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diff --git a/old/twtp110.txt b/old/twtp110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3ee4b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twtp110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8049 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Writings of Thomas Paine Vol. I +by Thomas Paine +(#2 in our series by Thomas Paine) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Produced by Norman M. Wolcott + + + + + +[Redactor's Note: Reprinted from the "The Writings of Thomas Paine +Volume I" (1894 - 1896). The author's notes are preceded by a "*". ] + ----------------------------------------------------------------------- + + THE WRITINGS + + OF + + THOMAS PAINE + + COLLECTED AND EDITED BY + + MONCURE DANIEL CONWAY + + VOLUME I. + + 1774 - 1779 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + XIX. + + THE AMERICAN CRISIS + + + Table of Contents + + Editor's Preface + + The Crisis No. I + + The Crisis No. II - To Lord Howe + + The Crisis No. III + + The Crisis No. IV + + The Crisis No. V - To General Sir William Howe + - To The Inhabitants Of America + + The Crisis No. VI - To The Earl Of Carlisle, General Clinton, And + William Eden, ESQ., British Commissioners At New York + + The Crisis No. VII - To The People Of England + + The Crisis No. VIII - Addressed To The People Of England + + The Crisis No. IX - The Crisis Extraordinary - On the Subject + of Taxation + + The Crisis No. X - On The King Of England's Speech + - To The People Of America + + The Crisis No. XI - On The Present State Of News + - A Supernumerary Crisis (To Sir Guy Carleton.) + + The Crisis No. XII - To The Earl Of Shelburne + + The Crisis No. XIII - On The Peace, And The Probable Advantages + Thereof + + A Supernumerary Crisis - (To The People Of America) + +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + THE AMERICAN CRISIS. + + EDITOR'S PREFACE. + +THOMAS PAINE, in his Will, speaks of this work as The American +Crisis, remembering perhaps that a number of political pamphlets had +appeared in London, 1775-1776, under general title of " The Crisis." +By the blunder of an early English publisher of Paine's writings, one +essay in the London " Crisis " was attributed to Paine, and the error +has continued to cause confusion. This publisher was D. I. Eaton, who +printed as the first number of Paine's " Crisis " an essay taken from +the London publication. But his prefatory note says: " Since the +printing of this book, the publisher is informed that No. 1, or first +Crisis in this publication, is not one of the thirteen which Paine +wrote, but a letter previous to them." Unfortunately this correction +is sufficiently equivocal to leave on some minds the notion that +Paine did write the letter in question, albeit not as a number of his +" Crisis " ; especially as Eaton's editor unwarrantably appended the +signature " C. S.," suggesting " Common Sense." There are, however, +no such letters in the London essay, which is signed " Casca." It was +published August , 1775, in the form of a letter to General Gage, in +answer to his Proclamation concerning the affair at Lexington. It was +certainly not written by Paine. It apologizes for the Americans for +having, on April I9, at Lexington, made " an attack upon the King's +troops from behind walls and lurking holes." The writer asks : " Have +not the Americans been driven to this frenzy? Is it not common for an +enemy to take every advantage ? " Paine, who was in America when the +affair occurred at Lexington, would have promptly denounced Gage's +story as a falsehood, but the facts known to every one in America +were as yet not before the London writer. The English " Crisis " +bears evidence throughout of having been written in London. It +derived nothing from Paine, and he derived nothing from it, unless +its title, and this is too obvious for its origin to require +discussion. I have no doubt, however, that the title was suggested by +the English publication, because Paine has followed its scheme in +introducing a " Crisis Extraordinary." His work consists of thirteen +numbers, and, in addition to these, a " Crisis Extraordinary "and a " +Supernumerary Crisis." In some modern collections all of these have +been serially numbered, and a brief newspaper article added, making +sixteen numbers. But Paine, in his Will, speaks of the number as +thirteen, wishing perhaps, in his characteristic way, to adhere to +the number of the American Colonies, as he did in the thirteen ribs +of his iron bridge. His enumeration is therefore followed in the +present volume, and the numbers printed successively, although other +writings intervened. + +The first " Crisis " was printed in the Pennsylvania Journal, +December 19, 1776, and opens with the famous sentence, " These are +the times that try men's souls"; the last " Crisis "appeared April +19,1783, (eighth anniversary of the first gun of the war, at +Lexington,) and opens with the words, " The times that tried men's +souls are over." The great effect produced by Paine's successive +publications has been attested by Washington and Franklin, by every +leader of the American Revolution, by resolutions of Congress, and by +every contemporary historian of the events amid which they were +written. The first " Crisis " is of especial historical interest. It +was written during the retreat of Washington across the Delaware, and +by order of the Commander was read to groups of his dispirited and +suffering soldiers. Its opening sentence was adopted as the watchword +of the movement on Trenton, a few days after its publication, and is +believed to have inspired much of the courage which won that victory, +which, though not imposing in extent, was of great moral effect on +Washington's little army. + + + + THE CRISIS + + I. + +THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the +sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of +their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and +thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; +yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, +the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem +too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. +Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would +be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be +highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has +declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in +ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not +slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even +the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only +to God. + +Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or +delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own +simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would +have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, +neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the +fault, if it were one, was all our own*; we have none to blame but +ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been +doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which +the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, +and which time and a little resolution will soon recover. + +* The present winter is worth an age, if rightly employed; but, if +lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the evil; and +there is no punishment that man does not deserve, be he who, or what, +or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so +precious and useful. + +I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret +opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give +up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to +perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the +calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. +Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He +has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the +care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the +king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common +murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as +he. + +'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through +a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain +has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of +flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the +whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven +back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was +performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, +Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to +spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from +ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; +they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; +the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than +before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the +touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to +light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, +they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary +apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the +hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many +a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially +solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware. + +As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the +edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, +which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of. Our +situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow +neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force +was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring +against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had +we shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light +artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the +apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in +which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to +every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of +field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no +longer than the enemy directs his force against the particular object +which such forts are raised to defend. Such was our situation and +condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an +officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats had +landed about seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who +commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent +express to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by +the way of the ferry = six miles. Our first object was to secure the +bridge over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy +and us, about six miles from us, and three from them. General +Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched at +the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we +should have a brush for; however, they did not choose to dispute it +with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, +the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a +small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way +through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there +passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could +contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to bring off the +garrison, and march them on till they could be strengthened by the +Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. +We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some of +the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being +informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly +inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great +error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten +Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our +stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but +if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise +believe that their agents are under some providential control. + +I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to +the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers +and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently without +rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long +retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes +centred in one, which was, that the country would turn out and help +them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William +never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; +the same remark may be made on General Washington, for the character +fits him. There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be +unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of +fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, +which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him with +uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish +upon care. + +I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the +state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following +question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England +provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is +easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have +been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless +arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice +a world either to their folly or their baseness. The period is now +arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or +one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! what is he? I +should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand +Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a +coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation +of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, +never can be brave. + +But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between us, +let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation to +the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to join +him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is injured +by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his +standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use +to him, unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not +Tories, that he wants. + +I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, +against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, +who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty +a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, +and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, +finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my +day." Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a +separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous +parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my +day, that my child may have peace;" and this single reflection, well +applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon +earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all +the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with +them. A man can distinguish himself between temper and principle, and +I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America +will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, +without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the +continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of +liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire. + +America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper +application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and +it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an +excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and trusted +our cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning militia. A +summer's experience has now taught us better; yet with those troops, +while they were collected, we were able to set bounds to the progress +of the enemy, and, thank God! they are again assembling. I always +considered militia as the best troops in the world for a sudden +exertion, but they will not do for a long campaign. Howe, it is +probable, will make an attempt on this city [Philadelphia]; should he +fail on this side the Delaware, he is ruined. If he succeeds, our +cause is not ruined. He stakes all on his side against a part on +ours; admitting he succeeds, the consequence will be, that armies +from both ends of the continent will march to assist their suffering +friends in the middle states; for he cannot go everywhere, it is +impossible. I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the Tories have; he +is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not been for him +and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should he now be +expelled, I wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names +of Whig and Tory may never more be mentioned; but should the Tories +give him encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as +sincerely wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the +continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the +relief of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful +battle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two +years' war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected +persons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is +revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people, +who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked their +own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue +against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the +language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can +reach the heart that is steeled with prejudice. + +Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend to +those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the +matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or +that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to +the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great +an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in +the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, +that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came +forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, +turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon +Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless +you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, +the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, +the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or +rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his +children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a +little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the +man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from +distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little +minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience +approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own +line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of +light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could +have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; +but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, +and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to +"bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to +suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king +or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be +done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to +the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just +cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in +the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from +it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore +of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a +sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive +likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the +last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, +and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of +America. + +There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is +one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil +which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the +enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, +to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even +mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the +cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and +we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is, +partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the +people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry +recommended the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call +making their peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! +A peace which would be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than +any we have yet thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon +these things! Were the back counties to give up their arms, they +would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed: this +perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home +counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to the +resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their power +to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one state to +give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of +Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. +Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and +woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully +inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues +or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of +imagination; I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain +as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes. + +I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know +our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army was +collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to him +that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity +to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, +that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near +an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, +the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None +can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were near three +weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in. +Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. +The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the +cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the +country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again +collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent +is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign +with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed. This is our +situation, and who will may know it. By perseverance and fortitude we +have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, +the sad choice of a variety of evils- a ravaged country- a +depopulated city- habitations without safety, and slavery without +hope- our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, +and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. +Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one +thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented. + +COMMON SENSE. + +December 23, 1776. + + The Crisis + + II. + + TO LORD HOWE. + + "What's in the name of lord, that I should fear + To bring my grievance to the public ear?" + CHURCHILL. + +UNIVERSAL empire is the prerogative of a writer. His concerns are +with all mankind, and though he cannot command their obedience, he +can assign them their duty. The Republic of Letters is more ancient +than monarchy, and of far higher character in the world than the +vassal court of Britain; he that rebels against reason is a real +rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a +better title to "Defender of the Faith," than George the Third. + +As a military man your lordship may hold out the sword of war, and +call it the "ultima ratio regum": the last reason of kings; we in +return can show you the sword of justice, and call it "the best +scourge of tyrants." The first of these two may threaten, or even +frighten for a while, and cast a sickly languor over an insulted +people, but reason will soon recover the debauch, and restore them +again to tranquil fortitude. Your lordship, I find, has now commenced +author, and published a proclamation; I have published a Crisis. As +they stand, they are the antipodes of each other; both cannot rise at +once, and one of them must descend; and so quick is the revolution of +things, that your lordship's performance, I see, has already fallen +many degrees from its first place, and is now just visible on the +edge of the political horizon. + +It is surprising to what a pitch of infatuation, blind folly and +obstinacy will carry mankind, and your lordship's drowsy proclamation +is a proof that it does not even quit them in their sleep. Perhaps +you thought America too was taking a nap, and therefore chose, like +Satan to Eve, to whisper the delusion softly, lest you should awaken +her. This continent, sir, is too extensive to sleep all at once, and +too watchful, even in its slumbers, not to startle at the unhallowed +foot of an invader. You may issue your proclamations, and welcome, +for we have learned to "reverence ourselves," and scorn the insulting +ruffian that employs you. America, for your deceased brother's sake, +would gladly have shown you respect and it is a new aggravation to +her feelings, that Howe should be forgetful, and raise his sword +against those, who at their own charge raised a monument to his +brother. But your master has commanded, and you have not enough of +nature left to refuse. Surely there must be something strangely +degenerating in the love of monarchy, that can so completely wear a +man down to an ingrate, and make him proud to lick the dust that +kings have trod upon. A few more years, should you survive them, will +bestow on you the title of "an old man": and in some hour of future +reflection you may probably find the fitness of Wolsey's despairing +penitence- "had I served my God as faithful as I have served my king, +he would not thus have forsaken me in my old age." + +The character you appear to us in, is truly ridiculous. Your friends, +the Tories, announced your coming, with high descriptions of your +unlimited powers; but your proclamation has given them the lie, by +showing you to be a commissioner without authority. Had your powers +been ever so great they were nothing to us, further than we pleased; +because we had the same right which other nations had, to do what we +thought was best. "The UNITED STATES of AMERICA," will sound as +pompously in the world or in history, as "the kingdom of Great +Britain"; the character of General Washington will fill a page with +as much lustre as that of Lord Howe: and the Congress have as much +right to command the king and Parliament in London to desist from +legislation, as they or you have to command the Congress. Only +suppose how laughable such an edict would appear from us, and then, +in that merry mood, do but turn the tables upon yourself, and you +will see how your proclamation is received here. Having thus placed +you in a proper position in which you may have a full view of your +folly, and learn to despise it, I hold up to you, for that purpose, +the following quotation from your own lunarian proclamation.- "And we +(Lord Howe and General Howe) do command (and in his majesty's name +forsooth) all such persons as are assembled together, under the name +of general or provincial congresses, committees, conventions or other +associations, by whatever name or names known and distinguished, to +desist and cease from all such treasonable actings and doings." + +You introduce your proclamation by referring to your declarations of +the 14th of July and 19th of September. In the last of these you sunk +yourself below the character of a private gentleman. That I may not +seem to accuse you unjustly, I shall state the circumstance: by a +verbal invitation of yours, communicated to Congress by General +Sullivan, then a prisoner on his parole, you signified your desire of +conferring with some members of that body as private gentlemen. It +was beneath the dignity of the American Congress to pay any regard to +a message that at best was but a genteel affront, and had too much of +the ministerial complexion of tampering with private persons; and +which might probably have been the case, had the gentlemen who were +deputed on the business possessed that kind of easy virtue which an +English courtier is so truly distinguished by. Your request, however, +was complied with, for honest men are naturally more tender of their +civil than their political fame. The interview ended as every +sensible man thought it would; for your lordship knows, as well as +the writer of the Crisis, that it is impossible for the King of +England to promise the repeal, or even the revisal of any acts of +parliament; wherefore, on your part, you had nothing to say, more +than to request, in the room of demanding, the entire surrender of +the continent; and then, if that was complied with, to promise that +the inhabitants should escape with their lives. This was the upshot +of the conference. You informed the conferees that you were two +months in soliciting these powers. We ask, what powers? for as +commissioner you have none. If you mean the power of pardoning, it is +an oblique proof that your master was determined to sacrifice all +before him; and that you were two months in dissuading him from his +purpose. Another evidence of his savage obstinacy! From your own +account of the matter we may justly draw these two conclusions: 1st, +That you serve a monster; and 2d, That never was a messenger sent on +a more foolish errand than yourself. This plain language may perhaps +sound uncouthly to an ear vitiated by courtly refinements, but words +were made for use, and the fault lies in deserving them, or the abuse +in applying them unfairly. + +Soon after your return to New York, you published a very illiberal +and unmanly handbill against the Congress; for it was certainly +stepping out of the line of common civility, first to screen your +national pride by soliciting an interview with them as private +gentlemen, and in the conclusion to endeavor to deceive the multitude +by making a handbill attack on the whole body of the Congress; you +got them together under one name, and abused them under another. But +the king you serve, and the cause you support, afford you so few +instances of acting the gentleman, that out of pity to your situation +the Congress pardoned the insult by taking no notice of it. + +You say in that handbill, "that they, the Congress, disavowed every +purpose for reconciliation not consonant with their extravagant and +inadmissible claim of independence." Why, God bless me! what have you +to do with our independence? We ask no leave of yours to set it up; +we ask no money of yours to support it; we can do better without your +fleets and armies than with them; you may soon have enough to do to +protect yourselves without being burdened with us. We are very +willing to be at peace with you, to buy of you and sell to you, and, +like young beginners in the world, to work for our living; therefore, +why do you put yourselves out of cash, when we know you cannot spare +it, and we do not desire you to run into debt? I am willing, sir, +that you should see your folly in every point of view I can place it +in, and for that reason descend sometimes to tell you in jest what I +wish you to see in earnest. But to be more serious with you, why do +you say, "their independence?" To set you right, sir, we tell you, +that the independency is ours, not theirs. The Congress were +authorized by every state on the continent to publish it to all the +world, and in so doing are not to be considered as the inventors, but +only as the heralds that proclaimed it, or the office from which the +sense of the people received a legal form; and it was as much as any +or all their heads were worth, to have treated with you on the +subject of submission under any name whatever. But we know the men in +whom we have trusted; can England say the same of her Parliament? + +I come now more particularly to your proclamation of the 30th of +November last. Had you gained an entire conquest over all the armies +of America, and then put forth a proclamation, offering (what you +call) mercy, your conduct would have had some specious show of +humanity; but to creep by surprise into a province, and there +endeavor to terrify and seduce the inhabitants from their just +allegiance to the rest by promises, which you neither meant nor were +able to fulfil, is both cruel and unmanly: cruel in its effects; +because, unless you can keep all the ground you have marched over, +how are you, in the words of your proclamation, to secure to your +proselytes "the enjoyment of their property?" What is to become +either of your new adopted subjects, or your old friends, the Tories, +in Burlington, Bordentown, Trenton, Mount Holly, and many other +places, where you proudly lorded it for a few days, and then fled +with the precipitation of a pursued thief? What, I say, is to become +of those wretches? What is to become of those who went over to you +from this city and State? What more can you say to them than "shift +for yourselves?" Or what more can they hope for than to wander like +vagabonds over the face of the earth? You may now tell them to take +their leave of America, and all that once was theirs. Recommend them, +for consolation, to your master's court; there perhaps they may make +a shift to live on the scraps of some dangling parasite, and choose +companions among thousands like themselves. A traitor is the foulest +fiend on earth. + +In a political sense we ought to thank you for thus bequeathing +estates to the continent; we shall soon, at this rate, be able to +carry on a war without expense, and grow rich by the ill policy of +Lord Howe, and the generous defection of the Tories. Had you set your +foot into this city, you would have bestowed estates upon us which we +never thought of, by bringing forth traitors we were unwilling to +suspect. But these men, you'll say, "are his majesty's most faithful +subjects;" let that honor, then, be all their fortune, and let his +majesty take them to himself. + +I am now thoroughly disgusted with them; they live in ungrateful +ease, and bend their whole minds to mischief. It seems as if God had +given them over to a spirit of infidelity, and that they are open to +conviction in no other line but that of punishment. It is time to +have done with tarring, feathering, carting, and taking securities +for their future good behavior; every sensible man must feel a +conscious shame at seeing a poor fellow hawked for a show about the +streets, when it is known he is only the tool of some principal +villain, biassed into his offence by the force of false reasoning, or +bribed thereto, through sad necessity. We dishonor ourselves by +attacking such trifling characters while greater ones are suffered to +escape; 'tis our duty to find them out, and their proper punishment +would be to exile them from the continent for ever. The circle of +them is not so great as some imagine; the influence of a few have +tainted many who are not naturally corrupt. A continual circulation +of lies among those who are not much in the way of hearing them +contradicted, will in time pass for truth; and the crime lies not in +the believer but the inventor. I am not for declaring war with every +man that appears not so warm as myself: difference of constitution, +temper, habit of speaking, and many other things, will go a great way +in fixing the outward character of a man, yet simple honesty may +remain at bottom. Some men have naturally a military turn, and can +brave hardships and the risk of life with a cheerful face; others +have not; no slavery appears to them so great as the fatigue of arms, +and no terror so powerful as that of personal danger. What can we +say? We cannot alter nature, neither ought we to punish the son +because the father begot him in a cowardly mood. However, I believe +most men have more courage than they know of, and that a little at +first is enough to begin with. I knew the time when I thought that +the whistling of a cannon ball would have frightened me almost to +death; but I have since tried it, and find that I can stand it with +as little discomposure, and, I believe, with a much easier conscience +than your lordship. The same dread would return to me again were I in +your situation, for my solemn belief of your cause is, that it is +hellish and damnable, and, under that conviction, every thinking +man's heart must fail him. + +From a concern that a good cause should be dishonored by the least +disunion among us, I said in my former paper, No. I. "That should the +enemy now be expelled, I wish, with all the sincerity of a Christian, +that the names of Whig and Tory might never more be mentioned;" but +there is a knot of men among us of such a venomous cast, that they +will not admit even one's good wishes to act in their favor. Instead +of rejoicing that heaven had, as it were, providentially preserved +this city from plunder and destruction, by delivering so great a part +of the enemy into our hands with so little effusion of blood, they +stubbornly affected to disbelieve it till within an hour, nay, half +an hour, of the prisoners arriving; and the Quakers put forth a +testimony, dated the 20th of December, signed "John Pemberton," +declaring their attachment to the British government.* These men are +continually harping on the great sin of our bearing arms, but the +king of Britain may lay waste the world in blood and famine, and +they, poor fallen souls, have nothing to say. + +* I have ever been careful of charging offences upon whole societies +of men, but as the paper referred to is put forth by an unknown set +of men, who claim to themselves the right of representing the whole: +and while the whole Society of Quakers admit its validity by a silent +acknowledgment, it is impossible that any distinction can be made by +the public: and the more so, because the New York paper of the 30th +of December, printed by permission of our enemies, says that "the +Quakers begin to speak openly of their attachment to the British +Constitution." We are certain that we have many friends among them, +and wish to know them. + +In some future paper I intend to distinguish between the different +kind of persons who have been denominated Tories; for this I am clear +in, that all are not so who have been called so, nor all men Whigs +who were once thought so; and as I mean not to conceal the name of +any true friend when there shall be occasion to mention him, neither +will I that of an enemy, who ought to be known, let his rank, station +or religion be what it may. Much pains have been taken by some to set +your lordship's private character in an amiable light, but as it has +chiefly been done by men who know nothing about you, and who are no +ways remarkable for their attachment to us, we have no just authority +for believing it. George the Third has imposed upon us by the same +arts, but time, at length, has done him justice, and the same fate +may probably attend your lordship. You avowed purpose here is to +kill, conquer, plunder, pardon, and enslave: and the ravages of your +army through the Jerseys have been marked with as much barbarism as +if you had openly professed yourself the prince of ruffians; not even +the appearance of humanity has been preserved either on the march or +the retreat of your troops; no general order that I could ever learn, +has ever been issued to prevent or even forbid your troops from +robbery, wherever they came, and the only instance of justice, if it +can be called such, which has distinguished you for impartiality, is, +that you treated and plundered all alike; what could not be carried +away has been destroyed, and mahogany furniture has been deliberately +laid on fire for fuel, rather than the men should be fatigued with +cutting wood.* There was a time when the Whigs confided much in your +supposed candor, and the Tories rested themselves in your favor; the +experiments have now been made, and failed; in every town, nay, every +cottage, in the Jerseys, where your arms have been, is a testimony +against you. How you may rest under this sacrifice of character I +know not; but this I know, that you sleep and rise with the daily +curses of thousands upon you; perhaps the misery which the Tories +have suffered by your proffered mercy may give them some claim to +their country's pity, and be in the end the best favor you could show +them. + +* As some people may doubt the truth of such wanton destruction, I +think it necessary to inform them that one of the people called +Quakers, who lives at Trenton, gave me this information at the house +of Mr. Michael Hutchinson, (one of the same profession,) who lives +near Trenton ferry on the Pennsylvania side, Mr. Hutchinson being +present. + +In a folio general-order book belonging to Col. Rhal's battalion, +taken at Trenton, and now in the possession of the council of safety +for this state, the following barbarous order is frequently repeated, +"His excellency the Commander-in-Chief orders, that all inhabitants +who shall be found with arms, not having an officer with them, shall +be immediately taken and hung up." How many you may thus have +privately sacrificed, we know not, and the account can only be +settled in another world. Your treatment of prisoners, in order to +distress them to enlist in your infernal service, is not to be +equalled by any instance in Europe. Yet this is the humane Lord Howe +and his brother, whom the Tories and their three-quarter kindred, the +Quakers, or some of them at least, have been holding up for patterns +of justice and mercy! + +A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men; and +whoever will be at the pains of examining strictly into things, will +find that one and the same spirit of oppression and impiety, more or +less, governs through your whole party in both countries: not many +days ago, I accidentally fell in company with a person of this city +noted for espousing your cause, and on my remarking to him, "that it +appeared clear to me, by the late providential turn of affairs, that +God Almighty was visibly on our side," he replied, "We care nothing +for that you may have Him, and welcome; if we have but enough of the +devil on our side, we shall do." However carelessly this might be +spoken, matters not, 'tis still the insensible principle that directs +all your conduct and will at last most assuredly deceive and ruin you. + +If ever a nation was made and foolish, blind to its own interest and +bent on its own destruction, it is Britain. There are such things as +national sins, and though the punishment of individuals may be +reserved to another world, national punishment can only be inflicted +in this world. Britain, as a nation, is, in my inmost belief, the +greatest and most ungrateful offender against God on the face of the +whole earth. Blessed with all the commerce she could wish for, and +furnished, by a vast extension of dominion, with the means of +civilizing both the eastern and western world, she has made no other +use of both than proudly to idolize her own "thunder," and rip up the +bowels of whole countries for what she could get. Like Alexander, she +has made war her sport, and inflicted misery for prodigality's sake. +The blood of India is not yet repaid, nor the wretchedness of Africa +yet requited. Of late she has enlarged her list of national cruelties +by her butcherly destruction of the Caribbs of St. Vincent's, and +returning an answer by the sword to the meek prayer for "Peace, +liberty and safety." These are serious things, and whatever a foolish +tyrant, a debauched court, a trafficking legislature, or a blinded +people may think, the national account with heaven must some day or +other be settled: all countries have sooner or later been called to +their reckoning; the proudest empires have sunk when the balance was +struck; and Britain, like an individual penitent, must undergo her +day of sorrow, and the sooner it happens to her the better. As I wish +it over, I wish it to come, but withal wish that it may be as light +as possible. + +Perhaps your lordship has no taste for serious things; by your +connections in England I should suppose not; therefore I shall drop +this part of the subject, and take it up in a line in which you will +better understand me. + +By what means, may I ask, do you expect to conquer America? If you +could not effect it in the summer, when our army was less than yours, +nor in the winter, when we had none, how are you to do it? In point +of generalship you have been outwitted, and in point of fortitude +outdone; your advantages turn out to your loss, and show us that it +is in our power to ruin you by gifts: like a game of drafts, we can +move out of one square to let you come in, in order that we may +afterwards take two or three for one; and as we can always keep a +double corner for ourselves, we can always prevent a total defeat. +You cannot be so insensible as not to see that we have two to one the +advantage of you, because we conquer by a drawn game, and you lose by +it. Burgoyne might have taught your lordship this knowledge; he has +been long a student in the doctrine of chances. + +I have no other idea of conquering countries than by subduing the +armies which defend them: have you done this, or can you do it? If +you have not, it would be civil in you to let your proclamations +alone for the present; otherwise, you will ruin more Tories by your +grace and favor, than you will Whigs by your arms. + +Were you to obtain possession of this city, you would not know what +to do with it more than to plunder it. To hold it in the manner you +hold New York, would be an additional dead weight upon your hands; +and if a general conquest is your object, you had better be without +the city than with it. When you have defeated all our armies, the +cities will fall into your hands of themselves; but to creep into +them in the manner you got into Princeton, Trenton, &c. is like +robbing an orchard in the night before the fruit be ripe, and running +away in the morning. Your experiment in the Jerseys is sufficient to +teach you that you have something more to do than barely to get into +other people's houses; and your new converts, to whom you promised +all manner of protection, and seduced into new guilt by pardoning +them from their former virtues, must begin to have a very +contemptible opinion both of your power and your policy. Your +authority in the Jerseys is now reduced to the small circle which +your army occupies, and your proclamation is no where else seen +unless it be to be laughed at. The mighty subduers of the continent +have retreated into a nutshell, and the proud forgivers of our sins +are fled from those they came to pardon; and all this at a time when +they were despatching vessel after vessel to England with the great +news of every day. In short, you have managed your Jersey expedition +so very dexterously, that the dead only are conquerors, because none +will dispute the ground with them. + +In all the wars which you have formerly been concerned in you had +only armies to contend with; in this case you have both an army and a +country to combat with. In former wars, the countries followed the +fate of their capitals; Canada fell with Quebec, and Minorca with +Port Mahon or St. Phillips; by subduing those, the conquerors opened +a way into, and became masters of the country: here it is otherwise; +if you get possession of a city here, you are obliged to shut +yourselves up in it, and can make no other use of it, than to spend +your country's money in. This is all the advantage you have drawn +from New York; and you would draw less from Philadelphia, because it +requires more force to keep it, and is much further from the sea. A +pretty figure you and the Tories would cut in this city, with a river +full of ice, and a town full of fire; for the immediate consequence +of your getting here would be, that you would be cannonaded out +again, and the Tories be obliged to make good the damage; and this +sooner or later will be the fate of New York. + +I wish to see the city saved, not so much from military as from +natural motives. 'Tis the hiding place of women and children, and +Lord Howe's proper business is with our armies. When I put all the +circumstances together which ought to be taken, I laugh at your +notion of conquering America. Because you lived in a little country, +where an army might run over the whole in a few days, and where a +single company of soldiers might put a multitude to the rout, you +expected to find it the same here. It is plain that you brought over +with you all the narrow notions you were bred up with, and imagined +that a proclamation in the king's name was to do great things; but +Englishmen always travel for knowledge, and your lordship, I hope, +will return, if you return at all, much wiser than you came. + +We may be surprised by events we did not expect, and in that interval +of recollection you may gain some temporary advantage: such was the +case a few weeks ago, but we soon ripen again into reason, collect +our strength, and while you are preparing for a triumph, we come upon +you with a defeat. Such it has been, and such it would be were you to +try it a hundred times over. Were you to garrison the places you +might march over, in order to secure their subjection, (for remember +you can do it by no other means,) your army would be like a stream of +water running to nothing. By the time you extended from New York to +Virginia, you would be reduced to a string of drops not capable of +hanging together; while we, by retreating from State to State, like a +river turning back upon itself, would acquire strength in the same +proportion as you lost it, and in the end be capable of overwhelming +you. The country, in the meantime, would suffer, but it is a day of +suffering, and we ought to expect it. What we contend for is worthy +the affliction we may go through. If we get but bread to eat, and any +kind of raiment to put on, we ought not only to be contented, but +thankful. More than that we ought not to look for, and less than that +heaven has not yet suffered us to want. He that would sell his +birthright for a little salt, is as worthless as he who sold it for +pottage without salt; and he that would part with it for a gay coat, +or a plain coat, ought for ever to be a slave in buff. What are salt, +sugar and finery, to the inestimable blessings of "Liberty and +Safety!" Or what are the inconveniences of a few months to the +tributary bondage of ages? The meanest peasant in America, blessed +with these sentiments, is a happy man compared with a New York Tory; +he can eat his morsel without repining, and when he has done, can +sweeten it with a repast of wholesome air; he can take his child by +the hand and bless it, without feeling the conscious shame of +neglecting a parent's duty. + +In publishing these remarks I have several objects in view. + +On your part they are to expose the folly of your pretended authority +as a commissioner; the wickedness of your cause in general; and the +impossibility of your conquering us at any rate. On the part of the +public, my intention is, to show them their true and sold interest; +to encourage them to their own good, to remove the fears and +falsities which bad men have spread, and weak men have encouraged; +and to excite in all men a love for union, and a cheerfulness for +duty. + +I shall submit one more case to you respecting your conquest of this +country, and then proceed to new observations. + +Suppose our armies in every part of this continent were immediately +to disperse, every man to his home, or where else he might be safe, +and engage to reassemble again on a certain future day; it is clear +that you would then have no army to contend with, yet you would be as +much at a loss in that case as you are now; you would be afraid to +send your troops in parties over to the continent, either to disarm +or prevent us from assembling, lest they should not return; and while +you kept them together, having no arms of ours to dispute with, you +could not call it a conquest; you might furnish out a pompous page in +the London Gazette or a New York paper, but when we returned at the +appointed time, you would have the same work to do that you had at +first. + +It has been the folly of Britain to suppose herself more powerful +than she really is, and by that means has arrogated to herself a rank +in the world she is not entitled to: for more than this century past +she has not been able to carry on a war without foreign assistance. +In Marlborough's campaigns, and from that day to this, the number of +German troops and officers assisting her have been about equal with +her own; ten thousand Hessians were sent to England last war to +protect her from a French invasion; and she would have cut but a poor +figure in her Canadian and West Indian expeditions, had not America +been lavish both of her money and men to help her along. The only +instance in which she was engaged singly, that I can recollect, was +against the rebellion in Scotland, in the years 1745 and 1746, and in +that, out of three battles, she was twice beaten, till by thus +reducing their numbers, (as we shall yours) and taking a supply ship +that was coming to Scotland with clothes, arms and money, (as we have +often done,) she was at last enabled to defeat them. England was +never famous by land; her officers have generally been suspected of +cowardice, have more of the air of a dancing-master than a soldier, +and by the samples which we have taken prisoners, we give the +preference to ourselves. Her strength, of late, has lain in her +extravagance; but as her finances and credit are now low, her sinews +in that line begin to fail fast. As a nation she is the poorest in +Europe; for were the whole kingdom, and all that is in it, to be put +up for sale like the estate of a bankrupt, it would not fetch as much +as she owes; yet this thoughtless wretch must go to war, and with the +avowed design, too, of making us beasts of burden, to support her in +riot and debauchery, and to assist her afterwards in distressing +those nations who are now our best friends. This ingratitude may suit +a Tory, or the unchristian peevishness of a fallen Quaker, but none +else. + +'Tis the unhappy temper of the English to be pleased with any war, +right or wrong, be it but successful; but they soon grow discontented +with ill fortune, and it is an even chance that they are as clamorous +for peace next summer, as the king and his ministers were for war +last winter. In this natural view of things, your lordship stands in +a very critical situation: your whole character is now staked upon +your laurels; if they wither, you wither with them; if they flourish, +you cannot live long to look at them; and at any rate, the black +account hereafter is not far off. What lately appeared to us +misfortunes, were only blessings in disguise; and the seeming +advantages on your side have turned out to our profit. Even our loss +of this city, as far as we can see, might be a principal gain to us: +the more surface you spread over, the thinner you will be, and the +easier wiped away; and our consolation under that apparent disaster +would be, that the estates of the Tories would become securities for +the repairs. In short, there is no old ground we can fail upon, but +some new foundation rises again to support us. "We have put, sir, our +hands to the plough, and cursed be he that looketh back." + +Your king, in his speech to parliament last spring, declared, "That +he had no doubt but the great force they had enabled him to send to +America, would effectually reduce the rebellious colonies." It has +not, neither can it; but it has done just enough to lay the +foundation of its own next year's ruin. You are sensible that you +left England in a divided, distracted state of politics, and, by the +command you had here, you became a principal prop in the court party; +their fortunes rest on yours; by a single express you can fix their +value with the public, and the degree to which their spirits shall +rise or fall; they are in your hands as stock, and you have the +secret of the alley with you. Thus situated and connected, you become +the unintentional mechanical instrument of your own and their +overthrow. The king and his ministers put conquest out of doubt, and +the credit of both depended on the proof. To support them in the +interim, it was necessary that you should make the most of every +thing, and we can tell by Hugh Gaine's New York paper what the +complexion of the London Gazette is. With such a list of victories +the nation cannot expect you will ask new supplies; and to confess +your want of them would give the lie to your triumphs, and impeach +the king and his ministers of treasonable deception. If you make the +necessary demand at home, your party sinks; if you make it not, you +sink yourself; to ask it now is too late, and to ask it before was +too soon, and unless it arrive quickly will be of no use. In short, +the part you have to act, cannot be acted; and I am fully persuaded +that all you have to trust to is, to do the best you can with what +force you have got, or little more. Though we have greatly exceeded +you in point of generalship and bravery of men, yet, as a people, we +have not entered into the full soul of enterprise; for I, who know +England and the disposition of the people well, am confident, that it +is easier for us to effect a revolution there, than you a conquest +here; a few thousand men landed in England with the declared design +of deposing the present king, bringing his ministers to trial, and +setting up the Duke of Gloucester in his stead, would assuredly carry +their point, while you are grovelling here, ignorant of the matter. +As I send all my papers to England, this, like Common Sense, will +find its way there; and though it may put one party on their guard, +it will inform the other, and the nation in general, of our design to +help them. + +Thus far, sir, I have endeavored to give you a picture of present +affairs: you may draw from it what conclusions you please. I wish as +well to the true prosperity of England as you can, but I consider +INDEPENDENCE as America's natural right and interest, and never could +see any real disservice it would be to Britain. If an English +merchant receives an order, and is paid for it, it signifies nothing +to him who governs the country. This is my creed of politics. If I +have any where expressed myself over-warmly, 'tis from a fixed, +immovable hatred I have, and ever had, to cruel men and cruel +measures. I have likewise an aversion to monarchy, as being too +debasing to the dignity of man; but I never troubled others with my +notions till very lately, nor ever published a syllable in England in +my life. What I write is pure nature, and my pen and my soul have +ever gone together. My writings I have always given away, reserving +only the expense of printing and paper, and sometimes not even that. +I never courted either fame or interest, and my manner of life, to +those who know it, will justify what I say. My study is to be useful, +and if your lordship loves mankind as well as I do, you would, seeing +you cannot conquer us, cast about and lend your hand towards +accomplishing a peace. Our independence with God's blessing we will +maintain against all the world; but as we wish to avoid evil +ourselves, we wish not to inflict it on others. I am never +over-inquisitive into the secrets of the cabinet, but I have some +notion that, if you neglect the present opportunity, it will not be +in our power to make a separate peace with you afterwards; for +whatever treaties or alliances we form, we shall most faithfully +abide by; wherefore you may be deceived if you think you can make it +with us at any time. A lasting independent peace is my wish, end and +aim; and to accomplish that, I pray God the Americans may never be +defeated, and I trust while they have good officers, and are well +commanded, and willing to be commanded, that they NEVER WILL BE. + + COMMON SENSE. + + PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13, 1777. + + + The Crisis + + + III. + +IN THE progress of politics, as in the common occurrences of life, we +are not only apt to forget the ground we have travelled over, but +frequently neglect to gather up experience as we go. We expend, if I +may so say, the knowledge of every day on the circumstances that +produce it, and journey on in search of new matter and new +refinements: but as it is pleasant and sometimes useful to look back, +even to the first periods of infancy, and trace the turns and +windings through which we have passed, so we may likewise derive many +advantages by halting a while in our political career, and taking a +review of the wondrous complicated labyrinth of little more than +yesterday. + +Truly may we say, that never did men grow old in so short a time! We +have crowded the business of an age into the compass of a few months, +and have been driven through such a rapid succession of things, that +for the want of leisure to think, we unavoidably wasted knowledge as +we came, and have left nearly as much behind us as we brought with +us: but the road is yet rich with the fragments, and, before we +finally lose sight of them, will repay us for the trouble of stopping +to pick them up. + +Were a man to be totally deprived of memory, he would be incapable of +forming any just opinion; every thing about him would seem a chaos: +he would have even his own history to ask from every one; and by not +knowing how the world went in his absence, he would be at a loss to +know how it ought to go on when he recovered, or rather, returned to +it again. In like manner, though in a less degree, a too great +inattention to past occurrences retards and bewilders our judgment in +everything; while, on the contrary, by comparing what is past with +what is present, we frequently hit on the true character of both, and +become wise with very little trouble. It is a kind of counter-march, +by which we get into the rear of time, and mark the movements and +meaning of things as we make our return. There are certain +circumstances, which, at the time of their happening, are a kind of +riddles, and as every riddle is to be followed by its answer, so +those kind of circumstances will be followed by their events, and +those events are always the true solution. A considerable space of +time may lapse between, and unless we continue our observations from +the one to the other, the harmony of them will pass away unnoticed: +but the misfortune is, that partly from the pressing necessity of +some instant things, and partly from the impatience of our own +tempers, we are frequently in such a hurry to make out the meaning of +everything as fast as it happens, that we thereby never truly +understand it; and not only start new difficulties to ourselves by so +doing, but, as it were, embarrass Providence in her good designs. + +I have been civil in stating this fault on a large scale, for, as it +now stands, it does not appear to be levelled against any particular +set of men; but were it to be refined a little further, it might +afterwards be applied to the Tories with a degree of striking +propriety: those men have been remarkable for drawing sudden +conclusions from single facts. The least apparent mishap on our side, +or the least seeming advantage on the part of the enemy, have +determined with them the fate of a whole campaign. By this hasty +judgment they have converted a retreat into a defeat; mistook +generalship for error; while every little advantage purposely given +the enemy, either to weaken their strength by dividing it, embarrass +their councils by multiplying their objects, or to secure a greater +post by the surrender of a less, has been instantly magnified into a +conquest. Thus, by quartering ill policy upon ill principles, they +have frequently promoted the cause they designed to injure, and +injured that which they intended to promote. + +It is probable the campaign may open before this number comes from +the press. The enemy have long lain idle, and amused themselves with +carrying on the war by proclamations only. While they continue their +delay our strength increases, and were they to move to action now, it +is a circumstantial proof that they have no reinforcement coming; +wherefore, in either case, the comparative advantage will be ours. +Like a wounded, disabled whale, they want only time and room to die +in; and though in the agony of their exit, it may be unsafe to live +within the flapping of their tail, yet every hour shortens their +date, and lessens their power of mischief. If any thing happens while +this number is in the press, it will afford me a subject for the last +pages of it. At present I am tired of waiting; and as neither the +enemy, nor the state of politics have yet produced any thing new, I +am thereby left in the field of general matter, undirected by any +striking or particular object. This Crisis, therefore, will be made +up rather of variety than novelty, and consist more of things useful +than things wonderful. + +The success of the cause, the union of the people, and the means of +supporting and securing both, are points which cannot be too much +attended to. He who doubts of the former is a desponding coward, and +he who wilfully disturbs the latter is a traitor. Their characters +are easily fixed, and under these short descriptions I leave them for +the present. + +One of the greatest degrees of sentimental union which America ever +knew, was in denying the right of the British parliament "to bind the +colonies in all cases whatsoever." The Declaration is, in its form, +an almighty one, and is the loftiest stretch of arbitrary power that +ever one set of men or one country claimed over another. Taxation was +nothing more than the putting the declared right into practice; and +this failing, recourse was had to arms, as a means to establish both +the right and the practice, or to answer a worse purpose, which will +be mentioned in the course of this number. And in order to repay +themselves the expense of an army, and to profit by their own +injustice, the colonies were, by another law, declared to be in a +state of actual rebellion, and of consequence all property therein +would fall to the conquerors. + +The colonies, on their part, first, denied the right; secondly, they +suspended the use of taxable articles, and petitioned against the +practice of taxation: and these failing, they, thirdly, defended +their property by force, as soon as it was forcibly invaded, and, in +answer to the declaration of rebellion and non-protection, published +their Declaration of Independence and right of self-protection. + +These, in a few words, are the different stages of the quarrel; and +the parts are so intimately and necessarily connected with each other +as to admit of no separation. A person, to use a trite phrase, must +be a Whig or a Tory in a lump. His feelings, as a man, may be +wounded; his charity, as a Christian, may be moved; but his political +principles must go through all the cases on one side or the other. He +cannot be a Whig in this stage, and a Tory in that. If he says he is +against the united independence of the continent, he is to all +intents and purposes against her in all the rest; because this last +comprehends the whole. And he may just as well say, that Britain was +right in declaring us rebels; right in taxing us; and right in +declaring her "right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." +It signifies nothing what neutral ground, of his own creating, he may +skulk upon for shelter, for the quarrel in no stage of it hath +afforded any such ground; and either we or Britain are absolutely +right or absolutely wrong through the whole. + +Britain, like a gamester nearly ruined, has now put all her losses +into one bet, and is playing a desperate game for the total. If she +wins it, she wins from me my life; she wins the continent as the +forfeited property of rebels; the right of taxing those that are left +as reduced subjects; and the power of binding them slaves: and the +single die which determines this unparalleled event is, whether we +support our independence or she overturn it. This is coming to the +point at once. Here is the touchstone to try men by. He that is not a +supporter of the independent States of America in the same degree +that his religious and political principles would suffer him to +support the government of any other country, of which he called +himself a subject, is, in the American sense of the word, A TORY; and +the instant that he endeavors to bring his toryism into practice, he +becomes A TRAITOR. The first can only be detected by a general test, +and the law hath already provided for the latter. + +It is unnatural and impolitic to admit men who would root up our +independence to have any share in our legislation, either as electors +or representatives; because the support of our independence rests, in +a great measure, on the vigor and purity of our public bodies. Would +Britain, even in time of peace, much less in war, suffer an election +to be carried by men who professed themselves to be not her subjects, +or allow such to sit in Parliament? Certainly not. + +But there are a certain species of Tories with whom conscience or +principle has nothing to do, and who are so from avarice only. Some +of the first fortunes on the continent, on the part of the Whigs, are +staked on the issue of our present measures. And shall disaffection +only be rewarded with security? Can any thing be a greater inducement +to a miserly man, than the hope of making his Mammon safe? And though +the scheme be fraught with every character of folly, yet, so long as +he supposes, that by doing nothing materially criminal against +America on one part, and by expressing his private disapprobation +against independence, as palliative with the enemy, on the other +part, he stands in a safe line between both; while, I say, this +ground be suffered to remain, craft, and the spirit of avarice, will +point it out, and men will not be wanting to fill up this most +contemptible of all characters. + +These men, ashamed to own the sordid cause from whence their +disaffection springs, add thereby meanness to meanness, by +endeavoring to shelter themselves under the mask of hypocrisy; that +is, they had rather be thought to be Tories from some kind of +principle, than Tories by having no principle at all. But till such +time as they can show some real reason, natural, political, or +conscientious, on which their objections to independence are founded, +we are not obliged to give them credit for being Tories of the first +stamp, but must set them down as Tories of the last. + +In the second number of the Crisis, I endeavored to show the +impossibility of the enemy's making any conquest of America, that +nothing was wanting on our part but patience and perseverance, and +that, with these virtues, our success, as far as human speculation +could discern, seemed as certain as fate. But as there are many among +us, who, influenced by others, have regularly gone back from the +principles they once held, in proportion as we have gone forward; and +as it is the unfortunate lot of many a good man to live within the +neighborhood of disaffected ones; I shall, therefore, for the sake of +confirming the one and recovering the other, endeavor, in the space +of a page or two, to go over some of the leading principles in +support of independence. It is a much pleasanter task to prevent vice +than to punish it, and, however our tempers may be gratified by +resentment, or our national expenses eased by forfeited estates, +harmony and friendship is, nevertheless, the happiest condition a +country can be blessed with. + +The principal arguments in support of independence may be +comprehended under the four following heads. + +1st, The natural right of the continent to independence. +2d, Her interest in being independent. +3d, The necessity,- and +4th, The moral advantages arising therefrom. + +I. The natural right of the continent to independence, is a point +which never yet was called in question. It will not even admit of a +debate. To deny such a right, would be a kind of atheism against +nature: and the best answer to such an objection would be, "The fool +hath said in his heart there is no God." + +II. The interest of the continent in being independent is a point as +clearly right as the former. America, by her own internal industry, +and unknown to all the powers of Europe, was, at the beginning of the +dispute, arrived at a pitch of greatness, trade and population, +beyond which it was the interest of Britain not to suffer her to +pass, lest she should grow too powerful to be kept subordinate. She +began to view this country with the same uneasy malicious eye, with +which a covetous guardian would view his ward, whose estate he had +been enriching himself by for twenty years, and saw him just arriving +at manhood. And America owes no more to Britain for her present +maturity, than the ward would to the guardian for being twenty-one +years of age. That America hath flourished at the time she was under +the government of Britain, is true; but there is every natural reason +to believe, that had she been an independent country from the first +settlement thereof, uncontrolled by any foreign power, free to make +her own laws, regulate and encourage her own commerce, she had by +this time been of much greater worth than now. The case is simply +this: the first settlers in the different colonies were left to shift +for themselves, unnoticed and unsupported by any European government; +but as the tyranny and persecution of the old world daily drove +numbers to the new, and as, by the favor of heaven on their industry +and perseverance, they grew into importance, so, in a like degree, +they became an object of profit to the greedy eyes of Europe. It was +impossible, in this state of infancy, however thriving and promising, +that they could resist the power of any armed invader that should +seek to bring them under his authority. In this situation, Britain +thought it worth her while to claim them, and the continent received +and acknowledged the claimer. It was, in reality, of no very great +importance who was her master, seeing, that from the force and +ambition of the different powers of Europe, she must, till she +acquired strength enough to assert her own right, acknowledge some +one. As well, perhaps, Britain as another; and it might have been as +well to have been under the states of Holland as any. The same hopes +of engrossing and profiting by her trade, by not oppressing it too +much, would have operated alike with any master, and produced to the +colonies the same effects. The clamor of protection, likewise, was +all a farce; because, in order to make that protection necessary, she +must first, by her own quarrels, create us enemies. Hard terms indeed! + +To know whether it be the interest of the continent to be +independent, we need only ask this easy, simple question: Is it the +interest of a man to be a boy all his life? The answer to one will be +the answer to both. America hath been one continued scene of +legislative contention from the first king's representative to the +last; and this was unavoidably founded in the natural opposition of +interest between the old country and the new. A governor sent from +England, or receiving his authority therefrom, ought never to have +been considered in any other light than that of a genteel +commissioned spy, whose private business was information, and his +public business a kind of civilized oppression. In the first of these +characters he was to watch the tempers, sentiments, and disposition +of the people, the growth of trade, and the increase of private +fortunes; and, in the latter, to suppress all such acts of the +assemblies, however beneficial to the people, which did not directly +or indirectly throw some increase of power or profit into the hands +of those that sent him. + +America, till now, could never be called a free country, because her +legislation depended on the will of a man three thousand miles +distant, whose interest was in opposition to ours, and who, by a +single "no," could forbid what law he pleased. + +The freedom of trade, likewise, is, to a trading country, an article +of such importance, that the principal source of wealth depends upon +it; and it is impossible that any country can flourish, as it +otherwise might do, whose commerce is engrossed, cramped and fettered +by the laws and mandates of another- yet these evils, and more than I +can here enumerate, the continent has suffered by being under the +government of England. By an independence we clear the whole at once- +put an end to the business of unanswered petitions and fruitless +remonstrances- exchange Britain for Europe- shake hands with the +world- live at peace with the world- and trade to any market where we +can buy and sell. + +III. The necessity, likewise, of being independent, even before it +was declared, became so evident and important, that the continent ran +the risk of being ruined every day that she delayed it. There was +reason to believe that Britain would endeavor to make an European +matter of it, and, rather than lose the whole, would dismember it, +like Poland, and dispose of her several claims to the highest bidder. +Genoa, failing in her attempts to reduce Corsica, made a sale of it +to the French, and such trafficks have been common in the old world. +We had at that time no ambassador in any part of Europe, to +counteract her negotiations, and by that means she had the range of +every foreign court uncontradicted on our part. We even knew nothing +of the treaty for the Hessians till it was concluded, and the troops +ready to embark. Had we been independent before, we had probably +prevented her obtaining them. We had no credit abroad, because of our +rebellious dependency. Our ships could claim no protection in foreign +ports, because we afforded them no justifiable reason for granting it +to us. The calling ourselves subjects, and at the same time fighting +against the power which we acknowledged, was a dangerous precedent to +all Europe. If the grievances justified the taking up arms, they +justified our separation; if they did not justify our separation, +neither could they justify our taking up arms. All Europe was +interested in reducing us as rebels, and all Europe (or the greatest +part at least) is interested in supporting us as independent States. +At home our condition was still worse: our currency had no +foundation, and the fall of it would have ruined Whig and Tory alike. +We had no other law than a kind of moderated passion; no other civil +power than an honest mob; and no other protection than the temporary +attachment of one man to another. Had independence been delayed a few +months longer, this continent would have been plunged into +irrecoverable confusion: some violent for it, some against it, till, +in the general cabal, the rich would have been ruined, and the poor +destroyed. It is to independence that every Tory owes the present +safety which he lives in; for by that, and that only, we emerged from +a state of dangerous suspense, and became a regular people. + +The necessity, likewise, of being independent, had there been no +rupture between Britain and America, would, in a little time, have +brought one on. The increasing importance of commerce, the weight and +perplexity of legislation, and the entangled state of European +politics, would daily have shown to the continent the impossibility +of continuing subordinate; for, after the coolest reflections on the +matter, this must be allowed, that Britain was too jealous of America +to govern it justly; too ignorant of it to govern it well; and too +far distant from it to govern it at all. + +IV. But what weigh most with all men of serious reflection are, the +moral advantages arising from independence: war and desolation have +become the trade of the old world; and America neither could nor can +be under the government of Britain without becoming a sharer of her +guilt, and a partner in all the dismal commerce of death. The spirit +of duelling, extended on a national scale, is a proper character for +European wars. They have seldom any other motive than pride, or any +other object than fame. The conquerors and the conquered are +generally ruined alike, and the chief difference at last is, that the +one marches home with his honors, and the other without them. 'Tis +the natural temper of the English to fight for a feather, if they +suppose that feather to be an affront; and America, without the right +of asking why, must have abetted in every quarrel, and abided by its +fate. It is a shocking situation to live in, that one country must be +brought into all the wars of another, whether the measure be right or +wrong, or whether she will or not; yet this, in the fullest extent, +was, and ever would be, the unavoidable consequence of the +connection. Surely the Quakers forgot their own principles when, in +their late Testimony, they called this connection, with these +military and miserable appendages hanging to it- "the happy +constitution." + +Britain, for centuries past, has been nearly fifty years out of every +hundred at war with some power or other. It certainly ought to be a +conscientious as well political consideration with America, not to +dip her hands in the bloody work of Europe. Our situation affords us +a retreat from their cabals, and the present happy union of the +states bids fair for extirpating the future use of arms from one +quarter of the world; yet such have been the irreligious politics of +the present leaders of the Quakers, that, for the sake of they scarce +know what, they would cut off every hope of such a blessing by tying +this continent to Britain, like Hector to the chariot wheel of +Achilles, to be dragged through all the miseries of endless European +wars. + +The connection, viewed from this ground, is distressing to every man +who has the feelings of humanity. By having Britain for our master, +we became enemies to the greatest part of Europe, and they to us: and +the consequence was war inevitable. By being our own masters, +independent of any foreign one, we have Europe for our friends, and +the prospect of an endless peace among ourselves. Those who were +advocates for the British government over these colonies, were +obliged to limit both their arguments and their ideas to the period +of an European peace only; the moment Britain became plunged in war, +every supposed convenience to us vanished, and all we could hope for +was not to be ruined. Could this be a desirable condition for a young +country to be in? + +Had the French pursued their fortune immediately after the defeat of +Braddock last war, this city and province had then experienced the +woful calamities of being a British subject. A scene of the same kind +might happen again; for America, considered as a subject to the crown +of Britain, would ever have been the seat of war, and the bone of +contention between the two powers. + +On the whole, if the future expulsion of arms from one quarter of the +world would be a desirable object to a peaceable man; if the freedom +of trade to every part of it can engage the attention of a man of +business; if the support or fall of millions of currency can affect +our interests; if the entire possession of estates, by cutting off +the lordly claims of Britain over the soil, deserves the regard of +landed property; and if the right of making our own laws, +uncontrolled by royal or ministerial spies or mandates, be worthy our +care as freemen;- then are all men interested in the support of +independence; and may he that supports it not, be driven from the +blessing, and live unpitied beneath the servile sufferings of +scandalous subjection! + +We have been amused with the tales of ancient wonders; we have read, +and wept over the histories of other nations: applauded, censured, or +pitied, as their cases affected us. The fortitude and patience of the +sufferers- the justness of their cause- the weight of their +oppressions and oppressors- the object to be saved or lost- with all +the consequences of a defeat or a conquest- have, in the hour of +sympathy, bewitched our hearts, and chained it to their fate: but +where is the power that ever made war upon petitioners? Or where is +the war on which a world was staked till now? + +We may not, perhaps, be wise enough to make all the advantages we +ought of our independence; but they are, nevertheless, marked and +presented to us with every character of great and good, and worthy +the hand of him who sent them. I look through the present trouble to +a time of tranquillity, when we shall have it in our power to set an +example of peace to all the world. Were the Quakers really impressed +and influenced by the quiet principles they profess to hold, they +would, however they might disapprove the means, be the first of all +men to approve of independence, because, by separating ourselves from +the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, it affords an opportunity never +given to man before of carrying their favourite principle of peace +into general practice, by establishing governments that shall +hereafter exist without wars. O! ye fallen, cringing, +priest-and-Pemberton-ridden people! What more can we say of ye than +that a religious Quaker is a valuable character, and a political +Quaker a real Jesuit. + +Having thus gone over some of the principal points in support of +independence, I must now request the reader to return back with me to +the period when it first began to be a public doctrine, and to +examine the progress it has made among the various classes of men. +The area I mean to begin at, is the breaking out of hostilities, +April 19th, 1775. Until this event happened, the continent seemed to +view the dispute as a kind of law-suit for a matter of right, +litigating between the old country and the new; and she felt the same +kind and degree of horror, as if she had seen an oppressive +plaintiff, at the head of a band of ruffians, enter the court, while +the cause was before it, and put the judge, the jury, the defendant +and his counsel, to the sword. Perhaps a more heart-felt convulsion +never reached a country with the same degree of power and rapidity +before, and never may again. Pity for the sufferers, mixed with +indignation at the violence, and heightened with apprehensions of +undergoing the same fate, made the affair of Lexington the affair of +the continent. Every part of it felt the shock, and all vibrated +together. A general promotion of sentiment took place: those who had +drank deeply into Whiggish principles, that is, the right and +necessity not only of opposing, but wholly setting aside the power of +the crown as soon as it became practically dangerous (for in theory +it was always so), stepped into the first stage of independence; +while another class of Whigs, equally sound in principle, but not so +sanguine in enterprise, attached themselves the stronger to the +cause, and fell close in with the rear of the former; their partition +was a mere point. Numbers of the moderate men, whose chief fault, at +that time, arose from entertaining a better opinion of Britain than +she deserved, convinced now of their mistake, gave her up, and +publicly declared themselves good Whigs. While the Tories, seeing it +was no longer a laughing matter, either sank into silent obscurity, +or contented themselves with coming forth and abusing General Gage: +not a single advocate appeared to justify the action of that day; it +seemed to appear to every one with the same magnitude, struck every +one with the same force, and created in every one the same +abhorrence. From this period we may date the growth of independence. + +If the many circumstances which happened at this memorable time, be +taken in one view, and compared with each other, they will justify a +conclusion which seems not to have been attended to, I mean a fixed +design in the king and ministry of driving America into arms, in +order that they might be furnished with a pretence for seizing the +whole continent, as the immediate property of the crown. A noble +plunder for hungry courtiers! + +It ought to be remembered, that the first petition from the Congress +was at this time unanswered on the part of the British king. That the +motion, called Lord North's motion, of the 20th of February, 1775, +arrived in America the latter end of March. This motion was to be +laid, by the several governors then in being, before, the assembly of +each province; and the first assembly before which it was laid, was +the assembly of Pennsylvania, in May following. This being a just +state of the case, I then ask, why were hostilities commenced between +the time of passing the resolve in the House of Commons, of the 20th +of February, and the time of the assemblies meeting to deliberate +upon it? Degrading and famous as that motion was, there is +nevertheless reason to believe that the king and his adherents were +afraid the colonies would agree to it, and lest they should, took +effectual care they should not, by provoking them with hostilities in +the interim. They had not the least doubt at that time of conquering +America at one blow; and what they expected to get by a conquest +being infinitely greater than any thing they could hope to get either +by taxation or accommodation, they seemed determined to prevent even +the possibility of hearing each other, lest America should disappoint +their greedy hopes of the whole, by listening even to their own +terms. On the one hand they refused to hear the petition of the +continent, and on the other hand took effectual care the continent +should not hear them. + +That the motion of the 20th February and the orders for commencing +hostilities were both concerted by the same person or persons, and +not the latter by General Gage, as was falsely imagined at first, is +evident from an extract of a letter of his to the administration, +read among other papers in the House of Commons; in which he informs +his masters, "That though their idea of his disarming certain +counties was a right one, yet it required him to be master of the +country, in order to enable him to execute it." This was prior to the +commencement of hostilities, and consequently before the motion of +the 20th February could be deliberated on by the several assemblies. + +Perhaps it may be asked, why was the motion passed, if there was at +the same time a plan to aggravate the Americans not to listen to it? +Lord North assigned one reason himself, which was a hope of dividing +them. This was publicly tempting them to reject it; that if, in case +the injury of arms should fail in provoking them sufficiently, the +insult of such a declaration might fill it up. But by passing the +motion and getting it afterwards rejected in America, it enabled +them, in their wicked idea of politics, among other things, to hold +up the colonies to foreign powers, with every possible mark of +disobedience and rebellion. They had applied to those powers not to +supply the continent with arms, ammunition, etc., and it was +necessary they should incense them against us, by assigning on their +own part some seeming reputable reason why. By dividing, it had a +tendency to weaken the States, and likewise to perplex the adherents +of America in England. But the principal scheme, and that which has +marked their character in every part of their conduct, was a design +of precipitating the colonies into a state which they might +afterwards deem rebellion, and, under that pretence, put an end to +all future complaints, petitions and remonstrances, by seizing the +whole at once. They had ravaged one part of the globe, till it could +glut them no longer; their prodigality required new plunder, and +through the East India article tea they hoped to transfer their +rapine from that quarter of the world to this. Every designed quarrel +had its pretence; and the same barbarian avarice accompanied the +plant to America, which ruined the country that produced it. + +That men never turn rogues without turning fools is a maxim, sooner +or later, universally true. The commencement of hostilities, being in +the beginning of April, was, of all times the worst chosen: the +Congress were to meet the tenth of May following, and the distress +the continent felt at this unparalleled outrage gave a stability to +that body which no other circumstance could have done. It suppressed +too all inferior debates, and bound them together by a necessitous +affection, without giving them time to differ upon trifles. The +suffering likewise softened the whole body of the people into a +degree of pliability, which laid the principal foundation-stone of +union, order, and government; and which, at any other time, might +only have fretted and then faded away unnoticed and unimproved. But +Providence, who best knows how to time her misfortunes as well as her +immediate favors, chose this to be the time, and who dare dispute it? + +It did not seem the disposition of the people, at this crisis, to +heap petition upon petition, while the former remained unanswered. +The measure however was carried in Congress, and a second petition +was sent; of which I shall only remark that it was submissive even to +a dangerous fault, because the prayer of it appealed solely to what +it called the prerogative of the crown, while the matter in dispute +was confessedly constitutional. But even this petition, flattering as +it was, was still not so harmonious as the chink of cash, and +consequently not sufficiently grateful to the tyrant and his +ministry. From every circumstance it is evident, that it was the +determination of the British court to have nothing to do with America +but to conquer her fully and absolutely. They were certain of +success, and the field of battle was the only place of treaty. I am +confident there are thousands and tens of thousands in America who +wonder now that they should ever have thought otherwise; but the sin +of that day was the sin of civility; yet it operated against our +present good in the same manner that a civil opinion of the devil +would against our future peace. + +Independence was a doctrine scarce and rare, even towards the +conclusion of the year 1775; all our politics had been founded on the +hope of expectation of making the matter up- a hope, which, though +general on the side of America, had never entered the head or heart +of the British court. Their hope was conquest and confiscation. Good +heavens! what volumes of thanks does America owe to Britain? What +infinite obligation to the tool that fills, with paradoxical vacancy, +the throne! Nothing but the sharpest essence of villany, compounded +with the strongest distillation of folly, could have produced a +menstruum that would have effected a separation. The Congress in 1774 +administered an abortive medicine to independence, by prohibiting the +importation of goods, and the succeeding Congress rendered the dose +still more dangerous by continuing it. Had independence been a +settled system with America, (as Britain has advanced,) she ought to +have doubled her importation, and prohibited in some degree her +exportation. And this single circumstance is sufficient to acquit +America before any jury of nations, of having a continental plan of +independence in view; a charge which, had it been true, would have +been honorable, but is so grossly false, that either the amazing +ignorance or the wilful dishonesty of the British court is +effectually proved by it. + +The second petition, like the first, produced no answer; it was +scarcely acknowledged to have been received; the British court were +too determined in their villainy even to act it artfully, and in +their rage for conquest neglected the necessary subtleties for +obtaining it. They might have divided, distracted and played a +thousand tricks with us, had they been as cunning as they were cruel. + +This last indignity gave a new spring to independence. Those who knew +the savage obstinacy of the king, and the jobbing, gambling spirit of +the court, predicted the fate of the petition, as soon as it was sent +from America; for the men being known, their measures were easily +foreseen. As politicians we ought not so much to ground our hopes on +the reasonableness of the thing we ask, as on the reasonableness of +the person of whom we ask it: who would expect discretion from a +fool, candor from a tyrant, or justice from a villain? + +As every prospect of accommodation seemed now to fail fast, men began +to think seriously on the matter; and their reason being thus +stripped of the false hope which had long encompassed it, became +approachable by fair debate: yet still the bulk of the people +hesitated; they startled at the novelty of independence, without once +considering that our getting into arms at first was a more +extraordinary novelty, and that all other nations had gone through +the work of independence before us. They doubted likewise the ability +of the continent to support it, without reflecting that it required +the same force to obtain an accommodation by arms as an independence. +If the one was acquirable, the other was the same; because, to +accomplish either, it was necessary that our strength should be too +great for Britain to subdue; and it was too unreasonable to suppose, +that with the power of being masters, we should submit to be +servants.* Their caution at this time was exceedingly misplaced; for +if they were able to defend their property and maintain their rights +by arms, they, consequently, were able to defend and support their +independence; and in proportion as these men saw the necessity and +correctness of the measure, they honestly and openly declared and +adopted it, and the part that they had acted since has done them +honor and fully established their characters. Error in opinion has +this peculiar advantage with it, that the foremost point of the +contrary ground may at any time be reached by the sudden exertion of +a thought; and it frequently happens in sentimental differences, that +some striking circumstance, or some forcible reason quickly +conceived, will effect in an instant what neither argument nor +example could produce in an age. + +* In this state of political suspense the pamphlet Common Sense made +its appearance, and the success it met with does not become me to +mention. Dr. Franklin, Mr. Samuel and John Adams, were severally +spoken of as the supposed author. I had not, at that time, the +pleasure either of personally knowing or being known to the two last +gentlemen. The favor of Dr. Franklin's friendship I possessed in +England, and my introduction to this part of the world was through +his patronage. I happened, when a school-boy, to pick up a pleasing +natural history of Virginia, and my inclination from that day of +seeing the western side of the Atlantic never left me. In October, +1775, Dr. Franklin proposed giving me such materials as were in his +hands, towards completing a history of the present transactions, and +seemed desirous of having the first volume out the next Spring. I had +then formed the outlines of Common Sense, and finished nearly the +first part; and as I supposed the doctor's design in getting out a +history was to open the new year with a new system, I expected to +surprise him with a production on that subject, much earlier than he +thought of; and without informing him what I was doing, got it ready +for the press as fast as I conveniently could, and sent him the first +pamphlet that was printed off. + +I find it impossible in the small compass I am limited to, to trace +out the progress which independence has made on the minds of the +different classes of men, and the several reasons by which they were +moved. With some, it was a passionate abhorrence against the king of +England and his ministry, as a set of savages and brutes; and these +men, governed by the agony of a wounded mind, were for trusting every +thing to hope and heaven, and bidding defiance at once. With others, +it was a growing conviction that the scheme of the British court was +to create, ferment and drive on a quarrel, for the sake of +confiscated plunder: and men of this class ripened into independence +in proportion as the evidence increased. While a third class +conceived it was the true interest of America, internally and +externally, to be her own master, and gave their support to +independence, step by step, as they saw her abilities to maintain it +enlarge. With many, it was a compound of all these reasons; while +those who were too callous to be reached by either, remained, and +still remain Tories. + +The legal necessity of being independent, with several collateral +reasons, is pointed out in an elegant masterly manner, in a charge to +the grand jury for the district of Charleston, by the Hon. William +Henry Drayton, chief justice of South Carolina, [April 23, 1776]. +This performance, and the address of the convention of New York, are +pieces, in my humble opinion, of the first rank in America. + +The principal causes why independence has not been so universally +supported as it ought, are fear and indolence, and the causes why it +has been opposed, are, avarice, down-right villany, and lust of +personal power. There is not such a being in America as a Tory from +conscience; some secret defect or other is interwoven in the +character of all those, be they men or women, who can look with +patience on the brutality, luxury and debauchery of the British +court, and the violations of their army here. A woman's virtue must +sit very lightly on her who can even hint a favorable sentiment in +their behalf. It is remarkable that the whole race of prostitutes in +New York were tories; and the schemes for supporting the Tory cause +in this city, for which several are now in jail, and one hanged, were +concerted and carried on in common bawdy-houses, assisted by those +who kept them. + +The connection between vice and meanness is a fit subject for satire, +but when the satire is a fact, it cuts with the irresistible power of +a diamond. If a Quaker, in defence of his just rights, his property, +and the chastity of his house, takes up a musket, he is expelled the +meeting; but the present king of England, who seduced and took into +keeping a sister of their society, is reverenced and supported by +repeated Testimonies, while, the friendly noodle from whom she was +taken (and who is now in this city) continues a drudge in the service +of his rival, as if proud of being cuckolded by a creature called a +king. + +Our support and success depend on such a variety of men and +circumstances, that every one who does but wish well, is of some use: +there are men who have a strange aversion to arms, yet have hearts to +risk every shilling in the cause, or in support of those who have +better talents for defending it. Nature, in the arrangement of +mankind, has fitted some for every service in life: were all +soldiers, all would starve and go naked, and were none soldiers, all +would be slaves. As disaffection to independence is the badge of a +Tory, so affection to it is the mark of a Whig; and the different +services of the Whigs, down from those who nobly contribute every +thing, to those who have nothing to render but their wishes, tend all +to the same center, though with different degrees of merit and +ability. The larger we make the circle, the more we shall harmonize, +and the stronger we shall be. All we want to shut out is +disaffection, and, that excluded, we must accept from each other such +duties as we are best fitted to bestow. A narrow system of politics, +like a narrow system of religion, is calculated only to sour the +temper, and be at variance with mankind. + +All we want to know in America is simply this, who is for +independence, and who is not? Those who are for it, will support it, +and the remainder will undoubtedly see the reasonableness of paying +the charges; while those who oppose or seek to betray it, must expect +the more rigid fate of the jail and the gibbet. There is a bastard +kind of generosity, which being extended to all men, is as fatal to +society, on one hand, as the want of true generosity is on the other. +A lax manner of administering justice, falsely termed moderation, has +a tendency both to dispirit public virtue, and promote the growth of +public evils. Had the late committee of safety taken cognizance of +the last Testimony of the Quakers and proceeded against such +delinquents as were concerned therein, they had, probably, prevented +the treasonable plans which have been concerted since. When one +villain is suffered to escape, it encourages another to proceed, +either from a hope of escaping likewise, or an apprehension that we +dare not punish. It has been a matter of general surprise, that no +notice was taken of the incendiary publication of the Quakers, of the +20th of November last; a publication evidently intended to promote +sedition and treason, and encourage the enemy, who were then within a +day's march of this city, to proceed on and possess it. I here +present the reader with a memorial which was laid before the board of +safety a few days after the Testimony appeared. Not a member of that +board, that I conversed with, but expressed the highest detestation +of the perverted principles and conduct of the Quaker junto, and a +wish that the board would take the matter up; notwithstanding which, +it was suffered to pass away unnoticed, to the encouragement of new +acts of treason, the general danger of the cause, and the disgrace of +the state. + + + + To the honorable the Council of Safety of the State of + Pennsylvania. + +At a meeting of a reputable number of the inhabitants of the city of +Philadelphia, impressed with a proper sense of the justice of the +cause which this continent is engaged in, and animated with a +generous fervor for supporting the same, it was resolved, that the +following be laid before the board of safety: + +"We profess liberality of sentiment to all men; with this distinction +only, that those who do not deserve it would become wise and seek to +deserve it. We hold the pure doctrines of universal liberty of +conscience, and conceive it our duty to endeavor to secure that +sacred right to others, as well as to defend it for ourselves; for we +undertake not to judge of the religious rectitude of tenets, but +leave the whole matter to Him who made us. + +"We persecute no man, neither will we abet in the persecution of any +man for religion's sake; our common relation to others being that of +fellow-citizens and fellow-subjects of one single community; and in +this line of connection we hold out the right hand of fellowship to +all men. But we should conceive ourselves to be unworthy members of +the free and independent States of America, were we unconcernedly to +see or to suffer any treasonable wound, public or private, directly +or indirectly, to be given against the peace and safety of the same. +We inquire not into the rank of the offenders, nor into their +religious persuasion; we have no business with either, our part being +only to find them out and exhibit them to justice. + +"A printed paper, dated the 20th of November, and signed 'John +Pemberton,' whom we suppose to be an inhabitant of this city, has +lately been dispersed abroad, a copy of which accompanies this. Had +the framers and publishers of that paper conceived it their duty to +exhort the youth and others of their society, to a patient submission +under the present trying visitations, and humbly to wait the event of +heaven towards them, they had therein shown a Christian temper, and +we had been silent; but the anger and political virulence with which +their instructions are given, and the abuse with which they +stigmatize all ranks of men not thinking like themselves, leave no +doubt on our minds from what spirit their publication proceeded: and +it is disgraceful to the pure cause of truth, that men can dally with +words of the most sacred import, and play them off as mechanically as +if religion consisted only in contrivance. We know of no instance in +which the Quakers have been compelled to bear arms, or to do any +thing which might strain their conscience; wherefore their advice, +'to withstand and refuse to submit to the arbitrary instructions and +ordinances of men,' appear to us a false alarm, and could only be +treasonably calculated to gain favor with our enemies, when they are +seemingly on the brink of invading this State, or, what is still +worse, to weaken the hands of our defence, that their entrance into +this city might be made practicable and easy. + +"We disclaim all tumult and disorder in the punishment of offenders; +and wish to be governed, not by temper but by reason, in the manner +of treating them. We are sensible that our cause has suffered by the +two following errors: first, by ill-judged lenity to traitorous +persons in some cases; and, secondly, by only a passionate treatment +of them in others. For the future we disown both, and wish to be +steady in our proceedings, and serious in our punishments. + +"Every State in America has, by the repeated voice of its +inhabitants, directed and authorized the Continental Congress to +publish a formal Declaration of Independence of, and separation from, +the oppressive king and Parliament of Great Britain; and we look on +every man as an enemy, who does not in some line or other, give his +assistance towards supporting the same; at the same time we consider +the offence to be heightened to a degree of unpardonable guilt, when +such persons, under the show of religion, endeavor, either by +writing, speaking, or otherwise, to subvert, overturn, or bring +reproach upon the independence of this continent as declared by +Congress. + +"The publishers of the paper signed 'John Pemberton,' have called in +a loud manner to their friends and connections, 'to withstand or +refuse' obedience to whatever 'instructions or ordinances' may be +published, not warranted by (what they call) 'that happy Constitution +under which they and others long enjoyed tranquillity and peace.' If +this be not treason, we know not what may properly be called by that +name. + +"To us it is a matter of surprise and astonishment, that men with the +word 'peace, peace,' continually on their lips, should be so fond of +living under and supporting a government, and at the same time +calling it 'happy,' which is never better pleased than when a war- +that has filled India with carnage and famine, Africa with slavery, +and tampered with Indians and negroes to cut the throats of the +freemen of America. We conceive it a disgrace to this State, to +harbor or wink at such palpable hypocrisy. But as we seek not to hurt +the hair of any man's head, when we can make ourselves safe without, +we wish such persons to restore peace to themselves and us, by +removing themselves to some part of the king of Great Britain's +dominions, as by that means they may live unmolested by us and we by +them; for our fixed opinion is, that those who do not deserve a place +among us, ought not to have one. + +"We conclude with requesting the Council of Safety to take into +consideration the paper signed 'John Pemberton,' and if it shall +appear to them to be of a dangerous tendency, or of a treasonable +nature, that they would commit the signer, together with such other +persons as they can discover were concerned therein, into custody, +until such time as some mode of trial shall ascertain the full degree +of their guilt and punishment; in the doing of which, we wish their +judges, whoever they may be, to disregard the man, his connections, +interest, riches, poverty, or principles of religion, and to attend +to the nature of his offence only." + + + +The most cavilling sectarian cannot accuse the foregoing with +containing the least ingredient of persecution. The free spirit on +which the American cause is founded, disdains to mix with such an +impurity, and leaves it as rubbish fit only for narrow and suspicious +minds to grovel in. Suspicion and persecution are weeds of the same +dunghill, and flourish together. Had the Quakers minded their +religion and their business, they might have lived through this +dispute in enviable ease, and none would have molested them. The +common phrase with these people is, 'Our principles are peace.' To +which may be replied, and your practices are the reverse; for never +did the conduct of men oppose their own doctrine more notoriously +than the present race of the Quakers. They have artfully changed +themselves into a different sort of people to what they used to be, +and yet have the address to persuade each other that they are not +altered; like antiquated virgins, they see not the havoc deformity +has made upon them, but pleasantly mistaking wrinkles for dimples, +conceive themselves yet lovely and wonder at the stupid world for not +admiring them. + +Did no injury arise to the public by this apostacy of the Quakers +from themselves, the public would have nothing to do with it; but as +both the design and consequences are pointed against a cause in which +the whole community are interested, it is therefore no longer a +subject confined to the cognizance of the meeting only, but comes, as +a matter of criminality, before the authority either of the +particular State in which it is acted, or of the continent against +which it operates. Every attempt, now, to support the authority of +the king and Parliament of Great Britain over America, is treason +against every State; therefore it is impossible that any one can +pardon or screen from punishment an offender against all. + +But to proceed: while the infatuated Tories of this and other States +were last spring talking of commissioners, accommodation, making the +matter up, and the Lord knows what stuff and nonsense, their good +king and ministry were glutting themselves with the revenge of +reducing America to unconditional submission, and solacing each other +with the certainty of conquering it in one campaign. The following +quotations are from the parliamentary register of the debate's of the +House of Lords, March 5th, 1776: + +"The Americans," says Lord Talbot,* "have been obstinate, undutiful, +and ungovernable from the very beginning, from their first early and +infant settlements; and I am every day more and more convinced that +this people never will be brought back to their duty, and the +subordinate relation they stand in to this country, till reduced to +unconditional, effectual submission; no concession on our part, no +lenity, no endurance, will have any other effect but that of +increasing their insolence." + +* Steward of the king's household. + +"The struggle," says Lord Townsend,* "is now a struggle for power; +the die is cast, and the only point which now remains to be +determined is, in what manner the war can be most effectually +prosecuted and speedily finished, in order to procure that +unconditional submission, which has been so ably stated by the noble +Earl with the white staff" (meaning Lord Talbot;) "and I have no +reason to doubt that the measures now pursuing will put an end to the +war in the course of a single campaign. Should it linger longer, we +shall then have reason to expect that some foreign power will +interfere, and take advantage of our domestic troubles and civil +distractions." + +* Formerly General Townsend, at Quebec, and late lord-lieutenant of +Ireland. + +Lord Littleton. "My sentiments are pretty well known. I shall only +observe now that lenient measures have had no other effect than to +produce insult after insult; that the more we conceded, the higher +America rose in her demands, and the more insolent she has grown. It +is for this reason that I am now for the most effective and decisive +measures; and am of opinion that no alternative is left us, but to +relinquish America for ever, or finally determine to compel her to +acknowledge the legislative authority of this country; and it is the +principle of an unconditional submission I would be for maintaining." + +Can words be more expressive than these? Surely the Tories will +believe the Tory lords! The truth is, they do believe them and know +as fully as any Whig on the continent knows, that the king and +ministry never had the least design of an accommodation with America, +but an absolute, unconditional conquest. And the part which the +Tories were to act, was, by downright lying, to endeavor to put the +continent off its guard, and to divide and sow discontent in the +minds of such Whigs as they might gain an influence over. In short, +to keep up a distraction here, that the force sent from England might +be able to conquer in "one campaign." They and the ministry were, by +a different game, playing into each other's hands. The cry of the +Tories in England was, "No reconciliation, no accommodation," in +order to obtain the greater military force; while those in America +were crying nothing but "reconciliation and accommodation," that the +force sent might conquer with the less resistance. + +But this "single campaign" is over, and America not conquered. The +whole work is yet to do, and the force much less to do it with. Their +condition is both despicable and deplorable: out of cash- out of +heart, and out of hope. A country furnished with arms and ammunition +as America now is, with three millions of inhabitants, and three +thousand miles distant from the nearest enemy that can approach her, +is able to look and laugh them in the face. + +Howe appears to have two objects in view, either to go up the North +River, or come to Philadelphia. + +By going up the North River, he secures a retreat for his army +through Canada, but the ships must return if they return at all, the +same way they went; as our army would be in the rear, the safety of +their passage down is a doubtful matter. By such a motion he shuts +himself from all supplies from Europe, but through Canada, and +exposes his army and navy to the danger of perishing. The idea of his +cutting off the communication between the eastern and southern +states, by means of the North River, is merely visionary. He cannot +do it by his shipping; because no ship can lay long at anchor in any +river within reach of the shore; a single gun would drive a first +rate from such a station. This was fully proved last October at Forts +Washington and Lee, where one gun only, on each side of the river, +obliged two frigates to cut and be towed off in an hour's time. +Neither can he cut it off by his army; because the several posts they +must occupy would divide them almost to nothing, and expose them to +be picked up by ours like pebbles on a river's bank; but admitting +that he could, where is the injury? Because, while his whole force is +cantoned out, as sentries over the water, they will be very +innocently employed, and the moment they march into the country the +communication opens. + +The most probable object is Philadelphia, and the reasons are many. +Howe's business is to conquer it, and in proportion as he finds +himself unable to the task, he will employ his strength to distress +women and weak minds, in order to accomplish through their fears what +he cannot accomplish by his own force. His coming or attempting to +come to Philadelphia is a circumstance that proves his weakness: for +no general that felt himself able to take the field and attack his +antagonist would think of bringing his army into a city in the summer +time; and this mere shifting the scene from place to place, without +effecting any thing, has feebleness and cowardice on the face of it, +and holds him up in a contemptible light to all who can reason justly +and firmly. By several informations from New York, it appears that +their army in general, both officers and men, have given up the +expectation of conquering America; their eye now is fixed upon the +spoil. They suppose Philadelphia to be rich with stores, and as they +think to get more by robbing a town than by attacking an army, their +movement towards this city is probable. We are not now contending +against an army of soldiers, but against a band of thieves, who had +rather plunder than fight, and have no other hope of conquest than by +cruelty. + +They expect to get a mighty booty, and strike another general panic, +by making a sudden movement and getting possession of this city; but +unless they can march out as well as in, or get the entire command of +the river, to remove off their plunder, they may probably be stopped +with the stolen goods upon them. They have never yet succeeded +wherever they have been opposed, but at Fort Washington. At +Charleston their defeat was effectual. At Ticonderoga they ran away. +In every skirmish at Kingsbridge and the White Plains they were +obliged to retreat, and the instant that our arms were turned upon +them in the Jerseys, they turned likewise, and those that turned not +were taken. + +The necessity of always fitting our internal police to the +circumstances of the times we live in, is something so strikingly +obvious, that no sufficient objection can be made against it. The +safety of all societies depends upon it; and where this point is not +attended to, the consequences will either be a general languor or a +tumult. The encouragement and protection of the good subjects of any +state, and the suppression and punishment of bad ones, are the +principal objects for which all authority is instituted, and the line +in which it ought to operate. We have in this city a strange variety +of men and characters, and the circumstances of the times require +that they should be publicly known; it is not the number of Tories +that hurt us, so much as the not finding out who they are; men must +now take one side or the other, and abide by the consequences: the +Quakers, trusting to their short-sighted sagacity, have, most +unluckily for them, made their declaration in their last Testimony, +and we ought now to take them at their word. They have involuntarily +read themselves out of the continental meeting, and cannot hope to be +restored to it again but by payment and penitence. Men whose +political principles are founded on avarice, are beyond the reach of +reason, and the only cure of Toryism of this cast is to tax it. A +substantial good drawn from a real evil, is of the same benefit to +society, as if drawn from a virtue; and where men have not public +spirit to render themselves serviceable, it ought to be the study of +government to draw the best use possible from their vices. When the +governing passion of any man, or set of men, is once known, the +method of managing them is easy; for even misers, whom no public +virtue can impress, would become generous, could a heavy tax be laid +upon covetousness. + +The Tories have endeavored to insure their property with the enemy, +by forfeiting their reputation with us; from which may be justly +inferred, that their governing passion is avarice. Make them as much +afraid of losing on one side as on the other, and you stagger their +Toryism; make them more so, and you reclaim them; for their principle +is to worship the power which they are most afraid of. + +This method of considering men and things together, opens into a +large field for speculation, and affords me an opportunity of +offering some observations on the state of our currency, so as to +make the support of it go hand in hand with the suppression of +disaffection and the encouragement of public spirit. + +The thing which first presents itself in inspecting the state of the +currency, is, that we have too much of it, and that there is a +necessity of reducing the quantity, in order to increase the value. +Men are daily growing poor by the very means that they take to get +rich; for in the same proportion that the prices of all goods on hand +are raised, the value of all money laid by is reduced. A simple case +will make this clear; let a man have 100 L. in cash, and as many +goods on hand as will to-day sell for 20 L.; but not content with the +present market price, he raises them to 40 L. and by so doing obliges +others, in their own defence, to raise cent. per cent. likewise; in +this case it is evident that his hundred pounds laid by, is reduced +fifty pounds in value; whereas, had the market lowered cent. per +cent., his goods would have sold but for ten, but his hundred pounds +would have risen in value to two hundred; because it would then +purchase as many goods again, or support his family as long again as +before. And, strange as it may seem, he is one hundred and fifty +pounds the poorer for raising his goods, to what he would have been +had he lowered them; because the forty pounds which his goods sold +for, is, by the general raise of the market cent. per cent., rendered +of no more value than the ten pounds would be had the market fallen +in the same proportion; and, consequently, the whole difference of +gain or loss is on the difference in value of the hundred pounds laid +by, viz. from fifty to two hundred. This rage for raising goods is +for several reasons much more the fault of the Tories than the Whigs; +and yet the Tories (to their shame and confusion ought they to be +told of it) are by far the most noisy and discontented. The greatest +part of the Whigs, by being now either in the army or employed in +some public service, are buyers only and not sellers, and as this +evil has its origin in trade, it cannot be charged on those who are +out of it. + +But the grievance has now become too general to be remedied by +partial methods, and the only effectual cure is to reduce the +quantity of money: with half the quantity we should be richer than we +are now, because the value of it would be doubled, and consequently +our attachment to it increased; for it is not the number of dollars +that a man has, but how far they will go, that makes him either rich +or poor. These two points being admitted, viz. that the quantity of +money is too great, and that the prices of goods can only be +effectually reduced by, reducing the quantity of the money, the next +point to be considered is, the method how to reduce it. + +The circumstances of the times, as before observed, require that the +public characters of all men should now be fully understood, and the +only general method of ascertaining it is by an oath or affirmation, +renouncing all allegiance to the king of Great Britain, and to +support the independence of the United States, as declared by +Congress. Let, at the same time, a tax of ten, fifteen, or twenty per +cent. per annum, to be collected quarterly, be levied on all +property. These alternatives, by being perfectly voluntary, will take +in all sorts of people. Here is the test; here is the tax. He who +takes the former, conscientiously proves his affection to the cause, +and binds himself to pay his quota by the best services in his power, +and is thereby justly exempt from the latter; and those who choose +the latter, pay their quota in money, to be excused from the former, +or rather, it is the price paid to us for their supposed, though +mistaken, insurance with the enemy. + +But this is only a part of the advantage which would arise by knowing +the different characters of men. The Whigs stake everything on the +issue of their arms, while the Tories, by their disaffection, are +sapping and undermining their strength; and, of consequence, the +property of the Whigs is the more exposed thereby; and whatever +injury their estates may sustain by the movements of the enemy, must +either be borne by themselves, who have done everything which has yet +been done, or by the Tories, who have not only done nothing, but +have, by their disaffection, invited the enemy on. + +In the present crisis we ought to know, square by square and house by +house, who are in real allegiance with the United Independent States, +and who are not. Let but the line be made clear and distinct, and all +men will then know what they are to trust to. It would not only be +good policy but strict justice, to raise fifty or one hundred +thousand pounds, or more, if it is necessary, out of the estates and +property of the king of England's votaries, resident in Philadelphia, +to be distributed, as a reward to those inhabitants of the city and +State, who should turn out and repulse the enemy, should they attempt +to march this way; and likewise, to bind the property of all such +persons to make good the damages which that of the Whigs might +sustain. In the undistinguishable mode of conducting a war, we +frequently make reprisals at sea, on the vessels of persons in +England, who are friends to our cause compared with the resident +Tories among us. + +In every former publication of mine, from Common Sense down to the +last Crisis, I have generally gone on the charitable supposition, +that the Tories were rather a mistaken than a criminal people, and +have applied argument after argument, with all the candor and temper +which I was capable of, in order to set every part of the case +clearly and fairly before them, and if possible to reclaim them from +ruin to reason. I have done my duty by them and have now done with +that doctrine, taking it for granted, that those who yet hold their +disaffection are either a set of avaricious miscreants, who would +sacrifice the continent to save themselves, or a banditti of hungry +traitors, who are hoping for a division of the spoil. To which may be +added, a list of crown or proprietary dependants, who, rather than go +without a portion of power, would be content to share it with the +devil. Of such men there is no hope; and their obedience will only be +according to the danger set before them, and the power that is +exercised over them. + +A time will shortly arrive, in which, by ascertaining the characters +of persons now, we shall be guarded against their mischiefs then; for +in proportion as the enemy despair of conquest, they will be trying +the arts of seduction and the force of fear by all the mischiefs +which they can inflict. But in war we may be certain of these two +things, viz. that cruelty in an enemy, and motions made with more +than usual parade, are always signs of weakness. He that can conquer, +finds his mind too free and pleasant to be brutish; and he that +intends to conquer, never makes too much show of his strength. + +We now know the enemy we have to do with. While drunk with the +certainty of victory, they disdained to be civil; and in proportion +as disappointment makes them sober, and their apprehensions of an +European war alarm them, they will become cringing and artful; honest +they cannot be. But our answer to them, in either condition they may +be in, is short and full- "As free and independent States we are +willing to make peace with you to-morrow, but we neither can hear nor +reply in any other character." + +If Britain cannot conquer us, it proves that she is neither able to +govern nor protect us, and our particular situation now is such, that +any connection with her would be unwisely exchanging a half-defeated +enemy for two powerful ones. Europe, by every appearance, is now on +the eve, nay, on the morning twilight of a war, and any alliance with +George the Third brings France and Spain upon our backs; a separation +from him attaches them to our side; therefore, the only road to +peace, honor and commerce is Independence. + +Written this fourth year of the UNION, which God preserve. + + COMMON SENSE. + + PHILADELPHIA, April 19, 1777. + + + The Crisis + + IV. + +THOSE who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, +undergo the fatigues of supporting it. The event of yesterday was one +of those kind of alarms which is just sufficient to rouse us to duty, +without being of consequence enough to depress our fortitude. It is +not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are +defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by +degrees, the consequences will be the same. + +Look back at the events of last winter and the present year, there +you will find that the enemy's successes always contributed to reduce +them. What they have gained in ground, they paid so dearly for in +numbers, that their victories have in the end amounted to defeats. We +have always been masters at the last push, and always shall be while +we do our duty. Howe has been once on the banks of the Delaware, and +from thence driven back with loss and disgrace: and why not be again +driven from the Schuylkill? His condition and ours are very +different. He has everybody to fight, we have only his one army to +cope with, and which wastes away at every engagement: we can not only +reinforce, but can redouble our numbers; he is cut off from all +supplies, and must sooner or later inevitably fall into our hands. + +Shall a band of ten or twelve thousand robbers, who are this day +fifteen hundred or two thousand men less in strength than they were +yesterday, conquer America, or subdue even a single state? The thing +cannot be, unless we sit down and suffer them to do it. Another such +a brush, notwithstanding we lost the ground, would, by still reducing +the enemy, put them in a condition to be afterwards totally defeated. +Could our whole army have come up to the attack at one time, the +consequences had probably been otherwise; but our having different +parts of the Brandywine creek to guard, and the uncertainty which +road to Philadelphia the enemy would attempt to take, naturally +afforded them an opportunity of passing with their main body at a +place where only a part of ours could be posted; for it must strike +every thinking man with conviction, that it requires a much greater +force to oppose an enemy in several places, than is sufficient to +defeat him in any one place. + +Men who are sincere in defending their freedom, will always feel +concern at every circumstance which seems to make against them; it is +the natural and honest consequence of all affectionate attachments, +and the want of it is a vice. But the dejection lasts only for a +moment; they soon rise out of it with additional vigor; the glow of +hope, courage and fortitude, will, in a little time, supply the place +of every inferior passion, and kindle the whole heart into heroism. + +There is a mystery in the countenance of some causes, which we have +not always present judgment enough to explain. It is distressing to +see an enemy advancing into a country, but it is the only place in +which we can beat them, and in which we have always beaten them, +whenever they made the attempt. The nearer any disease approaches to +a crisis, the nearer it is to a cure. Danger and deliverance make +their advances together, and it is only the last push, in which one +or the other takes the lead. + +There are many men who will do their duty when it is not wanted; but +a genuine public spirit always appears most when there is most +occasion for it. Thank God! our army, though fatigued, is yet entire. +The attack made by us yesterday, was under many disadvantages, +naturally arising from the uncertainty of knowing which route the +enemy would take; and, from that circumstance, the whole of our force +could not be brought up together time enough to engage all at once. +Our strength is yet reserved; and it is evident that Howe does not +think himself a gainer by the affair, otherwise he would this morning +have moved down and attacked General Washington. + +Gentlemen of the city and country, it is in your power, by a spirited +improvement of the present circumstance, to turn it to a real +advantage. Howe is now weaker than before, and every shot will +contribute to reduce him. You are more immediately interested than +any other part of the continent: your all is at stake; it is not so +with the general cause; you are devoted by the enemy to plunder and +destruction: it is the encouragement which Howe, the chief of +plunderers, has promised his army. Thus circumstanced, you may save +yourselves by a manly resistance, but you can have no hope in any +other conduct. I never yet knew our brave general, or any part of the +army, officers or men, out of heart, and I have seen them in +circumstances a thousand times more trying than the present. It is +only those that are not in action, that feel languor and heaviness, +and the best way to rub it off is to turn out, and make sure work of +it. + +Our army must undoubtedly feel fatigue, and want a reinforcement of +rest though not of valor. Our own interest and happiness call upon us +to give them every support in our power, and make the burden of the +day, on which the safety of this city depends, as light as possible. +Remember, gentlemen, that we have forces both to the northward and +southward of Philadelphia, and if the enemy be but stopped till those +can arrive, this city will be saved, and the enemy finally routed. +You have too much at stake to hesitate. You ought not to think an +hour upon the matter, but to spring to action at once. Other states +have been invaded, have likewise driven off the invaders. Now our +time and turn is come, and perhaps the finishing stroke is reserved +for us. When we look back on the dangers we have been saved from, and +reflect on the success we have been blessed with, it would be sinful +either to be idle or to despair. + +I close this paper with a short address to General Howe. You, sir, +are only lingering out the period that shall bring with it your +defeat. You have yet scarce began upon the war, and the further you +enter, the faster will your troubles thicken. What you now enjoy is +only a respite from ruin; an invitation to destruction; something +that will lead on to our deliverance at your expense. We know the +cause which we are engaged in, and though a passionate fondness for +it may make us grieve at every injury which threatens it, yet, when +the moment of concern is over, the determination to duty returns. We +are not moved by the gloomy smile of a worthless king, but by the +ardent glow of generous patriotism. We fight not to enslave, but to +set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to +live in. In such a case we are sure that we are right; and we leave +to you the despairing reflection of being the tool of a miserable +tyrant. + + COMMON SENSE. + + PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 12, 1777. + + + THE CRISIS. + + V. + + TO GEN. SIR WILLIAM HOWE. + +TO argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of +reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in +contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring +to convert an atheist by scripture. Enjoy, sir, your insensibility of +feeling and reflecting. It is the prerogative of animals. And no man +will envy you these honors, in which a savage only can be your rival +and a bear your master. + +As the generosity of this country rewarded your brother's services in +the last war, with an elegant monument in Westminster Abbey, it is +consistent that she should bestow some mark of distinction upon you. +You certainly deserve her notice, and a conspicuous place in the +catalogue of extraordinary persons. Yet it would be a pity to pass +you from the world in state, and consign you to magnificent oblivion +among the tombs, without telling the future beholder why. Judas is as +much known as John, yet history ascribes their fame to very different +actions. + +Sir William has undoubtedly merited a monument; but of what kind, or +with what inscription, where placed or how embellished, is a question +that would puzzle all the heralds of St. James's in the profoundest +mood of historical deliberation. We are at no loss, sir, to ascertain +your real character, but somewhat perplexed how to perpetuate its +identity, and preserve it uninjured from the transformations of time +or mistake. A statuary may give a false expression to your bust, or +decorate it with some equivocal emblems, by which you may happen to +steal into reputation and impose upon the hereafter traditionary +world. Ill nature or ridicule may conspire, or a variety of accidents +combine to lessen, enlarge, or change Sir William's fame; and no +doubt but he who has taken so much pains to be singular in his +conduct, would choose to be just as singular in his exit, his +monument and his epitaph. + +The usual honors of the dead, to be sure, are not sufficiently +sublime to escort a character like you to the republic of dust and +ashes; for however men may differ in their ideas of grandeur or of +government here, the grave is nevertheless a perfect republic. Death +is not the monarch of the dead, but of the dying. The moment he +obtains a conquest he loses a subject, and, like the foolish king you +serve, will, in the end, war himself out of all his dominions. + +As a proper preliminary towards the arrangement of your funeral +honors, we readily admit of your new rank of knighthood. The title is +perfectly in character, and is your own, more by merit than creation. +There are knights of various orders, from the knight of the windmill +to the knight of the post. The former is your patron for exploits, +and the latter will assist you in settling your accounts. No honorary +title could be more happily applied! The ingenuity is sublime! And +your royal master has discovered more genius in fitting you +therewith, than in generating the most finished figure for a button, +or descanting on the properties of a button mould. + +But how, sir, shall we dispose of you? The invention of a statuary is +exhausted, and Sir William is yet unprovided with a monument. America +is anxious to bestow her funeral favors upon you, and wishes to do it +in a manner that shall distinguish you from all the deceased heroes +of the last war. The Egyptian method of embalming is not known to the +present age, and hieroglyphical pageantry hath outlived the science +of deciphering it. Some other method, therefore, must be thought of +to immortalize the new knight of the windmill and post. Sir William, +thanks to his stars, is not oppressed with very delicate ideas. He +has no ambition of being wrapped up and handed about in myrrh, aloes +and cassia. Less expensive odors will suffice; and it fortunately +happens that the simple genius of America has discovered the art of +preserving bodies, and embellishing them too, with much greater +frugality than the ancients. In balmage, sir, of humble tar, you will +be as secure as Pharaoh, and in a hieroglyphic of feathers, rival in +finery all the mummies of Egypt. + +As you have already made your exit from the moral world, and by +numberless acts both of passionate and deliberate injustice engraved +an "here lieth" on your deceased honor, it must be mere affectation +in you to pretend concern at the humors or opinions of mankind +respecting you. What remains of you may expire at any time. The +sooner the better. For he who survives his reputation, lives out of +despite of himself, like a man listening to his own reproach. + +Thus entombed and ornamented, I leave you to the inspection of the +curious, and return to the history of your yet surviving actions. The +character of Sir William has undergone some extraordinary +revolutions. since his arrival in America. It is now fixed and known; +and we have nothing to hope from your candor or to fear from your +capacity. Indolence and inability have too large a share in your +composition, ever to suffer you to be anything more than the hero of +little villainies and unfinished adventures. That, which to some +persons appeared moderation in you at first, was not produced by any +real virtue of your own, but by a contrast of passions, dividing and +holding you in perpetual irresolution. One vice will frequently expel +another, without the least merit in the man; as powers in contrary +directions reduce each other to rest. + +It became you to have supported a dignified solemnity of character; +to have shown a superior liberality of soul; to have won respect by +an obstinate perseverance in maintaining order, and to have exhibited +on all occasions such an unchangeable graciousness of conduct, that +while we beheld in you the resolution of an enemy, we might admire in +you the sincerity of a man. You came to America under the high +sounding titles of commander and commissioner; not only to suppress +what you call rebellion, by arms, but to shame it out of countenance +by the excellence of your example. Instead of which, you have been +the patron of low and vulgar frauds, the encourager of Indian +cruelties; and have imported a cargo of vices blacker than those +which you pretend to suppress. + +Mankind are not universally agreed in their determination of right +and wrong; but there are certain actions which the consent of all +nations and individuals has branded with the unchangeable name of +meanness. In the list of human vices we find some of such a refined +constitution, they cannot be carried into practice without seducing +some virtue to their assistance; but meanness has neither alliance +nor apology. It is generated in the dust and sweepings of other +vices, and is of such a hateful figure that all the rest conspire to +disown it. Sir William, the commissioner of George the Third, has at +last vouchsafed to give it rank and pedigree. He has placed the +fugitive at the council board, and dubbed it companion of the order +of knighthood. + +The particular act of meanness which I allude to in this description, +is forgery. You, sir, have abetted and patronized the forging and +uttering counterfeit continental bills. In the same New York +newspapers in which your own proclamation under your master's +authority was published, offering, or pretending to offer, pardon and +protection to these states, there were repeated advertisements of +counterfeit money for sale, and persons who have come officially from +you, and under the sanction of your flag, have been taken up in +attempting to put them off. + +A conduct so basely mean in a public character is without precedent +or pretence. Every nation on earth, whether friends or enemies, will +unite in despising you. 'Tis an incendiary war upon society, which +nothing can excuse or palliate,- an improvement upon beggarly +villany- and shows an inbred wretchedness of heart made up between +the venomous malignity of a serpent and the spiteful imbecility of an +inferior reptile. + +The laws of any civilized country would condemn you to the gibbet +without regard to your rank or titles, because it is an action +foreign to the usage and custom of war; and should you fall into our +hands, which pray God you may, it will be a doubtful matter whether +we are to consider you as a military prisoner or a prisoner for +felony. + +Besides, it is exceedingly unwise and impolitic in you, or any other +persons in the English service, to promote or even encourage, or wink +at the crime of forgery, in any case whatever. Because, as the riches +of England, as a nation, are chiefly in paper, and the far greater +part of trade among individuals is carried on by the same medium, +that is, by notes and drafts on one another, they, therefore, of all +people in the world, ought to endeavor to keep forgery out of sight, +and, if possible, not to revive the idea of it. It is dangerous to +make men familiar with a crime which they may afterwards practise to +much greater advantage against those who first taught them. Several +officers in the English army have made their exit at the gallows for +forgery on their agents; for we all know, who know any thing of +England, that there is not a more necessitous body of men, taking +them generally, than what the English officers are. They contrive to +make a show at the expense of the tailors, and appear clean at the +charge of the washer-women. + +England, has at this time, nearly two hundred million pounds sterling +of public money in paper, for which she has no real property: besides +a large circulation of bank notes, bank post bills, and promissory +notes and drafts of private bankers, merchants and tradesmen. She has +the greatest quantity of paper currency and the least quantity of +gold and silver of any nation in Europe; the real specie, which is +about sixteen millions sterling, serves only as change in large sums, +which are always made in paper, or for payment in small ones. Thus +circumstanced, the nation is put to its wit's end, and obliged to be +severe almost to criminality, to prevent the practice and growth of +forgery. Scarcely a session passes at the Old Bailey, or an execution +at Tyburn, but witnesses this truth, yet you, sir, regardless of the +policy which her necessity obliges her to adopt, have made your whole +army intimate with the crime. And as all armies at the conclusion of +a war, are too apt to carry into practice the vices of the campaign, +it will probably happen, that England will hereafter abound in +forgeries, to which art the practitioners were first initiated under +your authority in America. You, sir, have the honor of adding a new +vice to the military catalogue; and the reason, perhaps, why the +invention was reserved for you, is, because no general before was +mean enough even to think of it. + +That a man whose soul is absorbed in the low traffic of vulgar vice, +is incapable of moving in any superior region, is clearly shown in +you by the event of every campaign. Your military exploits have been +without plan, object or decision. Can it be possible that you or your +employers suppose that the possession of Philadelphia will be any +ways equal to the expense or expectation of the nation which supports +you? What advantages does England derive from any achievements of +yours? To her it is perfectly indifferent what place you are in, so +long as the business of conquest is unperformed and the charge of +maintaining you remains the same. + +If the principal events of the three campaigns be attended to, the +balance will appear against you at the close of each; but the last, +in point of importance to us, has exceeded the former two. It is +pleasant to look back on dangers past, and equally as pleasant to +meditate on present ones when the way out begins to appear. That +period is now arrived, and the long doubtful winter of war is +changing to the sweeter prospects of victory and joy. At the close of +the campaign, in 1775, you were obliged to retreat from Boston. In +the summer of 1776, you appeared with a numerous fleet and army in +the harbor of New York. By what miracle the continent was preserved +in that season of danger is a subject of admiration! If instead of +wasting your time against Long Island you had run up the North River, +and landed any where above New York, the consequence must have been, +that either you would have compelled General Washington to fight you +with very unequal numbers, or he must have suddenly evacuated the +city with the loss of nearly all the stores of his army, or have +surrendered for want of provisions; the situation of the place +naturally producing one or the other of these events. + +The preparations made to defend New York were, nevertheless, wise and +military; because your forces were then at sea, their numbers +uncertain; storms, sickness, or a variety of accidents might have +disabled their coming, or so diminished them on their passage, that +those which survived would have been incapable of opening the +campaign with any prospect of success; in which case the defence +would have been sufficient and the place preserved; for cities that +have been raised from nothing with an infinitude of labor and +expense, are not to be thrown away on the bare probability of their +being taken. On these grounds the preparations made to maintain New +York were as judicious as the retreat afterwards. While you, in the +interim, let slip the very opportunity which seemed to put conquest +in your power. + +Through the whole of that campaign you had nearly double the forces +which General Washington immediately commanded. The principal plan at +that time, on our part, was to wear away the season with as little +loss as possible, and to raise the army for the next year. Long +Island, New York, Forts Washington and Lee were not defended after +your superior force was known under any expectation of their being +finally maintained, but as a range of outworks, in the attacking of +which your time might be wasted, your numbers reduced, and your +vanity amused by possessing them on our retreat. It was intended to +have withdrawn the garrison from Fort Washington after it had +answered the former of those purposes, but the fate of that day put a +prize into your hands without much honor to yourselves. + +Your progress through the Jerseys was accidental; you had it not even +in contemplation, or you would not have sent a principal part of your +forces to Rhode Island beforehand. The utmost hope of America in the +year 1776, reached no higher than that she might not then be +conquered. She had no expectation of defeating you in that campaign. +Even the most cowardly Tory allowed, that, could she withstand the +shock of that summer, her independence would be past a doubt. You had +then greatly the advantage of her. You were formidable. Your military +knowledge was supposed to be complete. Your fleets and forces arrived +without an accident. You had neither experience nor reinforcements to +wait for. You had nothing to do but to begin, and your chance lay in +the first vigorous onset. + +America was young and unskilled. She was obliged to trust her defence +to time and practice; and has, by mere dint of perseverance, +maintained her cause, and brought the enemy to a condition, in which +she is now capable of meeting him on any grounds. + +It is remarkable that in the campaign of 1776 you gained no more, +notwithstanding your great force, than what was given you by consent +of evacuation, except Fort Washington; while every advantage obtained +by us was by fair and hard fighting. The defeat of Sir Peter Parker +was complete. The conquest of the Hessians at Trenton, by the remains +of a retreating army, which but a few days before you affected to +despise, is an instance of their heroic perseverance very seldom to +be met with. And the victory over the British troops at Princeton, by +a harassed and wearied party, who had been engaged the day before and +marched all night without refreshment, is attended with such a scene +of circumstances and superiority of generalship, as will ever give it +a place in the first rank in the history of great actions. + +When I look back on the gloomy days of last winter, and see America +suspended by a thread, I feel a triumph of joy at the recollection of +her delivery, and a reverence for the characters which snatched her +from destruction. To doubt now would be a species of infidelity, and +to forget the instruments which saved us then would be ingratitude. + +The close of that campaign left us with the spirit of conquerors. The +northern districts were relieved by the retreat of General Carleton +over the lakes. The army under your command were hunted back and had +their bounds prescribed. The continent began to feel its military +importance, and the winter passed pleasantly away in preparations for +the next campaign. + +However confident you might be on your first arrival, the result of +the year 1776 gave you some idea of the difficulty, if not +impossibility of conquest. To this reason I ascribe your delay in +opening the campaign of 1777. The face of matters, on the close of +the former year, gave you no encouragement to pursue a discretionary +war as soon as the spring admitted the taking the field; for though +conquest, in that case, would have given you a double portion of +fame, yet the experiment was too hazardous. The ministry, had you +failed, would have shifted the whole blame upon you, charged you with +having acted without orders, and condemned at once both your plan and +execution. + +To avoid the misfortunes, which might have involved you and your +money accounts in perplexity and suspicion, you prudently waited the +arrival of a plan of operations from England, which was that you +should proceed for Philadelphia by way of the Chesapeake, and that +Burgoyne, after reducing Ticonderoga, should take his route by +Albany, and, if necessary, join you. + +The splendid laurels of the last campaign have flourished in the +north. In that quarter America has surprised the world, and laid the +foundation of this year's glory. The conquest of Ticonderoga, (if it +may be called a conquest) has, like all your other victories, led on +to ruin. Even the provisions taken in that fortress (which by General +Burgoyne's return was sufficient in bread and flour for nearly 5000 +men for ten weeks, and in beef and pork for the same number of men +for one month) served only to hasten his overthrow, by enabling him +to proceed to Saratoga, the place of his destruction. A short review +of the operations of the last campaign will show the condition of +affairs on both sides. + +You have taken Ticonderoga and marched into Philadelphia. These are +all the events which the year has produced on your part. A trifling +campaign indeed, compared with the expenses of England and the +conquest of the continent. On the other side, a considerable part of +your northern force has been routed by the New York militia under +General Herkemer. Fort Stanwix has bravely survived a compound attack +of soldiers and savages, and the besiegers have fled. The Battle of +Bennington has put a thousand prisoners into our hands, with all +their arms, stores, artillery and baggage. General Burgoyne, in two +engagements, has been defeated; himself, his army, and all that were +his and theirs are now ours. Ticonderoga and Independence [forts] are +retaken, and not the shadow of an enemy remains in all the northern +districts. At this instant we have upwards of eleven thousand +prisoners, between sixty and seventy [captured] pieces of brass +ordnance, besides small arms, tents, stores, etc. + +In order to know the real value of those advantages, we must reverse +the scene, and suppose General Gates and the force he commanded to be +at your mercy as prisoners, and General Burgoyne, with his army of +soldiers and savages, to be already joined to you in Pennsylvania. So +dismal a picture can scarcely be looked at. It has all the tracings +and colorings of horror and despair; and excites the most swelling +emotions of gratitude by exhibiting the miseries we are so graciously +preserved from. + +I admire the distribution of laurels around the continent. It is the +earnest of future union. South Carolina has had her day of sufferings +and of fame; and the other southern States have exerted themselves in +proportion to the force that invaded or insulted them. Towards the +close of the campaign, in 1776, these middle States were called upon +and did their duty nobly. They were witnesses to the almost expiring +flame of human freedom. It was the close struggle of life and death, +the line of invisible division; and on which the unabated fortitude +of a Washington prevailed, and saved the spark that has since blazed +in the north with unrivalled lustre. + +Let me ask, sir, what great exploits have you performed? Through all +the variety of changes and opportunities which the war has produced, +I know no one action of yours that can be styled masterly. You have +moved in and out, backward and forward, round and round, as if valor +consisted in a military jig. The history and figure of your movements +would be truly ridiculous could they be justly delineated. They +resemble the labors of a puppy pursuing his tail; the end is still at +the same distance, and all the turnings round must be done over again. + +The first appearance of affairs at Ticonderoga wore such an +unpromising aspect, that it was necessary, in July, to detach a part +of the forces to the support of that quarter, which were otherwise +destined or intended to act against you; and this, perhaps, has been +the means of postponing your downfall to another campaign. The +destruction of one army at a time is work enough. We know, sir, what +we are about, what we have to do, and how to do it. + +Your progress from the Chesapeake, was marked by no capital stroke of +policy or heroism. Your principal aim was to get General Washington +between the Delaware and Schuylkill, and between Philadelphia and +your army. In that situation, with a river on each of his flanks, +which united about five miles below the city, and your army above +him, you could have intercepted his reinforcements and supplies, cut +off all his communication with the country, and, if necessary, have +despatched assistance to open a passage for General Burgoyne. This +scheme was too visible to succeed: for had General Washington +suffered you to command the open country above him, I think it a very +reasonable conjecture that the conquest of Burgoyne would not have +taken place, because you could, in that case, have relieved him. It +was therefore necessary, while that important victory was in +suspense, to trepan you into a situation in which you could only be +on the defensive, without the power of affording him assistance. The +manoeuvre had its effect, and Burgoyne was conquered. + +There has been something unmilitary and passive in you from the time +of your passing the Schuylkill and getting possession of +Philadelphia, to the close of the campaign. You mistook a trap for a +conquest, the probability of which had been made known to Europe, and +the edge of your triumph taken off by our own information long before. + +Having got you into this situation, a scheme for a general attack +upon you at Germantown was carried into execution on the 4th of +October, and though the success was not equal to the excellence of +the plan, yet the attempting it proved the genius of America to be on +the rise, and her power approaching to superiority. The obscurity of +the morning was your best friend, for a fog is always favorable to a +hunted enemy. Some weeks after this you likewise planned an attack on +General Washington while at Whitemarsh. You marched out with infinite +parade, but on finding him preparing to attack you next morning, you +prudently turned about, and retreated to Philadelphia with all the +precipitation of a man conquered in imagination. + +Immediately after the battle of Germantown, the probability of +Burgoyne's defeat gave a new policy to affairs in Pennsylvania, and +it was judged most consistent with the general safety of America, to +wait the issue of the northern campaign. Slow and sure is sound work. +The news of that victory arrived in our camp on the 18th of October, +and no sooner did that shout of joy, and the report of the thirteen +cannon reach your ears, than you resolved upon a retreat, and the +next day, that is, on the 19th, you withdrew your drooping army into +Philadelphia. This movement was evidently dictated by fear; and +carried with it a positive confession that you dreaded a second +attack. It was hiding yourself among women and children, and sleeping +away the choicest part of the campaign in expensive inactivity. An +army in a city can never be a conquering army. The situation admits +only of defence. It is mere shelter: and every military power in +Europe will conclude you to be eventually defeated. + +The time when you made this retreat was the very time you ought to +have fought a battle, in order to put yourself in condition of +recovering in Pennsylvania what you had lost in Saratoga. And the +reason why you did not, must be either prudence or cowardice; the +former supposes your inability, and the latter needs no explanation. +I draw no conclusions, sir, but such as are naturally deduced from +known and visible facts, and such as will always have a being while +the facts which produced them remain unaltered. + +After this retreat a new difficulty arose which exhibited the power +of Britain in a very contemptible light; which was the attack and +defence of Mud Island. For several weeks did that little unfinished +fortress stand out against all the attempts of Admiral and General +Howe. It was the fable of Bender realized on the Delaware. Scheme +after scheme, and force upon force were tried and defeated. The +garrison, with scarce anything to cover them but their bravery, +survived in the midst of mud, shot and shells, and were at last +obliged to give it up more to the powers of time and gunpowder than +to military superiority of the besiegers. + +It is my sincere opinion that matters are in much worse condition +with you than what is generally known. Your master's speech at the +opening of Parliament, is like a soliloquy on ill luck. It shows him +to be coming a little to his reason, for sense of pain is the first +symptom of recovery, in profound stupefaction. His condition is +deplorable. He is obliged to submit to all the insults of France and +Spain, without daring to know or resent them; and thankful for the +most trivial evasions to the most humble remonstrances. The time was +when he could not deign an answer to a petition from America, and the +time now is when he dare not give an answer to an affront from +France. The capture of Burgoyne's army will sink his consequence as +much in Europe as in America. In his speech he expresses his +suspicions at the warlike preparations of France and Spain, and as he +has only the one army which you command to support his character in +the world with, it remains very uncertain when, or in what quarter it +will be most wanted, or can be best employed; and this will partly +account for the great care you take to keep it from action and +attacks, for should Burgoyne's fate be yours, which it probably will, +England may take her endless farewell not only of all America but of +all the West Indies. + +Never did a nation invite destruction upon itself with the eagerness +and the ignorance with which Britain has done. Bent upon the ruin of +a young and unoffending country, she has drawn the sword that has +wounded herself to the heart, and in the agony of her resentment has +applied a poison for a cure. Her conduct towards America is a +compound of rage and lunacy; she aims at the government of it, yet +preserves neither dignity nor character in her methods to obtain it. +Were government a mere manufacture or article of commerce, immaterial +by whom it should be made or sold, we might as well employ her as +another, but when we consider it as the fountain from whence the +general manners and morality of a country take their rise, that the +persons entrusted with the execution thereof are by their serious +example an authority to support these principles, how abominably +absurd is the idea of being hereafter governed by a set of men who +have been guilty of forgery, perjury, treachery, theft and every +species of villany which the lowest wretches on earth could practise +or invent. What greater public curse can befall any country than to +be under such authority, and what greater blessing than to be +delivered therefrom. The soul of any man of sentiment would rise in +brave rebellion against them, and spurn them from the earth. + +The malignant and venomous tempered General Vaughan has amused his +savage fancy in burning the whole town of Kingston, in York +government, and the late governor of that state, Mr. Tryon, in his +letter to General Parsons, has endeavored to justify it and declared +his wish to burn the houses of every committeeman in the country. +Such a confession from one who was once intrusted with the powers of +civil government, is a reproach to the character. But it is the wish +and the declaration of a man whom anguish and disappointment have +driven to despair, and who is daily decaying into the grave with +constitutional rottenness. + +There is not in the compass of language a sufficiency of words to +express the baseness of your king, his ministry and his army. They +have refined upon villany till it wants a name. To the fiercer vices +of former ages they have added the dregs and scummings of the most +finished rascality, and are so completely sunk in serpentine deceit, +that there is not left among them one generous enemy. + +From such men and such masters, may the gracious hand of Heaven +preserve America! And though the sufferings she now endures are +heavy, and severe, they are like straws in the wind compared to the +weight of evils she would feel under the government of your king, and +his pensioned Parliament. + +There is something in meanness which excites a species of resentment +that never subsides, and something in cruelty which stirs up the +heart to the highest agony of human hatred; Britain has filled up +both these characters till no addition can be made, and has not +reputation left with us to obtain credit for the slightest promise. +The will of God has parted us, and the deed is registered for +eternity. When she shall be a spot scarcely visible among the +nations, America shall flourish the favorite of heaven, and the +friend of mankind. + +For the domestic happiness of Britain and the peace of the world, I +wish she had not a foot of land but what is circumscribed within her +own island. Extent of dominion has been her ruin, and instead of +civilizing others has brutalized herself. Her late reduction of +India, under Clive and his successors, was not so properly a conquest +as an extermination of mankind. She is the only power who could +practise the prodigal barbarity of tying men to mouths of loaded +cannon and blowing them away. It happens that General Burgoyne, who +made the report of that horrid transaction, in the House of Commons, +is now a prisoner with us, and though an enemy, I can appeal to him +for the truth of it, being confident that he neither can nor will +deny it. Yet Clive received the approbation of the last Parliament. + +When we take a survey of mankind, we cannot help cursing the wretch, +who, to the unavoidable misfortunes of nature, shall wilfully add the +calamities of war. One would think there were evils enough in the +world without studying to increase them, and that life is +sufficiently short without shaking the sand that measures it. The +histories of Alexander, and Charles of Sweden, are the histories of +human devils; a good man cannot think of their actions without +abhorrence, nor of their deaths without rejoicing. To see the +bounties of heaven destroyed, the beautiful face of nature laid +waste, and the choicest works of creation and art tumbled into ruin, +would fetch a curse from the soul of piety itself. But in this +country the aggravation is heightened by a new combination of +affecting circumstances. America was young, and, compared with other +countries, was virtuous. None but a Herod of uncommon malice would +have made war upon infancy and innocence: and none but a people of +the most finished fortitude, dared under those circumstances, have +resisted the tyranny. The natives, or their ancestors, had fled from +the former oppressions of England, and with the industry of bees had +changed a wilderness into a habitable world. To Britain they were +indebted for nothing. The country was the gift of heaven, and God +alone is their Lord and Sovereign. + +The time, sir, will come when you, in a melancholy hour, shall reckon +up your miseries by your murders in America. Life, with you, begins +to wear a clouded aspect. The vision of pleasurable delusion is +wearing away, and changing to the barren wild of age and sorrow. The +poor reflection of having served your king will yield you no +consolation in your parting moments. He will crumble to the same +undistinguished ashes with yourself, and have sins enough of his own +to answer for. It is not the farcical benedictions of a bishop, nor +the cringing hypocrisy of a court of chaplains, nor the formality of +an act of Parliament, that can change guilt into innocence, or make +the punishment one pang the less. You may, perhaps, be unwilling to +be serious, but this destruction of the goods of Providence, this +havoc of the human race, and this sowing the world with mischief, +must be accounted for to him who made and governs it. To us they are +only present sufferings, but to him they are deep rebellions. + +If there is a sin superior to every other, it is that of wilful and +offensive war. Most other sins are circumscribed within narrow +limits, that is, the power of one man cannot give them a very general +extension, and many kinds of sins have only a mental existence from +which no infection arises; but he who is the author of a war, lets +loose the whole contagion of hell, and opens a vein that bleeds a +nation to death. We leave it to England and Indians to boast of these +honors; we feel no thirst for such savage glory; a nobler flame, a +purer spirit animates America. She has taken up the sword of virtuous +defence; she has bravely put herself between Tyranny and Freedom, +between a curse and a blessing, determined to expel the one and +protect the other. + +It is the object only of war that makes it honorable. And if there +was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which +America is now engaged. She invaded no land of yours. She hired no +mercenaries to burn your towns, nor Indians to massacre their +inhabitants. She wanted nothing from you, and was indebted for +nothing to you: and thus circumstanced, her defence is honorable and +her prosperity is certain. + +Yet it is not on the justice only, but likewise on the importance of +this cause that I ground my seeming enthusiastical confidence of our +success. The vast extension of America makes her of too much value in +the scale of Providence, to be cast like a pearl before swine, at the +feet of an European island; and of much less consequence would it be +that Britain were sunk in the sea than that America should miscarry. +There has been such a chain of extraordinary events in the discovery +of this country at first, in the peopling and planting it afterwards, +in the rearing and nursing it to its present state, and in the +protection of it through the present war, that no man can doubt, but +Providence has some nobler end to accomplish than the gratification +of the petty elector of Hanover, or the ignorant and insignificant +king of Britain. + +As the blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the Christian +church, so the political persecutions of England will and have +already enriched America with industry, experience, union, and +importance. Before the present era she was a mere chaos of uncemented +colonies, individually exposed to the ravages of the Indians and the +invasion of any power that Britain should be at war with. She had +nothing that she could call her own. Her felicity depended upon +accident. The convulsions of Europe might have thrown her from one +conqueror to another, till she had been the slave of all, and ruined +by every one; for until she had spirit enough to become her own +master, there was no knowing to which master she should belong. That +period, thank God, is past, and she is no longer the dependent, +disunited colonies of Britain, but the independent and United States +of America, knowing no master but heaven and herself. You, or your +king, may call this "delusion," "rebellion," or what name you please. +To us it is perfectly indifferent. The issue will determine the +character, and time will give it a name as lasting as his own. + +You have now, sir, tried the fate of three campaigns, and can fully +declare to England, that nothing is to be got on your part, but blows +and broken bones, and nothing on hers but waste of trade and credit, +and an increase of poverty and taxes. You are now only where you +might have been two years ago, without the loss of a single ship, and +yet not a step more forward towards the conquest of the continent; +because, as I have already hinted, "an army in a city can never be a +conquering army." The full amount of your losses, since the beginning +of the war, exceeds twenty thousand men, besides millions of +treasure, for which you have nothing in exchange. Our expenses, +though great, are circulated within ourselves. Yours is a direct +sinking of money, and that from both ends at once; first, in hiring +troops out of the nation, and in paying them afterwards, because the +money in neither case can return to Britain. We are already in +possession of the prize, you only in pursuit of it. To us it is a +real treasure, to you it would be only an empty triumph. Our expenses +will repay themselves with tenfold interest, while yours entail upon +you everlasting poverty. + +Take a review, sir, of the ground which you have gone over, and let +it teach you policy, if it cannot honesty. You stand but on a very +tottering foundation. A change of the ministry in England may +probably bring your measures into question, and your head to the +block. Clive, with all his successes, had some difficulty in +escaping, and yours being all a war of losses, will afford you less +pretensions, and your enemies more grounds for impeachment. + +Go home, sir, and endeavor to save the remains of your ruined +country, by a just representation of the madness of her measures. A +few moments, well applied, may yet preserve her from political +destruction. I am not one of those who wish to see Europe in a flame, +because I am persuaded that such an event will not shorten the war. +The rupture, at present, is confined between the two powers of +America and England. England finds that she cannot conquer America, +and America has no wish to conquer England. You are fighting for what +you can never obtain, and we defending what we never mean to part +with. A few words, therefore, settle the bargain. Let England mind +her own business and we will mind ours. Govern yourselves, and we +will govern ourselves. You may then trade where you please unmolested +by us, and we will trade where we please unmolested by you; and such +articles as we can purchase of each other better than elsewhere may +be mutually done. If it were possible that you could carry on the war +for twenty years you must still come to this point at last, or worse, +and the sooner you think of it the better it will be for you. + +My official situation enables me to know the repeated insults which +Britain is obliged to put up with from foreign powers, and the +wretched shifts that she is driven to, to gloss them over. Her +reduced strength and exhausted coffers in a three years' war with +America, has given a powerful superiority to France and Spain. She is +not now a match for them. But if neither councils can prevail on her +to think, nor sufferings awaken her to reason, she must e'en go on, +till the honor of England becomes a proverb of contempt, and Europe +dub her the Land of Fools. + +I am, Sir, with every wish for an honorable peace, + + Your friend, enemy, and countryman, + + COMMON SENSE. + + TO THE INHABITANTS OF AMERICA. + +WITH all the pleasure with which a man exchanges bad company for +good, I take my leave of Sir William and return to you. It is now +nearly three years since the tyranny of Britain received its first +repulse by the arms of America. A period which has given birth to a +new world, and erected a monument to the folly of the old. + +I cannot help being sometimes surprised at the complimentary +references which I have seen and heard made to ancient histories and +transactions. The wisdom, civil governments, and sense of honor of +the states of Greece and Rome, are frequently held up as objects of +excellence and imitation. Mankind have lived to very little purpose, +if, at this period of the world, they must go two or three thousand +years back for lessons and examples. We do great injustice to +ourselves by placing them in such a superior line. We have no just +authority for it, neither can we tell why it is that we should +suppose ourselves inferior. + +Could the mist of antiquity be cleared away, and men and things be +viewed as they really were, it is more than probable that they would +admire us, rather than we them. America has surmounted a greater +variety and combination of difficulties, than, I believe, ever fell +to the share of any one people, in the same space of time, and has +replenished the world with more useful knowledge and sounder maxims +of civil government than were ever produced in any age before. Had it +not been for America, there had been no such thing as freedom left +throughout the whole universe. England has lost hers in a long chain +of right reasoning from wrong principles, and it is from this +country, now, that she must learn the resolution to redress herself, +and the wisdom how to accomplish it. + +The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of +liberty but not the principle, for at the time that they were +determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to +enslave the rest of mankind. But this distinguished era is blotted by +no one misanthropical vice. In short, if the principle on which the +cause is founded, the universal blessings that are to arise from it, +the difficulties that accompanied it, the wisdom with which it has +been debated, the fortitude by which it has been supported, the +strength of the power which we had to oppose, and the condition in +which we undertook it, be all taken in one view, we may justly style +it the most virtuous and illustrious revolution that ever graced the +history of mankind. + +A good opinion of ourselves is exceedingly necessary in private life, +but absolutely necessary in public life, and of the utmost importance +in supporting national character. I have no notion of yielding the +palm of the United States to any Grecians or Romans that were ever +born. We have equalled the bravest in times of danger, and excelled +the wisest in construction of civil governments. + +From this agreeable eminence let us take a review of present affairs. +The spirit of corruption is so inseparably interwoven with British +politics, that their ministry suppose all mankind are governed by the +same motives. They have no idea of a people submitting even to +temporary inconvenience from an attachment to rights and privileges. +Their plans of business are calculated by the hour and for the hour, +and are uniform in nothing but the corruption which gives them birth. +They never had, neither have they at this time, any regular plan for +the conquest of America by arms. They know not how to go about it, +neither have they power to effect it if they did know. The thing is +not within the compass of human practicability, for America is too +extensive either to be fully conquered or passively defended. But she +may be actively defended by defeating or making prisoners of the army +that invades her. And this is the only system of defence that can be +effectual in a large country. + +There is something in a war carried on by invasion which makes it +differ in circumstances from any other mode of war, because he who +conducts it cannot tell whether the ground he gains be for him, or +against him, when he first obtains it. In the winter of 1776, General +Howe marched with an air of victory through the Jerseys, the +consequence of which was his defeat; and General Burgoyne at Saratoga +experienced the same fate from the same cause. The Spaniards, about +two years ago, were defeated by the Algerines in the same manner, +that is, their first triumphs became a trap in which they were +totally routed. And whoever will attend to the circumstances and +events of a war carried on by invasion, will find, that any invader, +in order to be finally conquered must first begin to conquer. + +I confess myself one of those who believe the loss of Philadelphia to +be attended with more advantages than injuries. The case stood thus: +The enemy imagined Philadelphia to be of more importance to us than +it really was; for we all know that it had long ceased to be a port: +not a cargo of goods had been brought into it for near a twelvemonth, +nor any fixed manufactories, nor even ship-building, carried on in +it; yet as the enemy believed the conquest of it to be practicable, +and to that belief added the absurd idea that the soul of all America +was centred there, and would be conquered there, it naturally follows +that their possession of it, by not answering the end proposed, must +break up the plans they had so foolishly gone upon, and either oblige +them to form a new one, for which their present strength is not +sufficient, or to give over the attempt. + +We never had so small an army to fight against, nor so fair an +opportunity of final success as now. The death wound is already +given. The day is ours if we follow it up. The enemy, by his +situation, is within our reach, and by his reduced strength is within +our power. The ministers of Britain may rage as they please, but our +part is to conquer their armies. Let them wrangle and welcome, but +let, it not draw our attention from the one thing needful. Here, in +this spot is our own business to be accomplished, our felicity +secured. What we have now to do is as clear as light, and the way to +do it is as straight as a line. It needs not to be commented upon, +yet, in order to be perfectly understood I will put a case that +cannot admit of a mistake. + +Had the armies under Generals Howe and Burgoyne been united, and +taken post at Germantown, and had the northern army under General +Gates been joined to that under General Washington, at Whitemarsh, +the consequence would have been a general action; and if in that +action we had killed and taken the same number of officers and men, +that is, between nine and ten thousand, with the same quantity of +artillery, arms, stores, etc., as have been taken at the northward, +and obliged General Howe with the remains of his army, that is, with +the same number he now commands, to take shelter in Philadelphia, we +should certainly have thought ourselves the greatest heroes in the +world; and should, as soon as the season permitted, have collected +together all the force of the continent and laid siege to the city, +for it requires a much greater force to besiege an enemy in a town +than to defeat him in the field. The case now is just the same as if +it had been produced by the means I have here supposed. Between nine +and ten thousand have been killed and taken, all their stores are in +our possession, and General Howe, in consequence of that victory, has +thrown himself for shelter into Philadelphia. He, or his trifling +friend Galloway, may form what pretences they please, yet no just +reason can be given for their going into winter quarters so early as +the 19th of October, but their apprehensions of a defeat if they +continued out, or their conscious inability of keeping the field with +safety. I see no advantage which can arise to America by hunting the +enemy from state to state. It is a triumph without a prize, and +wholly unworthy the attention of a people determined to conquer. +Neither can any state promise itself security while the enemy remains +in a condition to transport themselves from one part of the continent +to another. Howe, likewise, cannot conquer where we have no army to +oppose, therefore any such removals in him are mean and cowardly, and +reduces Britain to a common pilferer. If he retreats from +Philadelphia, he will be despised; if he stays, he may be shut up and +starved out, and the country, if he advances into it, may become his +Saratoga. He has his choice of evils and we of opportunities. If he +moves early, it is not only a sign but a proof that he expects no +reinforcement, and his delay will prove that he either waits for the +arrival of a plan to go upon, or force to execute it, or both; in +which case our strength will increase more than his, therefore in any +case we cannot be wrong if we do but proceed. + +The particular condition of Pennsylvania deserves the attention of +all the other States. Her military strength must not be estimated by +the number of inhabitants. Here are men of all nations, characters, +professions and interests. Here are the firmest Whigs, surviving, +like sparks in the ocean, unquenched and uncooled in the midst of +discouragement and disaffection. Here are men losing their all with +cheerfulness, and collecting fire and fortitude from the flames of +their own estates. Here are others skulking in secret, many making a +market of the times, and numbers who are changing to Whig or Tory +with the circumstances of every day. + +It is by a mere dint of fortitude and perseverance that the Whigs of +this State have been able to maintain so good a countenance, and do +even what they have done. We want help, and the sooner it can arrive +the more effectual it will be. The invaded State, be it which it may, +will always feel an additional burden upon its back, and be hard set +to support its civil power with sufficient authority; and this +difficulty will rise or fall, in proportion as the other states throw +in their assistance to the common cause. + +The enemy will most probably make many manoeuvres at the opening of +this campaign, to amuse and draw off the attention of the several +States from the one thing needful. We may expect to hear of alarms +and pretended expeditions to this place and that place, to the +southward, the eastward, and the northward, all intended to prevent +our forming into one formidable body. The less the enemy's strength +is, the more subtleties of this kind will they make use of. Their +existence depends upon it, because the force of America, when +collected, is sufficient to swallow their present army up. It is +therefore our business to make short work of it, by bending our whole +attention to this one principal point, for the instant that the main +body under General Howe is defeated, all the inferior alarms +throughout the continent, like so many shadows, will follow his +downfall. + +The only way to finish a war with the least possible bloodshed, or +perhaps without any, is to collect an army, against the power of +which the enemy shall have no chance. By not doing this, we prolong +the war, and double both the calamities and expenses of it. What a +rich and happy country would America be, were she, by a vigorous +exertion, to reduce Howe as she has reduced Burgoyne. Her currency +would rise to millions beyond its present value. Every man would be +rich, and every man would have it in his power to be happy. And why +not do these things? What is there to hinder? America is her own +mistress and can do what she pleases. + +If we had not at this time a man in the field, we could, +nevertheless, raise an army in a few weeks sufficient to overwhelm +all the force which General Howe at present commands. Vigor and +determination will do anything and everything. We began the war with +this kind of spirit, why not end it with the same? Here, gentlemen, +is the enemy. Here is the army. The interest, the happiness of all +America, is centred in this half ruined spot. Come and help us. Here +are laurels, come and share them. Here are Tories, come and help us +to expel them. Here are Whigs that will make you welcome, and enemies +that dread your coming. + +The worst of all policies is that of doing things by halves. +Penny-wise and pound-foolish, has been the ruin of thousands. The +present spring, if rightly improved, will free us from our troubles, +and save us the expense of millions. We have now only one army to +cope with. No opportunity can be fairer; no prospect more promising. +I shall conclude this paper with a few outlines of a plan, either for +filling up the battalions with expedition, or for raising an +additional force, for any limited time, on any sudden emergency. + +That in which every man is interested, is every man's duty to +support. And any burden which falls equally on all men, and from +which every man is to receive an equal benefit, is consistent with +the most perfect ideas of liberty. I would wish to revive something +of that virtuous ambition which first called America into the field. +Then every man was eager to do his part, and perhaps the principal +reason why we have in any degree fallen therefrom, is because we did +not set a right value by it at first, but left it to blaze out of +itself, instead of regulating and preserving it by just proportions +of rest and service. + +Suppose any State whose number of effective inhabitants was 80,000, +should be required to furnish 3,200 men towards the defence of the +continent on any sudden emergency. + +1st, Let the whole number of effective inhabitants be divided into +hundreds; then if each of those hundreds turn out four men, the whole +number of 3,200 will be had. + +2d, Let the name of each hundred men be entered in a book, and let +four dollars be collected from each man, with as much more as any of +the gentlemen, whose abilities can afford it, shall please to throw +in, which gifts likewise shall be entered against the names of the +donors. + +3d, Let the sums so collected be offered as a present, over and above +the bounty of twenty dollars, to any four who may be inclined to +propose themselves as volunteers: if more than four offer, the +majority of the subscribers present shall determine which; if none +offer, then four out of the hundred shall be taken by lot, who shall +be entitled to the said sums, and shall either go, or provide others +that will, in the space of six days. + +4th, As it will always happen that in the space of ground on which a +hundred men shall live, there will be always a number of persons who, +by age and infirmity, are incapable of doing personal service, and as +such persons are generally possessed of the greatest part of property +in any country, their portion of service, therefore, will be to +furnish each man with a blanket, which will make a regimental coat, +jacket, and breeches, or clothes in lieu thereof, and another for a +watch cloak, and two pair of shoes; for however choice people may be +of these things matters not in cases of this kind; those who live +always in houses can find many ways to keep themselves warm, but it +is a shame and a sin to suffer a soldier in the field to want a +blanket while there is one in the country. + +Should the clothing not be wanted, the superannuated or infirm +persons possessing property, may, in lieu thereof, throw in their +money subscriptions towards increasing the bounty; for though age +will naturally exempt a person from personal service, it cannot +exempt him from his share of the charge, because the men are raised +for the defence of property and liberty jointly. + +There never was a scheme against which objections might not be +raised. But this alone is not a sufficient reason for rejection. The +only line to judge truly upon is to draw out and admit all the +objections which can fairly be made, and place against them all the +contrary qualities, conveniences and advantages, then by striking a +balance you come at the true character of any scheme, principle or +position. + +The most material advantages of the plan here proposed are, ease, +expedition, and cheapness; yet the men so raised get a much larger +bounty than is any where at present given; because all the expenses, +extravagance, and consequent idleness of recruiting are saved or +prevented. The country incurs no new debt nor interest thereon; the +whole matter being all settled at once and entirely done with. It is +a subscription answering all the purposes of a tax, without either +the charge or trouble of collecting. The men are ready for the field +with the greatest possible expedition, because it becomes the duty of +the inhabitants themselves, in every part of the country, to find +their proportion of men instead of leaving it to a recruiting +sergeant, who, be he ever so industrious, cannot know always where to +apply. + +I do not propose this as a regular digested plan, neither will the +limits of this paper admit of any further remarks upon it. I believe +it to be a hint capable of much improvement, and as such submit it to +the public. + + COMMON SENSE. + +LANCASTER, March 21, 1778. + + + + The Crisis + + VI. + + TO THE EARL OF CARLISLE, GENERAL CLINTON, AND + WILLIAM EDEN, ESQ., BRITISH COMMISSIONERS + AT NEW YORK. + +THERE is a dignity in the warm passions of a Whig, which is never to +be found in the cold malice of a Tory. In the one nature is only +heated- in the other she is poisoned. The instant the former has it +in his power to punish, he feels a disposition to forgive; but the +canine venom of the latter knows no relief but revenge. This general +distinction will, I believe, apply in all cases, and suits as well +the meridian of England as America. + +As I presume your last proclamation will undergo the strictures of +other pens, I shall confine my remarks to only a few parts thereof. +All that you have said might have been comprised in half the compass. +It is tedious and unmeaning, and only a repetition of your former +follies, with here and there an offensive aggravation. Your cargo of +pardons will have no market. It is unfashionable to look at them- +even speculation is at an end. They have become a perfect drug, and +no way calculated for the climate. + +In the course of your proclamation you say, "The policy as well as +the benevolence of Great Britain have thus far checked the extremes +of war, when they tended to distress a people still considered as +their fellow subjects, and to desolate a country shortly to become +again a source of mutual advantage." What you mean by "the +benevolence of Great Britain" is to me inconceivable. To put a plain +question; do you consider yourselves men or devils? For until this +point is settled, no determinate sense can be put upon the +expression. You have already equalled and in many cases excelled, the +savages of either Indies; and if you have yet a cruelty in store you +must have imported it, unmixed with every human material, from the +original warehouse of hell. + +To the interposition of Providence, and her blessings on our +endeavors, and not to British benevolence are we indebted for the +short chain that limits your ravages. Remember you do not, at this +time, command a foot of land on the continent of America. Staten +Island, York Island, a small part of Long Island, and Rhode Island, +circumscribe your power; and even those you hold at the expense of +the West Indies. To avoid a defeat, or prevent a desertion of your +troops, you have taken up your quarters in holes and corners of +inaccessible security; and in order to conceal what every one can +perceive, you now endeavor to impose your weakness upon us for an act +of mercy. If you think to succeed by such shadowy devices, you are +but infants in the political world; you have the A, B, C, of +stratagem yet to learn, and are wholly ignorant of the people you +have to contend with. Like men in a state of intoxication, you forget +that the rest of the world have eyes, and that the same stupidity +which conceals you from yourselves exposes you to their satire and +contempt. + +The paragraph which I have quoted, stands as an introduction to the +following: "But when that country [America] professes the unnatural +design, not only of estranging herself from us, but of mortgaging +herself and her resources to our enemies, the whole contest is +changed: and the question is how far Great Britain may, by every +means in her power, destroy or render useless, a connection contrived +for her ruin, and the aggrandizement of France. Under such +circumstances, the laws of self-preservation must direct the conduct +of Britain, and, if the British colonies are to become an accession +to France, will direct her to render that accession of as little +avail as possible to her enemy." + +I consider you in this declaration, like madmen biting in the hour of +death. It contains likewise a fraudulent meanness; for, in order to +justify a barbarous conclusion, you have advanced a false position. +The treaty we have formed with France is open, noble, and generous. +It is true policy, founded on sound philosophy, and neither a +surrender or mortgage, as you would scandalously insinuate. I have +seen every article, and speak from positive knowledge. In France, we +have found an affectionate friend and faithful ally; in Britain, we +have found nothing but tyranny, cruelty, and infidelity. + +But the happiness is, that the mischief you threaten, is not in your +power to execute; and if it were, the punishment would return upon +you in a ten-fold degree. The humanity of America has hitherto +restrained her from acts of retaliation, and the affection she +retains for many individuals in England, who have fed, clothed and +comforted her prisoners, has, to the present day, warded off her +resentment, and operated as a screen to the whole. But even these +considerations must cease, when national objects interfere and oppose +them. Repeated aggravations will provoke a retort, and policy justify +the measure. We mean now to take you seriously up upon your own +ground and principle, and as you do, so shall you be done by. + +You ought to know, gentlemen, that England and Scotland, are far more +exposed to incendiary desolation than America, in her present state, +can possibly be. We occupy a country, with but few towns, and whose +riches consist in land and annual produce. The two last can suffer +but little, and that only within a very limited compass. In Britain +it is otherwise. Her wealth lies chiefly in cities and large towns, +the depositories of manufactures and fleets of merchantmen. There is +not a nobleman's country seat but may be laid in ashes by a single +person. Your own may probably contribute to the proof: in short, +there is no evil which cannot be returned when you come to incendiary +mischief. The ships in the Thames, may certainly be as easily set on +fire, as the temporary bridge was a few years ago; yet of that affair +no discovery was ever made; and the loss you would sustain by such an +event, executed at a proper season, is infinitely greater than any +you can inflict. The East India House and the Bank, neither are nor +can be secure from this sort of destruction, and, as Dr. Price justly +observes, a fire at the latter would bankrupt the nation. It has +never been the custom of France and England when at war, to make +those havocs on each other, because the ease with which they could +retaliate rendered it as impolitic as if each had destroyed his own. + +But think not, gentlemen, that our distance secures you, or our +invention fails us. We can much easier accomplish such a point than +any nation in Europe. We talk the same language, dress in the same +habit, and appear with the same manners as yourselves. We can pass +from one part of England to another unsuspected; many of us are as +well acquainted with the country as you are, and should you +impolitically provoke us, you will most assuredly lament the effects +of it. Mischiefs of this kind require no army to execute them. The +means are obvious, and the opportunities unguardable. I hold up a +warning to our senses, if you have any left, and "to the unhappy +people likewise, whose affairs are committed to you."* I call not +with the rancor of an enemy, but the earnestness of a friend, on the +deluded people of England, lest, between your blunders and theirs, +they sink beneath the evils contrived for us. + +* General [Sir H.] Clinton's letter to Congress. + +"He who lives in a glass house," says a Spanish proverb, "should +never begin throwing stones." This, gentlemen, is exactly your case, +and you must be the most ignorant of mankind, or suppose us so, not +to see on which side the balance of accounts will fall. There are +many other modes of retaliation, which, for several reasons, I choose +not to mention. But be assured of this, that the instant you put your +threat into execution, a counter-blow will follow it. If you openly +profess yourselves savages, it is high time we should treat you as +such, and if nothing but distress can recover you to reason, to +punish will become an office of charity. + +While your fleet lay last winter in the Delaware, I offered my +service to the Pennsylvania Navy Board then at Trenton, as one who +would make a party with them, or any four or five gentlemen, on an +expedition down the river to set fire to it, and though it was not +then accepted, nor the thing personally attempted, it is more than +probable that your own folly will provoke a much more ruinous act. +Say not when mischief is done, that you had not warning, and remember +that we do not begin it, but mean to repay it. Thus much for your +savage and impolitic threat. + +In another part of your proclamation you say, "But if the honors of a +military life are become the object of the Americans, let them seek +those honors under the banners of their rightful sovereign, and in +fighting the battles of the united British Empire, against our late +mutual and natural enemies." Surely! the union of absurdity with +madness was never marked in more distinguishable lines than these. +Your rightful sovereign, as you call him, may do well enough for you, +who dare not inquire into the humble capacities of the man; but we, +who estimate persons and things by their real worth, cannot suffer +our judgments to be so imposed upon; and unless it is your wish to +see him exposed, it ought to be your endeavor to keep him out of +sight. The less you have to say about him the better. We have done +with him, and that ought to be answer enough. You have been often +told so. Strange! that the answer must be so often repeated. You go +a-begging with your king as with a brat, or with some unsaleable +commodity you were tired of; and though every body tells you no, no, +still you keep hawking him about. But there is one that will have him +in a little time, and as we have no inclination to disappoint you of +a customer, we bid nothing for him. + +The impertinent folly of the paragraph that I have just quoted, +deserves no other notice than to be laughed at and thrown by, but the +principle on which it is founded is detestable. We are invited to +submit to a man who has attempted by every cruelty to destroy us, and +to join him in making war against France, who is already at war +against him for our support. + +Can Bedlam, in concert with Lucifer, form a more mad and devilish +request? Were it possible a people could sink into such apostacy they +would deserve to be swept from the earth like the inhabitants of +Sodom and Gomorrah. The proposition is an universal affront to the +rank which man holds in the creation, and an indignity to him who +placed him there. It supposes him made up without a spark of honor, +and under no obligation to God or man. + +What sort of men or Christians must you suppose the Americans to be, +who, after seeing their most humble petitions insultingly rejected; +the most grievous laws passed to distress them in every quarter; an +undeclared war let loose upon them, and Indians and negroes invited +to the slaughter; who, after seeing their kinsmen murdered, their +fellow citizens starved to death in prisons, and their houses and +property destroyed and burned; who, after the most serious appeals to +heaven, the most solemn abjuration by oath of all government +connected with you, and the most heart-felt pledges and protestations +of faith to each other; and who, after soliciting the friendship, and +entering into alliances with other nations, should at last break +through all these obligations, civil and divine, by complying with +your horrid and infernal proposal. Ought we ever after to be +considered as a part of the human race? Or ought we not rather to be +blotted from the society of mankind, and become a spectacle of misery +to the world? But there is something in corruption, which, like a +jaundiced eye, transfers the color of itself to the object it looks +upon, and sees every thing stained and impure; for unless you were +capable of such conduct yourselves, you would never have supposed +such a character in us. The offer fixes your infamy. It exhibits you +as a nation without faith; with whom oaths and treaties are +considered as trifles, and the breaking them as the breaking of a +bubble. Regard to decency, or to rank, might have taught you better; +or pride inspired you, though virtue could not. There is not left a +step in the degradation of character to which you can now descend; +you have put your foot on the ground floor, and the key of the +dungeon is turned upon you. + +That the invitation may want nothing of being a complete monster, you +have thought proper to finish it with an assertion which has no +foundation, either in fact or philosophy; and as Mr. Ferguson, your +secretary, is a man of letters, and has made civil society his study, +and published a treatise on that subject, I address this part to him. + +In the close of the paragraph which I last quoted, France is styled +the "natural enemy" of England, and by way of lugging us into some +strange idea, she is styled "the late mutual and natural enemy" of +both countries. I deny that she ever was the natural enemy of either; +and that there does not exist in nature such a principle. The +expression is an unmeaning barbarism, and wholly unphilosophical, +when applied to beings of the same species, let their station in the +creation be what it may. We have a perfect idea of a natural enemy +when we think of the devil, because the enmity is perpetual, +unalterable and unabateable. It admits, neither of peace, truce, or +treaty; consequently the warfare is eternal, and therefore it is +natural. But man with man cannot arrange in the same opposition. +Their quarrels are accidental and equivocally created. They become +friends or enemies as the change of temper, or the cast of interest +inclines them. The Creator of man did not constitute them the natural +enemy of each other. He has not made any one order of beings so. Even +wolves may quarrel, still they herd together. If any two nations are +so, then must all nations be so, otherwise it is not nature but +custom, and the offence frequently originates with the accuser. +England is as truly the natural enemy of France, as France is of +England, and perhaps more so. Separated from the rest of Europe, she +has contracted an unsocial habit of manners, and imagines in others +the jealousy she creates in herself. Never long satisfied with peace, +she supposes the discontent universal, and buoyed up with her own +importance, conceives herself the only object pointed at. The +expression has been often used, and always with a fraudulent design; +for when the idea of a natural enemy is conceived, it prevents all +other inquiries, and the real cause of the quarrel is hidden in the +universality of the conceit. Men start at the notion of a natural +enemy, and ask no other question. The cry obtains credit like the +alarm of a mad dog, and is one of those kind of tricks, which, by +operating on the common passions, secures their interest through +their folly. + +But we, sir, are not to be thus imposed upon. We live in a large +world, and have extended our ideas beyond the limits and prejudices +of an island. We hold out the right hand of friendship to all the +universe, and we conceive that there is a sociality in the manners of +France, which is much better disposed to peace and negotiation than +that of England, and until the latter becomes more civilized, she +cannot expect to live long at peace with any power. Her common +language is vulgar and offensive, and children suck in with their +milk the rudiments of insult- "The arm of Britain! The mighty arm of +Britain! Britain that shakes the earth to its center and its poles! +The scourge of France! The terror of the world! That governs with a +nod, and pours down vengeance like a God." This language neither +makes a nation great or little; but it shows a savageness of manners, +and has a tendency to keep national animosity alive. The +entertainments of the stage are calculated to the same end, and +almost every public exhibition is tinctured with insult. Yet England +is always in dread of France,- terrified at the apprehension of an +invasion, suspicious of being outwitted in a treaty, and privately +cringing though she is publicly offending. Let her, therefore, reform +her manners and do justice, and she will find the idea of a natural +enemy to be only a phantom of her own imagination. + +Little did I think, at this period of the war, to see a proclamation +which could promise you no one useful purpose whatever, and tend only +to expose you. One would think that you were just awakened from a +four years' dream, and knew nothing of what had passed in the +interval. Is this a time to be offering pardons, or renewing the long +forgotten subjects of charters and taxation? Is it worth your while, +after every force has failed you, to retreat under the shelter of +argument and persuasion? Or can you think that we, with nearly half +your army prisoners, and in alliance with France, are to be begged or +threatened into submission by a piece of paper? But as commissioners +at a hundred pounds sterling a week each, you conceive yourselves +bound to do something, and the genius of ill-fortune told you, that +you must write. + +For my own part, I have not put pen to paper these several months. +Convinced of our superiority by the issue of every campaign, I was +inclined to hope, that that which all the rest of the world now see, +would become visible to you, and therefore felt unwilling to ruffle +your temper by fretting you with repetitions and discoveries. There +have been intervals of hesitation in your conduct, from which it +seemed a pity to disturb you, and a charity to leave you to +yourselves. You have often stopped, as if you intended to think, but +your thoughts have ever been too early or too late. + +There was a time when Britain disdained to answer, or even hear a +petition from America. That time is past and she in her turn is +petitioning our acceptance. We now stand on higher ground, and offer +her peace; and the time will come when she, perhaps in vain, will ask +it from us. The latter case is as probable as the former ever was. +She cannot refuse to acknowledge our independence with greater +obstinacy than she before refused to repeal her laws; and if America +alone could bring her to the one, united with France she will reduce +her to the other. There is something in obstinacy which differs from +every other passion; whenever it fails it never recovers, but either +breaks like iron, or crumbles sulkily away like a fractured arch. +Most other passions have their periods of fatigue and rest; their +suffering and their cure; but obstinacy has no resource, and the +first wound is mortal. You have already begun to give it up, and you +will, from the natural construction of the vice, find yourselves both +obliged and inclined to do so. + +If you look back you see nothing but loss and disgrace. If you look +forward the same scene continues, and the close is an impenetrable +gloom. You may plan and execute little mischiefs, but are they worth +the expense they cost you, or will such partial evils have any effect +on the general cause? Your expedition to Egg Harbor, will be felt at +a distance like an attack upon a hen-roost, and expose you in Europe, +with a sort of childish frenzy. Is it worth while to keep an army to +protect you in writing proclamations, or to get once a year into +winter quarters? Possessing yourselves of towns is not conquest, but +convenience, and in which you will one day or other be trepanned. +Your retreat from Philadelphia, was only a timely escape, and your +next expedition may be less fortunate. + +It would puzzle all the politicians in the universe to conceive what +you stay for, or why you should have stayed so long. You are +prosecuting a war in which you confess you have neither object nor +hope, and that conquest, could it be effected, would not repay the +charges: in the mean while the rest of your affairs are running to +ruin, and a European war kindling against you. In such a situation, +there is neither doubt nor difficulty; the first rudiments of reason +will determine the choice, for if peace can be procured with more +advantages than even a conquest can be obtained, he must be an idiot +indeed that hesitates. + +But you are probably buoyed up by a set of wretched mortals, who, +having deceived themselves, are cringing, with the duplicity of a +spaniel, for a little temporary bread. Those men will tell you just +what you please. It is their interest to amuse, in order to lengthen +out their protection. They study to keep you amongst them for that +very purpose; and in proportion as you disregard their advice, and +grow callous to their complaints, they will stretch into +improbability, and season their flattery the higher. Characters like +these are to be found in every country, and every country will +despise them. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 20, 1778. + + THE CRISIS + + VII. + + TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND. + +THERE are stages in the business of serious life in which to amuse is +cruel, but to deceive is to destroy; and it is of little consequence, +in the conclusion, whether men deceive themselves, or submit, by a +kind of mutual consent, to the impositions of each other. That +England has long been under the influence of delusion or mistake, +needs no other proof than the unexpected and wretched situation that +she is now involved in: and so powerful has been the influence, that +no provision was ever made or thought of against the misfortune, +because the possibility of its happening was never conceived. + +The general and successful resistance of America, the conquest of +Burgoyne, and a war in France, were treated in parliament as the +dreams of a discontented opposition, or a distempered imagination. +They were beheld as objects unworthy of a serious thought, and the +bare intimation of them afforded the ministry a triumph of laughter. +Short triumph indeed! For everything which has been predicted has +happened, and all that was promised has failed. A long series of +politics so remarkably distinguished by a succession of misfortunes, +without one alleviating turn, must certainly have something in it +systematically wrong. It is sufficient to awaken the most credulous +into suspicion, and the most obstinate into thought. Either the means +in your power are insufficient, or the measures ill planned; either +the execution has been bad, or the thing attempted impracticable; or, +to speak more emphatically, either you are not able or heaven is not +willing. For, why is it that you have not conquered us? Who, or what +has prevented you? You have had every opportunity that you could +desire, and succeeded to your utmost wish in every preparatory means. +Your fleets and armies have arrived in America without an accident. +No uncommon fortune has intervened. No foreign nation has interfered +until the time which you had allotted for victory was passed. The +opposition, either in or out of parliament, neither disconcerted your +measures, retarded or diminished your force. They only foretold your +fate. Every ministerial scheme was carried with as high a hand as if +the whole nation had been unanimous. Every thing wanted was asked +for, and every thing asked for was granted. + +A greater force was not within the compass of your abilities to send, +and the time you sent it was of all others the most favorable. You +were then at rest with the whole world beside. You had the range of +every court in Europe uncontradicted by us. You amused us with a tale +of commissioners of peace, and under that disguise collected a +numerous army and came almost unexpectedly upon us. The force was +much greater than we looked for; and that which we had to oppose it +with, was unequal in numbers, badly armed, and poorly disciplined; +beside which, it was embodied only for a short time, and expired +within a few months after your arrival. We had governments to form; +measures to concert; an army to train, and every necessary article to +import or to create. Our non-importation scheme had exhausted our +stores, and your command by sea intercepted our supplies. We were a +people unknown, and unconnected with the political world, and +strangers to the disposition of foreign powers. Could you possibly +wish for a more favorable conjunction of circumstances? Yet all these +have happened and passed away, and, as it were, left you with a +laugh. There are likewise, events of such an original nativity as can +never happen again, unless a new world should arise from the ocean. + +If any thing can be a lesson to presumption, surely the circumstances +of this war will have their effect. Had Britain been defeated by any +European power, her pride would have drawn consolation from the +importance of her conquerors; but in the present case, she is +excelled by those that she affected to despise, and her own opinions +retorting upon herself, become an aggravation of her disgrace. +Misfortune and experience are lost upon mankind, when they produce +neither reflection nor reformation. Evils, like poisons, have their +uses, and there are diseases which no other remedy can reach. It has +been the crime and folly of England to suppose herself invincible, +and that, without acknowledging or perceiving that a full third of +her strength was drawn from the country she is now at war with. The +arm of Britain has been spoken of as the arm of the Almighty, and she +has lived of late as if she thought the whole world created for her +diversion. Her politics, instead of civilizing, has tended to +brutalize mankind, and under the vain, unmeaning title of "Defender +of the Faith," she has made war like an Indian against the religion +of humanity. Her cruelties in the East Indies will never be +forgotten, and it is somewhat remarkable that the produce of that +ruined country, transported to America, should there kindle up a war +to punish the destroyer. The chain is continued, though with a +mysterious kind of uniformity both in the crime and the punishment. +The latter runs parallel with the former, and time and fate will give +it a perfect illustration. + +When information is withheld, ignorance becomes a reasonable excuse; +and one would charitably hope that the people of England do not +encourage cruelty from choice but from mistake. Their recluse +situation, surrounded by the sea, preserves them from the calamities +of war, and keeps them in the dark as to the conduct of their own +armies. They see not, therefore they feel not. They tell the tale +that is told them and believe it, and accustomed to no other news +than their own, they receive it, stripped of its horrors and prepared +for the palate of the nation, through the channel of the London +Gazette. They are made to believe that their generals and armies +differ from those of other nations, and have nothing of rudeness or +barbarity in them. They suppose them what they wish them to be. They +feel a disgrace in thinking otherwise, and naturally encourage the +belief from a partiality to themselves. There was a time when I felt +the same prejudices, and reasoned from the same errors; but +experience, sad and painful experience, has taught me better. What +the conduct of former armies was, I know not, but what the conduct of +the present is, I well know. It is low, cruel, indolent and +profligate; and had the people of America no other cause for +separation than what the army has occasioned, that alone is cause +sufficient. + +The field of politics in England is far more extensive than that of +news. Men have a right to reason for themselves, and though they +cannot contradict the intelligence in the London Gazette, they may +frame upon it what sentiments they please. But the misfortune is, +that a general ignorance has prevailed over the whole nation +respecting America. The ministry and the minority have both been +wrong. The former was always so, the latter only lately so. Politics, +to be executively right, must have a unity of means and time, and a +defect in either overthrows the whole. The ministry rejected the +plans of the minority while they were practicable, and joined in them +when they became impracticable. From wrong measures they got into +wrong time, and have now completed the circle of absurdity by closing +it upon themselves. + +I happened to come to America a few months before the breaking out of +hostilities. I found the disposition of the people such, that they +might have been led by a thread and governed by a reed. Their +suspicion was quick and penetrating, but their attachment to Britain +was obstinate, and it was at that time a kind of treason to speak +against it. They disliked the ministry, but they esteemed the nation. +Their idea of grievance operated without resentment, and their single +object was reconciliation. Bad as I believed the ministry to be, I +never conceived them capable of a measure so rash and wicked as the +commencing of hostilities; much less did I imagine the nation would +encourage it. I viewed the dispute as a kind of law-suit, in which I +supposed the parties would find a way either to decide or settle it. +I had no thoughts of independence or of arms. The world could not +then have persuaded me that I should be either a soldier or an +author. If I had any talents for either, they were buried in me, and +might ever have continued so, had not the necessity of the times +dragged and driven them into action. I had formed my plan of life, +and conceiving myself happy, wished every body else so. But when the +country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my +ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. Those +who had been long settled had something to defend; those who had just +come had something to pursue; and the call and the concern was equal +and universal. For in a country where all men were once adventurers, +the difference of a few years in their arrival could make none in +their right. + +The breaking out of hostilities opened a new suspicion in the +politics of America, which, though at that time very rare, has since +been proved to be very right. What I allude to is, "a secret and +fixed determination in the British Cabinet to annex America to the +crown of England as a conquered country." If this be taken as the +object, then the whole line of conduct pursued by the ministry, +though rash in its origin and ruinous in its consequences, is +nevertheless uniform and consistent in its parts. It applies to every +case and resolves every difficulty. But if taxation, or any thing +else, be taken in its room, there is no proportion between the object +and the charge. Nothing but the whole soil and property of the +country can be placed as a possible equivalent against the millions +which the ministry expended. No taxes raised in America could +possibly repay it. A revenue of two millions sterling a year would +not discharge the sum and interest accumulated thereon, in twenty +years. + +Reconciliation never appears to have been the wish or the object of +the administration; they looked on conquest as certain and +infallible, and, under that persuasion, sought to drive the Americans +into what they might style a general rebellion, and then, crushing +them with arms in their hands, reap the rich harvest of a general +confiscation, and silence them for ever. The dependents at court were +too numerous to be provided for in England. The market for plunder in +the East Indies was over; and the profligacy of government required +that a new mine should be opened, and that mine could be no other +than America, conquered and forfeited. They had no where else to go. +Every other channel was drained; and extravagance, with the thirst of +a drunkard, was gaping for supplies. + +If the ministry deny this to have been their plan, it becomes them to +explain what was their plan. For either they have abused us in +coveting property they never labored for, or they have abused you in +expending an amazing sum upon an incompetent object. Taxation, as I +mentioned before, could never be worth the charge of obtaining it by +arms; and any kind of formal obedience which America could have made, +would have weighed with the lightness of a laugh against such a load +of expense. It is therefore most probable that the ministry will at +last justify their policy by their dishonesty, and openly declare, +that their original design was conquest: and, in this case, it well +becomes the people of England to consider how far the nation would +have been benefited by the success. + +In a general view, there are few conquests that repay the charge of +making them, and mankind are pretty well convinced that it can never +be worth their while to go to war for profit's sake. If they are made +war upon, their country invaded, or their existence at stake, it is +their duty to defend and preserve themselves, but in every other +light, and from every other cause, is war inglorious and detestable. +But to return to the case in question- + +When conquests are made of foreign countries, it is supposed that the +commerce and dominion of the country which made them are extended. +But this could neither be the object nor the consequence of the +present war. You enjoyed the whole commerce before. It could receive +no possible addition by a conquest, but on the contrary, must +diminish as the inhabitants were reduced in numbers and wealth. You +had the same dominion over the country which you used to have, and +had no complaint to make against her for breach of any part of the +contract between you or her, or contending against any established +custom, commercial, political or territorial. The country and +commerce were both your own when you began to conquer, in the same +manner and form as they had been your own a hundred years before. +Nations have sometimes been induced to make conquests for the sake of +reducing the power of their enemies, or bringing it to a balance with +their own. But this could be no part of your plan. No foreign +authority was claimed here, neither was any such authority suspected +by you, or acknowledged or imagined by us. What then, in the name of +heaven, could you go to war for? Or what chance could you possibly +have in the event, but either to hold the same country which you held +before, and that in a much worse condition, or to lose, with an +amazing expense, what you might have retained without a farthing of +charges? + +War never can be the interest of a trading nation, any more than +quarrelling can be profitable to a man in business. But to make war +with those who trade with us, is like setting a bull-dog upon a +customer at the shop-door. The least degree of common sense shows the +madness of the latter, and it will apply with the same force of +conviction to the former. Piratical nations, having neither commerce +or commodities of their own to lose, may make war upon all the world, +and lucratively find their account in it; but it is quite otherwise +with Britain: for, besides the stoppage of trade in time of war, she +exposes more of her own property to be lost, than she has the chance +of taking from others. Some ministerial gentlemen in parliament have +mentioned the greatness of her trade as an apology for the greatness +of her loss. This is miserable politics indeed! Because it ought to +have been given as a reason for her not engaging in a war at first. +The coast of America commands the West India trade almost as +effectually as the coast of Africa does that of the Straits; and +England can no more carry on the former without the consent of +America, than she can the latter without a Mediterranean pass. + +In whatever light the war with America is considered upon commercial +principles, it is evidently the interest of the people of England not +to support it; and why it has been supported so long, against the +clearest demonstrations of truth and national advantage, is, to me, +and must be to all the reasonable world, a matter of astonishment. +Perhaps it may be said that I live in America, and write this from +interest. To this I reply, that my principle is universal. My +attachment is to all the world, and not to any particular part, and +if what I advance is right, no matter where or who it comes from. We +have given the proclamation of your commissioners a currency in our +newspapers, and I have no doubt you will give this a place in yours. +To oblige and be obliged is fair. + +Before I dismiss this part of my address, I shall mention one more +circumstance in which I think the people of England have been equally +mistaken: and then proceed to other matters. + +There is such an idea existing in the world, as that of national +honor, and this, falsely understood, is oftentimes the cause of war. +In a Christian and philosophical sense, mankind seem to have stood +still at individual civilization, and to retain as nations all the +original rudeness of nature. Peace by treaty is only a cessation of +violence for a reformation of sentiment. It is a substitute for a +principle that is wanting and ever will be wanting till the idea of +national honor be rightly understood. As individuals we profess +ourselves Christians, but as nations we are heathens, Romans, and +what not. I remember the late Admiral Saunders declaring in the House +of Commons, and that in the time of peace, "That the city of Madrid +laid in ashes was not a sufficient atonement for the Spaniards taking +off the rudder of an English sloop of war." I do not ask whether this +is Christianity or morality, I ask whether it is decency? whether it +is proper language for a nation to use? In private life we call it by +the plain name of bullying, and the elevation of rank cannot alter +its character. It is, I think, exceedingly easy to define what ought +to be understood by national honor; for that which is the best +character for an individual is the best character for a nation; and +wherever the latter exceeds or falls beneath the former, there is a +departure from the line of true greatness. + +I have thrown out this observation with a design of applying it to +Great Britain. Her ideas of national honor seem devoid of that +benevolence of heart, that universal expansion of philanthropy, and +that triumph over the rage of vulgar prejudice, without which man is +inferior to himself, and a companion of common animals. To know who +she shall regard or dislike, she asks what country they are of, what +religion they profess, and what property they enjoy. Her idea of +national honor seems to consist in national insult, and that to be a +great people, is to be neither a Christian, a philosopher, or a +gentleman, but to threaten with the rudeness of a bear, and to devour +with the ferocity of a lion. This perhaps may sound harsh and +uncourtly, but it is too true, and the more is the pity. + +I mention this only as her general character. But towards America she +has observed no character at all; and destroyed by her conduct what +she assumed in her title. She set out with the title of parent, or +mother country. The association of ideas which naturally accompany +this expression, are filled with everything that is fond, tender and +forbearing. They have an energy peculiar to themselves, and, +overlooking the accidental attachment of common affections, apply +with infinite softness to the first feelings of the heart. It is a +political term which every mother can feel the force of, and every +child can judge of. It needs no painting of mine to set it off, for +nature only can do it justice. + +But has any part of your conduct to America corresponded with the +title you set up? If in your general national character you are +unpolished and severe, in this you are inconsistent and unnatural, +and you must have exceeding false notions of national honor to +suppose that the world can admire a want of humanity or that national +honor depends on the violence of resentment, the inflexibility of +temper, or the vengeance of execution. + +I would willingly convince you, and that with as much temper as the +times will suffer me to do, that as you opposed your own interest by +quarrelling with us, so likewise your national honor, rightly +conceived and understood, was no ways called upon to enter into a war +with America; had you studied true greatness of heart, the first and +fairest ornament of mankind, you would have acted directly contrary +to all that you have done, and the world would have ascribed it to a +generous cause. Besides which, you had (though with the assistance of +this country) secured a powerful name by the last war. You were known +and dreaded abroad; and it would have been wise in you to have +suffered the world to have slept undisturbed under that idea. It was +to you a force existing without expense. It produced to you all the +advantages of real power; and you were stronger through the +universality of that charm, than any future fleets and armies may +probably make you. Your greatness was so secured and interwoven with +your silence that you ought never to have awakened mankind, and had +nothing to do but to be quiet. Had you been true politicians you +would have seen all this, and continued to draw from the magic of a +name, the force and authority of a nation. + +Unwise as you were in breaking the charm, you were still more unwise +in the manner of doing it. Samson only told the secret, but you have +performed the operation; you have shaven your own head, and wantonly +thrown away the locks. America was the hair from which the charm was +drawn that infatuated the world. You ought to have quarrelled with no +power; but with her upon no account. You had nothing to fear from any +condescension you might make. You might have humored her, even if +there had been no justice in her claims, without any risk to your +reputation; for Europe, fascinated by your fame, would have ascribed +it to your benevolence, and America, intoxicated by the grant, would +have slumbered in her fetters. + +But this method of studying the progress of the passions, in order to +ascertain the probable conduct of mankind, is a philosophy in +politics which those who preside at St. James's have no conception +of. They know no other influence than corruption and reckon all their +probabilities from precedent. A new case is to them a new world, and +while they are seeking for a parallel they get lost. The talents of +Lord Mansfield can be estimated at best no higher than those of a +sophist. He understands the subtleties but not the elegance of +nature; and by continually viewing mankind through the cold medium of +the law, never thinks of penetrating into the warmer region of the +mind. As for Lord North, it is his happiness to have in him more +philosophy than sentiment, for he bears flogging like a top, and +sleeps the better for it. His punishment becomes his support, for +while he suffers the lash for his sins, he keeps himself up by +twirling about. In politics, he is a good arithmetician, and in every +thing else nothing at all. + +There is one circumstance which comes so much within Lord North's +province as a financier, that I am surprised it should escape him, +which is, the different abilities of the two countries in supporting +the expense; for, strange as it may seem, England is not a match for +America in this particular. By a curious kind of revolution in +accounts, the people of England seem to mistake their poverty for +their riches; that is, they reckon their national debt as a part of +their national wealth. They make the same kind of error which a man +would do, who after mortgaging his estate, should add the money +borrowed, to the full value of the estate, in order to count up his +worth, and in this case he would conceive that he got rich by running +into debt. Just thus it is with England. The government owed at the +beginning of this war one hundred and thirty-five millions sterling, +and though the individuals to whom it was due had a right to reckon +their shares as so much private property, yet to the nation +collectively it was so much poverty. There are as effectual limits to +public debts as to private ones, for when once the money borrowed is +so great as to require the whole yearly revenue to discharge the +interest thereon, there is an end to further borrowing; in the same +manner as when the interest of a man's debts amounts to the yearly +income of his estate, there is an end to his credit. This is nearly +the case with England, the interest of her present debt being at +least equal to one half of her yearly revenue, so that out of ten +millions annually collected by taxes, she has but five that she can +call her own. + +The very reverse of this was the case with America; she began the war +without any debt upon her, and in order to carry it on, she neither +raised money by taxes, nor borrowed it upon interest, but created it; +and her situation at this time continues so much the reverse of yours +that taxing would make her rich, whereas it would make you poor. When +we shall have sunk the sum which we have created, we shall then be +out of debt, be just as rich as when we began, and all the while we +are doing it shall feel no difference, because the value will rise as +the quantity decreases. + +There was not a country in the world so capable of bearing the +expense of a war as America; not only because she was not in debt +when she began, but because the country is young and capable of +infinite improvement, and has an almost boundless tract of new lands +in store; whereas England has got to her extent of age and growth, +and has not unoccupied land or property in reserve. The one is like a +young heir coming to a large improvable estate; the other like an old +man whose chances are over, and his estate mortgaged for half its +worth. + +In the second number of the Crisis, which I find has been republished +in England, I endeavored to set forth the impracticability of +conquering America. I stated every case, that I conceived could +possibly happen, and ventured to predict its consequences. As my +conclusions were drawn not artfully, but naturally, they have all +proved to be true. I was upon the spot; knew the politics of America, +her strength and resources, and by a train of services, the best in +my power to render, was honored with the friendship of the congress, +the army and the people. I considered the cause a just one. I know +and feel it a just one, and under that confidence never made my own +profit or loss an object. My endeavor was to have the matter well +understood on both sides, and I conceived myself tendering a general +service, by setting forth to the one the impossibility of being +conquered, and to the other the impossibility of conquering. Most of +the arguments made use of by the ministry for supporting the war, are +the very arguments that ought to have been used against supporting +it; and the plans, by which they thought to conquer, are the very +plans in which they were sure to be defeated. They have taken every +thing up at the wrong end. Their ignorance is astonishing, and were +you in my situation you would see it. They may, perhaps, have your +confidence, but I am persuaded that they would make very indifferent +members of Congress. I know what England is, and what America is, and +from the compound of knowledge, am better enabled to judge of the +issue than what the king or any of his ministers can be. + +In this number I have endeavored to show the ill policy and +disadvantages of the war. I believe many of my remarks are new. Those +which are not so, I have studied to improve and place in a manner +that may be clear and striking. Your failure is, I am persuaded, as +certain as fate. America is above your reach. She is at least your +equal in the world, and her independence neither rests upon your +consent, nor can it be prevented by your arms. In short, you spend +your substance in vain, and impoverish yourselves without a hope. + +But suppose you had conquered America, what advantages, collectively +or individually, as merchants, manufacturers, or conquerors, could +you have looked for? This is an object you seemed never to have +attended to. Listening for the sound of victory, and led away by the +frenzy of arms, you neglected to reckon either the cost or the +consequences. You must all pay towards the expense; the poorest among +you must bear his share, and it is both your right and your duty to +weigh seriously the matter. Had America been conquered, she might +have been parcelled out in grants to the favorites at court, but no +share of it would have fallen to you. Your taxes would not have been +lessened, because she would have been in no condition to have paid +any towards your relief. We are rich by contrivance of our own, which +would have ceased as soon as you became masters. Our paper money will +be of no use in England, and silver and gold we have none. In the +last war you made many conquests, but were any of your taxes lessened +thereby? On the contrary, were you not taxed to pay for the charge of +making them, and has not the same been the case in every war? + +To the Parliament I wish to address myself in a more particular +manner. They appear to have supposed themselves partners in the +chase, and to have hunted with the lion from an expectation of a +right in the booty; but in this it is most probable they would, as +legislators, have been disappointed. The case is quite a new one, and +many unforeseen difficulties would have arisen thereon. The +Parliament claimed a legislative right over America, and the war +originated from that pretence. But the army is supposed to belong to +the crown, and if America had been conquered through their means, the +claim of the legislature would have been suffocated in the conquest. +Ceded, or conquered, countries are supposed to be out of the +authority of Parliament. Taxation is exercised over them by +prerogative and not by law. It was attempted to be done in the +Grenadas a few years ago, and the only reason why it was not done was +because the crown had made a prior relinquishment of its claim. +Therefore, Parliament have been all this while supporting measures +for the establishment of their authority, in the issue of which, they +would have been triumphed over by the prerogative. This might have +opened a new and interesting opposition between the Parliament and +the crown. The crown would have said that it conquered for itself, +and that to conquer for Parliament was an unknown case. The +Parliament might have replied, that America not being a foreign +country, but a country in rebellion, could not be said to be +conquered, but reduced; and thus continued their claim by disowning +the term. The crown might have rejoined, that however America might +be considered at first, she became foreign at last by a declaration +of independence, and a treaty with France; and that her case being, +by that treaty, put within the law of nations, was out of the law of +Parliament, who might have maintained, that as their claim over +America had never been surrendered, so neither could it be taken +away. The crown might have insisted, that though the claim of +Parliament could not be taken away, yet, being an inferior, it might +be superseded; and that, whether the claim was withdrawn from the +object, or the object taken from the claim, the same separation +ensued; and that America being subdued after a treaty with France, +was to all intents and purposes a regal conquest, and of course the +sole property of the king. The Parliament, as the legal delegates of +the people, might have contended against the term "inferior," and +rested the case upon the antiquity of power, and this would have +brought on a set of very interesting and rational questions. + +1st, What is the original fountain of power and honor in any country? +2d, Whether the prerogative does not belong to the people? +3d, Whether there is any such thing as the English constitution? +4th, Of what use is the crown to the people? +5th, Whether he who invented a crown was not an enemy to mankind? +6th, Whether it is not a shame for a man to spend a million a year +and do no good for it, and whether the money might not be better +applied? 7th, Whether such a man is not better dead than alive? +8th, Whether a Congress, constituted like that of America, is not the +most happy and consistent form of government in the world?- With a +number of others of the same import. + +In short, the contention about the dividend might have distracted the +nation; for nothing is more common than to agree in the conquest and +quarrel for the prize; therefore it is, perhaps, a happy +circumstance, that our successes have prevented the dispute. + +If the Parliament had been thrown out in their claim, which it is +most probable they would, the nation likewise would have been thrown +out in their expectation; for as the taxes would have been laid on by +the crown without the Parliament, the revenue arising therefrom, if +any could have arisen, would not have gone into the exchequer, but +into the privy purse, and so far from lessening the taxes, would not +even have been added to them, but served only as pocket money to the +crown. The more I reflect on this matter, the more I am satisfied at +the blindness and ill policy of my countrymen, whose wisdom seems to +operate without discernment, and their strength without an object. + +To the great bulwark of the nation, I mean the mercantile and +manufacturing part thereof, I likewise present my address. It is your +interest to see America an independent, and not a conquered country. +If conquered, she is ruined; and if ruined, poor; consequently the +trade will be a trifle, and her credit doubtful. If independent, she +flourishes, and from her flourishing must your profits arise. It +matters nothing to you who governs America, if your manufactures find +a consumption there. Some articles will consequently be obtained from +other places, and it is right that they should; but the demand for +others will increase, by the great influx of inhabitants which a +state of independence and peace will occasion, and in the final event +you may be enriched. The commerce of America is perfectly free, and +ever will be so. She will consign away no part of it to any nation. +She has not to her friends, and certainly will not to her enemies; +though it is probable that your narrow-minded politicians, thinking +to please you thereby, may some time or other unnecessarily make such +a proposal. Trade flourishes best when it is free, and it is weak +policy to attempt to fetter it. Her treaty with France is on the most +liberal and generous principles, and the French, in their conduct +towards her, have proved themselves to be philosophers, politicians, +and gentlemen. + +To the ministry I likewise address myself. You, gentlemen, have +studied the ruin of your country, from which it is not within your +abilities to rescue her. Your attempts to recover her are as +ridiculous as your plans which involved her are detestable. The +commissioners, being about to depart, will probably bring you this, +and with it my sixth number, addressed to them; and in so doing they +carry back more Common Sense than they brought, and you likewise will +have more than when you sent them. + +Having thus addressed you severally, I conclude by addressing you +collectively. It is a long lane that has no turning. A period of +sixteen years of misconduct and misfortune, is certainly long enough +for any one nation to suffer under; and upon a supposition that war +is not declared between France and you, I beg to place a line of +conduct before you that will easily lead you out of all your +troubles. It has been hinted before, and cannot be too much attended +to. + +Suppose America had remained unknown to Europe till the present year, +and that Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, in another voyage round the +world, had made the first discovery of her, in the same condition +that she is now in, of arts, arms, numbers, and civilization. What, I +ask, in that case, would have been your conduct towards her? For that +will point out what it ought to be now. The problems and their +solutions are equal, and the right line of the one is the parallel of +the other. The question takes in every circumstance that can possibly +arise. It reduces politics to a simple thought, and is moreover a +mode of investigation, in which, while you are studying your interest +the simplicity of the case will cheat you into good temper. You have +nothing to do but to suppose that you have found America, and she +appears found to your hand, and while in the joy of your heart you +stand still to admire her, the path of politics rises straight before +you. + +Were I disposed to paint a contrast, I could easily set off what you +have done in the present case, against what you would have done in +that case, and by justly opposing them, conclude a picture that would +make you blush. But, as, when any of the prouder passions are hurt, +it is much better philosophy to let a man slip into a good temper +than to attack him in a bad one, for that reason, therefore, I only +state the case, and leave you to reflect upon it. + +To go a little back into politics, it will be found that the true +interest of Britain lay in proposing and promoting the independence +of America immediately after the last peace; for the expense which +Britain had then incurred by defending America as her own dominions, +ought to have shown her the policy and necessity of changing the +style of the country, as the best probable method of preventing +future wars and expense, and the only method by which she could hold +the commerce without the charge of sovereignty. Besides which, the +title which she assumed, of parent country, led to, and pointed out +the propriety, wisdom and advantage of a separation; for, as in +private life, children grow into men, and by setting up for +themselves, extend and secure the interest of the whole family, so in +the settlement of colonies large enough to admit of maturity, the +same policy should be pursued, and the same consequences would +follow. Nothing hurts the affections both of parents and children so +much, as living too closely connected, and keeping up the distinction +too long. Domineering will not do over those, who, by a progress in +life, have become equal in rank to their parents, that is, when they +have families of their own; and though they may conceive themselves +the subjects of their advice, will not suppose them the objects of +their government. I do not, by drawing this parallel, mean to admit +the title of parent country, because, if it is due any where, it is +due to Europe collectively, and the first settlers from England were +driven here by persecution. I mean only to introduce the term for the +sake of policy and to show from your title the line of your interest. + +When you saw the state of strength and opulence, and that by her own +industry, which America arrived at, you ought to have advised her to +set up for herself, and proposed an alliance of interest with her, +and in so doing you would have drawn, and that at her own expense, +more real advantage, and more military supplies and assistance, both +of ships and men, than from any weak and wrangling government that +you could exercise over her. In short, had you studied only the +domestic politics of a family, you would have learned how to govern +the state; but, instead of this easy and natural line, you flew out +into every thing which was wild and outrageous, till, by following +the passion and stupidity of the pilot, you wrecked the vessel within +sight of the shore. + +Having shown what you ought to have done, I now proceed to show why +it was not done. The caterpillar circle of the court had an interest +to pursue, distinct from, and opposed to yours; for though by the +independence of America and an alliance therewith, the trade would +have continued, if not increased, as in many articles neither country +can go to a better market, and though by defending and protecting +herself, she would have been no expense to you, and consequently your +national charges would have decreased, and your taxes might have been +proportionably lessened thereby; yet the striking off so many places +from the court calendar was put in opposition to the interest of the +nation. The loss of thirteen government ships, with their appendages, +here and in England, is a shocking sound in the ear of a hungry +courtier. Your present king and ministry will be the ruin of you; and +you had better risk a revolution and call a Congress, than be thus +led on from madness to despair, and from despair to ruin. America has +set you the example, and you may follow it and be free. + +I now come to the last part, a war with France. This is what no man +in his senses will advise you to, and all good men would wish to +prevent. Whether France will declare war against you, is not for me +in this place to mention, or to hint, even if I knew it; but it must +be madness in you to do it first. The matter is come now to a full +crisis, and peace is easy if willingly set about. Whatever you may +think, France has behaved handsomely to you. She would have been +unjust to herself to have acted otherwise than she did; and having +accepted our offer of alliance she gave you genteel notice of it. +There was nothing in her conduct reserved or indelicate, and while +she announced her determination to support her treaty, she left you +to give the first offence. America, on her part, has exhibited a +character of firmness to the world. Unprepared and unarmed, without +form or government, she, singly opposed a nation that domineered over +half the globe. The greatness of the deed demands respect; and though +you may feel resentment, you are compelled both to wonder and admire. + +Here I rest my arguments and finish my address. Such as it is, it is +a gift, and you are welcome. It was always my design to dedicate a +Crisis to you, when the time should come that would properly make it +a Crisis; and when, likewise, I should catch myself in a temper to +write it, and suppose you in a condition to read it. That time has +now arrived, and with it the opportunity for conveyance. For the +commissioners- poor commissioners! having proclaimed, that "yet forty +days and Nineveh shall be overthrown," have waited out the date, and, +discontented with their God, are returning to their gourd. And all +the harm I wish them is, that it may not wither about their ears, and +that they may not make their exit in the belly of a whale. + +COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 21, 1778. + +P.S.- Though in the tranquillity of my mind I have concluded with a +laugh, yet I have something to mention to the commissioners, which, +to them, is serious and worthy their attention. Their authority is +derived from an Act of Parliament, which likewise describes and +limits their official powers. Their commission, therefore, is only a +recital, and personal investiture, of those powers, or a nomination +and description of the persons who are to execute them. Had it +contained any thing contrary to, or gone beyond the line of, the +written law from which it is derived, and by which it is bound, it +would, by the English constitution, have been treason in the crown, +and the king been subject to an impeachment. He dared not, therefore, +put in his commission what you have put in your proclamation, that +is, he dared not have authorised you in that commission to burn and +destroy any thing in America. You are both in the act and in the +commission styled commissioners for restoring peace, and the methods +for doing it are there pointed out. Your last proclamation is signed +by you as commissioners under that act. You make Parliament the +patron of its contents. Yet, in the body of it, you insert matters +contrary both to the spirit and letter of the act, and what likewise +your king dared not have put in his commission to you. The state of +things in England, gentlemen, is too ticklish for you to run hazards. +You are accountable to Parliament for the execution of that act +according to the letter of it. Your heads may pay for breaking it, +for you certainly have broke it by exceeding it. And as a friend, who +would wish you to escape the paw of the lion, as well as the belly of +the whale, I civilly hint to you, to keep within compass. + +Sir Harry Clinton, strictly speaking, is as accountable as the rest; +for though a general, he is likewise a commissioner, acting under a +superior authority. His first obedience is due to the act; and his +plea of being a general, will not and cannot clear him as a +commissioner, for that would suppose the crown, in its single +capacity, to have a power of dispensing with an Act of Parliament. +Your situation, gentlemen, is nice and critical, and the more so +because England is unsettled. Take heed! Remember the times of +Charles the First! For Laud and Stafford fell by trusting to a hope +like yours. + +Having thus shown you the danger of your proclamation, I now show you +the folly of it. The means contradict your design: you threaten to +lay waste, in order to render America a useless acquisition of +alliance to France. I reply, that the more destruction you commit (if +you could do it) the more valuable to France you make that alliance. +You can destroy only houses and goods; and by so doing you increase +our demand upon her for materials and merchandise; for the wants of +one nation, provided it has freedom and credit, naturally produce +riches to the other; and, as you can neither ruin the land nor +prevent the vegetation, you would increase the exportation of our +produce in payment, which would be to her a new fund of wealth. In +short, had you cast about for a plan on purpose to enrich your +enemies, you could not have hit upon a better. + + C. S. + + The Crisis + + VIII. + + ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND. + +"TRUSTING (says the king of England in his speech of November last,) +in the divine providence, and in the justice of my cause, I am firmly +resolved to prosecute the war with vigor, and to make every exertion +in order to compel our enemies to equitable terms of peace and +accommodation." To this declaration the United States of America, and +the confederated powers of Europe will reply, if Britain will have +war, she shall have enough of it. + +Five years have nearly elapsed since the commencement of hostilities, +and every campaign, by a gradual decay, has lessened your ability to +conquer, without producing a serious thought on your condition or +your fate. Like a prodigal lingering in an habitual consumption, you +feel the relics of life, and mistake them for recovery. New schemes, +like new medicines, have administered fresh hopes, and prolonged the +disease instead of curing it. A change of generals, like a change of +physicians, served only to keep the flattery alive, and furnish new +pretences for new extravagance. + +"Can Britain fail?"* has been proudly asked at the undertaking of +every enterprise; and that "whatever she wills is fate,"*(2) has been +given with the solemnity of prophetic confidence; and though the +question has been constantly replied to by disappointment, and the +prediction falsified by misfortune, yet still the insult continued, +and your catalogue of national evils increased therewith. Eager to +persuade the world of her power, she considered destruction as the +minister of greatness, and conceived that the glory of a nation like +that of an [American] Indian, lay in the number of its scalps and the +miseries which it inflicts. + +* Whitehead's New Year's ode for 1776. +*(2) Ode at the installation of Lord North, for Chancellor of the +University of Oxford. + +Fire, sword and want, as far as the arms of Britain could extend +them, have been spread with wanton cruelty along the coast of +America; and while you, remote from the scene of suffering, had +nothing to lose and as little to dread, the information reached you +like a tale of antiquity, in which the distance of time defaces the +conception, and changes the severest sorrows into conversable +amusement. + +This makes the second paper, addressed perhaps in vain, to the people +of England. That advice should be taken wherever example has failed, +or precept be regarded where warning is ridiculed, is like a picture +of hope resting on despair: but when time shall stamp with universal +currency the facts you have long encountered with a laugh, and the +irresistible evidence of accumulated losses, like the handwriting on +the wall, shall add terror to distress, you will then, in a conflict +of suffering, learn to sympathize with others by feeling for +yourselves. + +The triumphant appearance of the combined fleets in the channel and +at your harbor's mouth, and the expedition of Captain Paul Jones, on +the western and eastern coasts of England and Scotland, will, by +placing you in the condition of an endangered country, read to you a +stronger lecture on the calamities of invasion, and bring to your +minds a truer picture of promiscuous distress, than the most finished +rhetoric can describe or the keenest imagination conceive. + +Hitherto you have experienced the expenses, but nothing of the +miseries of war. Your disappointments have been accompanied with no +immediate suffering, and your losses came to you only by +intelligence. Like fire at a distance you heard not even the cry; you +felt not the danger, you saw not the confusion. To you every thing +has been foreign but the taxes to support it. You knew not what it +was to be alarmed at midnight with an armed enemy in the streets. You +were strangers to the distressing scene of a family in flight, and to +the thousand restless cares and tender sorrows that incessantly +arose. To see women and children wandering in the severity of winter, +with the broken remains of a well furnished house, and seeking +shelter in every crib and hut, were matters that you had no +conception of. You knew not what it was to stand by and see your +goods chopped for fuel, and your beds ripped to pieces to make +packages for plunder. The misery of others, like a tempestuous night, +added to the pleasures of your own security. You even enjoyed the +storm, by contemplating the difference of conditions, and that which +carried sorrow into the breasts of thousands served but to heighten +in you a species of tranquil pride. Yet these are but the fainter +sufferings of war, when compared with carnage and slaughter, the +miseries of a military hospital, or a town in flames. + +The people of America, by anticipating distress, had fortified their +minds against every species you could inflict. They had resolved to +abandon their homes, to resign them to destruction, and to seek new +settlements rather than submit. Thus familiarized to misfortune, +before it arrived, they bore their portion with the less regret: the +justness of their cause was a continual source of consolation, and +the hope of final victory, which never left them, served to lighten +the load and sweeten the cup allotted them to drink. + +But when their troubles shall become yours, and invasion be +transferred upon the invaders, you will have neither their extended +wilderness to fly to, their cause to comfort you, nor their hope to +rest upon. Distress with them was sharpened by no self-reflection. +They had not brought it on themselves. On the contrary, they had by +every proceeding endeavored to avoid it, and had descended even below +the mark of congressional character, to prevent a war. The national +honor or the advantages of independence were matters which, at the +commencement of the dispute, they had never studied, and it was only +at the last moment that the measure was resolved on. Thus +circumstanced, they naturally and conscientiously felt a dependence +upon providence. They had a clear pretension to it, and had they +failed therein, infidelity had gained a triumph. + +But your condition is the reverse of theirs. Every thing you suffer +you have sought: nay, had you created mischiefs on purpose to inherit +them, you could not have secured your title by a firmer deed. The +world awakens with no pity it your complaints. You felt none for +others; you deserve none for yourselves. Nature does not interest +herself in cases like yours, but, on the contrary, turns from them +with dislike, and abandons them to punishment. You may now present +memorials to what court you please, but so far as America is the +object, none will listen. The policy of Europe, and the propensity +there in every mind to curb insulting ambition, and bring cruelty to +judgment, are unitedly against you; and where nature and interest +reinforce with each other, the compact is too intimate to be +dissolved. + +Make but the case of others your own, and your own theirs, and you +will then have a clear idea of the whole. Had France acted towards +her colonies as you have done, you would have branded her with every +epithet of abhorrence; and had you, like her, stepped in to succor a +struggling people, all Europe must have echoed with your own +applauses. But entangled in the passion of dispute you see it not as +you ought, and form opinions thereon which suit with no interest but +your own. You wonder that America does not rise in union with you to +impose on herself a portion of your taxes and reduce herself to +unconditional submission. You are amazed that the southern powers of +Europe do not assist you in conquering a country which is afterwards +to be turned against themselves; and that the northern ones do not +contribute to reinstate you in America who already enjoy the market +for naval stores by the separation. You seem surprised that Holland +does not pour in her succors to maintain you mistress of the seas, +when her own commerce is suffering by your act of navigation; or that +any country should study her own interest while yours is on the +carpet. + +Such excesses of passionate folly, and unjust as well as unwise +resentment, have driven you on, like Pharaoh, to unpitied miseries, +and while the importance of the quarrel shall perpetuate your +disgrace, the flag of America will carry it round the world. The +natural feelings of every rational being will be against you, and +wherever the story shall be told, you will have neither excuse nor +consolation left. With an unsparing hand, and an insatiable mind, you +have desolated the world, to gain dominion and to lose it; and while, +in a frenzy of avarice and ambition, the east and the west are doomed +to tributary bondage, you rapidly earned destruction as the wages of +a nation. + +At the thoughts of a war at home, every man amongst you ought to +tremble. The prospect is far more dreadful there than in America. +Here the party that was against the measures of the continent were in +general composed of a kind of neutrals, who added strength to neither +army. There does not exist a being so devoid of sense and sentiment +as to covet "unconditional submission," and therefore no man in +America could be with you in principle. Several might from a +cowardice of mind, prefer it to the hardships and dangers of opposing +it; but the same disposition that gave them such a choice, unfitted +them to act either for or against us. But England is rent into +parties, with equal shares of resolution. The principle which +produced the war divides the nation. Their animosities are in the +highest state of fermentation, and both sides, by a call of the +militia, are in arms. No human foresight can discern, no conclusion +can be formed, what turn a war might take, if once set on foot by an +invasion. She is not now in a fit disposition to make a common cause +of her own affairs, and having no conquests to hope for abroad, and +nothing but expenses arising at home, her everything is staked upon a +defensive combat, and the further she goes the worse she is off. + +There are situations that a nation may be in, in which peace or war, +abstracted from every other consideration, may be politically right +or wrong. When nothing can be lost by a war, but what must be lost +without it, war is then the policy of that country; and such was the +situation of America at the commencement of hostilities: but when no +security can be gained by a war, but what may be accomplished by a +peace, the case becomes reversed, and such now is the situation of +England. + +That America is beyond the reach of conquest, is a fact which +experience has shown and time confirmed, and this admitted, what, I +ask, is now the object of contention? If there be any honor in +pursuing self-destruction with inflexible passion- if national +suicide be the perfection of national glory, you may, with all the +pride of criminal happiness, expire unenvied and unrivalled. But when +the tumult of war shall cease, and the tempest of present passions be +succeeded by calm reflection, or when those, who, surviving its fury, +shall inherit from you a legacy of debts and misfortunes, when the +yearly revenue scarcely be able to discharge the interest of the one, +and no possible remedy be left for the other, ideas far different +from the present will arise, and embitter the remembrance of former +follies. A mind disarmed of its rage feels no pleasure in +contemplating a frantic quarrel. Sickness of thought, the sure +consequence of conduct like yours, leaves no ability for enjoyment, +no relish for resentment; and though, like a man in a fit, you feel +not the injury of the struggle, nor distinguish between strength and +disease, the weakness will nevertheless be proportioned to the +violence, and the sense of pain increase with the recovery. + +To what persons or to whose system of politics you owe your present +state of wretchedness, is a matter of total indifference to America. +They have contributed, however unwillingly, to set her above +themselves, and she, in the tranquillity of conquest, resigns the +inquiry. The case now is not so properly who began the war, as who +continues it. That there are men in all countries to whom a state of +war is a mine of wealth, is a fact never to be doubted. Characters +like these naturally breed in the putrefaction of distempered times, +and after fattening on the disease, they perish with it, or, +impregnated with the stench, retreat into obscurity. + +But there are several erroneous notions to which you likewise owe a +share of your misfortunes, and which, if continued, will only +increase your trouble and your losses. An opinion hangs about the +gentlemen of the minority, that America would relish measures under +their administration, which she would not from the present cabinet. +On this rock Lord Chatham would have split had he gained the helm, +and several of his survivors are steering the same course. Such +distinctions in the infancy of the argument had some degree of +foundation, but they now serve no other purpose than to lengthen out +a war, in which the limits of a dispute, being fixed by the fate of +arms, and guaranteed by treaties, are not to be changed or altered by +trivial circumstances. + +The ministry, and many of the minority, sacrifice their time in +disputing on a question with which they have nothing to do, namely, +whether America shall be independent or not. Whereas the only +question that can come under their determination is, whether they +will accede to it or not. They confound a military question with a +political one, and undertake to supply by a vote what they lost by a +battle. Say she shall not be independent, and it will signify as much +as if they voted against a decree of fate, or say that she shall, and +she will be no more independent than before. Questions which, when +determined, cannot be executed, serve only to show the folly of +dispute and the weakness of disputants. + +From a long habit of calling America your own, you suppose her +governed by the same prejudices and conceits which govern yourselves. +Because you have set up a particular denomination of religion to the +exclusion of all others, you imagine she must do the same, and +because you, with an unsociable narrowness of mind, have cherished +enmity against France and Spain, you suppose her alliance must be +defective in friendship. Copying her notions of the world from you, +she formerly thought as you instructed, but now feeling herself free, +and the prejudice removed, she thinks and acts upon a different +system. It frequently happens that in proportion as we are taught to +dislike persons and countries, not knowing why, we feel an ardor of +esteem upon the removal of the mistake: it seems as if something was +to be made amends for, and we eagerly give in to every office of +friendship, to atone for the injury of the error. But, perhaps, there +is something in the extent of countries, which, among the generality +of people, insensibly communicates extension of the mind. The soul of +an islander, in its native state, seems bounded by the foggy confines +of the water's edge, and all beyond affords to him matters only for +profit or curiosity, not for friendship. His island is to him his +world, and fixed to that, his every thing centers in it; while those +who are inhabitants of a continent, by casting their eye over a +larger field, take in likewise a larger intellectual circuit, and +thus approaching nearer to an acquaintance with the universe, their +atmosphere of thought is extended, and their liberality fills a wider +space. In short, our minds seem to be measured by countries when we +are men, as they are by places when we are children, and until +something happens to disentangle us from the prejudice, we serve +under it without perceiving it. + +In addition to this, it may be remarked, that men who study any +universal science, the principles of which are universally known, or +admitted, and applied without distinction to the common benefit of +all countries, obtain thereby a larger share of philanthropy than +those who only study national arts and improvements. Natural +philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, carry the mind from the +country to the creation, and give it a fitness suited to the extent. +It was not Newton's honor, neither could it be his pride, that he was +an Englishman, but that he was a philosopher, the heavens had +liberated him from the prejudices of an island, and science had +expanded his soul as boundless as his studies. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, March, 1780. + + + The Crisis + + IX. + +HAD America pursued her advantages with half the spirit that she +resisted her misfortunes, she would, before now, have been a +conquering and a peaceful people; but lulled in the lap of soft +tranquillity, she rested on her hopes, and adversity only has +convulsed her into action. Whether subtlety or sincerity at the close +of the last year induced the enemy to an appearance for peace, is a +point not material to know; it is sufficient that we see the effects +it has had on our politics, and that we sternly rise to resent the +delusion. + +The war, on the part of America, has been a war of natural feelings. +Brave in distress; serene in conquest; drowsy while at rest; and in +every situation generously disposed to peace; a dangerous calm, and a +most heightened zeal have, as circumstances varied, succeeded each +other. Every passion but that of despair has been called to a tour of +duty; and so mistaken has been the enemy, of our abilities and +disposition, that when she supposed us conquered, we rose the +conquerors. The extensiveness of the United States, and the variety +of their resources; the universality of their cause, the quick +operation of their feelings, and the similarity of their sentiments, +have, in every trying situation, produced a something, which, favored +by providence, and pursued with ardor, has accomplished in an instant +the business of a campaign. We have never deliberately sought +victory, but snatched it; and bravely undone in an hour the blotted +operations of a season. + +The reported fate of Charleston, like the misfortunes of 1776, has at +last called forth a spirit, and kindled up a flame, which perhaps no +other event could have produced. If the enemy has circulated a +falsehood, they have unwisely aggravated us into life, and if they +have told us the truth, they have unintentionally done us a service. +We were returning with folded arms from the fatigues of war, and +thinking and sitting leisurely down to enjoy repose. The dependence +that has been put upon Charleston threw a drowsiness over America. We +looked on the business done- the conflict over- the matter settled- +or that all which remained unfinished would follow of itself. In this +state of dangerous relaxation, exposed to the poisonous infusions of +the enemy, and having no common danger to attract our attention, we +were extinguishing, by stages, the ardor we began with, and +surrendering by piece-meal the virtue that defended us. + +Afflicting as the loss of Charleston may be, yet if it universally +rouse us from the slumber of twelve months past, and renew in us the +spirit of former days, it will produce an advantage more important +than its loss. America ever is what she thinks herself to be. +Governed by sentiment, and acting her own mind, she becomes, as she +pleases, the victor or the victim. + +It is not the conquest of towns, nor the accidental capture of +garrisons, that can reduce a country so extensive as this. The +sufferings of one part can never be relieved by the exertions of +another, and there is no situation the enemy can be placed in that +does not afford to us the same advantages which he seeks himself. By +dividing his force, he leaves every post attackable. It is a mode of +war that carries with it a confession of weakness, and goes on the +principle of distress rather than conquest. + +The decline of the enemy is visible, not only in their operations, +but in their plans; Charleston originally made but a secondary object +in the system of attack, and it is now become their principal one, +because they have not been able to succeed elsewhere. It would have +carried a cowardly appearance in Europe had they formed their grand +expedition, in 1776, against a part of the continent where there was +no army, or not a sufficient one to oppose them; but failing year +after year in their impressions here, and to the eastward and +northward, they deserted their capital design, and prudently +contenting themselves with what they can get, give a flourish of +honor to conceal disgrace. + +But this piece-meal work is not conquering the continent. It is a +discredit in them to attempt it, and in us to suffer it. It is now +full time to put an end to a war of aggravations, which, on one side, +has no possible object, and on the other has every inducement which +honor, interest, safety and happiness can inspire. If we suffer them +much longer to remain among us, we shall become as bad as themselves. +An association of vice will reduce us more than the sword. A nation +hardened in the practice of iniquity knows better how to profit by +it, than a young country newly corrupted. We are not a match for them +in the line of advantageous guilt, nor they for us on the principles +which we bravely set out with. Our first days were our days of honor. +They have marked the character of America wherever the story of her +wars are told; and convinced of this, we have nothing to do but +wisely and unitedly to tread the well known track. The progress of a +war is often as ruinous to individuals, as the issue of it is to a +nation; and it is not only necessary that our forces be such that we +be conquerors in the end, but that by timely exertions we be secure +in the interim. The present campaign will afford an opportunity which +has never presented itself before, and the preparations for it are +equally necessary, whether Charleston stand or fall. Suppose the +first, it is in that case only a failure of the enemy, not a defeat. +All the conquest that a besieged town can hope for, is, not to be +conquered; and compelling an enemy to raise the siege, is to the +besieged a victory. But there must be a probability amounting almost +to a certainty, that would justify a garrison marching out to attack +a retreat. Therefore should Charleston not be taken, and the enemy +abandon the siege, every other part of the continent should prepare +to meet them; and, on the contrary, should it be taken, the same +preparations are necessary to balance the loss, and put ourselves in +a position to co-operate with our allies, immediately on their +arrival. + +We are not now fighting our battles alone, as we were in 1776; +England, from a malicious disposition to America, has not only not +declared war against France and Spain, but, the better to prosecute +her passions here, has afforded those powers no military object, and +avoids them, to distress us. She will suffer her West India islands +to be overrun by France, and her southern settlements to be taken by +Spain, rather than quit the object that gratifies her revenge. This +conduct, on the part of Britain, has pointed out the propriety of +France sending a naval and land force to co-operate with America on +the spot. Their arrival cannot be very distant, nor the ravages of +the enemy long. The recruiting the army, and procuring the supplies, +are the two things most necessary to be accomplished, and a capture +of either of the enemy's divisions will restore to America peace and +plenty. + +At a crisis, big, like the present, with expectation and events, the +whole country is called to unanimity and exertion. Not an ability +ought now to sleep, that can produce but a mite to the general good, +nor even a whisper to pass that militates against it. The necessity +of the case, and the importance of the consequences, admit no delay +from a friend, no apology from an enemy. To spare now, would be the +height of extravagance, and to consult present ease, would be to +sacrifice it perhaps forever. + +America, rich in patriotism and produce, can want neither men nor +supplies, when a serious necessity calls them forth. The slow +operation of taxes, owing to the extensiveness of collection, and +their depreciated value before they arrived in the treasury, have, in +many instances, thrown a burden upon government, which has been +artfully interpreted by the enemy into a general decline throughout +the country. Yet this, inconvenient as it may at first appear, is not +only remediable, but may be turned to an immediate advantage; for it +makes no real difference, whether a certain number of men, or company +of militia (and in this country every man is a militia-man), are +directed by law to send a recruit at their own expense, or whether a +tax is laid on them for that purpose, and the man hired by government +afterwards. The first, if there is any difference, is both cheapest +and best, because it saves the expense which would attend collecting +it as a tax, and brings the man sooner into the field than the modes +of recruiting formerly used; and, on this principle, a law has been +passed in this state, for recruiting two men from each company of +militia, which will add upwards of a thousand to the force of the +country. + +But the flame which has broken forth in this city since the report +from New York, of the loss of Charleston, not only does honor to the +place, but, like the blaze of 1776, will kindle into action the +scattered sparks throughout America. The valor of a country may be +learned by the bravery of its soldiery, and the general cast of its +inhabitants, but confidence of success is best discovered by the +active measures pursued by men of property; and when the spirit of +enterprise becomes so universal as to act at once on all ranks of +men, a war may then, and not till then, be styled truly popular. + +In 1776, the ardor of the enterprising part was considerably checked +by the real revolt of some, and the coolness of others. But in the +present case, there is a firmness in the substance and property of +the country to the public cause. An association has been entered into +by the merchants, tradesmen, and principal inhabitants of the city +[Philadelphia], to receive and support the new state money at the +value of gold and silver; a measure which, while it does them honor, +will likewise contribute to their interest, by rendering the +operations of the campaign convenient and effectual. + +Nor has the spirit of exertion stopped here. A voluntary subscription +is likewise begun, to raise a fund of hard money, to be given as +bounties, to fill up the full quota of the Pennsylvania line. It has +been the remark of the enemy, that every thing in America has been +done by the force of government; but when she sees individuals +throwing in their voluntary aid, and facilitating the public measures +in concert with the established powers of the country, it will +convince her that the cause of America stands not on the will of a +few but on the broad foundation of property and popularity. + +Thus aided and thus supported, disaffection will decline, and the +withered head of tyranny expire in America. The ravages of the enemy +will be short and limited, and like all their former ones, will +produce a victory over themselves. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, June 9, 1780. + +P. S. At the time of writing this number of the Crisis, the loss of +Charleston, though believed by some, was more confidently disbelieved +by others. But there ought to be no longer a doubt upon the matter. +Charleston is gone, and I believe for the want of a sufficient supply +of provisions. The man that does not now feel for the honor of the +best and noblest cause that ever a country engaged in, and exert +himself accordingly, is no longer worthy of a peaceable residence +among a people determined to be free. + + C. S. + + THE CRISIS EXTRAORDINARY + + ON THE SUBJECT OF TAXATION. + +IT IS impossible to sit down and think seriously on the affairs of +America, but the original principles upon which she resisted, and the +glow and ardor which they inspired, will occur like the undefaced +remembrance of a lovely scene. To trace over in imagination the +purity of the cause, the voluntary sacrifices that were made to +support it, and all the various turnings of the war in its defence, +is at once both paying and receiving respect. The principles deserve +to be remembered, and to remember them rightly is repossessing them. +In this indulgence of generous recollection, we become gainers by +what we seem to give, and the more we bestow the richer we become. + +So extensively right was the ground on which America proceeded, that +it not only took in every just and liberal sentiment which could +impress the heart, but made it the direct interest of every class and +order of men to defend the country. The war, on the part of Britain, +was originally a war of covetousness. The sordid and not the splendid +passions gave it being. The fertile fields and prosperous infancy of +America appeared to her as mines for tributary wealth. She viewed the +hive, and disregarding the industry that had enriched it, thirsted +for the honey. But in the present stage of her affairs, the violence +of temper is added to the rage of avarice; and therefore, that which +at the first setting out proceeded from purity of principle and +public interest, is now heightened by all the obligations of +necessity; for it requires but little knowledge of human nature to +discern what would be the consequence, were America again reduced to +the subjection of Britain. Uncontrolled power, in the hands of an +incensed, imperious, and rapacious conqueror, is an engine of +dreadful execution, and woe be to that country over which it can be +exercised. The names of Whig and Tory would then be sunk in the +general term of rebel, and the oppression, whatever it might be, +would, with very few instances of exception, light equally on all. + +Britain did not go to war with America for the sake of dominion, +because she was then in possession; neither was it for the extension +of trade and commerce, because she had monopolized the whole, and the +country had yielded to it; neither was it to extinguish what she +might call rebellion, because before she began no resistance existed. +It could then be from no other motive than avarice, or a design of +establishing, in the first instance, the same taxes in America as are +paid in England (which, as I shall presently show, are above eleven +times heavier than the taxes we now pay for the present year, 1780) +or, in the second instance, to confiscate the whole property of +America, in case of resistance and conquest of the latter, of which +she had then no doubt. + +I shall now proceed to show what the taxes in England are, and what +the yearly expense of the present war is to her- what the taxes of +this country amount to, and what the annual expense of defending it +effectually will be to us; and shall endeavor concisely to point out +the cause of our difficulties, and the advantages on one side, and +the consequences on the other, in case we do, or do not, put +ourselves in an effectual state of defence. I mean to be open, +candid, and sincere. I see a universal wish to expel the enemy from +the country, a murmuring because the war is not carried on with more +vigor, and my intention is to show, as shortly as possible, both the +reason and the remedy. + +The number of souls in England (exclusive of Scotland and Ireland) is +seven millions,* and the number of souls in America is three +millions. + +* This is taking the highest number that the people of England have +been, or can be rated at. + +The amount of taxes in England (exclusive of Scotland and Ireland) +was, before the present war commenced, eleven millions six hundred +and forty-two thousand six hundred and fifty-three pounds sterling; +which, on an average, is no less a sum than one pound thirteen +shillings and three-pence sterling per head per annum, men, women, +and children; besides county taxes, taxes for the support of the +poor, and a tenth of all the produce of the earth for the support of +the bishops and clergy.* Nearly five millions of this sum went +annually to pay the interest of the national debt, contracted by +former wars, and the remaining sum of six millions six hundred and +forty-two thousand six hundred pounds was applied to defray the +yearly expense of government, the peace establishment of the army and +navy, placemen, pensioners, etc.; consequently the whole of the +enormous taxes being thus appropriated, she had nothing to spare out +of them towards defraying the expenses of the present war or any +other. Yet had she not been in debt at the beginning of the war, as +we were not, and, like us, had only a land and not a naval war to +carry on, her then revenue of eleven millions and a half pounds +sterling would have defrayed all her annual expenses of war and +government within each year. +* The following is taken from Dr. Price's state of the taxes of +England. + +An account of the money drawn from the public by taxes, annually, +being the medium of three years before the year 1776. + + Amount of customs in England 2,528,275 L. + Amount of the excise in England 4,649,892 + Land tax at 3s. 1,300,000 + Land tax at 1s. in the pound 450,000 + Salt duties 218,739 + Duties on stamps, cards, dice, advertisements, + bonds, leases, indentures, newspapers, + almanacks, etc. 280,788 + Duties on houses and windows 385,369 + Post office, seizures, wine licences, hackney + coaches, etc. 250,000 + Annual profits from lotteries 150,000 + Expense of collecting the excise in England 297,887 + Expense of collecting the customs in England 468,703 + Interest of loans on the land tax at 4s. expenses + of collection, militia, etc. 250,000 + Perquisites, etc. to custom-house officers, &c. + supposed 250,000 + Expense of collecting the salt duties in England + 10 1/2 per cent. 27,000 + Bounties on fish exported 18,000 + Expense of collecting the duties on stamps, cards, + advertisements, etc. at 5 and 1/4 per cent. 18,000 + + Total 11,642,653 L. + +But this not being the case with her, she is obliged to borrow about +ten millions pounds sterling, yearly, to prosecute the war that she +is now engaged in, (this year she borrowed twelve) and lay on new +taxes to discharge the interest; allowing that the present war has +cost her only fifty millions sterling, the interest thereon, at five +per cent., will be two millions and an half; therefore the amount of +her taxes now must be fourteen millions, which on an average is no +less than forty shillings sterling, per head, men, women and +children, throughout the nation. Now as this expense of fifty +millions was borrowed on the hopes of conquering America, and as it +was avarice which first induced her to commence the war, how truly +wretched and deplorable would the condition of this country be, were +she, by her own remissness, to suffer an enemy of such a disposition, +and so circumstanced, to reduce her to subjection. + +I now proceed to the revenues of America. + +I have already stated the number of souls in America to be three +millions, and by a calculation that I have made, which I have every +reason to believe is sufficiently correct, the whole expense of the +war, and the support of the several governments, may be defrayed for +two million pounds sterling annually; which, on an average, is +thirteen shillings and four pence per head, men, women, and children, +and the peace establishment at the end of the war will be but three +quarters of a million, or five shillings sterling per head. Now, +throwing out of the question everything of honor, principle, +happiness, freedom, and reputation in the world, and taking it up on +the simple ground of interest, I put the following case: + +Suppose Britain was to conquer America, and, as a conqueror, was to +lay her under no other conditions than to pay the same proportion +towards her annual revenue which the people of England pay: our +share, in that case, would be six million pounds sterling yearly. Can +it then be a question, whether it is best to raise two millions to +defend the country, and govern it ourselves, and only three quarters +of a million afterwards, or pay six millions to have it conquered, +and let the enemy govern it? + +Can it be supposed that conquerors would choose to put themselves in +a worse condition than what they granted to the conquered? In +England, the tax on rum is five shillings and one penny sterling per +gallon, which is one silver dollar and fourteen coppers. Now would it +not be laughable to imagine, that after the expense they have been +at, they would let either Whig or Tory drink it cheaper than +themselves? Coffee, which is so inconsiderable an article of +consumption and support here, is there loaded with a duty which makes +the price between five and six shillings per pound, and a penalty of +fifty pounds sterling on any person detected in roasting it in his +own house. There is scarcely a necessary of life that you can eat, +drink, wear, or enjoy, that is not there loaded with a tax; even the +light from heaven is only permitted to shine into their dwellings by +paying eighteen pence sterling per window annually; and the humblest +drink of life, small beer, cannot there be purchased without a tax of +nearly two coppers per gallon, besides a heavy tax upon the malt, and +another on the hops before it is brewed, exclusive of a land-tax on +the earth which produces them. In short, the condition of that +country, in point of taxation, is so oppressive, the number of her +poor so great, and the extravagance and rapaciousness of the court so +enormous, that, were they to effect a conquest of America, it is then +only that the distresses of America would begin. Neither would it +signify anything to a man whether he be Whig or Tory. The people of +England, and the ministry of that country, know us by no such +distinctions. What they want is clear, solid revenue, and the modes +which they would take to procure it, would operate alike on all. +Their manner of reasoning would be short, because they would +naturally infer, that if we were able to carry on a war of five or +six years against them, we were able to pay the same taxes which they +do. + +I have already stated that the expense of conducting the present war, +and the government of the several states, may be done for two +millions sterling, and the establishment in the time of peace, for +three quarters of a million.* + +* I have made the calculations in sterling, because it is a rate +generally known in all the states, and because, likewise, it admits +of an easy comparison between our expenses to support the war, and +those of the enemy. Four silver dollars and a half is one pound +sterling, and three pence over. + +As to navy matters, they flourish so well, and are so well attended +to by individuals, that I think it consistent on every principle of +real use and economy, to turn the navy into hard money (keeping only +three or four packets) and apply it to the service of the army. We +shall not have a ship the less; the use of them, and the benefit from +them, will be greatly increased, and their expense saved. We are now +allied with a formidable naval power, from whom we derive the +assistance of a navy. And the line in which we can prosecute the war, +so as to reduce the common enemy and benefit the alliance most +effectually, will be by attending closely to the land service. + +I estimate the charge of keeping up and maintaining an army, +officering them, and all expenses included, sufficient for the +defence of the country, to be equal to the expense of forty thousand +men at thirty pounds sterling per head, which is one million two +hundred thousand pounds. + +I likewise allow four hundred thousand pounds for continental +expenses at home and abroad. + +And four hundred thousand pounds for the support of the several state +governments- the amount will then be: + + For the army 1,200,000 L. + Continental expenses at home and abroad 400,000 + Government of the several states 400,000 + + Total 2,000,000 L. + +I take the proportion of this state, Pennsylvania, to be an eighth +part of the thirteen United States; the quota then for us to raise +will be two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling; two hundred +thousand of which will be our share for the support and pay of the +army, and continental expenses at home and abroad, and fifty thousand +pounds for the support of the state government. + +In order to gain an idea of the proportion in which the raising such +a sum will fall, I make the following calculation: + +Pennsylvania contains three hundred and seventy-five thousand +inhabitants, men, women and children; which is likewise an eighth of +the number of inhabitants of the whole United States: therefore, two +hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling to be raised among three +hundred and seventy-five thousand persons, is, on an average, +thirteen shillings and four pence per head, per annum, or something +more than one shilling sterling per month. And our proportion of +three quarters of a million for the government of the country, in +time of peace, will be ninety-three thousand seven hundred and fifty +pounds sterling; fifty thousand of which will be for the government +expenses of the state, and forty-three thousand seven hundred and +fifty pounds for continental expenses at home and abroad. + +The peace establishment then will, on an average, be five shillings +sterling per head. Whereas, was England now to stop, and the war +cease, her peace establishment would continue the same as it is now, +viz. forty shillings per head; therefore was our taxes necessary for +carrying on the war, as much per head as hers now is, and the +difference to be only whether we should, at the end of the war, pay +at the rate of five shillings per head, or forty shillings per head, +the case needs no thinking of. But as we can securely defend and keep +the country for one third less than what our burden would be if it +was conquered, and support the governments afterwards for one eighth +of what Britain would levy on us, and could I find a miser whose +heart never felt the emotion of a spark of principle, even that man, +uninfluenced by every love but the love of money, and capable of no +attachment but to his interest, would and must, from the frugality +which governs him, contribute to the defence of the country, or he +ceases to be a miser and becomes an idiot. But when we take in with +it every thing that can ornament mankind; when the line of our +interest becomes the line of our happiness; when all that can cheer +and animate the heart, when a sense of honor, fame, character, at +home and abroad, are interwoven not only with the security but the +increase of property, there exists not a man in America, unless he be +an hired emissary, who does not see that his good is connected with +keeping up a sufficient defence. + +I do not imagine that an instance can be produced in the world, of a +country putting herself to such an amazing charge to conquer and +enslave another, as Britain has done. The sum is too great for her to +think of with any tolerable degree of temper; and when we consider +the burden she sustains, as well as the disposition she has shown, it +would be the height of folly in us to suppose that she would not +reimburse herself by the most rapid means, had she America once more +within her power. With such an oppression of expense, what would an +empty conquest be to her! What relief under such circumstances could +she derive from a victory without a prize? It was money, it was +revenue she first went to war for, and nothing but that would satisfy +her. It is not the nature of avarice to be satisfied with any thing +else. Every passion that acts upon mankind has a peculiar mode of +operation. Many of them are temporary and fluctuating; they admit of +cessation and variety. But avarice is a fixed, uniform passion. It +neither abates of its vigor nor changes its object; and the reason +why it does not, is founded in the nature of things, for wealth has +not a rival where avarice is a ruling passion. One beauty may excel +another, and extinguish from the mind of man the pictured remembrance +of a former one: but wealth is the phoenix of avarice, and therefore +it cannot seek a new object, because there is not another in the +world. + +I now pass on to show the value of the present taxes, and compare +them with the annual expense; but this I shall preface with a few +explanatory remarks. + +There are two distinct things which make the payment of taxes +difficult; the one is the large and real value of the sum to be paid, +and the other is the scarcity of the thing in which the payment is to +be made; and although these appear to be one and the same, they are +in several instances riot only different, but the difficulty springs +from different causes. + +Suppose a tax to be laid equal to one half of what a man's yearly +income is, such a tax could not be paid, because the property could +not be spared; and on the other hand, suppose a very trifling tax was +laid, to be collected in pearls, such a tax likewise could not be +paid, because they could not be had. Now any person may see that +these are distinct cases, and the latter of them is a representation +of our own. + +That the difficulty cannot proceed from the former, that is, from the +real value or weight of the tax, is evident at the first view to any +person who will consider it. + +The amount of the quota of taxes for this State for the year, 1780, +(and so in proportion for every other State,) is twenty millions of +dollars, which at seventy for one, is but sixty-four thousand two +hundred and eighty pounds three shillings sterling, and on an +average, is no more than three shillings and five pence sterling per +head, per annum, per man, woman and child, or threepence two-fifths +per head per month. Now here is a clear, positive fact, that cannot +be contradicted, and which proves that the difficulty cannot be in +the weight of the tax, for in itself it is a trifle, and far from +being adequate to our quota of the expense of the war. The quit-rents +of one penny sterling per acre on only one half of the state, come to +upwards of fifty thousand pounds, which is almost as much as all the +taxes of the present year, and as those quit-rents made no part of +the taxes then paid, and are now discontinued, the quantity of money +drawn for public-service this year, exclusive of the militia fines, +which I shall take notice of in the process of this work, is less +than what was paid and payable in any year preceding the revolution, +and since the last war; what I mean is, that the quit-rents and taxes +taken together came to a larger sum then, than the present taxes +without the quit-rents do now. + +My intention by these arguments and calculations is to place the +difficulty to the right cause, and show that it does not proceed from +the weight or worth of the tax, but from the scarcity of the medium +in which it is paid; and to illustrate this point still further, I +shall now show, that if the tax of twenty millions of dollars was of +four times the real value it now is, or nearly so, which would be +about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, and would be +our full quota, this sum would have been raised with more ease, and +have been less felt, than the present sum of only sixty-four thousand +two hundred and eighty pounds. + +The convenience or inconvenience of paying a tax in money arises from +the quantity of money that can be spared out of trade. + +When the emissions stopped, the continent was left in possession of +two hundred millions of dollars, perhaps as equally dispersed as it +was possible for trade to do it. And as no more was to be issued, the +rise or fall of prices could neither increase nor diminish the +quantity. It therefore remained the same through all the fluctuations +of trade and exchange. + +Now had the exchange stood at twenty for one, which was the rate +Congress calculated upon when they arranged the quota of the several +states, the latter end of last year, trade would have been carried on +for nearly four times less money than it is now, and consequently the +twenty millions would have been spared with much greater ease, and +when collected would have been of almost four times the value that +they now are. And on the other hand, was the depreciation to be +ninety or one hundred for one, the quantity required for trade would +be more than at sixty or seventy for one, and though the value of +them would be less, the difficulty of sparing the money out of trade +would be greater. And on these facts and arguments I rest the matter, +to prove that it is not the want of property, but the scarcity of the +medium by which the proportion of property for taxation is to be +measured out, that makes the embarrassment which we lie under. There +is not money enough, and, what is equally as true, the people will +not let there be money enough. + +While I am on the subject of the currency, I shall offer one remark +which will appear true to everybody, and can be accounted for by +nobody, which is, that the better the times were, the worse the money +grew; and the worse the times were, the better the money stood. It +never depreciated by any advantage obtained by the enemy. The +troubles of 1776, and the loss of Philadelphia in 1777, made no +sensible impression on it, and every one knows that the surrender of +Charleston did not produce the least alteration in the rate of +exchange, which, for long before, and for more than three months +after, stood at sixty for one. It seems as if the certainty of its +being our own, made us careless of its value, and that the most +distant thoughts of losing it made us hug it the closer, like +something we were loth to part with; or that we depreciate it for our +pastime, which, when called to seriousness by the enemy, we leave off +to renew again at our leisure. In short, our good luck seems to break +us, and our bad makes us whole. + +Passing on from this digression, I shall now endeavor to bring into +one view the several parts which I have already stated, and form +thereon some propositions, and conclude. + +I have placed before the reader, the average tax per head, paid by +the people of England; which is forty shillings sterling. + +And I have shown the rate on an average per head, which will defray +all the expenses of the war to us, and support the several +governments without running the country into debt, which is thirteen +shillings and four pence. + +I have shown what the peace establishment may be conducted for, viz., +an eighth part of what it would be, if under the government of +Britain. + +And I have likewise shown what the average per head of the present +taxes is, namely, three shillings and fivepence sterling, or +threepence two-fifths per month; and that their whole yearly value, +in sterling, is only sixty-four thousand two hundred and eighty +pounds. Whereas our quota, to keep the payments equal with the +expenses, is two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Consequently, +there is a deficiency of one hundred and eighty-five thousand seven +hundred and twenty pounds, and the same proportion of defect, +according to the several quotas, happens in every other state. And +this defect is the cause why the army has been so indifferently fed, +clothed and paid. It is the cause, likewise, of the nerveless state +of the campaign, and the insecurity of the country. Now, if a tax +equal to thirteen and fourpence per head, will remove all these +difficulties, and make people secure in their homes, leave them to +follow the business of their stores and farms unmolested, and not +only drive out but keep out the enemy from the country; and if the +neglect of raising this sum will let them in, and produce the evils +which might be prevented- on which side, I ask, does the wisdom, +interest and policy lie? Or, rather, would it not be an insult to +reason, to put the question? The sum, when proportioned out according +to the several abilities of the people, can hurt no one, but an +inroad from the enemy ruins hundreds of families. + +Look at the destruction done in this city [Philadelphia]. The many +houses totally destroyed, and others damaged; the waste of fences in +the country round it, besides the plunder of furniture, forage, and +provisions. I do not suppose that half a million sterling would +reinstate the sufferers; and, does this, I ask, bear any proportion +to the expense that would make us secure? The damage, on an average, +is at least ten pounds sterling per head, which is as much as +thirteen shillings and fourpence per head comes to for fifteen years. +The same has happened on the frontiers, and in the Jerseys, New York, +and other places where the enemy has been- Carolina and Georgia are +likewise suffering the same fate. + +That the people generally do not understand the insufficiency of the +taxes to carry on the war, is evident, not only from common +observation, but from the construction of several petitions which +were presented to the Assembly of this state, against the +recommendation of Congress of the 18th of March last, for taking up +and funding the present currency at forty to one, and issuing new +money in its stead. The prayer of the petition was, that the currency +might be appreciated by taxes (meaning the present taxes) and that +part of the taxes be applied to the support of the army, if the army +could not be otherwise supported. Now it could not have been possible +for such a petition to have been presented, had the petitioners +known, that so far from part of the taxes being sufficient for the +support of the whole of them falls three-fourths short of the year's +expenses. + +Before I proceed to propose methods by which a sufficiency of money +may be raised, I shall take a short view of the general state of the +country. + +Notwithstanding the weight of the war, the ravages of the enemy, and +the obstructions she has thrown in the way of trade and commerce, so +soon does a young country outgrow misfortune, that America has +already surmounted many that heavily oppressed her. For the first +year or two of the war, we were shut up within our ports, scarce +venturing to look towards the ocean. Now our rivers are beautified +with large and valuable vessels, our stores filled with merchandise, +and the produce of the country has a ready market, and an +advantageous price. Gold and silver, that for a while seemed to have +retreated again within the bowels of the earth, have once more risen +into circulation, and every day adds new strength to trade, commerce +and agriculture. In a pamphlet, written by Sir John Dalrymple, and +dispersed in America in the year 1775, he asserted that two +twenty-gun ships, nay, says he, tenders of those ships, stationed +between Albermarle sound and Chesapeake bay, would shut up the trade +of America for 600 miles. How little did Sir John Dalrymple know of +the abilities of America! + +While under the government of Britain, the trade of this country was +loaded with restrictions. It was only a few foreign ports which we +were allowed to sail to. Now it is otherwise; and allowing that the +quantity of trade is but half what it was before the war, the case +must show the vast advantage of an open trade, because the present +quantity under her restrictions could not support itself; from which +I infer, that if half the quantity without the restrictions can bear +itself up nearly, if not quite, as well as the whole when subject to +them, how prosperous must the condition of America be when the whole +shall return open with all the world. By the trade I do not mean the +employment of a merchant only, but the whole interest and business of +the country taken collectively. + +It is not so much my intention, by this publication, to propose +particular plans for raising money, as it is to show the necessity +and the advantages to be derived from it. My principal design is to +form the disposition of the people to the measures which I am fully +persuaded it is their interest and duty to adopt, and which need no +other force to accomplish them than the force of being felt. But as +every hint may be useful, I shall throw out a sketch, and leave +others to make such improvements upon it as to them may appear +reasonable. + +The annual sum wanted is two millions, and the average rate in which +it falls, is thirteen shillings and fourpence per head. + +Suppose, then, that we raise half the sum and sixty thousand pounds +over. The average rate thereof will be seven shillings per head. + +In this case we shall have half the supply that we want, and an +annual fund of sixty thousand pounds whereon to borrow the other +million; because sixty thousand pounds is the interest of a million +at six per cent.; and if at the end of another year we should be +obliged, by the continuance of the war, to borrow another million, +the taxes will be increased to seven shillings and sixpence; and thus +for every million borrowed, an additional tax, equal to sixpence per +head, must be levied. + +The sum to be raised next year will be one million and sixty thousand +pounds: one half of which I would propose should be raised by duties +on imported goods, and prize goods, and the other half by a tax on +landed property and houses, or such other means as each state may +devise. + +But as the duties on imports and prize goods must be the same in all +the states, therefore the rate per cent., or what other form the duty +shall be laid, must be ascertained and regulated by Congress, and +ingrafted in that form into the law of each state; and the monies +arising therefrom carried into the treasury of each state. The duties +to be paid in gold or silver. + +There are many reasons why a duty on imports is the most convenient +duty or tax that can be collected; one of which is, because the whole +is payable in a few places in a country, and it likewise operates +with the greatest ease and equality, because as every one pays in +proportion to what he consumes, so people in general consume in +proportion to what they can afford; and therefore the tax is +regulated by the abilities which every man supposes himself to have, +or in other words, every man becomes his own assessor, and pays by a +little at a time, when it suits him to buy. Besides, it is a tax +which people may pay or let alone by not consuming the articles; and +though the alternative may have no influence on their conduct, the +power of choosing is an agreeable thing to the mind. For my own part, +it would be a satisfaction to me was there a duty on all sorts of +liquors during the war, as in my idea of things it would be an +addition to the pleasures of society to know, that when the health of +the army goes round, a few drops, from every glass becomes theirs. +How often have I heard an emphatical wish, almost accompanied by a +tear, "Oh, that our poor fellows in the field had some of this!" Why +then need we suffer under a fruitless sympathy, when there is a way +to enjoy both the wish and the entertainment at once. + +But the great national policy of putting a duty upon imports is, that +it either keeps the foreign trade in our own hands, or draws +something for the defence of the country from every foreigner who +participates in it with us. + +Thus much for the first half of the taxes, and as each state will +best devise means to raise the other half, I shall confine my remarks +to the resources of this state. + +The quota, then, of this state, of one million and sixty thousand +pounds, will be one hundred and thirty-three thousand two hundred and +fifty pounds, the half of which is sixty-six thousand six hundred and +twenty-five pounds; and supposing one fourth part of Pennsylvania +inhabited, then a tax of one bushel of wheat on every twenty acres of +land, one with another, would produce the sum, and all the present +taxes to cease. Whereas, the tithes of the bishops and clergy in +England, exclusive of the taxes, are upwards of half a bushel of +wheat on every single acre of land, good and bad, throughout the +nation. + +In the former part of this paper, I mentioned the militia fines, but +reserved speaking of the matter, which I shall now do. The ground I +shall put it upon is, that two millions sterling a year will support +a sufficient army, and all the expenses of war and government, +without having recourse to the inconvenient method of continually +calling men from their employments, which, of all others, is the most +expensive and the least substantial. I consider the revenues created +by taxes as the first and principal thing, and fines only as +secondary and accidental things. It was not the intention of the +militia law to apply the fines to anything else but the support of +the militia, neither do they produce any revenue to the state, yet +these fines amount to more than all the taxes: for taking the +muster-roll to be sixty thousand men, the fine on forty thousand who +may not attend, will be sixty thousand pounds sterling, and those who +muster, will give up a portion of time equal to half that sum, and if +the eight classes should be called within the year, and one third +turn out, the fine on the remaining forty thousand would amount to +seventy-two millions of dollars, besides the fifteen shillings on +every hundred pounds of property, and the charge of seven and a half +per cent. for collecting, in certain instances which, on the whole, +would be upwards of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. + +Now if those very fines disable the country from raising a sufficient +revenue without producing an equivalent advantage, would it not be +for the ease and interest of all parties to increase the revenue, in +the manner I have proposed, or any better, if a better can be +devised, and cease the operation of the fines? I would still keep the +militia as an organized body of men, and should there be a real +necessity to call them forth, pay them out of the proper revenues of +the state, and increase the taxes a third or fourth per cent. on +those who do not attend. My limits will not allow me to go further +into this matter, which I shall therefore close with this remark; +that fines are, of all modes of revenue, the most unsuited to the +minds of a free country. When a man pays a tax, he knows that the +public necessity requires it, and therefore feels a pride in +discharging his duty; but a fine seems an atonement for neglect of +duty, and of consequence is paid with discredit, and frequently +levied with severity. + +I have now only one subject more to speak of, with which I shall +conclude, which is, the resolve of Congress of the 18th of March +last, for taking up and funding the present currency at forty for +one, and issuing new money in its stead. + +Every one knows that I am not the flatterer of Congress, but in this +instance they are right; and if that measure is supported, the +currency will acquire a value, which, without it, it will not. But +this is not all: it will give relief to the finances until such time +as they can be properly arranged, and save the country from being +immediately doubled taxed under the present mode. In short, support +that measure, and it will support you. + +I have now waded through a tedious course of difficult business, and +over an untrodden path. The subject, on every point in which it could +be viewed, was entangled with perplexities, and enveloped in +obscurity, yet such are the resources of America, that she wants +nothing but system to secure success. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 4, 1780. + + THE CRISIS + + X. + + ON THE KING OF ENGLAND'S SPEECH. + +OF all the innocent passions which actuate the human mind there is +none more universally prevalent than curiosity. It reaches all +mankind, and in matters which concern us, or concern us not, it alike +provokes in us a desire to know them. + +Although the situation of America, superior to every effort to +enslave her, and daily rising to importance and opulence, has placed +her above the region of anxiety, it has still left her within the +circle of curiosity; and her fancy to see the speech of a man who had +proudly threatened to bring her to his feet, was visibly marked with +that tranquil confidence which cared nothing about its contents. It +was inquired after with a smile, read with a laugh, and dismissed +with disdain. + +But, as justice is due, even to an enemy, it is right to say, that +the speech is as well managed as the embarrassed condition of their +affairs could well admit of; and though hardly a line of it is true, +except the mournful story of Cornwallis, it may serve to amuse the +deluded commons and people of England, for whom it was calculated. + +"The war," says the speech, "is still unhappily prolonged by that +restless ambition which first excited our enemies to commence it, and +which still continues to disappoint my earnest wishes and diligent +exertions to restore the public tranquillity." + +How easy it is to abuse truth and language, when men, by habitual +wickedness, have learned to set justice at defiance. That the very +man who began the war, who with the most sullen insolence refused to +answer, and even to hear the humblest of all petitions, who has +encouraged his officers and his army in the most savage cruelties, +and the most scandalous plunderings, who has stirred up the Indians +on one side, and the negroes on the other, and invoked every aid of +hell in his behalf, should now, with an affected air of pity, turn +the tables from himself, and charge to another the wickedness that is +his own, can only be equalled by the baseness of the heart that spoke +it. + +To be nobly wrong is more manly than to be meanly right, is an +expression I once used on a former occasion, and it is equally +applicable now. We feel something like respect for consistency even +in error. We lament the virtue that is debauched into a vice, but the +vice that affects a virtue becomes the more detestable: and amongst +the various assumptions of character, which hypocrisy has taught, and +men have practised, there is none that raises a higher relish of +disgust, than to see disappointed inveteracy twisting itself, by the +most visible falsehoods, into an appearance of piety which it has no +pretensions to. + +"But I should not," continues the speech, "answer the trust committed +to the sovereign of a free people, nor make a suitable return to my +subjects for their constant, zealous, and affectionate attachment to +my person, family and government, if I consented to sacrifice, either +to my own desire of peace, or to their temporary ease and relief, +those essential rights and permanent interests, upon the maintenance +and preservation of which, the future strength and security of this +country must principally depend." + +That the man whose ignorance and obstinacy first involved and still +continues the nation in the most hopeless and expensive of all wars, +should now meanly flatter them with the name of a free people, and +make a merit of his crime, under the disguise of their essential +rights and permanent interests, is something which disgraces even the +character of perverseness. Is he afraid they will send him to +Hanover, or what does he fear? Why is the sycophant thus added to the +hypocrite, and the man who pretends to govern, sunk into the humble +and submissive memorialist? + +What those essential rights and permanent interests are, on which the +future strength and security of England must principally depend, are +not so much as alluded to. They are words which impress nothing but +the ear, and are calculated only for the sound. + +But if they have any reference to America, then do they amount to the +disgraceful confession, that England, who once assumed to be her +protectress, has now become her dependant. The British king and +ministry are constantly holding up the vast importance which America +is of to England, in order to allure the nation to carry on the war: +now, whatever ground there is for this idea, it ought to have +operated as a reason for not beginning it; and, therefore, they +support their present measures to their own disgrace, because the +arguments which they now use, are a direct reflection on their former +policy. + +"The favorable appearance of affairs," continues the speech, "in the +East Indies, and the safe arrival of the numerous commercial fleets +of my kingdom, must have given you satisfaction." + +That things are not quite so bad every where as in America may be +some cause of consolation, but can be none for triumph. One broken +leg is better than two, but still it is not a source of joy: and let +the appearance of affairs in the East Indies be ever so favorable, +they are nevertheless worse than at first, without a prospect of +their ever being better. But the mournful story of Cornwallis was yet +to be told, and it was necessary to give it the softest introduction +possible. + +"But in the course of this year," continues the speech, "my assiduous +endeavors to guard the extensive dominions of my crown have not been +attended with success equal to the justice and uprightness of my +views."- What justice and uprightness there was in beginning a war +with America, the world will judge of, and the unequalled barbarity +with which it has been conducted, is not to be worn from the memory +by the cant of snivelling hypocrisy. + +"And it is with great concern that I inform you that the events of +war have been very unfortunate to my arms in Virginia, having ended +in the loss of my forces in that province."- And our great concern is +that they are not all served in the same manner. + +"No endeavors have been wanted on my part," says the speech, "to +extinguish that spirit of rebellion which our enemies have found +means to foment and maintain in the colonies; and to restore to my +deluded subjects in America that happy and prosperous condition which +they formerly derived from a due obedience to the laws." + +The expression of deluded subjects is become so hacknied and +contemptible, and the more so when we see them making prisoners of +whole armies at a time, that the pride of not being laughed at would +induce a man of common sense to leave it off. But the most offensive +falsehood in the paragraph is the attributing the prosperity of +America to a wrong cause. It was the unremitted industry of the +settlers and their descendants, the hard labor and toil of +persevering fortitude, that were the true causes of the prosperity of +America. The former tyranny of England served to people it, and the +virtue of the adventurers to improve it. Ask the man, who, with his +axe, has cleared a way in the wilderness, and now possesses an +estate, what made him rich, and he will tell you the labor of his +hands, the sweat of his brow, and the blessing of heaven. Let Britain +but leave America to herself and she asks no more. She has risen into +greatness without the knowledge and against the will of England, and +has a right to the unmolested enjoyment of her own created wealth. + +"I will order," says the speech, "the estimates of the ensuing year +to be laid before you. I rely on your wisdom and public spirit for +such supplies as the circumstances of our affairs shall be found to +require. Among the many ill consequences which attend the +continuation of the present war, I most sincerely regret the +additional burdens which it must unavoidably bring upon my faithful +subjects." + +It is strange that a nation must run through such a labyrinth of +trouble, and expend such a mass of wealth to gain the wisdom which an +hour's reflection might have taught. The final superiority of America +over every attempt that an island might make to conquer her, was as +naturally marked in the constitution of things, as the future ability +of a giant over a dwarf is delineated in his features while an +infant. How far providence, to accomplish purposes which no human +wisdom could foresee, permitted such extraordinary errors, is still a +secret in the womb of time, and must remain so till futurity shall +give it birth. + +"In the prosecution of this great and important contest," says the +speech, "in which we are engaged, I retain a firm confidence in the +protection of divine providence, and a perfect conviction in the +justice of my cause, and I have no doubt, but, that by the +concurrence and support of my Parliament, by the valour of my fleets +and armies, and by a vigorous, animated, and united exertion of the +faculties and resources of my people, I shall be enabled to restore +the blessings of a safe and honorable peace to all my dominions." + +The King of England is one of the readiest believers in the world. In +the beginning of the contest he passed an act to put America out of +the protection of the crown of England, and though providence, for +seven years together, has put him out of her protection, still the +man has no doubt. Like Pharaoh on the edge of the Red Sea, he sees +not the plunge he is making, and precipitately drives across the +flood that is closing over his head. + +I think it is a reasonable supposition, that this part of the speech +was composed before the arrival of the news of the capture of +Cornwallis: for it certainly has no relation to their condition at +the time it was spoken. But, be this as it may, it is nothing to us. +Our line is fixed. Our lot is cast; and America, the child of fate, +is arriving at maturity. We have nothing to do but by a spirited and +quick exertion, to stand prepared for war or peace. Too great to +yield, and too noble to insult; superior to misfortune, and generous +in success, let us untaintedly preserve the character which we have +gained, and show to future ages an example of unequalled magnanimity. +There is something in the cause and consequence of America that has +drawn on her the attention of all mankind. The world has seen her +brave. Her love of liberty; her ardour in supporting it; the justice +of her claims, and the constancy of her fortitude have won her the +esteem of Europe, and attached to her interest the first power in +that country. + +Her situation now is such, that to whatever point, past, present or +to come, she casts her eyes, new matter rises to convince her that +she is right. In her conduct towards her enemy, no reproachful +sentiment lurks in secret. No sense of injustice is left upon the +mind. Untainted with ambition, and a stranger to revenge, her +progress has been marked by providence, and she, in every stage of +the conflict, has blest her with success. + +But let not America wrap herself up in delusive hope and suppose the +business done. The least remissness in preparation, the least +relaxation in execution, will only serve to prolong the war, and +increase expenses. If our enemies can draw consolation from +misfortune, and exert themselves upon despair, how much more ought +we, who are to win a continent by the conquest, and have already an +earnest of success? + +Having, in the preceding part, made my remarks on the several matters +which the speech contains, I shall now make my remarks on what it +does not contain. + +There is not a syllable in its respecting alliances. Either the +injustice of Britain is too glaring, or her condition too desperate, +or both, for any neighboring power to come to her support. In the +beginning of the contest, when she had only America to contend with, +she hired assistance from Hesse, and other smaller states of Germany, +and for nearly three years did America, young, raw, undisciplined and +unprovided, stand against the power of Britain, aided by twenty +thousand foreign troops, and made a complete conquest of one entire +army. The remembrance of those things ought to inspire us with +confidence and greatness of mind, and carry us through every +remaining difficulty with content and cheerfulness. What are the +little sufferings of the present day, compared with the hardships +that are past? There was a time, when we had neither house nor home +in safety; when every hour was the hour of alarm and danger; when the +mind, tortured with anxiety, knew no repose, and every thing, but +hope and fortitude, was bidding us farewell. + +It is of use to look back upon these things; to call to mind the +times of trouble and the scenes of complicated anguish that are past +and gone. Then every expense was cheap, compared with the dread of +conquest and the misery of submission. We did not stand debating upon +trifles, or contending about the necessary and unavoidable charges of +defence. Every one bore his lot of suffering, and looked forward to +happier days, and scenes of rest. + +Perhaps one of the greatest dangers which any country can be exposed +to, arises from a kind of trifling which sometimes steals upon the +mind, when it supposes the danger past; and this unsafe situation +marks at this time the peculiar crisis of America. What would she +once have given to have known that her condition at this day should +be what it now is? And yet we do not seem to place a proper value +upon it, nor vigorously pursue the necessary measures to secure it. +We know that we cannot be defended, nor yet defend ourselves, without +trouble and expense. We have no right to expect it; neither ought we +to look for it. We are a people, who, in our situation, differ from +all the world. We form one common floor of public good, and, whatever +is our charge, it is paid for our own interest and upon our own +account. + +Misfortune and experience have now taught us system and method; and +the arrangements for carrying on the war are reduced to rule and +order. The quotas of the several states are ascertained, and I intend +in a future publication to show what they are, and the necessity as +well as the advantages of vigorously providing for them. + +In the mean time, I shall conclude this paper with an instance of +British clemency, from Smollett's History of England, vol. xi., +printed in London. It will serve to show how dismal the situation of +a conquered people is, and that the only security is an effectual +defence. + +We all know that the Stuart family and the house of Hanover opposed +each other for the crown of England. The Stuart family stood first in +the line of succession, but the other was the most successful. + +In July, 1745, Charles, the son of the exiled king, landed in +Scotland, collected a small force, at no time exceeding five or six +thousand men, and made some attempts to re-establish his claim. The +late Duke of Cumberland, uncle to the present King of England, was +sent against him, and on the 16th of April following, Charles was +totally defeated at Culloden, in Scotland. Success and power are the +only situations in which clemency can be shown, and those who are +cruel, because they are victorious, can with the same facility act +any other degenerate character. + +"Immediately after the decisive action at Culloden, the Duke of +Cumberland took possession of Inverness; where six and thirty +deserters, convicted by a court martial, were ordered to be executed: +then he detached several parties to ravage the country. One of these +apprehended The Lady Mackintosh, who was sent prisoner to Inverness, +plundered her house, and drove away her cattle, though her husband +was actually in the service of the government. The castle of Lord +Lovat was destroyed. The French prisoners were sent to Carlisle and +Penrith: Kilmarnock, Balmerino, Cromartie, and his son, The Lord +Macleod, were conveyed by sea to London; and those of an inferior +rank were confined in different prisons. The Marquis of Tullibardine, +together with a brother of the Earl of Dunmore, and Murray, the +pretender's secretary, were seized and transported to the Tower of +London, to which the Earl of Traquaire had been committed on +suspicion; and the eldest son of Lord Lovat was imprisoned in the +castle of Edinburgh. In a word, all the jails in Great Britain, from +the capital, northwards, were filled with those unfortunate captives; +and great numbers of them were crowded together in the holds of +ships, where they perished in the most deplorable manner, for want of +air and exercise. Some rebel chiefs escaped in two French frigates +that arrived on the coast of Lochaber about the end of April, and +engaged three vessels belonging to his Britannic majesty, which they +obliged to retire. Others embarked on board a ship on the coast of +Buchan, and were conveyed to Norway, from whence they travelled to +Sweden. In the month of May, the Duke of Cumberland advanced with the +army into the Highlands, as far as Fort Augustus, where he encamped; +and sent off detachments on all hands, to hunt down the fugitives, +and lay waste the country with fire and sword. The castles of +Glengary and Lochiel were plundered and burned; every house, hut, or +habitation, met with the same fate, without distinction; and all the +cattle and provision were carried off; the men were either shot upon +the mountains, like wild beasts, or put to death in cold blood, +without form of trial; the women, after having seen their husbands +and fathers murdered, were subjected to brutal violation, and then +turned out naked, with their children, to starve on the barren +heaths. One whole family was enclosed in a barn, and consumed to +ashes. Those ministers of vengeance were so alert in the execution of +their office, that in a few days there was neither house, cottage, +man, nor beast, to be seen within the compass of fifty miles; all was +ruin, silence, and desolation." + +I have here presented the reader with one of the most shocking +instances of cruelty ever practised, and I leave it, to rest on his +mind, that he may be fully impressed with a sense of the destruction +he has escaped, in case Britain had conquered America; and likewise, +that he may see and feel the necessity, as well for his own personal +safety, as for the honor, the interest, and happiness of the whole +community, to omit or delay no one preparation necessary to secure +the ground which we so happily stand upon. + + TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA + + On the expenses, arrangements and disbursements for + carrying on the war, and finishing it with honor + and advantage + +WHEN any necessity or occasion has pointed out the convenience of +addressing the public, I have never made it a consideration whether +the subject was popular or unpopular, but whether it was right or +wrong; for that which is right will become popular, and that which is +wrong, though by mistake it may obtain the cry or fashion of the day, +will soon lose the power of delusion, and sink into disesteem. + +A remarkable instance of this happened in the case of Silas Deane; +and I mention this circumstance with the greater ease, because the +poison of his hypocrisy spread over the whole country, and every man, +almost without exception, thought me wrong in opposing him. The best +friends I then had, except Mr. [Henry] Laurens, stood at a distance, +and this tribute, which is due to his constancy, I pay to him with +respect, and that the readier, because he is not here to hear it. If +it reaches him in his imprisonment, it will afford him an agreeable +reflection. + +"As he rose like a rocket, he would fall like a stick," is a metaphor +which I applied to Mr. Deane, in the first piece which I published +respecting him, and he has exactly fulfilled the description. The +credit he so unjustly obtained from the public, he lost in almost as +short a time. The delusion perished as it fell, and he soon saw +himself stripped of popular support. His more intimate acquaintances +began to doubt, and to desert him long before he left America, and at +his departure, he saw himself the object of general suspicion. When +he arrived in France, he endeavored to effect by treason what he had +failed to accomplish by fraud. His plans, schemes and projects, +together with his expectation of being sent to Holland to negotiate a +loan of money, had all miscarried. He then began traducing and +accusing America of every crime, which could injure her reputation. +"That she was a ruined country; that she only meant to make a tool of +France, to get what money she could out of her, and then to leave her +and accommodate with Britain." Of all which and much more, Colonel +Laurens and myself, when in France, informed Dr. Franklin, who had +not before heard of it. And to complete the character of traitor, he +has, by letters to his country since, some of which, in his own +handwriting, are now in the possession of Congress, used every +expression and argument in his power, to injure the reputation of +France, and to advise America to renounce her alliance, and surrender +up her independence.* Thus in France he abuses America, and in his +letters to America he abuses France; and is endeavoring to create +disunion between two countries, by the same arts of double-dealing by +which he caused dissensions among the commissioners in Paris, and +distractions in America. But his life has been fraud, and his +character has been that of a plodding, plotting, cringing mercenary, +capable of any disguise that suited his purpose. His final detection +has very happily cleared up those mistakes, and removed that +uneasiness, which his unprincipled conduct occasioned. Every one now +sees him in the same light; for towards friends or enemies he acted +with the same deception and injustice, and his name, like that of +Arnold, ought now to be forgotten among us. As this is the first time +that I have mentioned him since my return from France, it is my +intention that it shall be the last. From this digression, which for +several reasons I thought necessary to give, I now proceed to the +purport of my address. + +* Mr. William Marshall, of this city [Philadelphia], formerly a +pilot, who had been taken at sea and carried to England, and got from +thence to France, brought over letters from Mr. Deane to America, one +of which was directed to "Robert Morris, Esq." Mr. Morris sent it +unopened to Congress, and advised Mr. Marshall to deliver the others +there, which he did. The letters were of the same purport with those +which have been already published under the signature of S. Deane, to +which they had frequent reference. + +I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's war, +the public's war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for +the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own +property. It is not the war of Congress, the war of the assemblies, +or the war of government in any line whatever. The country first, by +mutual compact, resolved to defend their rights and maintain their +independence, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes; they elected +their representatives, by whom they appointed their members of +Congress, and said, act you for us, and we will support you. This is +the true ground and principle of the war on the part of America, and, +consequently, there remains nothing to do, but for every one to +fulfil his obligation. + +It was next to impossible that a new country, engaged in a new +undertaking, could set off systematically right at first. She saw not +the extent of the struggle that she was involved in, neither could +she avoid the beginning. She supposed every step that she took, and +every resolution which she formed, would bring her enemy to reason +and close the contest. Those failing, she was forced into new +measures; and these, like the former, being fitted to her +expectations, and failing in their turn, left her continually +unprovided, and without system. The enemy, likewise, was induced to +prosecute the war, from the temporary expedients we adopted for +carrying it on. We were continually expecting to see their credit +exhausted, and they were looking to see our currency fail; and thus, +between their watching us, and we them, the hopes of both have been +deceived, and the childishness of the expectation has served to +increase the expense. + +Yet who, through this wilderness of error, has been to blame? Where +is the man who can say the fault, in part, has not been his? They +were the natural, unavoidable errors of the day. They were the errors +of a whole country, which nothing but experience could detect and +time remove. Neither could the circumstances of America admit of +system, till either the paper currency was fixed or laid aside. No +calculation of a finance could be made on a medium failing without +reason, and fluctuating without rule. + +But there is one error which might have been prevented and was not; +and as it is not my custom to flatter, but to serve mankind, I will +speak it freely. It certainly was the duty of every assembly on the +continent to have known, at all times, what was the condition of its +treasury, and to have ascertained at every period of depreciation, +how much the real worth of the taxes fell short of their nominal +value. This knowledge, which might have been easily gained, in the +time of it, would have enabled them to have kept their constituents +well informed, and this is one of the greatest duties of +representation. They ought to have studied and calculated the +expenses of the war, the quota of each state, and the consequent +proportion that would fall on each man's property for his defence; +and this must have easily shown to them, that a tax of one hundred +pounds could not be paid by a bushel of apples or an hundred of +flour, which was often the case two or three years ago. But instead +of this, which would have been plain and upright dealing, the little +line of temporary popularity, the feather of an hour's duration, was +too much pursued; and in this involved condition of things, every +state, for the want of a little thinking, or a little information, +supposed that it supported the whole expenses of the war, when in +fact it fell, by the time the tax was levied and collected, above +three-fourths short of its own quota. + +Impressed with a sense of the danger to which the country was exposed +by this lax method of doing business, and the prevailing errors of +the day, I published, last October was a twelvemonth, the Crisis +Extraordinary, on the revenues of America, and the yearly expense of +carrying on the war. My estimation of the latter, together with the +civil list of Congress, and the civil list of the several states, was +two million pounds sterling, which is very nearly nine millions of +dollars. + +Since that time, Congress have gone into a calculation, and have +estimated the expenses of the War Department and the civil list of +Congress (exclusive of the civil list of the several governments) at +eight millions of dollars; and as the remaining million will be fully +sufficient for the civil list of the several states, the two +calculations are exceedingly near each other. + +The sum of eight millions of dollars have called upon the states to +furnish, and their quotas are as follows, which I shall preface with +the resolution itself. + + + + "By the United States in Congress assembled. + + "October 30, 1781. + +"Resolved, That the respective states be called upon to furnish the +treasury of the United States with their quotas of eight millions of +dollars, for the War Department and civil list for the ensuing year, +to be paid quarterly, in equal proportions, the first payment to be +made on the first day of April next. +"Resolved, That a committee, consisting of a member from each state, +be appointed to apportion to the several states the quota of the +above sum. +"November 2d. The committee appointed to ascertain the proportions of +the several states of the monies to be raised for the expenses of the +ensuing year, report the following resolutions: +"That the sum of eight millions of dollars, as required to be raised +by the resolutions of the 30th of October last, be paid by the states +in the following proportion: + + New Hampshire....... $ 373,598 + Massachusetts....... 1,307,596 + Rhode Island........ 216,684 + Connecticut......... 747,196 + New York............ 373,598 + New Jersey.......... 485,679 + Pennsylvania........ 1,120,794 + Delaware............ 112,085 + Maryland............ 933,996 + Virginia............ 1,307,594 + North Carolina...... 622,677 + South Carolina...... 373,598 + Georgia............. 24,905 + + $8,000,000 +"Resolved, That it be recommended to the several states, to lay taxes +for raising their quotas of money for the United States, separate +from those laid for their own particular use." + + + +On these resolutions I shall offer several remarks. + +1st, On the sum itself, and the ability of the country. +2d, On the several quotas, and the nature of a union. And, +3d, On the manner of collection and expenditure. + +1st, On the sum itself, and the ability of the country. As I know my +own calculation is as low as possible, and as the sum called for by +congress, according to their calculation, agrees very nearly +therewith, I am sensible it cannot possibly be lower. Neither can it +be done for that, unless there is ready money to go to market with; +and even in that case, it is only by the utmost management and +economy that it can be made to do. + +By the accounts which were laid before the British Parliament last +spring, it appeared that the charge of only subsisting, that is, +feeding their army in America, cost annually four million pounds +sterling, which is very nearly eighteen millions of dollars. Now if, +for eight millions, we can feed, clothe, arm, provide for, and pay an +army sufficient for our defence, the very comparison shows that the +money must be well laid out. + +It may be of some use, either in debate or conversation, to attend to +the progress of the expenses of an army, because it will enable us to +see on what part any deficiency will fall. + +The first thing is, to feed them and prepare for the sick. +_Second_, to clothe them. +_Third_, to arm and furnish them. +_Fourth_, to provide means for removing them from place to place. And, +_Fifth_, to pay them. + +The first and second are absolutely necessary to them as men. The +third and fourth are equally as necessary to them as an army. And the +fifth is their just due. Now if the sum which shall be raised should +fall short, either by the several acts of the states for raising it, +or by the manner of collecting it, the deficiency will fall on the +fifth head, the soldiers' pay, which would be defrauding them, and +eternally disgracing ourselves. It would be a blot on the councils, +the country, and the revolution of America, and a man would hereafter +be ashamed to own that he had any hand in it. + +But if the deficiency should be still shorter, it would next fall on +the fourth head, the means of removing the army from place to place; +and, in this case, the army must either stand still where it can be +of no use, or seize on horses, carts, wagons, or any means of +transportation which it can lay hold of; and in this instance the +country suffers. In short, every attempt to do a thing for less than +it can he done for, is sure to become at last both a loss and a +dishonor. + +But the country cannot bear it, say some. This has been the most +expensive doctrine that ever was held out, and cost America millions +of money for nothing. Can the country bear to be overrun, ravaged, +and ruined by an enemy? This will immediately follow where defence is +wanting, and defence will ever be wanting, where sufficient revenues +are not provided. But this is only one part of the folly. The second +is, that when the danger comes, invited in part by our not preparing +against it, we have been obliged, in a number of instances, to expend +double the sums to do that which at first might have been done for +half the money. But this is not all. A third mischief has been, that +grain of all sorts, flour, beef fodder, horses, carts, wagons, or +whatever was absolutely or immediately wanted, have been taken +without pay. Now, I ask, why was all this done, but from that +extremely weak and expensive doctrine, that the country could not +bear it? That is, that she could not bear, in the first instance, +that which would have saved her twice as much at last; or, in +proverbial language, that she could not bear to pay a penny to save a +pound; the consequence of which has been, that she has paid a pound +for a penny. Why are there so many unpaid certificates in almost +every man's hands, but from the parsimony of not providing sufficient +revenues? Besides, the doctrine contradicts itself; because, if the +whole country cannot bear it, how is it possible that a part should? +And yet this has been the case: for those things have been had; and +they must be had; but the misfortune is, that they have been obtained +in a very unequal manner, and upon expensive credit, whereas, with +ready money, they might have been purchased for half the price, and +nobody distressed. + +But there is another thought which ought to strike us, which is, how +is the army to bear the want of food, clothing and other necessaries? +The man who is at home, can turn himself a thousand ways, and find as +many means of ease, convenience or relief: but a soldier's life +admits of none of those: their wants cannot be supplied from +themselves: for an army, though it is the defence of a state, is at +the same time the child of a country, or must be provided for in +every thing. + +And lastly, the doctrine is false. There are not three millions of +people in any part of the universe, who live so well, or have such a +fund of ability, as in America. The income of a common laborer, who +is industrious, is equal to that of the generality of tradesmen in +England. In the mercantile line, I have not heard of one who could be +said to be a bankrupt since the war began, and in England they have +been without number. In America almost every farmer lives on his own +lands, and in England not one in a hundred does. In short, it seems +as if the poverty of that country had made them furious, and they +were determined to risk all to recover all. + +Yet, notwithstanding those advantages on the part of America, true it +is, that had it not been for the operation of taxes for our necessary +defence, we had sunk into a state of sloth and poverty: for there was +more wealth lost by neglecting to till the earth in the years 1776, +'77, and '78, than the quota of taxes amounts to. That which is lost +by neglect of this kind, is lost for ever: whereas that which is +paid, and continues in the country, returns to us again; and at the +same time that it provides us with defence, it operates not only as a +spur, but as a premium to our industry. + +I shall now proceed to the second head, viz., on the several quotas, +and the nature of a union. + +There was a time when America had no other bond of union, than that +of common interest and affection. The whole country flew to the +relief of Boston, and, making her cause, their own, participated in +her cares and administered to her wants. The fate of war, since that +day, has carried the calamity in a ten-fold proportion to the +southward; but in the mean time the union has been strengthened by a +legal compact of the states, jointly and severally ratified, and that +which before was choice, or the duty of affection, is now likewise +the duty of legal obligation. + +The union of America is the foundation-stone of her independence; the +rock on which it is built; and is something so sacred in her +constitution, that we ought to watch every word we speak, and every +thought we think, that we injure it not, even by mistake. When a +multitude, extended, or rather scattered, over a continent in the +manner we were, mutually agree to form one common centre whereon the +whole shall move to accomplish a particular purpose, all parts must +act together and alike, or act not at all, and a stoppage in any one +is a stoppage of the whole, at least for a time. + +Thus the several states have sent representatives to assemble +together in Congress, and they have empowered that body, which thus +becomes their centre, and are no other than themselves in +representation, to conduct and manage the war, while their +constituents at home attend to the domestic cares of the country, +their internal legislation, their farms, professions or employments, +for it is only by reducing complicated things to method and orderly +connection that they can be understood with advantage, or pursued +with success. Congress, by virtue of this delegation, estimates the +expense, and apportions it out to the several parts of the empire +according to their several abilities; and here the debate must end, +because each state has already had its voice, and the matter has +undergone its whole portion of argument, and can no more be altered +by any particular state, than a law of any state, after it has +passed, can be altered by any individual. For with respect to those +things which immediately concern the union, and for which the union +was purposely established, and is intended to secure, each state is +to the United States what each individual is to the state he lives +in. And it is on this grand point, this movement upon one centre, +that our existence as a nation, our happiness as a people, and our +safety as individuals, depend. + +It may happen that some state or other may be somewhat over or under +rated, but this cannot be much. The experience which has been had +upon the matter, has nearly ascertained their several abilities. But +even in this case, it can only admit of an appeal to the United +States, but cannot authorise any state to make the alteration itself, +any more than our internal government can admit an individual to do +so in the case of an act of assembly; for if one state can do it, +then may another do the same, and the instant this is done the whole +is undone. + +Neither is it supposable that any single state can be a judge of all +the comparative reasons which may influence the collective body in +arranging the quotas of the continent. The circumstances of the +several states are frequently varying, occasioned by the accidents of +war and commerce, and it will often fall upon some to help others, +rather beyond what their exact proportion at another time might be; +but even this assistance is as naturally and politically included in +the idea of a union as that of any particular assigned proportion; +because we know not whose turn it may be next to want assistance, for +which reason that state is the wisest which sets the best example. + +Though in matters of bounden duty and reciprocal affection, it is +rather a degeneracy from the honesty and ardor of the heart to admit +any thing selfish to partake in the government of our conduct, yet in +cases where our duty, our affections, and our interest all coincide, +it may be of some use to observe their union. The United States will +become heir to an extensive quantity of vacant land, and their +several titles to shares and quotas thereof, will naturally be +adjusted according to their relative quotas, during the war, +exclusive of that inability which may unfortunately arise to any +state by the enemy's holding possession of a part; but as this is a +cold matter of interest, I pass it by, and proceed to my third head, +viz., on the manner of collection and expenditure. + +It has been our error, as well as our misfortune, to blend the +affairs of each state, especially in money matters, with those of the +United States; whereas it is our case, convenience and interest, to +keep them separate. The expenses of the United States for carrying on +the war, and the expenses of each state for its own domestic +government, are distinct things, and to involve them is a source of +perplexity and a cloak for fraud. I love method, because I see and am +convinced of its beauty and advantage. It is that which makes all +business easy and understood, and without which, everything becomes +embarrassed and difficult. + +There are certain powers which the people of each state have +delegated to their legislative and executive bodies, and there are +other powers which the people of every state have delegated to +Congress, among which is that of conducting the war, and, +consequently, of managing the expenses attending it; for how else can +that be managed, which concerns every state, but by a delegation from +each? When a state has furnished its quota, it has an undoubted right +to know how it has been applied, and it is as much the duty of +Congress to inform the state of the one, as it is the duty of the +state to provide the other. + +In the resolution of Congress already recited, it is recommended to +the several states to lay taxes for raising their quotas of money for +the United States, separate from those laid for their own particular +use. + +This is a most necessary point to be observed, and the distinction +should follow all the way through. They should be levied, paid and +collected, separately, and kept separate in every instance. Neither +have the civil officers of any state, nor the government of that +state, the least right to touch that money which the people pay for +the support of their army and the war, any more than Congress has to +touch that which each state raises for its own use. + +This distinction will naturally be followed by another. It will +occasion every state to examine nicely into the expenses of its civil +list, and to regulate, reduce, and bring it into better order than it +has hitherto been; because the money for that purpose must be raised +apart, and accounted for to the public separately. But while the, +monies of both were blended, the necessary nicety was not observed, +and the poor soldier, who ought to have been the first, was the last +who was thought of. + +Another convenience will be, that the people, by paying the taxes +separately, will know what they are for; and will likewise know that +those which are for the defence of the country will cease with the +war, or soon after. For although, as I have before observed, the war +is their own, and for the support of their own rights and the +protection of their own property, yet they have the same right to +know, that they have to pay, and it is the want of not knowing that +is often the cause of dissatisfaction. + +This regulation of keeping the taxes separate has given rise to a +regulation in the office of finance, by which it is directed: + +"That the receivers shall, at the end of every month, make out an +exact account of the monies received by them respectively, during +such month, specifying therein the names of the persons from whom the +same shall have been received, the dates and the sums; which account +they shall respectively cause to be published in one of the +newspapers of the state; to the end that every citizen may know how +much of the monies collected from him, in taxes, is transmitted to +the treasury of the United States for the support of the war; and +also, that it may be known what monies have been at the order of the +superintendent of finance. It being proper and necessary, that, in a +free country, the people should be as fully informed of the +administration of their affairs as the nature of things will admit." + +It is an agreeable thing to see a spirit of order and economy taking +place, after such a series of errors and difficulties. A government +or an administration, who means and acts honestly, has nothing to +fear, and consequently has nothing to conceal; and it would be of use +if a monthly or quarterly account was to be published, as well of the +expenditures as of the receipts. Eight millions of dollars must be +husbanded with an exceeding deal of care to make it do, and, +therefore, as the management must be reputable, the publication would +be serviceable. + +I have heard of petitions which have been presented to the assembly +of this state (and probably the same may have happened in other +states) praying to have the taxes lowered. Now the only way to keep +taxes low is, for the United States to have ready money to go to +market with: and though the taxes to be raised for the present year +will fall heavy, and there will naturally be some difficulty in +paying them, yet the difficulty, in proportion as money spreads about +the country, will every day grow less, and in the end we shall save +some millions of dollars by it. We see what a bitter, revengeful +enemy we have to deal with, and any expense is cheap compared to +their merciless paw. We have seen the unfortunate Carolineans hunted +like partridges on the mountains, and it is only by providing means +for our defence, that we shall be kept from the same condition. When +we think or talk about taxes, we ought to recollect that we lie down +in peace and sleep in safety; that we can follow our farms or stores +or other occupations, in prosperous tranquillity; and that these +inestimable blessings are procured to us by the taxes that we pay. In +this view, our taxes are properly our insurance money; they are what +we pay to be made safe, and, in strict policy, are the best money we +can lay out. + +It was my intention to offer some remarks on the impost law of five +per cent. recommended by Congress, and to be established as a fund +for the payment of the loan-office certificates, and other debts of +the United States; but I have already extended my piece beyond my +intention. And as this fund will make our system of finance complete, +and is strictly just, and consequently requires nothing but honesty +to do it, there needs but little to be said upon it. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 1782. + + THE CRISIS. + + XI. + + ON THE PRESENT STATE OF NEWS. + +SINCE the arrival of two, if not three packets in quick succession, +at New York, from England, a variety of unconnected news has +circulated through the country, and afforded as great a variety of +speculation. + +That something is the matter in the cabinet and councils of our +enemies, on the other side of the water, is certain- that they have +run their length of madness, and are under the necessity of changing +their measures may easily be seen into; but to what this change of +measures may amount, or how far it may correspond with our interest, +happiness and duty, is yet uncertain; and from what we have hitherto +experienced, we have too much reason to suspect them in every thing. +I do not address this publication so much to the people of America as +to the British ministry, whoever they may be, for if it is their +intention to promote any kind of negotiation, it is proper they +should know beforehand, that the United States have as much honor as +bravery; and that they are no more to be seduced from their alliance +than their allegiance; that their line of politics is formed and not +dependent, like that of their enemy, on chance and accident. +On our part, in order to know, at any time, what the British +government will do, we have only to find out what they ought not to +do, and this last will be their conduct. Forever changing and forever +wrong; too distant from America to improve in circumstances, and too +unwise to foresee them; scheming without principle, and executing +without probability, their whole line of management has hitherto been +blunder and baseness. Every campaign has added to their loss, and +every year to their disgrace; till unable to go on, and ashamed to go +back, their politics have come to a halt, and all their fine +prospects to a halter. + +Could our affections forgive, or humanity forget the wounds of an +injured country- we might, under the influence of a momentary +oblivion, stand still and laugh. But they are engraven where no +amusement can conceal them, and of a kind for which there is no +recompense. Can ye restore to us the beloved dead? Can ye say to the +grave, give up the murdered? Can ye obliterate from our memories +those who are no more? Think not then to tamper with our feelings by +an insidious contrivance, nor suffocate our humanity by seducing us +to dishonor. + +In March 1780, I published part of the Crisis, No. VIII., in the +newspapers, but did not conclude it in the following papers, and the +remainder has lain by me till the present day. +There appeared about that time some disposition in the British +cabinet to cease the further prosecution of the war, and as I had +formed my opinion that whenever such a design should take place, it +would be accompanied by a dishonorable proposition to America, +respecting France, I had suppressed the remainder of that number, not +to expose the baseness of any such proposition. But the arrival of +the next news from England, declared her determination to go on with +the war, and consequently as the political object I had then in view +was not become a subject, it was unnecessary in me to bring it +forward, which is the reason it was never published. +The matter which I allude to in the unpublished part, I shall now +make a quotation of, and apply it as the more enlarged state of +things, at this day, shall make convenient or necessary. It was as +follows: + +"By the speeches which have appeared from the British Parliament, it +is easy to perceive to what impolitic and imprudent excesses their +passions and prejudices have, in every instance, carried them during +the present war. Provoked at the upright and honorable treaty between +America and France, they imagined that nothing more was necessary to +be done to prevent its final ratification, than to promise, through +the agency of their commissioners (Carlisle, Eden, and Johnstone) a +repeal of their once offensive acts of Parliament. The vanity of the +conceit, was as unpardonable as the experiment was impolitic. And so +convinced am I of their wrong ideas of America, that I shall not +wonder, if, in their last stage of political frenzy, they propose to +her to break her alliance with France, and enter into one with them. +Such a proposition, should it ever be made, and it has been already +more than once hinted at in Parliament, would discover such a +disposition to perfidiousness, and such disregard of honor and +morals, as would add the finishing vice to national corruption.- I do +not mention this to put America on the watch, but to put England on +her guard, that she do not, in the looseness of her heart, envelop in +disgrace every fragment of reputation."- Thus far the quotation. + +By the complection of some part of the news which has transpired +through the New York papers, it seems probable that this insidious +era in the British politics is beginning to make its appearance. I +wish it may not; for that which is a disgrace to human nature, throws +something of a shade over all the human character, and each +individual feels his share of the wound that is given to the whole. +The policy of Britain has ever been to divide America in some way or +other. In the beginning of the dispute, she practised every art to +prevent or destroy the union of the states, well knowing that could +she once get them to stand singly, she could conquer them +unconditionally. Failing in this project in America, she renewed it +in Europe; and, after the alliance had taken place, she made secret +offers to France to induce her to give up America; and what is still +more extraordinary, she at the same time made propositions to Dr. +Franklin, then in Paris, the very court to which she was secretly +applying, to draw off America from France. But this is not all. +On the 14th of September, 1778, the British court, through their +secretary, Lord Weymouth, made application to the Marquis +d'Almadovar, the Spanish ambassador at London, to "ask the +mediation," for these were the words, of the court of Spain, for the +purpose of negotiating a peace with France, leaving America (as I +shall hereafter show) out of the question. Spain readily offered her +mediation, and likewise the city of Madrid as the place of +conference, but withal, proposed, that the United States of America +should be invited to the treaty, and considered as independent during +the time the business was negotiating. But this was not the view of +England. She wanted to draw France from the war, that she might +uninterruptedly pour out all her force and fury upon America; and +being disappointed in this plan, as well through the open and +generous conduct of Spain, as the determination of France, she +refused the mediation which she had solicited. +I shall now give some extracts from the justifying memorial of the +Spanish court, in which she has set the conduct and character of +Britain, with respect to America, in a clear and striking point of +light. + +The memorial, speaking of the refusal of the British court to meet in +conference with commissioners from the United States, who were to be +considered as independent during the time of the conference, says, + +"It is a thing very extraordinary and even ridiculous, that the court +of London, who treats the colonies as independent, not only in +acting, but of right, during the war, should have a repugnance to +treat them as such only in acting during a truce, or suspension of +hostilities. The convention of Saratoga; the reputing General +Burgoyne as a lawful prisoner, in order to suspend his trial; the +exchange and liberation of other prisoners made from the colonies; +the having named commissioners to go and supplicate the Americans, at +their own doors, request peace of them, and treat with them and the +Congress: and, finally, by a thousand other acts of this sort, +authorized by the court of London, which have been, and are true +signs of the acknowledgment of their independence. + +"In aggravation of all the foregoing, at the same time the British +cabinet answered the King of Spain in the terms already mentioned, +they were insinuating themselves at the court of France by means of +secret emissaries, and making very great offers to her, to abandon +the colonies and make peace with England. But there is yet more; for +at this same time the English ministry were treating, by means of +another certain emissary, with Dr. Franklin, minister plenipotentiary +from the colonies, residing at Paris, to whom they made various +proposals to disunite them from France, and accommodate matters with +England. + +"From what has been observed, it evidently follows, that the whole of +the British politics was, to disunite the two courts of Paris and +Madrid, by means of the suggestions and offers which she separately +made to them; and also to separate the colonies from their treaties +and engagements entered into with France, and induce them to arm +against the house of Bourbon, or more probably to oppress them when +they found, from breaking their engagements, that they stood alone +and without protection. + +"This, therefore, is the net they laid for the American states; that +is to say, to tempt them with flattering and very magnificent +promises to come to an accommodation with them, exclusive of any +intervention of Spain or France, that the British ministry might +always remain the arbiters of the fate of the colonies. +"But the Catholic king (the King of Spain) faithful on the one part +of the engagements which bind him to the Most Christian king (the +King of France) his nephew; just and upright on the other, to his own +subjects, whom he ought to protect and guard against so many insults; +and finally, full of humanity and compassion for the Americans and +other individuals who suffer in the present war; he is determined to +pursue and prosecute it, and to make all the efforts in his power, +until he can obtain a solid and permanent peace, with full and +satisfactory securities that it shall be observed." + +Thus far the memorial; a translation of which into English, may be +seen in full, under the head of State Papers, in the Annual Register, +for 1779. + +The extracts I have here given, serve to show the various endeavors +and contrivances of the enemy, to draw France from her connection +with America, and to prevail on her to make a separate peace with +England, leaving America totally out of the question, and at the +mercy of a merciless, unprincipled enemy. The opinion, likewise, +which Spain has formed of the British cabinet's character for +meanness and perfidiousness, is so exactly the opinion of America +respecting it, that the memorial, in this instance, contains our own +statements and language; for people, however remote, who think alike, +will unavoidably speak alike. + +Thus we see the insidious use which Britain endeavored to make of the +propositions of peace under the mediation of Spain. I shall now +proceed to the second proposition under the mediation of the Emperor +of Germany and the Empress of Russia; the general outline of which +was, that a congress of the several powers at war should meet at +Vienna, in 1781, to settle preliminaries of peace. +I could wish myself at liberty to make use of all the information +which I am possessed of on this subject, but as there is a delicacy +in the matter, I do not conceive it prudent, at least at present, to +make references and quotations in the same manner as I have done with +respect to the mediation of Spain, who published the whole +proceedings herself; and therefore, what comes from me, on this part +of the business, must rest on my own credit with the public, assuring +them, that when the whole proceedings, relative to the proposed +Congress of Vienna shall appear, they will find my account not only +true, but studiously moderate. + +We know at the time this mediation was on the carpet, the expectation +of the British king and ministry ran high with respect to the +conquest of America. The English packet which was taken with the mail +on board, and carried into l'Orient, in France, contained letters +from Lord G. Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton, which expressed in the +fullest terms the ministerial idea of a total conquest. Copies of +those letters were sent to congress and published in the newspapers +of last year. Colonel [John] Laurens brought over the originals, some +of which, signed in the handwriting of the then secretary, Germaine, +are now in my possession. + +Filled with these high ideas, nothing could be more insolent towards +America than the language of the British court on the proposed +mediation. A peace with France and Spain she anxiously solicited; but +America, as before, was to be left to her mercy, neither would she +hear any proposition for admitting an agent from the United States +into the congress of Vienna. + +On the other hand, France, with an open, noble and manly +determination, and a fidelity of a good ally, would hear no +proposition for a separate peace, nor even meet in congress at +Vienna, without an agent from America: and likewise that the +independent character of the United States, represented by the agent, +should be fully and unequivocally defined and settled before any +conference should be entered on. The reasoning of the court of France +on the several propositions of the two imperial courts, which relate +to us, is rather in the style of an American than an ally, and she +advocated the cause of America as if she had been America herself.- +Thus the second mediation, like the first, proved ineffectual. +But since that time, a reverse of fortune has overtaken the British +arms, and all their high expectations are dashed to the ground. The +noble exertions to the southward under General [Nathaniel] Greene; +the successful operations of the allied arms in the Chesapeake; the +loss of most of their islands in the West Indies, and Minorca in the +Mediterranean; the persevering spirit of Spain against Gibraltar; the +expected capture of Jamaica; the failure of making a separate peace +with Holland, and the expense of an hundred millions sterling, by +which all these fine losses were obtained, have read them a loud +lesson of disgraceful misfortune and necessity has called on them to +change their ground. + +In this situation of confusion and despair, their present councils +have no fixed character. It is now the hurricane months of British +politics. Every day seems to have a storm of its own, and they are +scudding under the bare poles of hope. Beaten, but not humble; +condemned, but not penitent; they act like men trembling at fate and +catching at a straw. From this convulsion, in the entrails of their +politics, it is more than probable, that the mountain groaning in +labor, will bring forth a mouse, as to its size, and a monster in its +make. They will try on America the same insidious arts they tried on +France and Spain. + +We sometimes experience sensations to which language is not equal. +The conception is too bulky to be born alive, and in the torture of +thinking, we stand dumb. Our feelings, imprisoned by their magnitude, +find no way out- and, in the struggle of expression, every finger +tries to be a tongue. The machinery of the body seems too little for +the mind, and we look about for helps to show our thoughts by. Such +must be the sensation of America, whenever Britain, teeming with +corruption, shall propose to her to sacrifice her faith. + +But, exclusive of the wickedness, there is a personal offence +contained in every such attempt. It is calling us villains: for no +man asks the other to act the villain unless he believes him inclined +to be one. No man attempts to seduce the truly honest woman. It is +the supposed looseness of her mind that starts the thoughts of +seduction, and he who offers it calls her a prostitute. Our pride is +always hurt by the same propositions which offend our principles; for +when we are shocked at the crime, we are wounded by the suspicion of +our compliance. + +Could I convey a thought that might serve to regulate the public +mind, I would not make the interest of the alliance the basis of +defending it. All the world are moved by interest, and it affords +them nothing to boast of. But I would go a step higher, and defend it +on the ground of honor and principle. That our public affairs have +flourished under the alliance- that it was wisely made, and has been +nobly executed- that by its assistance we are enabled to preserve our +country from conquest, and expel those who sought our destruction- +that it is our true interest to maintain it unimpaired, and that +while we do so no enemy can conquer us, are matters which experience +has taught us, and the common good of ourselves, abstracted from +principles of faith and honor, would lead us to maintain the +connection. + +But over and above the mere letter of the alliance, we have been +nobly and generously treated, and have had the same respect and +attention paid to us, as if we had been an old established country. +To oblige and be obliged is fair work among mankind, and we want an +opportunity of showing to the world that we are a people sensible of +kindness and worthy of confidence. Character is to us, in our present +circumstances, of more importance than interest. We are a young +nation, just stepping upon the stage of public life, and the eye of +the world is upon us to see how we act. We have an enemy who is +watching to destroy our reputation, and who will go any length to +gain some evidence against us, that may serve to render our conduct +suspected, and our character odious; because, could she accomplish +this, wicked as it is, the world would withdraw from us, as from a +people not to be trusted, and our task would then become difficult. +There is nothing which sets the character of a nation in a higher or +lower light with others, than the faithfully fulfilling, or +perfidiously breaking, of treaties. They are things not to be +tampered with: and should Britain, which seems very probable, propose +to seduce America into such an act of baseness, it would merit from +her some mark of unusual detestation. It is one of those +extraordinary instances in which we ought not to be contented with +the bare negative of Congress, because it is an affront on the +multitude as well as on the government. It goes on the supposition +that the public are not honest men, and that they may be managed by +contrivance, though they cannot be conquered by arms. But, let the +world and Britain know, that we are neither to be bought nor sold; +that our mind is great and fixed; our prospect clear; and that we +will support our character as firmly as our independence. + +But I will go still further; General Conway, who made the motion, in +the British Parliament, for discontinuing offensive war in America, +is a gentleman of an amiable character. We have no personal quarrel +with him. But he feels not as we feel; he is not in our situation, +and that alone, without any other explanation, is enough. +The British Parliament suppose they have many friends in America, and +that, when all chance of conquest is over, they will be able to draw +her from her alliance with France. Now, if I have any conception of +the human heart, they will fail in this more than in any thing that +they have yet tried. + +This part of the business is not a question of policy only, but of +honor and honesty; and the proposition will have in it something so +visibly low and base, that their partisans, if they have any, will be +ashamed of it. Men are often hurt by a mean action who are not +startled at a wicked one, and this will be such a confession of +inability, such a declaration of servile thinking, that the scandal +of it will ruin all their hopes. + +In short, we have nothing to do but to go on with vigor and +determination. The enemy is yet in our country. They hold New York, +Charleston, and Savannah, and the very being in those places is an +offence, and a part of offensive war, and until they can be driven +from them, or captured in them, it would be folly in us to listen to +an idle tale. I take it for granted that the British ministry are +sinking under the impossibility of carrying on the war. Let them then +come to a fair and open peace with France, Spain, Holland and +America, in the manner they ought to do; but until then, we can have +nothing to say to them. + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, May 22, 1782. + + A SUPERNUMERARY CRISIS + + TO SIR GUY CARLETON. + +IT is the nature of compassion to associate with misfortune; and I +address this to you in behalf even of an enemy, a captain in the +British service, now on his way to the headquarters of the American +army, and unfortunately doomed to death for a crime not his own. A +sentence so extraordinary, an execution so repugnant to every human +sensation, ought never to be told without the circumstances which +produced it: and as the destined victim is yet in existence, and in +your hands rests his life or death, I shall briefly state the case, +and the melancholy consequence. + +Captain Huddy, of the Jersey militia, was attacked in a small fort on +Tom's River, by a party of refugees in the British pay and service, +was made prisoner, together with his company, carried to New York and +lodged in the provost of that city: about three weeks after which, he +was taken out of the provost down to the water-side, put into a boat, +and brought again upon the Jersey shore, and there, contrary to the +practice of all nations but savages, was hung up on a tree, and left +hanging till found by our people who took him down and buried him. +The inhabitants of that part of the country where the murder was +committed, sent a deputation to General Washington with a full and +certified statement of the fact. Struck, as every human breast must +be, with such brutish outrage, and determined both to punish and +prevent it for the future, the General represented the case to +General Clinton, who then commanded, and demanded that the refugee +officer who ordered and attended the execution, and whose name is +Lippencott, should be delivered up as a murderer; and in case of +refusal, that the person of some British officer should suffer in his +stead. The demand, though not refused, has not been complied with; +and the melancholy lot (not by selection, but by casting lots) has +fallen upon Captain Asgill, of the Guards, who, as I have already +mentioned, is on his way from Lancaster to camp, a martyr to the +general wickedness of the cause he engaged in, and the ingratitude of +those whom he served. + +The first reflection which arises on this black business is, what +sort of men must Englishmen be, and what sort of order and discipline +do they preserve in their army, when in the immediate place of their +headquarters, and under the eye and nose of their commander-in-chief, +a prisoner can be taken at pleasure from his confinement, and his +death made a matter of sport. + +The history of the most savage Indians does not produce instances +exactly of this kind. They, at least, have a formality in their +punishments. With them it is the horridness of revenge, but with your +army it is a still greater crime, the horridness of diversion. +The British generals who have succeeded each other, from the time of +General Gage to yourself, have all affected to speak in language that +they have no right to. In their proclamations, their addresses, their +letters to General Washington, and their supplications to Congress +(for they deserve no other name) they talk of British honor, British +generosity, and British clemency, as if those things were matters of +fact; whereas, we whose eyes are open, who speak the same language +with yourselves, many of whom were born on the same spot with you, +and who can no more be mistaken in your words than in your actions, +can declare to all the world, that so far as our knowledge goes, +there is not a more detestable character, nor a meaner or more +barbarous enemy, than the present British one. With us, you have +forfeited all pretensions to reputation, and it is only by holding +you like a wild beast, afraid of your keepers, that you can be made +manageable. But to return to the point in question. + +Though I can think no man innocent who has lent his hand to destroy +the country which he did not plant, and to ruin those that he could +not enslave, yet, abstracted from all ideas of right and wrong on the + +original question, Captain Asgill, in the present case, is not the +guilty man. The villain and the victim are here separated characters. +You hold the one and we the other. You disown, or affect to disown +and reprobate the conduct of Lippincut, yet you give him a sanctuary; +and by so doing you as effectually become the executioner of Asgill, +as if you had put the rope on his neck, and dismissed him from the +world. Whatever your feelings on this interesting occasion may be are +best known to yourself. Within the grave of your own mind lies buried +the fate of Asgill. He becomes the corpse of your will, or the +survivor of your justice. Deliver up the one, and you save the other; +withhold the one, and the other dies by your choice. + +On our part the case is exceeding plain; an officer has been taken +from his confinement and murdered, and the murderer is within your +lines. Your army has been guilty of a thousand instances of equal +cruelty, but they have been rendered equivocal, and sheltered from +personal detection. Here the crime is fixed; and is one of those +extraordinary cases which can neither be denied nor palliated, and to +which the custom of war does not apply; for it never could be +supposed that such a brutal outrage would ever be committed. It is an +original in the history of civilized barbarians, and is truly British. +On your part you are accountable to us for the personal safety of the +prisoners within your walls. Here can be no mistake; they can neither +be spies nor suspected as such; your security is not endangered, nor +your operations subjected to miscarriage, by men immured within a +dungeon. They differ in every circumstance from men in the field, and +leave no pretence for severity of punishment. But if to the dismal +condition of captivity with you must be added the constant +apprehensions of death; if to be imprisoned is so nearly to be +entombed; and if, after all, the murderers are to be protected, and +thereby the crime encouraged, wherein do you differ from [American] +Indians either in conduct or character? + +We can have no idea of your honor, or your justice, in any future +transaction, of what nature it may be, while you shelter within your +lines an outrageous murderer, and sacrifice in his stead an officer +of your own. If you have no regard to us, at least spare the blood +which it is your duty to save. Whether the punishment will be greater +on him, who, in this case, innocently dies, or on him whom sad +necessity forces to retaliate, is, in the nicety of sensation, an +undecided question? It rests with you to prevent the sufferings of +both. You have nothing to do but to give up the murderer, and the +matter ends. + +But to protect him, be he who he may, is to patronize his crime, and +to trifle it off by frivolous and unmeaning inquiries, is to promote +it. There is no declaration you can make, nor promise you can give +that will obtain credit. It is the man and not the apology that is +demanded. + +You see yourself pressed on all sides to spare the life of your own +officer, for die he will if you withhold justice. The murder of +Captain Huddy is an offence not to be borne with, and there is no +security which we can have, that such actions or similar ones shall +not be repeated, but by making the punishment fall upon yourselves. +To destroy the last security of captivity, and to take the unarmed, +the unresisting prisoner to private and sportive execution, is +carrying barbarity too high for silence. The evil must be put an end +to; and the choice of persons rests with you. But if your attachment +to the guilty is stronger than to the innocent, you invent a crime +that must destroy your character, and if the cause of your king needs +to be so supported, for ever cease, sir, to torture our remembrance +with the wretched phrases of British honor, British generosity and +British clemency. + +From this melancholy circumstance, learn, sir, a lesson of morality. +The refugees are men whom your predecessors have instructed in +wickedness, the better to fit them to their master's purpose. To make +them useful, they have made them vile, and the consequence of their +tutored villany is now descending on the heads of their encouragers. +They have been trained like hounds to the scent of blood, and +cherished in every species of dissolute barbarity. Their ideas of +right and wrong are worn away in the constant habitude of repeated +infamy, till, like men practised in execution, they feel not the +value of another's life. + +The task before you, though painful, is not difficult; give up the +murderer, and save your officer, as the first outset of a necessary +reformation. + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA May 31, 1782. + + The Crisis. + + XII. + + TO THE EARL OF SHELBURNE. + +MY LORD,- A speech, which has been printed in several of the British +and New York newspapers, as coming from your lordship, in answer to +one from the Duke of Richmond, of the 10th of July last, contains +expressions and opinions so new and singular, and so enveloped in +mysterious reasoning, that I address this publication to you, for the +purpose of giving them a free and candid examination. The speech I +allude to is in these words: + +"His lordship said, it had been mentioned in another place, that he +had been guilty of inconsistency. To clear himself of this, he +asserted that he still held the same principles in respect to +American independence which he at first imbibed. He had been, and yet +was of opinion, whenever the Parliament of Great Britain acknowledges +that point, the sun of England's glory is set forever. Such were the +sentiments he possessed on a former day, and such the sentiments he +continued to hold at this hour. It was the opinion of Lord Chatham, +as well as many other able statesmen. Other noble lords, however, +think differently, and as the majority of the cabinet support them, +he acquiesced in the measure, dissenting from the idea; and the point +is settled for bringing the matter into the full discussion of +Parliament, where it will be candidly, fairly, and impartially +debated. The independence of America would end in the ruin of +England; and that a peace patched up with France, would give that +proud enemy the means of yet trampling on this country. The sun of +England's glory he wished not to see set forever; he looked for a +spark at least to be left, which might in time light us up to a new +day. But if independence was to be granted, if Parliament deemed that +measure prudent, he foresaw, in his own mind, that England was +undone. He wished to God that he had been deputed to Congress, that +be might plead the cause of that country as well as of this, and that +he might exercise whatever powers he possessed as an orator, to save +both from ruin, in a conviction to Congress, that, if their +independence was signed, their liberties were gone forever. + +"Peace, his lordship added, was a desirable object, but it must be an +honorable peace, and not an humiliating one, dictated by France, or +insisted on by America. It was very true, that this kingdom was not +in a flourishing state, it was impoverished by war. But if we were +not rich, it was evident that France was poor. If we were straitened +in our finances, the enemy were exhausted in their resources. This +was a great empire; it abounded with brave men, who were able and +willing to fight in a common cause; the language of humiliation +should not, therefore, be the language of Great Britain. His lordship +said, that he was not afraid nor ashamed of those expressions going +to America. There were numbers, great numbers there, who were of the +same way of thinking, in respect to that country being dependent on +this, and who, with his lordship, perceived ruin and independence +linked together." + +Thus far the speech; on which I remark- That his lordship is a total +stranger to the mind and sentiments of America; that he has wrapped +himself up in fond delusion, that something less than independence, +may, under his administration, be accepted; and he wishes himself +sent to Congress, to prove the most extraordinary of all doctrines, +which is, that independence, the sublimest of all human conditions, +is loss of liberty. + +In answer to which we may say, that in order to know what the +contrary word dependence means, we have only to look back to those +years of severe humiliation, when the mildest of all petitions could +obtain no other notice than the haughtiest of all insults; and when +the base terms of unconditional submission were demanded, or +undistinguishable destruction threatened. It is nothing to us that +the ministry have been changed, for they may be changed again. The +guilt of a government is the crime of a whole country; and the nation +that can, though but for a moment, think and act as England has done, +can never afterwards be believed or trusted. There are cases in which +it is as impossible to restore character to life, as it is to recover +the dead. It is a phoenix that can expire but once, and from whose +ashes there is no resurrection. Some offences are of such a slight +composition, that they reach no further than the temper, and are +created or cured by a thought. But the sin of England has struck the +heart of America, and nature has not left in our power to say we can +forgive. + +Your lordship wishes for an opportunity to plead before Congress the +cause of England and America, and to save, as you say, both from ruin. + +That the country, which, for more than seven years has sought our +destruction, should now cringe to solicit our protection, is adding +the wretchedness of disgrace to the misery of disappointment; and if +England has the least spark of supposed honor left, that spark must +be darkened by asking, and extinguished by receiving, the smallest +favor from America; for the criminal who owes his life to the grace +and mercy of the injured, is more executed by living, than he who +dies. + +But a thousand pleadings, even from your lordship, can have no +effect. Honor, interest, and every sensation of the heart, would +plead against you. We are a people who think not as you think; and +what is equally true, you cannot feel as we feel. The situations of +the two countries are exceedingly different. Ours has been the seat +of war; yours has seen nothing of it. The most wanton destruction has +been committed in our sight; the most insolent barbarity has been +acted on our feelings. We can look round and see the remains of burnt +and destroyed houses, once the fair fruit of hard industry, and now +the striking monuments of British brutality. We walk over the dead +whom we loved, in every part of America, and remember by whom they +fell. There is scarcely a village but brings to life some melancholy +thought, and reminds us of what we have suffered, and of those we +have lost by the inhumanity of Britain. A thousand images arise to +us, which, from situation, you cannot see, and are accompanied by as +many ideas which you cannot know; and therefore your supposed system +of reasoning would apply to nothing, and all your expectations die of +themselves. + +The question whether England shall accede to the independence of +America, and which your lordship says is to undergo a parliamentary +discussion, is so very simple, and composed of so few cases, that it +scarcely needs a debate. + +It is the only way out of an expensive and ruinous war, which has no +object, and without which acknowledgment there can be no peace. + +But your lordship says, the sun of Great Britain will set whenever +she acknowledges the independence of America.- Whereas the metaphor +would have been strictly just, to have left the sun wholly out of the +figure, and have ascribed her not acknowledging it to the influence +of the moon. + +But the expression, if true, is the greatest confession of disgrace +that could be made, and furnishes America with the highest notions of +sovereign independent importance. Mr. Wedderburne, about the year +1776, made use of an idea of much the same kind,- Relinquish America! +says he- What is it but to desire a giant to shrink spontaneously +into a dwarf. + +Alas! are those people who call themselves Englishmen, of so little +internal consequence, that when America is gone, or shuts her eyes +upon them, their sun is set, they can shine no more, but grope about +in obscurity, and contract into insignificant animals? Was America, +then, the giant of the empire, and England only her dwarf in waiting! +Is the case so strangely altered, that those who once thought we +could not live without them, are now brought to declare that they +cannot exist without us? Will they tell to the world, and that from +their first minister of state, that America is their all in all; that +it is by her importance only that they can live, and breathe, and +have a being? Will they, who long since threatened to bring us to +their feet, bow themselves to ours, and own that without us they are +not a nation? Are they become so unqualified to debate on +independence, that they have lost all idea of it themselves, and are +calling to the rocks and mountains of America to cover their +insignificance? Or, if America is lost, is it manly to sob over it +like a child for its rattle, and invite the laughter of the world by +declarations of disgrace? Surely, a more consistent line of conduct +would be to bear it without complaint; and to show that England, +without America, can preserve her independence, and a suitable rank +with other European powers. You were not contented while you had her, +and to weep for her now is childish. + +But Lord Shelburne thinks something may yet be done. What that +something is, or how it is to be accomplished, is a matter in +obscurity. By arms there is no hope. The experience of nearly eight +years, with the expense of an hundred million pounds sterling, and +the loss of two armies, must positively decide that point. Besides, +the British have lost their interest in America with the disaffected. +Every part of it has been tried. There is no new scene left for +delusion: and the thousands who have been ruined by adhering to them, +and have now to quit the settlements which they had acquired, and be +conveyed like transports to cultivate the deserts of Augustine and +Nova Scotia, has put an end to all further expectations of aid. + +If you cast your eyes on the people of England, what have they to +console themselves with for the millions expended? Or, what +encouragement is there left to continue throwing good money after +bad? America can carry on the war for ten years longer, and all the +charges of government included, for less than you can defray the +charges of war and government for one year. And I, who know both +countries, know well, that the people of America can afford to pay +their share of the expense much better than the people of England +can. Besides, it is their own estates and property, their own rights, +liberties and government, that they are defending; and were they not +to do it, they would deserve to lose all, and none would pity them. +The fault would be their own, and their punishment just. + +The British army in America care not how long the war lasts. They +enjoy an easy and indolent life. They fatten on the folly of one +country and the spoils of another; and, between their plunder and +their prey, may go home rich. But the case is very different with the +laboring farmer, the working tradesman, and the necessitous poor in +England, the sweat of whose brow goes day after day to feed, in +prodigality and sloth, the army that is robbing both them and us. +Removed from the eye of that country that supports them, and distant +from the government that employs them, they cut and carve for +themselves, and there is none to call them to account. + +But England will be ruined, says Lord Shelburne, if America is +independent. + +Then I say, is England already ruined, for America is already +independent: and if Lord Shelburne will not allow this, he +immediately denies the fact which he infers. Besides, to make England +the mere creature of America, is paying too great a compliment to us, +and too little to himself. + +But the declaration is a rhapsody of inconsistency. For to say, as +Lord Shelburne has numberless times said, that the war against +America is ruinous, and yet to continue the prosecution of that +ruinous war for the purpose of avoiding ruin, is a language which +cannot be understood. Neither is it possible to see how the +independence of America is to accomplish the ruin of England after +the war is over, and yet not affect it before. America cannot be more +independent of her, nor a greater enemy to her, hereafter than she +now is; nor can England derive less advantages from her than at +present: why then is ruin to follow in the best state of the case, +and not in the worst? And if not in the worst, why is it to follow at +all? + +That a nation is to be ruined by peace and commerce, and fourteen or +fifteen millions a-year less expenses than before, is a new doctrine +in politics. We have heard much clamor of national savings and +economy; but surely the true economy would be, to save the whole +charge of a silly, foolish, and headstrong war; because, compared +with this, all other retrenchments are baubles and trifles. + +But is it possible that Lord Shelburne can be serious in supposing +that the least advantage can be obtained by arms, or that any +advantage can be equal to the expense or the danger of attempting it? +Will not the capture of one army after another satisfy him, must all +become prisoners? Must England ever be the sport of hope, and the +victim of delusion? Sometimes our currency was to fail; another time +our army was to disband; then whole provinces were to revolt. Such a +general said this and that; another wrote so and so; Lord Chatham was +of this opinion; and lord somebody else of another. To-day 20,000 +Russians and 20 Russian ships of the line were to come; to-morrow the +empress was abused without mercy or decency. Then the Emperor of +Germany was to be bribed with a million of money, and the King of +Prussia was to do wonderful things. At one time it was, Lo here! and +then it was, Lo there! Sometimes this power, and sometimes that +power, was to engage in the war, just as if the whole world was mad +and foolish like Britain. And thus, from year to year, has every +straw been catched at, and every Will-with-a-wisp led them a new +dance. + +This year a still newer folly is to take place. Lord Shelburne wishes +to be sent to Congress, and he thinks that something may be done. + +Are not the repeated declarations of Congress, and which all America +supports, that they will not even hear any proposals whatever, until +the unconditional and unequivocal independence of America is +recognised; are not, I say, these declarations answer enough? + +But for England to receive any thing from America now, after so many +insults, injuries and outrages, acted towards us, would show such a +spirit of meanness in her, that we could not but despise her for +accepting it. And so far from Lord Shelburne's coming here to solicit +it, it would be the greatest disgrace we could do them to offer it. +England would appear a wretch indeed, at this time of day, to ask or +owe any thing to the bounty of America. Has not the name of +Englishman blots enough upon it, without inventing more? Even Lucifer +would scorn to reign in heaven by permission, and yet an Englishman +can creep for only an entrance into America. Or, has a land of +liberty so many charms, that to be a doorkeeper in it is better than +to be an English minister of state? + +But what can this expected something be? Or, if obtained, what can it +amount to, but new disgraces, contentions and quarrels? The people of +America have for years accustomed themselves to think and speak so +freely and contemptuously of English authority, and the inveteracy is +so deeply rooted, that a person invested with any authority from that +country, and attempting to exercise it here, would have the life of a +toad under a harrow. They would look on him as an interloper, to whom +their compassion permitted a residence. He would be no more than the +Mungo of a farce; and if he disliked that, he must set off. It would +be a station of degradation, debased by our pity, and despised by our +pride, and would place England in a more contemptible situation than +any she has yet been in during the war. We have too high an opinion +of ourselves, even to think of yielding again the least obedience to +outlandish authority; and for a thousand reasons, England would be +the last country in the world to yield it to. She has been +treacherous, and we know it. Her character is gone, and we have seen +the funeral. + +Surely she loves to fish in troubled waters, and drink the cup of +contention, or she would not now think of mingling her affairs with +those of America. It would be like a foolish dotard taking to his +arms the bride that despises him, or who has placed on his head the +ensigns of her disgust. It is kissing the hand that boxes his ears, +and proposing to renew the exchange. The thought is as servile as the +war is wicked, and shows the last scene of the drama to be as +inconsistent as the first. + +As America is gone, the only act of manhood is to let her go. Your +lordship had no hand in the separation, and you will gain no honor by +temporising politics. Besides, there is something so exceedingly +whimsical, unsteady, and even insincere in the present conduct of +England, that she exhibits herself in the most dishonorable colors. +On the second of August last, General Carleton and Admiral Digby +wrote to General Washington in these words: + +"The resolution of the House of Commons, of the 27th of February +last, has been placed in Your Excellency's hands, and intimations +given at the same time that further pacific measures were likely to +follow. Since which, until the present time, we have had no direct +communications with England; but a mail is now arrived, which brings +us very important information. We are acquainted, sir, by authority, +that negotiations for a general peace have already commenced at +Paris, and that Mr. Grenville is invested with full powers to treat +with all the parties at war, and is now at Paris in execution of his +commission. And we are further, sir, made acquainted, that His +Majesty, in order to remove any obstacles to this peace which he so +ardently wishes to restore, has commanded his ministers to direct Mr. +Grenville, that the independence of the Thirteen United Provinces, +should be proposed by him in the first instance, instead of making it +a condition of a general treaty." + +Now, taking your present measures into view, and comparing them with +the declaration in this letter, pray what is the word of your king, +or his ministers, or the Parliament, good for? Must we not look upon +you as a confederated body of faithless, treacherous men, whose +assurances are fraud, and their language deceit? What opinion can we +possibly form of you, but that you are a lost, abandoned, profligate +nation, who sport even with your own character, and are to be held by +nothing but the bayonet or the halter? + +To say, after this, that the sun of Great Britain will be set +whenever she acknowledges the independence of America, when the not +doing it is the unqualified lie of government, can be no other than +the language of ridicule, the jargon of inconsistency. There were +thousands in America who predicted the delusion, and looked upon it +as a trick of treachery, to take us from our guard, and draw off our +attention from the only system of finance, by which we can be called, +or deserve to be called, a sovereign, independent people. The fraud, +on your part, might be worth attempting, but the sacrifice to obtain +it is too high. + +There are others who credited the assurance, because they thought it +impossible that men who had their characters to establish, would +begin with a lie. The prosecution of the war by the former ministry +was savage and horrid; since which it has been mean, trickish, and +delusive. The one went greedily into the passion of revenge, the +other into the subtleties of low contrivance; till, between the +crimes of both, there is scarcely left a man in America, be he Whig +or Tory, who does not despise or detest the conduct of Britain. + +The management of Lord Shelburne, whatever may be his views, is a +caution to us, and must be to the world, never to regard British +assurances. A perfidy so notorious cannot be hid. It stands even in +the public papers of New York, with the names of Carleton and Digby +affixed to it. It is a proclamation that the king of England is not +to be believed; that the spirit of lying is the governing principle +of the ministry. It is holding up the character of the House of +Commons to public infamy, and warning all men not to credit them. +Such are the consequences which Lord Shelburne's management has +brought upon his country. + +After the authorized declarations contained in Carleton and Digby's +letter, you ought, from every motive of honor, policy and prudence, +to have fulfilled them, whatever might have been the event. It was +the least atonement that you could possibly make to America, and the +greatest kindness you could do to yourselves; for you will save +millions by a general peace, and you will lose as many by continuing +the war. + +COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 29, 1782. + +P. S. The manuscript copy of this letter is sent your lordship, by +the way of our head-quarters, to New York, inclosing a late pamphlet +of mine, addressed to the Abbe Raynal, which will serve to give your +lordship some idea of the principles and sentiments of America. + + C. S. + + The Crisis. + + XIII. + + THOUGHTS ON THE PEACE, AND THE PROBABLE ADVANTAGES THEREOF. + +"THE times that tried men's souls,"* are over- and the greatest and +completest revolution the world ever knew, gloriously and happily +accomplished. + +* "These are the times that try men's souls," The Crisis No. I. +published December, 1776. + +But to pass from the extremes of danger to safety- from the tumult of +war to the tranquillity of peace, though sweet in contemplation, +requires a gradual composure of the senses to receive it. Even +calmness has the power of stunning, when it opens too instantly upon +us. The long and raging hurricane that should cease in a moment, +would leave us in a state rather of wonder than enjoyment; and some +moments of recollection must pass, before we could be capable of +tasting the felicity of repose. There are but few instances, in which +the mind is fitted for sudden transitions: it takes in its pleasures +by reflection and comparison and those must have time to act, before +the relish for new scenes is complete. + +In the present case- the mighty magnitude of the object- the various +uncertainties of fate it has undergone- the numerous and complicated +dangers we have suffered or escaped- the eminence we now stand on, +and the vast prospect before us, must all conspire to impress us with +contemplation. + +To see it in our power to make a world happy- to teach mankind the +art of being so- to exhibit, on the theatre of the universe a +character hitherto unknown- and to have, as it were, a new creation +intrusted to our hands, are honors that command reflection, and can +neither be too highly estimated, nor too gratefully received. + +In this pause then of recollection- while the storm is ceasing, and +the long agitated mind vibrating to a rest, let us look back on the +scenes we have passed, and learn from experience what is yet to be +done. + +Never, I say, had a country so many openings to happiness as this. +Her setting out in life, like the rising of a fair morning, was +unclouded and promising. Her cause was good. Her principles just and +liberal. Her temper serene and firm. Her conduct regulated by the +nicest steps, and everything about her wore the mark of honor. It is +not every country (perhaps there is not another in the world) that +can boast so fair an origin. Even the first settlement of America +corresponds with the character of the revolution. Rome, once the +proud mistress of the universe, was originally a band of ruffians. +Plunder and rapine made her rich, and her oppression of millions made +her great. But America need never be ashamed to tell her birth, nor +relate the stages by which she rose to empire. + +The remembrance, then, of what is past, if it operates rightly, must +inspire her with the most laudable of all ambition, that of adding to +the fair fame she began with. The world has seen her great in +adversity; struggling, without a thought of yielding, beneath +accumulated difficulties, bravely, nay proudly, encountering +distress, and rising in resolution as the storm increased. All this +is justly due to her, for her fortitude has merited the character. +Let, then, the world see that she can bear prosperity: and that her +honest virtue in time of peace, is equal to the bravest virtue in +time of war. + +She is now descending to the scenes of quiet and domestic life. Not +beneath the cypress shade of disappointment, but to enjoy in her own +land, and under her own vine, the sweet of her labors, and the reward +of her toil.- In this situation, may she never forget that a fair +national reputation is of as much importance as independence. That it +possesses a charm that wins upon the world, and makes even enemies +civil. That it gives a dignity which is often superior to power, and +commands reverence where pomp and splendor fail. + +It would be a circumstance ever to be lamented and never to be +forgotten, were a single blot, from any cause whatever, suffered to +fall on a revolution, which to the end of time must be an honor to +the age that accomplished it: and which has contributed more to +enlighten the world, and diffuse a spirit of freedom and liberality +among mankind, than any human event (if this may be called one) that +ever preceded it. + +It is not among the least of the calamities of a long continued war, +that it unhinges the mind from those nice sensations which at other +times appear so amiable. The continual spectacle of woe blunts the +finer feelings, and the necessity of bearing with the sight, renders +it familiar. In like manner, are many of the moral obligations of +society weakened, till the custom of acting by necessity becomes an +apology, where it is truly a crime. Yet let but a nation conceive +rightly of its character, and it will be chastely just in protecting +it. None ever began with a fairer than America and none can be under +a greater obligation to preserve it. + +The debt which America has contracted, compared with the cause she +has gained, and the advantages to flow from it, ought scarcely to be +mentioned. She has it in her choice to do, and to live as happily as +she pleases. The world is in her hands. She has no foreign power to +monopolize her commerce, perplex her legislation, or control her +prosperity. The struggle is over, which must one day have happened, +and, perhaps, never could have happened at a better time.* And +instead of a domineering master, she has gained an ally whose +exemplary greatness, and universal liberality, have extorted a +confession even from her enemies. + +* That the revolution began at the exact period of time best fitted +to the purpose, is sufficiently proved by the event.- But the great +hinge on which the whole machine turned, is the Union of the States: +and this union was naturally produced by the inability of any one +state to support itself against any foreign enemy without the +assistance of the rest. +Had the states severally been less able than they were when the war +began, their united strength would not have been equal to the +undertaking, and they must in all human probability have failed.- +And, on the other hand, had they severally been more able, they might +not have seen, or, what is more, might not have felt, the necessity +of uniting: and, either by attempting to stand alone or in small +confederacies, would have been separately conquered. +Now, as we cannot see a time (and many years must pass away before it +can arrive) when the strength of any one state, or several united, +can be equal to the whole of the present United States, and as we +have seen the extreme difficulty of collectively prosecuting the war +to a successful issue, and preserving our national importance in the +world, therefore, from the experience we have had, and the knowledge +we have gained, we must, unless we make a waste of wisdom, be +strongly impressed with the advantage, as well as the necessity of +strengthening that happy union which had been our salvation, and +without which we should have been a ruined people. +While I was writing this note, I cast my eye on the pamphlet, Common +Sense, from which I shall make an extract, as it exactly applies to +the case. It is as follows: +"I have never met with a man, either in England or America, who has +not confessed it as his opinion that a separation between the +countries would take place one time or other; and there is no +instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to +describe what we call the ripeness or fitness of the continent for +independence. +"As all men allow the measure, and differ only in their opinion of +the time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey +of things, and endeavor, if possible, to find out the very time. But +we need not to go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for, the time has +found us. The general concurrence, the glorious union of all things +prove the fact. +"It is not in numbers, but in a union, that our great strength lies. +The continent is just arrived at that pitch of strength, in which no +single colony is able to support itself, and the whole, when united, +can accomplish the matter; and either more or less than this, might +be fatal in its effects." + +With the blessings of peace, independence, and an universal commerce, +the states, individually and collectively, will have leisure and +opportunity to regulate and establish their domestic concerns, and to +put it beyond the power of calumny to throw the least reflection on +their honor. Character is much easier kept than recovered, and that +man, if any such there be, who, from sinister views, or littleness of +soul, lends unseen his hand to injure it, contrives a wound it will +never be in his power to heal. + +As we have established an inheritance for posterity, let that +inheritance descend, with every mark of an honorable conveyance. The +little it will cost, compared with the worth of the states, the +greatness of the object, and the value of the national character, +will be a profitable exchange. + +But that which must more forcibly strike a thoughtful, penetrating +mind, and which includes and renders easy all inferior concerns, is +the UNION OF THE STATES. On this our great national character +depends. It is this which must give us importance abroad and security +at home. It is through this only that we are, or can be, nationally +known in the world; it is the flag of the United States which renders +our ships and commerce safe on the seas, or in a foreign port. Our +Mediterranean passes must be obtained under the same style. All our +treaties, whether of alliance, peace, or commerce, are formed under +the sovereignty of the United States, and Europe knows us by no other +name or title. + +The division of the empire into states is for our own convenience, +but abroad this distinction ceases. The affairs of each state are +local. They can go no further than to itself. And were the whole +worth of even the richest of them expended in revenue, it would not +be sufficient to support sovereignty against a foreign attack. In +short, we have no other national sovereignty than as United States. +It would even be fatal for us if we had- too expensive to be +maintained, and impossible to be supported. Individuals, or +individual states, may call themselves what they please; but the +world, and especially the world of enemies, is not to be held in awe +by the whistling of a name. Sovereignty must have power to protect +all the parts that compose and constitute it: and as UNITED STATES we +are equal to the importance of the title, but otherwise we are not. +Our union, well and wisely regulated and cemented, is the cheapest +way of being great- the easiest way of being powerful, and the +happiest invention in government which the circumstances of America +can admit of.- Because it collects from each state, that which, by +being inadequate, can be of no use to it, and forms an aggregate that +serves for all. + +The states of Holland are an unfortunate instance of the effects of +individual sovereignty. Their disjointed condition exposes them to +numerous intrigues, losses, calamities, and enemies; and the almost +impossibility of bringing their measures to a decision, and that +decision into execution, is to them, and would be to us, a source of +endless misfortune. + +It is with confederated states as with individuals in society; +something must be yielded up to make the whole secure. In this view +of things we gain by what we give, and draw an annual interest +greater than the capital.- I ever feel myself hurt when I hear the +union, that great palladium of our liberty and safety, the least +irreverently spoken of. It is the most sacred thing in the +constitution of America, and that which every man should be most +proud and tender of. Our citizenship in the United States is our +national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only +our local distinction. By the latter we are known at home, by the +former to the world. Our great title is AMERICANS- our inferior one +varies with the place. + +So far as my endeavors could go, they have all been directed to +conciliate the affections, unite the interests, and draw and keep the +mind of the country together; and the better to assist in this +foundation work of the revolution, I have avoided all places of +profit or office, either in the state I live in, or in the United +States; kept myself at a distance from all parties and party +connections, and even disregarded all private and inferior concerns: +and when we take into view the great work which we have gone through, +and feel, as we ought to feel, the just importance of it, we shall +then see, that the little wranglings and indecent contentions of +personal parley, are as dishonorable to our characters, as they are +injurious to our repose. + +It was the cause of America that made me an author. The force with +which it struck my mind and the dangerous condition the country +appeared to me in, by courting an impossible and an unnatural +reconciliation with those who were determined to reduce her, instead +of striking out into the only line that could cement and save her, A +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, made it impossible for me, feeling as I +did, to be silent: and if, in the course of more than seven years, I +have rendered her any service, I have likewise added something to the +reputation of literature, by freely and disinterestedly employing it +in the great cause of mankind, and showing that there may be genius +without prostitution. + +Independence always appeared to me practicable and probable, provided +the sentiment of the country could be formed and held to the object: +and there is no instance in the world, where a people so extended, +and wedded to former habits of thinking, and under such a variety of +circumstances, were so instantly and effectually pervaded, by a turn +in politics, as in the case of independence; and who supported their +opinion, undiminished, through such a succession of good and ill +fortune, till they crowned it with success. + +But as the scenes of war are closed, and every man preparing for home +and happier times, I therefore take my leave of the subject. I have +most sincerely followed it from beginning to end, and through all its +turns and windings: and whatever country I may hereafter be in, I +shall always feel an honest pride at the part I have taken and acted, +and a gratitude to nature and providence for putting it in my power +to be of some use to mankind. + + COMMON SENSE. + +PHILADELPHIA, April 19, 1783. + + A SUPERNUMERARY CRISIS + + TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA. + +IN "_Rivington's New York Gazette_," of December 6th, is a +publication, under the appearance of a letter from London, dated +September 30th; and is on a subject which demands the attention of +the United States. + +The public will remember that a treaty of commerce between the United +States and England was set on foot last spring, and that until the +said treaty could be completed, a bill was brought into the British +Parliament by the then chancellor of the exchequer, Mr. Pitt, to +admit and legalize (as the case then required) the commerce of the +United States into the British ports and dominions. But neither the +one nor the other has been completed. The commercial treaty is either +broken off, or remains as it began; and the bill in Parliament has +been thrown aside. And in lieu thereof, a selfish system of English +politics has started up, calculated to fetter the commerce of +America, by engrossing to England the carrying trade of the American +produce to the West India islands. + +Among the advocates for this last measure is Lord Sheffield, a member +of the British Parliament, who has published a pamphlet entitled +"Observations on the Commerce of the American States." The pamphlet +has two objects; the one is to allure the Americans to purchase +British manufactures; and the other to spirit up the British +Parliament to prohibit the citizens of the United States from trading +to the West India islands. + +Viewed in this light, the pamphlet, though in some parts dexterously +written, is an absurdity. It offends, in the very act of endeavoring +to ingratiate; and his lordship, as a politician, ought not to have +suffered the two objects to have appeared together. The latter +alluded to, contains extracts from the pamphlet, with high encomiums +on Lord Sheffield, for laboriously endeavoring (as the letter styles +it) "to show the mighty advantages of retaining the carrying trade." + +Since the publication of this pamphlet in England, the commerce of +the United States to the West Indies, in American vessels, has been +prohibited; and all intercourse, except in British bottoms, the +property of and navigated by British subjects, cut off. + +That a country has a right to be as foolish as it pleases, has been +proved by the practice of England for many years past: in her island +situation, sequestered from the world, she forgets that her whispers +are heard by other nations; and in her plans of politics and commerce +she seems not to know, that other votes are necessary besides her +own. America would be equally as foolish as Britain, were she to +suffer so great a degradation on her flag, and such a stroke on the +freedom of her commerce, to pass without a balance. + +We admit the right of any nation to prohibit the commerce of another +into its own dominions, where there are no treaties to the contrary; +but as this right belongs to one side as well as the other, there is +always a way left to bring avarice and insolence to reason. + +But the ground of security which Lord Sheffield has chosen to erect +his policy upon, is of a nature which ought, and I think must, awaken +in every American a just and strong sense of national dignity. Lord +Sheffield appears to be sensible, that in advising the British nation +and Parliament to engross to themselves so great a part of the +carrying trade of America, he is attempting a measure which cannot +succeed, if the politics of the United States be properly directed to +counteract the assumption. + +But, says he, in his pamphlet, "It will be a long time before the +American states can be brought to act as a nation, neither are they +to be feared as such by us." + +What is this more or less than to tell us, that while we have no +national system of commerce, the British will govern our trade by +their own laws and proclamations as they please. The quotation +discloses a truth too serious to be overlooked, and too mischievous +not to be remedied. + +Among other circumstances which led them to this discovery none could +operate so effectually as the injudicious, uncandid and indecent +opposition made by sundry persons in a certain state, to the +recommendations of Congress last winter, for an import duty of five +per cent. It could not but explain to the British a weakness in the +national power of America, and encourage them to attempt restrictions +on her trade, which otherwise they would not have dared to hazard. +Neither is there any state in the union, whose policy was more +misdirected to its interest than the state I allude to, because her +principal support is the carrying trade, which Britain, induced by +the want of a well-centred power in the United States to protect and +secure, is now attempting to take away. It fortunately happened (and +to no state in the union more than the state in question) that the +terms of peace were agreed on before the opposition appeared, +otherwise, there cannot be a doubt, that if the same idea of the +diminished authority of America had occurred to them at that time as +has occurred to them since, but they would have made the same grasp +at the fisheries, as they have done at the carrying trade. + +It is surprising that an authority which can be supported with so +much ease, and so little expense, and capable of such extensive +advantages to the country, should be cavilled at by those whose duty +it is to watch over it, and whose existence as a people depends upon +it. But this, perhaps, will ever be the case, till some misfortune +awakens us into reason, and the instance now before us is but a +gentle beginning of what America must expect, unless she guards her +union with nicer care and stricter honor. United, she is formidable, +and that with the least possible charge a nation can be so; +separated, she is a medley of individual nothings, subject to the +sport of foreign nations. + +It is very probable that the ingenuity of commerce may have found out +a method to evade and supersede the intentions of the British, in +interdicting the trade with the West India islands. The language of +both being the same, and their customs well understood, the vessels +of one country may, by deception, pass for those of another. But this +would be a practice too debasing for a sovereign people to stoop to, +and too profligate not to be discountenanced. An illicit trade, under +any shape it can be placed, cannot be carried on without a violation +of truth. America is now sovereign and independent, and ought to +conduct her affairs in a regular style of character. She has the same +right to say that no British vessel shall enter ports, or that no +British manufactures shall be imported, but in American bottoms, the +property of, and navigated by American subjects, as Britain has to +say the same thing respecting the West Indies. Or she may lay a duty +of ten, fifteen, or twenty shillings per ton (exclusive of other +duties) on every British vessel coming from any port of the West +Indies, where she is not admitted to trade, the said tonnage to +continue as long on her side as the prohibition continues on the +other. + +But it is only by acting in union, that the usurpations of foreign +nations on the freedom of trade can be counteracted, and security +extended to the commerce of America. And when we view a flag, which +to the eye is beautiful, and to contemplate its rise and origin +inspires a sensation of sublime delight, our national honor must +unite with our interest to prevent injury to the one, or insult to +the other. + + COMMON SENSE. + +NEW YORK, December 9, 1783. + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Writings of Thomas Paine Vol. I +by Thomas Paine + |