The cauſe of America it in a great meaſure the cauſe of all mankind. ...
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Society is produced by our wants, and government, by our wickedneſs.
Society in every ſtate is a bleſſing, but government even in its beſt ſtate is but a neceſſary evil; in its worſt ſtate an intolerable one; for when we ſuſſer, or are expoſed to the ſame miſeries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting, that we furniſh the means by which we ſuſſer. Goyernment, like dreſs, is the badge of loſt innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradice. For were the impulſes of conſcience clear, uniform, and irreſiſtibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the caſe, he finds it neceſſary to ſurrender up a part of his property to furniſh means for the protection of the reſt; and this he is induced to do by the ſame prudence which in every other caſe, adviſes him out of two evils to chuſe the leaſt. Wherefore, ſecurity being the true deſign and end of government, it unanſwerably follows, that whatever form thereof appears moſt likely to inſure it to us, with the leaſt expenſe and greateſt benefit, is preferable to all others.
But Britain is the parent country, ſay ſome. Then the more ſhame upon her conduét. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor ſavages make war upon their families; wherefore the aſſertion, if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly ſo, and the phraſe parent or mother country hath been jeſuitically adopted by the king and his paraſites, with a low papiſtical deſign of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakneſs of our minds. Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the aſylum for the perſecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe, Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is ſo far true of England, that the ſame tyranny which vrove the firſt emigrants trom home, purſues their deſcendants ſtill.
Even the diſtance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a ſtrong and natural proof, that the authority of the one, over the other, was never the deſign of Heaven. The time likewiſe at which the continent was diſcovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled encreaſes the force of it. The reformation was preceded by the diſcovery of America, as if the Almighty gracioufly meant to open a ſanctuary to the perſecuted in future years, when home ſhould afford neither friendſhip nor ſafety.
Though I would carefully avoid giving unneceſſary offence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all thoſe who eſpouſe the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following deſcriptions. Interested men, who are not to be truſted; weak men, who cannot ſee; prejudiced men, who will not ſee ; and a certain ſet of moderate men, who think better of the European world than it deſerves; and this laſt claſs, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cauſe of more calamities to this continent, than all the other three. ¶ It is the good fortune of many to live diſtant from the ſcene of ſorrow; the evil is not ſufficient brought to their doors to make them feel the precariouſneſs with which all American property is poſſeſſed.
Men of paſſive tempers look ſomewhat lightly over the offences of Britain, and ſtill hoping for the beſt, are apt to call out, “Come, come, we fhall be friends again, for all this.” But examine the paſſions and feelings of mankind, bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchſtone of nature, and then tell me, whether you can hereafter love, honour, and faithfully ſerve the power that hath carried fire and ſword into your land? If you cannot do all theſe, then are you only deceiving yourſelves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon poſterity. … Have you loſt a parent or a child, by their hands, and yourſelf the ruined and wretched ſurvivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of thoſe who have. But if you have, and ſtill can ſhake hands with the murderers, then are you unworthy the name of huſband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the ſpirit of a ſycophant.
… there is ſomething very abſurd in ſuppoſing a continent to be perpetually governed by an iſland.
No man was a warmer wiſher for reconciliation than myſelf before the fatal nineteenth of April, 1775, but the moment the event of that day was made known, I rejected the hardened ſullen tempered Pharaoh of England forever; and diſdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ can unfeelingly hear of their ſlaughter, and compoſedly ſleep with their blood upon his ſoul.
… the longer it is delayed the harder it will be to accompliſh.
The prefent ſtate of America is truly alarming to every man who is capable of reflection. Without law, without government, without any other mode of power than what is founded on, and granted by courteſy. Held together by an unexampled concurrence of ſentiment, which is nevertheleſs ſubject to change, and which every ſecret enemy is endeavouring to diſſolve, Our preſent condition is, Legiflation without law; wiſdom without a plan; a conſtitution without a name; and, what is ſtrangely affoniſhing, perfect Independance contending for Dependance. The inſtance is without a precedent; the caſe never exiſted before; and who can tell what may be the event? The property of no man is ſecure in the preſent unbraced ſyſtem of things. The mind of the multitude is left at random, and ſeeing no fixed object before them, they purſue ſuch as fancy. or opinion ſtarts. Nothing is criminal; there is no ſuch thing as treaſon; wherefore, every one thinks himfelf at liberty to act as he pleaſes.
We ought to reflect, that there are three different ways, by which an independancy can hereafter be effected; and that one of thoſe three, will one day or other, be the fate of America, viz. By the legal voice of the people in Congreſs; by a military power; or by a mob: It may not always happen that our ſoldiers are citizens, and the multitude a body of reaſonable men; virtue, as I have already remarked, is not hereditary, neither is it perpetual. Should an independancy be brought about by the firſt of thoſe means, we have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the nobleſt pureſt conſtitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A ſituation, ſimilar to the preſent, hath not happened ſince the days of Noah till now. The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months. The reflexion is awful – and in this point of view, how trifling, how ridiculous, do the little, paltry cavellings, of a few weak or intereſted men appear, when weighed againſt the buſineſs of a world.
… independance is the only Bᴏɴᴅ that can tye and keep us together. … Let the names of Whig and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than thoſe of a geod citizen, an open and reſolute friend, and a virtuous ſupporter of the ʀɪɢʜᴛs of ᴍᴀɴᴋɪɴᴅ and of the FREE AND INDEPENDANT STATES OF AMERICA,
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APPENDIX – To the Repreſentatives of the Religious Society of the People called Quakers …
We fight neither for revenge nor conqueſt; neither from pride nor paſſion; we are not inſulting the world with our fleets and armies, nor ravaging the globe for plunder. Beneath the ſhade of our own vines are we attacked; in our own houſes, and in our own land, is the violence committed againſt us. We view our enemies in the character of highwaymen and houſebreakers, and having no defence for ourſelves in the civil law, are obliged to puniſh them by the military one, and apply the ſword, in the very caſe, where you have before now, applied the halter. ——— Perhaps we feel for the ruined and inſulted ſufferers in all and every part of the continent, with a degree of tenderneſs which hath not yet made its way into ſome of your boſoms. But be ye ſure that ye miſtake not the cauſe and ground of your Teſtimony. Call not coldneſs of ſoul, religion; nor put the Bigot in the place of the Chriſtian.
O ye partial miniſters of your own acknowledged principles. if the bearing arms be ſinful, the firſt going to war muſt be more ſo, by all the difference between wilful attack and unavoidable defence. Wherefore, if ye really preach from conſcience, and mean not to make a political hobbyhorſe of your religion, convince the world thereof, by proclaiming your doctrine to eur enemies, for they likewife bear ᴀʀᴍs. Give us proof of your ſincerity by publiſhing it at St. James’s, to the commanders in chief at Boſton, to the admurals and captains who are piratically ravaging our coaſts, and to all the murdering miſcreants who are acting in authority under ʜɪᴍ whom ye profeſs to ſerve. … Ye would tell the Royal Wretch his ſins, and warn him of eternal ruin. Ye would not ſpend your partial invectives againſt the injured and the infulte only, but, like faithful miniſters, would cry aloud and ſpare none. Say not that ye are perſecuted, neither endeavour to make us the authors of that reproach, which, ye are bringing upon yourſelves; for we teſtify unto all men, that we do not complain againſt you becauſe ye are Quakers, but becauſe ye pretend to be and are ɴᴏᴛ Quakers.
Alas! it ſeems by the particular tendency of ſome part of your teſtimony, and other parts of your conduct, as if, all ſin was reduced to, and comprehended in, the act of bearing arms, and that by the people only.
