John igo Hallowell, Mr 15 Hamilton, Andrew 239 Hancock, John 396, 464 *' " excluded from pardon 122 " "■ oration of 38-43 Hand, Col. Elijah 199 Hanover County, Va 285, 286 Harris, James 315 Harris, Mr 417 Harrison, Col 388 Hartford, Conn 150 Harvard College 131 Harvey, Capt., speech of 437-429 Haslett, Col. John 348 Hawley, Major Joseph 107, 137 Henry, Patrick 238, 377, 285. 292,293 Hill, Henry 238 Hill, Mark L 487 Home manufactures recommended in Mass no " " Conn 141 ** ** " *' Maryland 360 " '* *' Va 281,282 Hooper, Wm 314 Hostilities commenced by king's troops, Va 285, 286 House of Representatives, Mass 87, 94, 98, 99, 139 Howard, Benjamin Jk 258 Howe, Gen. Wm 287, 353,354, 476 Howe, Viscount Richard 353, 354 Hughes, Jos 314 Humiliation, day of, ordered 396 Hunter, Mr. Darlington, S. C 389, 390 Hutchinson, Gov., of Mass 16, 79, 87, 96 I. Importation of British goods, opposition to 255 Indians, Mohawk 98 Independent Sons of America 133 Inhabitants, N. Y., meeting of. 170 Insurance, advance of 511 Jack, James 314 Jasper, Sergeant 393, 394 Jay, Judge, charge of 180-183 Jay, John 468 Jefferson, Thomas 282-284, 48' Jenkinson, C 416 Johnston, Capt, John 258 Johnston, Gov 411, 414, 416, 417 Jones, Commodore Paul 484 Jury, an honest loc INDEX. 521 N. Kent, Benjamin Kosciusko, Gen. Thaddeus.... Lacer.Gen • Ladd, Dr., oration of La Fayette, Gen Langdon, John Laurens, Henry Ledyard,CoL Wm.. Lee,Capt. Ezra Lee, Gen Lee, Richard H Lee,Thos. S Letter PAGE . , , . I02 .514-516 227-a2q 383-385 270 13 320 143 154 . .118-122, 14° ..280, 397.40° 272 III PAGE 48^-489 Naval engagements ....• ^gj Naval forces, Contmental -^ ^g^ >' " British ^89 Naval Power, Salem, Mass '.'.'.".!".'.!!".'.'.. ..482-489 Navy, Continental .'.'.'.'.".' i3. '4 New Hampshire ' ' 191-301 New Jersey 195 " Legislature •••■■ 155-190 New York , ij„* ..i<;s-i68 f. " stamp Act Congress held at..... ■■•••■■■55^^^ Nicola, Nicholas ■■■■■_ ^^ 107,300 Niles, Hezekiah ■■■■ 241 Nixon, Thomas, Jr '.'...'.'.'. 312-318 North Carolina ' 416 North, Lord e, inob. ^ ii» Iter to a friend in Lo°don^ •■ •••■••■ "^ „f .. of Committee of New ^"'^^°^°] ....,,,, ^^2 Manifesto, Patriotic • • • • • " ' ' • Manufactures, Home, recommended Mass London 113-117 Little, Mr 190, 200 Livingston, Dr ,j,^ 192, 197 Livingston, Gov. W m •• ,„ Livingston, P. V. B •■■ 239 I Lloyd, Judge ■■'■_■ 239 Logan, James ' 435 Lords, House of 286 Louis, Col. Andrew •• ,7^0 Lovell. James, address of '"'',', 359 Lux, Wm M. Maiden, Mass., resolutions of inhabitants 110 Conn '41 Penn ''°' " ,. Va .-• »Bi,382, 503 489 Marine battery "■■ 388, 389 Marion, Gen '" 255-27^ Maryland 15-14° Massachusetts .■■,■■'„' '. 73-94 .' House of Representatives ^^ " General Court of ...109,11° • • Provincial Congress.... f''!''L' ...11° .> Recommending domestic manufactures. .. . ^^^^ ^^^ " Address to inhabitants of. ••• _^g >' Resolutionof ''""' 125 » Proclamation General Couit ^^_^^ Massacre °f •='"""\°f '*°'c;°°;;old;'or'Groion,Conn. M3 Massacre of troops at Fort Griswoi , ^^^^^ ^ Preston, Capt Mason, George, of Va... ■■••••• 6,.6j Mason, Jonathan, Jr., oration of ■■• ^^^ Masonic Lodge, Phila ••■• ,,8 Mawhood, Col. Chas '^ 2^5 Mays, John 176 Oath, prescribed by Gen. Lee in R. I^ ,, ' ^ ,i '■ Lord Dunmore in Va the Committee of Virginia. Ordinance relating to t«^^°°--;;nons'va". !'.'.' Outrages committed by British troops, Va. . . . 140 . .ago, 291 292 324 290 239 ] 103 410-460 ■■""_. 3M, 325 York and Philadelphia. 173 236 voman Palmer, Anthony ... Palmer, J Pariiament, British . Parsons, James , I Pastoral letter. Synod of New of '3. mUc gifts of people of Pennsylvania^ 4°4,4°5 I Patriotic sentiments 01 an American w on! Patterson, Wm ... Paxton, Charles Payson, Rev. Mr ,gi Pendleton, Edmund •"■■■_■ 3S6, 387 Pendleton, Judge .....■•••• _' 453-455 Penn, Gov., examination ot •••■• ^,3 Penn, W illiam ' '^ 201-339 Pennsylvania . Pensioners, Re Persons scrupulou^ojbearmg^a^s^..^^^^^^^^.^^^^. 213 191 15 496, 497 ' . _ri ..infT arms McEwen M.... .223.409 McKean, Thomas ,,2 McMasters, Samuel '■' 174-176 Mechanics of New York. ... . •••••••• ' ' 3x3-316 Mecklenberg Co., Va., resolutions of • 3^^^^^ Memento to Amencans •■••• ^jj Merryman, John " 321 Middleton, Henry '"' ,53 Miller, Capt • • 240 Militia, act to establish •• ,,, Militia officers, resignation ot...... Minot, George Richard, """o" °f; J ' " " \\ ,6,.,68 Minister, Church of England, letter "f-" ;;;;;_. .^^5,, Miscellaneous Articles j,^ M'Knitt. J '""' 488 Monk, General, ship '57 Moore, Wm., Jr ^64 Morris, Col 324, 225 Morris, John, Jr 30-32 Morton, Perez, oration of Petition of Native ^„^ Philadelphia, proceedings relative '°^^- ■;—:..■ ■ '2 Pickering, John 455-4'° Pitt, Wm. , speech of '.'.'...'."." 324. 3=5 Powell. G. G ■■ 417, 4'8 Pownal, Gov • WV- ' 337-374 Presentments, Grand Jury, b. <-■■••• ■•• ^g ■]]'""." 337 Private beneficence ^^^^ ^03 Prisoners of war, retaliation o" ■ • ■ ' • ' ,.324 Proceedings General Assembly S.C.. _^^ Proclamation of thanksgiving. Mass ^^^ " General Court, Mass ,30177 " Gen. Washington '^' _'^^ ^r::^^:l^t^-Ma;;;aii;eui ;.:::;::::;:;;;;- Provincial Congress, N.C 320,331 „ " Georgia Putnam, Gen. Israel 39> 513 R. Ramsey, Dr. David, oration of. •;;;;;■■; Randolph, John Randolph, Peyton ^:rri'vS:Se=;:conn:... ^:^;!:^^ofoM.-Umes;B^;^^; 374-383 383 238 ^ 240 142 229 '.'. 13S 23B 522 INDEX.. PAGE Remonstrance of citizens of Phila. against arrest 225 Resignation of militia officers 177 Resolutions Provincial Congress, S. C 331, 333 Retaliation on prisoners of war 4o3> 403 ' ' Recommended to the people 403 Revolution, American, Gordon's History of. 516, 517 Revolution, enthusiasm of people in support of. 211 Rhode Island T40, 141 Ridgely, Capt. Charles 259 Robertson, Gen. James 177 Rochambeau, Count de 270-272 Rodney, Caesar 155, 245, 254 ** Caesar R 245, 354 " Thomas 245, 254 Royal proclamation. Gov. Josiah Martin, N. C....317, 318 Russell, Mr 16 Rush, Dr. Benjamin, address of. 234 Rutledge, John 331, 337 s. Salt, opposition to monopoly 334 Saville, Sir George 414 Scudder, Nathaniel 195 Seamen, list of British 483 Selkirk, Lady 484 Sermon on situation, American affairs 213 Seward, Ann 497, 498 Shipley, Rev. Dr. Jonathan 419 Small, Dr 383 Smith, John 357 Smith, Rev. Wm., D. D., sermon of 213 Soldier's daughter, recollections of a 490-493 Soldier, Female 493, 493 Soldiers, Revolutionary, of Conn 153 Sons of Liberty, Association of 169, 170 South Carolina 319-390 Speech of an honest farmer 320 Stamp Act Congress held in N. Y 155-168 Stamp Act Congress 245 Stamp Act, resistance to, S. C 319 Stay of Proceedings of civil suits, Va 380, 381 Stevens, John 197 Stiles, President, election sermon 145 Submarine battery 154 Sullivan. John 13 Sutton, Sir Richard - 418 T. Tarleton, Col., the Tor>' 388 Tarring and feathering 499 Tazwell, John 291 Tea, action in Delaware in relation to 339 Tea, destruction of, Boston Harbor 96-98 Tea, opposition to importation of, in Philadelphia .... 203 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Mass 134, 409 " " Congress ....408, 409 Thatcher, Peter, oration of 43-46 Thompson, Charles 208, 338, 403 Thompson, Ebenezer 13 Ticonderoga 512 Tilton, Dr. James 239-342 Timothy. Peter 321, 335 PAGS Toasts drank, gathering Revolutionary pensioners ... 15a Toppan, Christopher 13 Treason, defining it 324 Treasury, Public, N. J 191 Trumbull, John loi, 499 Trumbull, Jonathan, Gov 141, 143 Trj'on, Wm 143 Tudor, Mr 16 Tudor, Wm., oration of. 56-61 Tucker, Commodore Samuel 4S5, 486 Tucker, Samuel 191 Turtle, marine 489 Tustin, Dr 188 Tyrannicide, Brig of War 483 u. United States, Coat of Arms 409, 410 " " Flag 293 V. Vergennes, Compte de 510 Virginia 277-311 *' called to arms 292, 293 Voltaire 480, 516 w. Ward, Mr , 4?^ Warren. Dr. Joseph 20,, 24 30, 32, 33 Washington, Gen. George 129, 130, 131, 173, 174* '77. 187, 227, 250, 251, 392, 399, 461, 474, 497, 498, 511 Wayne, Gen. Anthony ...23S, 495, 496 Weare. Meseach 13 Weight of great characters 512 Welsh, Dr. Thos., oration of 75 Wentworth, Hon. John 13 Whipple, Wm 13 Wilkes, John, speech of 435-427 Williams, John 143 Williamsburg, Va.. delegates assembled at 273-375 " " Instructions to delegates 275, 276 " " Removal of arms 284 *' '* Patriotic demonstration of con- vention 293 Williamson, Hugh 315 Witherspoon. John 195 Wraxall, Sir N. W 296 Wright, Sir James, Governor of Georgia 313, 390, 391 Wyley , John 3S8 Wyley, Samuel 388 T. Yankee Doodle, origin of. 498, 499 Yankees, Independence of. 513 Yorktown, Va., Battle of 293-295 " " Surrender at 395 " " Anecdote relating to same 396 '* " Effect of intelligence of surrender in England 296-298 " '* Letter of Washington relating to same 299 Young, Sir George 416 ]\Sl -0 V^il^^